Hidden Burdens (working title)

Kimmy's First Court Hearing

For the first time since she came to stay there, Kimmy became more animated and excitedly rushed inside the house where she searched for John, to show him her latest drawing from her art class. He was usually either in his room, working on homework, or helping Ben. But he always stopped what he was doing to look at what the kid wanted to show him. Maybe not right away and sometimes had to tell her to give him a second, or even a minute. He seemed interested enough.

Ben and John had especially hit it off with each other. It was nice having another guy in the house after having mostly girls for a while. He helped show John how to fix his own car and John frequently helped in the kitchen. Though, he also helped Kayla as well, whenever she made dinner, and breakfast on the weekends. His adopted mother had taught both him and his adopted sister to cook and help out whenever possible.

Claudia was mostly at school or work, so most of her contact with John was in the morning. When she was there at the house on a day or evening off, she mostly kept to herself. However, Claudia would offer to ride bikes to the store since John also had his own bike as well. He accepted the first couple of times, but declined after a while, not wanting to listen to the teen girl's negative outlook on life, and only received pushback when John offered a positive spin or advice. He stayed kind whenever they crossed paths around the house and never showed any disrespect towards Claudia, for it. He even went out of his way to be helpful to her. Claudia returned the kindness for the most part, but after the rejection, the sarcasm was turned up a notch whenever their paths crossed.

At least John was liked for the most part by almost everyone, including Grandma Joy, as well as Ariel and Oliver.

Ben and John, on the one hand, continued to grow closer together, bonding over sports, too. Like him, John wasn't a top athlete. As a little kid, his father was an avid sports watcher, so John had a lot of nostalgic memories of watching football, baseball, and basketball together. Football season was over, but Ben and John watched the Suns play almost every evening.

What had begun as something between Ben and Kimmy shooting hoops in the driveway, John joined in, accidentally taking over when the men got into a one-on-one match. The kid would watch for a moment before heading inside through the garage. That had been another reason she had gone out of her way to ignore John. When they made up, Kimmy tried to stick around a little longer, having been enjoying when she and Ben played basketball. Sometimes the ball would get passed or bounce near her, while other times, they got too far into a game and Kimmy left the guys to it.

Mid-February, Ben was kept busy preparing for Kimmy's six-month review hearing, making sure his report was ready to send to Leonard, and the siblings' GAL, Susan, who came by to meet Kimmy and visit with her before the hearing.

One thing of interest Ben shared with both Leonard and Susan and highlighted in his report were the few words Kimmy had uttered to Kayla. Not once, but twice. Maybe it was his darn stubborn pride, but Ben could not help but feel a hint of jealousy. It would make sense the kid would feel comfortable speaking to Kayla over him. Though, lately, it seemed like the two were getting along and Ben hoped he would be next. He made sure to leave it out of the report, though.

At least it was a start for the kid.

During the meeting, Susan explained so Kimmy could understand who she was and her role for Kimmy and her brother as an advocate.

Susan also asked how Kimmy liked staying at Ben and Kayla's house, how things were going there, and about school. Kimmy communicated through head motions and shrugs, nodding the most when Susan asked if she liked everyone there.