Girls Gone

 I have a hard time going to sleep at night because it happened when I was asleep. When I close my eyes I see the empty beds, the front door eerily ajar. I hear my voice choking down the panic talking to 911. I see myself pacing the house, Love Bug following in my nervous wake. I feel the horror all over again when I try to shut my eyes. 

Let me back up to the beginning. On August 18th we had our first foster placement come to stay with us. On a stormy night 8 year old Shy Girl and her baby sister, Gerber Baby (7 months old) arrived to our house. We were adjusting to adding new kiddos into the home as well as the start of school. There were some bumps in the beginning. Shy Girl had a tablet with her and she was talking to her parents causing a wellness check before her first 24 hours with us. But, knowing it is hard for kids, especially when they are a little older, I chalked it up to just trying to get her connected to us and settled into a routine. In what can now be seen as a premonition the case worker who came for the wellness check (at midnight no less) said, "be careful, this one seems like a story teller." I removed the kids messenger from her tablet and we proceeded. Five days after moving in with us the girls had a visit with their parents. The case worker brought them home and Shy Girl was fairly distraught. As we were talking, the case worker took a call and had to leave. We went into the house to get the girls ready for bed. Shy Girl wanted to talk to her mom, which I thought might help her with her crying but it only seemed to make it worse. We hung up and shortly after I missed a call from the case worker. Her voicemail warned us to not go outside. I called her back and she informed me the girls parents were outside our house. After a lot of back and forth a supervisor from CHOR called me and said she thought it was just a misunderstanding. I felt uncomfortable but we went away on a brief vacation the next day and I put it out of my mind. 

Shy Girl was very critical of everything we did in our home, especially with the baby. It was never how her mom did it and she was sure to let us know. I figured she was just trying be sure we knew her loyalty aligned with her parents and not us. After a little while I stopped trying to please her because her negative Nancy attitude sucked a lot of the fun out of things. I capitalized on any small thing she seemed happy about and was devising a plan to help improve her attitude. It seemed every time I saw the county case worker I was answering to some issue or concern the parents alleged happened. There were a few minor accidents with the baby's foot. She got a scratch from the door latch and some brush burns from the stroller. Both things were reported to our CHOR case worker immediately. 

We were just getting into a routine with school and sports practice for Chica Marie and Love Bug. The baby was starting to adjust to our routine and mostly sleep through the night. I was even managing the crazy morning routine with four kids going to three places and the bussing issues driving me batty. Last Wednesday Chica Marie was asked to stay over at a friends house. I don't ordinarily allow mid-week sleep overs but this friends mom was going to be getting surgery soon, so I agreed. I dropped her off after cheerleading practice. Shy Girl was allowed to speak to her parents every evening. Sometimes she didn't want to talk, which always upset her parents. On this particular night I asked her if she wanted to talk while we waited for Chica Marie to practice. We were not allowed into the gym for practice, so we waited in the van. She refused stating she didn't want to talk in the van. Instead she took a nap and since the baby was also napping, I read a book. When she woke up from her nap, Shy Girl demanded to talk to her mom. I made the call and she hopped out of the van to chat. I stayed with the baby, so I did not hear the conversation. It was a short call because Chica Marie ended practice. We picked Love Bug up from his football practice, took Chica Marie to her friends house and went home to get the kids to bed.

The next morning my alarm went off at 6 as usual. I was happy the baby didn't wake me up at 5 like she had been doing. I started my morning routine. When I went out into the living room I saw the front door was open. I was mad because I thought Primero forgot to lock the door (something he has done before) and the wind pushed it open. I closed and locked the door and went to the bathroom. Love Bug woke up while I was in the bathroom. I spread my yoga mat when Love Bug came back and asked, "Where is Shy Girl?" "In bed," I responded. "Don't wake her up." I was worried about how our morning was going to be since Chica Marie helped me a lot and she wasn't there. "No, she's not in her bed." Love Bug insisted. I jumped up and walked back to the room. I turned on the light and saw the empty bed and crib. My mind refused to believe what my eyes were telling me. I felt my stomach flip as the realization hit me. The girls were gone. I ran for my phone and called 911. The nightmare had just begun....

*** I promise to finish the story soon, but just know it does not get much better from here.....

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