Hidden Burdens (working title)

Unexpected Explosion

(Working chapter title for now)

March ended up being a chaotic time for the Ross household, with a few kiddos coming through for a brief period. Ben barely had time to reminisce while cleaning Mary's old room the way he reminisced for Miguel. For starters, the phone call came in the middle of the night when everyone had gone to bed, which is usually the most common time to get a phone call. For any foster parent. At least for the kids coming straight from their families.

Ben had been the first to wake up, catching the faint sound of his cell phone from downstairs ringing over and over again. Once his mind registered what it was, he sprung awake, tossing back the covers and gently smacked Kayla awake. Ben shot out of bed and flew down the stairs.

Kayla shortly followed, catching up to him on the stairs. They hurried into the kitchen where Ben yanked the charging cord from his phone to answer it, putting the call on speaker so both of them could hear Rose explain the crisis at hand.

An eight-year-old girl had been picked up along with her one-and-a-half-year-old sister after a neighbor made a domestic disturbance call. A boyfriend of the kids' mother had gotten enraged and taken his anger out on her. The mother was taken to the hospital in an ambulance with serious injuries while the girls had to be picked up by Child Services. Unfortunately, there wasn't a home available that could take both girls. The one-and-a-half-year-old was already dropped off at a foster home that took in infants and toddlers, while the eight-year-old still needed a place to stay, at least until a relative or a home who could take both girls could be found.

Ben and Kayla agreed to take the eight-year-old girl, of course. Since the case was freshly new, there was very little information other than the child's name, age, and gender, something that drove Ben crazy when he always wanted to know everything. But he accepted it this time, knowing the little girl would be terrified out of her mind.

Ben and Kayla had gotten to work as soon as the call ended, cleaning Mary's old room.

While Ben was leaving the room to put away the vacuum, he noticed Kimmy standing in the doorway of her room, half asleep and rubbing her eye.

"Go back to bed, kiddo," he said, gently and apologized for waking her. "We're just taking care of a new arrival. You can meet her in the morning. Okay?"

Kimmy blinked as if she was still getting used to the light. But she turned around and headed back to bed.

With Kimmy taken care of, Ben turned to head downstairs when another of their kiddos caught his attention. Only this one came from downstairs and strangely smelled of flowers.

"What are you doing up?" Ben asked of the teen girl.

"I was getting a drink of water." Claudia pointed over her shoulder. "Is that okay with you, warden?"

Ben stared at her, sternly. "Watch it." He let her pass to head back to bed. He couldn't help thinking they hadn't heard anyone else get up and asked Kayla if she heard anything when Ben returned to the room.

She was making the bed with spare sheets and a comforter until one of them could take the kid shopping. "No, but you were just vacuuming." Kayla shook the pillow inside the pillowcase.

Before anything else could be said, the doorbell rang. Kayla dropped the pillow nicely on the bed before following Ben downstairs to answer the door. Both put on happy, welcoming faces for the little girl and the case aid dropping her off.

The little girl, the case aid introduced as Alysha, was wearing pajamas with a Disney Princess and pink Crocs while clutching a backpack with the same princess in her arms. Her black hair was in braids, held in by colorful hair ties.