For The Love Of You

33

*Later that night- Midnight.*

Cheryl's P.O.V:

"Mommy." I heard Olivia said as she stood on my side of the bed and tugged at the covers.

I jumped up and looked at her.

"Huh?" I said in a rush. She was crying and pointing towards the door.

"What, baby?" I asked her as I looked over at the door. "What is it?" I asked her.

She shook her head, took my hand and pulled me out of bed. I got up and she dragged me towards her room. We both stopped at her door.

"He's under my bed." She said as she tugged at the bottom of her shirt and pointed towards her bed. I looked down at her and then walked into the room.

"MOMMY, NO! Don't go in there! He's gonna hurt us." She said as she jumped up and down and continued to cry.

"Let me just check, Okay?" I said as I put both of my hands out in front of me and turned on the light. "I'll see if he's under here." I said as I got on the side of her bed, got on my knees and pulled the covers up.

"You see him?" She asked me as she covered her face with her shirt.

I then stood up. "No, Baby. I don't. There's nothing under there." I told her.

"He's was there, Mommy. I promise you that he-...he was. He said that he-..." she said but I cut her off.

"How about this, come and sleep with me tonight." I told her as I turned off her bedroom light, grabbed her hand and we went towards my room.

When we got back to my room, she climbed in my bed and pulled the covers over her head.

"You don't believe me." She said in a muffled voice under the covers. I got in bed, sighed and pulled the covers up.

"Baby, I didn't say that. I checked and I didn't see anything. Maybe it was a dream." I told her.

"NO! It wasn't." She said as she continued to cry under the covers. "Why don't you believe me?" She asked me.

"Babygirl don't do this. Come back up here." I said as I sighed and pulled the blanket off her face. Her face was completely drenched. I felt so bad that she felt like I didn't believe her.

"No you don't believe me mommy. Why won't you believe me... no one ever believes me" she said as she continued to cry.

"Baby I didn't say that I didn't believe you."

"But it was in your voice I heard it. Just like before when I-..." she then grew silent.

"When you what baby? Come on tell me when you what." I said as I yawned and pulled her into me. Wrong time to have this conversation but better now than before she shuts down.

"When my old grandma before grandma Riley came to my moms house she asked me why there was blood on my legs and my bed." She was getting nervous I can feel it.

"Go on baby I'm listening" I tried to encourage her.

"Well I told her my moms boyfriend really hurt me and she said that was impossible, and that me lying on him could get them all in trouble." She started to cry again and buried her head into me.

I just comforted her, and let her get that cry out before I began to speak.

"Baby girl no matter what you say were always gonna believe you. We love you more than anything in this world, and we're gonna help you get better and forget they ever existed alright."

She just shook her head okay and yawned.

"Want me to sing to you again?" She shook her head yes, and that's just what I did....

"Caterpillar in the tree
How you'll wonder who you'll be
Can't go far but can always dream
Wish you may wish you might
I promise they'll come a day butterfly fly away" before I could finish she was asleep in my arms and I was on my way there.

———————

The next day- Olivia and I were on our way to see Ms. Mary for this children's counseling. Once we walked in, Olivia immediately got silent. She just had this nervous look on her face and held onto my hand really tightly. Mike was already there but he was only there for support.

"Ms. Olivia, are you ready to see me?" Ms. Mary asked Olivia as she smiled at her. Olivia just stared at her and lightly shook her head no.

"Do you want your Mom to come back there with you?" She then asked her. Olivia rushed to nod her head yes. I looked down at her and then over at Mike.

"I'll be waiting. If needed- I can always switch out with Cheryl." Mike told Mary.

"Sure. Cheryl...Olivia...let's go." Mary said as she led us to her office/counseling session room.

"Okay, Olivia. My name is Mary and I am going to be talking to you today about...anything really. However, I usually have toys and stuff but today, you and I are going to be drawing. How do you feel about that?" She asked Olivia as they both sat at a table together.

She did her usual- shrugged her shoulders.

I sat in a chair that was separated from the both of them so that Olivia could have some independence while talking.

"Okay....uhm....well, lets do this." Mary said as she then put a piece of paper in front of Olivia and gave her a marker. "Draw your emotion for me." Mary told Olivia.

Olivia picked up the marker and started to draw. Mary looked at me, smiled and nodded her head. I guess letting me know that it will get better and that she'll have her to be more open soon.

"Alright, let me know when you're done." Mary told Olivia. Olivia nodded her head and continued.

After 5 more minuets-

"I'm done." Olivia said as she started to fidget and tug at her shirt under the table. Her body language showed that she was nervous about all of this.

"Alright! Explain this to me. What is it? Happy? Sad? Why did you draw...what you drew?" Mary asked Olivia.

"I drew myself with a big heart on my forehead. I added a crooked smile inside of the heart but I have a smile on my face." Olivia told Mary.

"Why did you draw this?" Mary asked as she picked up the paper and squinted her eyes at it.

"Because its how I feel. I smile around Mommy but I wear my heart on my forehead. Only because I have to think about if I'm truly happy with being loved or not. Sometimes I don't know which one to chose. So, I think about it." Olivia explained.

"So, my guess is that you think about it because you're not used to it?" She asked Olivia. Olivia looked down, then over at me and nodded her head.

"I see. I know your past Olivia. However, the reason I brought you here was because I wanted to help you realize that all of this isn't your fault." Mary told her.

"They said that it was though. My real Mommy said that if I wasn't born, I wouldn't have to go through it. She didn't want me." Olivia said as her voice started to crack. "I don't think that she ever wanted me. She called me many names and her boyfriend added on more pain." Olivia said as she started to cry.

The room was silent. My heart broke.

"I don't wanna talk anymore." Olivia said in an innocent voice. She continued to look down in her lap and reached up to wipe the tears away from her face. Mary handed her a Kleenex.

"Let's just talk a little bit more but we don't have to talk about your real Mom, Alright?" Ms. Mary said as she tried to engage in having more time to talk to Olivia.

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