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Chapter 4

Alex POV

It's been about a week and a half since our family day and meeting Sawyer. Preseason is in full swing for me so that has been keeping me busy. Charlie asks us everyday when she is gonna see Sawyer again  and honestly I hope it is soon.

We have a call today with Sawyer's social worker, Liz and Serv and I couldn't be more excited. As I am cutting up some fruit, my phone rings.

"Hey Serv! It's go time!" "Coming!" As he sprints in, I answer.

"Hello?"
"Hi Mrs. Carrasco, this is Liz, Sawyer Anderson's social worker. How are you?"
"We're good, I have my husband, Servando here too. We're excited to talk about Sawyer."
"Well let's get right to it then! Honestly Sawyer is my favorite kid. She has a heart of gold, is incredibly smart and talented and very good at soccer. She loves it and is so passionate about it. She also loves surf..." I see Serv fist pump out of the corner of my eye "..and skateboard too, I'm constantly yelling at her to put on a helmet." I roll my eyes, such a teenager. "And while she is a really great kid, she has some issues that I need to make you aware of." I nod my head and look at Serv, he has the same look, that we can handle anything together. "Serv and I already care about Sawyer and nothing can change our minds." I smile. "That's great to hear. Sawyer has ADHD.." I take out a pen and paper and start writing, "she's on medication, it just got changed to Zenzedi 30mg twice per day, it seems to be working a little better, but she's still impulsive, has a hard time concentrating, and gets frustrated. The hardest thing for me is the impulsivity; she's gotten into trouble at school, blurting things out, lashing out in frustration, getting into it with peers. She doesn't like to particularly talk about things so you're gonna have to wait her out until she comes to you when it becomes too much.." I'm writing a million miles a minute and tearing up at how Sawyer deals with this alone when I hear Liz continue, "Sawyer's parents were killed in a car accident in which she survived, but she has nightmares. She has never told me what the nightmares entail, but I suspect the accident occurring over and over might be what is happening. She sleeps with a teddy bear, it's a bear that she got on the day they died, this bear is incredibly important to her. You may wake up because you hear her having a nightmare or she will wake you up and ask to sleep with you. Or she may try to make you think they don't happen, I'm not too sure. The last thing is that Sawyer is having a hard time accepted she might get a bonus family. I call it a bonus family for her because no one can replace her mom and dad, but she can have a bonus family and it seems that that's you guys.." I smile with tears in my eyes at the thought of being Sawyer's bonus family. "Sawyer has told me that she's not sure if her parents would want her to have a new family or if they'd be upset with her. She feels guilty for surviving that car crash and I want her to get someone to talk to if possible besides me, someone who specializes in teens with trauma.." I write down in all caps FIND A THERAPIST. Liz continues, "Sawyer is such a good kid, she's going to go far, whether with soccer or something else, but she needs patience and love, but really the patience. She tests my patience on a daily basis, but I love her more than anything and remember all that she's been through. She cannot be abandoned again in her life. She lost everything once, she won't survive if she loses everything again." I nod and wipe my tears, "We won't abandon her, she's already loved here and we will support her in anything she does," I say with finality. Serv speaks up after me, "So what are the next steps?" I take his hand in mine and squeeze it, "So we will do some weekend visits just  to make sure everything is good and Sawyer can adjust. We can start with this weekend if that works?" "It works perfectly" I say.

Sawyer POV

I walk in the door with a smile on my face. Why? Because I made it through the day with no issues. The school started this new card system that all of my teachers sign off on how I did. I bring it home each day and show it to Liz and talk through my day, all good and not so good things.