I Knew I Loved You

Chapter Twenty-One: The Struggle

"Are you sure that everything is, okay?" Charlene asked during the visit from Karen, who had popped by to check in with the family after what had happened. 

The visit itself had set Charlene on edge and they were doing everything possible to keep things as normal as possible for Abigail since they had moved out of the house. 

It was still hard and Charlene struggled to sleep through the night, her mind kept replaying everything that had happened to her during the break-in; she woke up crying each time as her mind often took a darker path. 

"Of course, we just wanted to check in and see how you are coping," Karen insisted offering a kind smile, she clutched at the drink that Charlene had offered her and eyed the younger woman carefully. 

It was to be expected that she would be a little tense, Karen couldn't imagine what she had been through and she was grateful to see that Charlene was physically unharmed. 

"I'm fine," Charlene stated with a shake of her head, she didn't want anyone worrying about her more than needed; she didn't wish to put Abigail's adoption in danger anymore than it already was. 

What if the judge didn't think that they were a good fit because of the break-in, she certainly wasn't going to allow them to adopt Abigail if Charlene was a crying mess all the time. 

"It was a traumatic event and no one can fault you for needing some time to recover," Karen encouraged, she sent down her drink on the table and turned to get a card from her bag. 

It was one of the main reasons that she had come, she wanted to offer whatever support that she could and she knew that it had come at the right time for Charlene. 

There was no unseeing how tired Charlene was, she had bags under her eyes and she looked to have lost a little bit of weight since the last time that Karen had come to see the family with Sharon. 

It had been an inspection for the moving forward in Abigail's adoption, nothing too serious and they had both already known how suitable the house was for the little girl since Charlene and Manuel were already fostering her. 

Pulling out the business card, Karen slide it across the table towards Charlene with a very understanding look upon her face.

"I spoke to Dr. Schneider when I was attacked a couple of years ago, it really helped me and I think he will be able to help you right now," Karen said kindly, she was sure even if Dr. Schneider wasn't a good fit that he would help Charlene find someone that was. 

Her attacker had been an angry parent who had been abusing their child and had them taken from her and placed into care. 

The parent had tracked Karen down and waited outside of her house until she had come home from work one day and jumped her. 

It had taken three of Karen's neighbours to pull the woman off of her and she'd been in hospital for weeks recovering from a broken jaw, dislocated shoulder and cracked ribs. 

"I know talking about this won't be easy, but it does help. You need to speak to someone before this eats away at you completely and stops you from being the mother that Abigail needs," Karen continued reassuringly, she wanted Charlene to understand that it was okay not to be okay right now. 

Whatever had happened in that house wasn't going to just disappear if Charlene kept it bottled up, it would eat away at her and the last thing Karen wanted was to take Abigail away from a home that loved her so much. 

"Think about it," Karen said resting a hand on top of Charlene's, she wasn't going to push her just yet when the wound was still raw but it was important that Charlene did what was best for her mental health right now.