The Bouncing Bear

Eleven o'clock at night. They are fighting again. River's parents are again fighting downstairs as the crying 6 year old hugs me tighter. I wish I could hug them back. I know they need it. That's beyond my capabilities though. River was a brilliant young child. They just needed to be shown more love from their parents. When River was 7, we moved again. I say again because we had moved from Washington when they were younger. Now. we're moving back there.
This time is different though. Their dad is not with us. He's the one that gave me to River when they were 2. My job was to be there for them. Always. I sat there as they cried to me about their parents. I sat on the plane with them to and from Seattle. As I said before though, this time is different. It's only us, their mom, their brother, and their sister. No dad. In a couple of days, we found out he wasn't coming.
Mom had left dad and wasn't going back. If you haven't caught on, I am River's bear. I will be telling their life story through my eyes. We had a very long life together. I have been with them for a long time as I've said before. At 7, we moved across the country. They had to leave their friends and family behind. The ones that lived there at least.
Here, we have Grandparents, aunts, and uncles. We also had many cousins here. River got to know them well. I was left behind a couple of times when they made new friends. They didn't want to be embarrassed. At 8, we went to see dad. That summer was one of the best summers. They laughed and smiled a lot. When we went home to mom, we got kicked out of the house and had to live with our grandparents. A year after that, we had to move again and lose more friends. River told me how glad they were to have me many many times. When River had to bounce from house to house, they lost more and more friends. They thought they were alone. They weren't though.
I was always there for watching over them. Then, foster care. I, of course, went with them. We spent 2 years there. It was not enjoyable to be away from family for so long. After the 2 years were up, we moved again. From Idaho to North Carolina to stay with their mother's sister. For the next 3 years, I watched River lie about their happiness again and again which made me sad. Yes, I am a stuffed bear, but I loved them and still do. After that 3 years of their aunt mistreating them, we were finally free to go see dad again.
The issue here was, he wasn't the same as he was before. He had changed a lot. River was now turning 14. They'd grown so much. We didn't know what was happening behind closed doors though. Their dad was using again. He eventually told them and now they were burdened but with having to keep that secret from everyone they knew at the time. It wasn't for long though.
It got out. He had a meeting with his officer and was caught. River had to move back to Washington again. Their life was once again in shambles. They moved in with their mom who was waiting for them. River and their mom don't get along anymore. They were mad at her because of how she lost them twice. How she put them through all of this twice. River didn't want to live with their mom but, of course, they didn't want her to be unhappy so they sucked it up and pretended.
They even made a new friend! Her name was Christina. She was always there for them. I was very grateful for that because that meant I could have a break finally. Keeping up with River has been exhausting. A couple of months go by and Christina has to leave. She moved to Maryland. She and River had so much fun together. After she left, River was again alone. They kept in contact though which was good. They missed her a lot. Another couple of months and It's summer. We move in with our dad's sister. Since then, we haven't moved again. I've never seen River happier. I'm so glad that they are finally happy...