Our Family: StellaRide story

Chapter 2:

Stella had taken a few days off from work, specifically to stay with Marley at home, Kelly was at work. Stella had been awake for a few minutes, scrolling on her phone through social media, and in a few minutes Marley was lying on top of her, Stella "good morning my beautiful princess", Marley "good morning", she yawned, Stella "are you hungry", Marley "chocolate chip pancakes", Stella "lol, do you wanna help me make them", Marley "yeah", Stella "let's go baby", the two of them climbed out of bed. Stella made up the bed, and then the two of them headed downstairs to the dining and kitchen area. Marley ran off to the couch grabbing the remote and putting the tv on, and started watching a movie. Stella "hey princess could you get the milk out for me, and the strawberries", Marley skipped over to the fridge and got the milk out and the strawberries out, Stella picked her up and sat her on the counter, Stella "carefully love", Stella made breakfast with the help of her little girl, a few minutes later the two of them had breakfast. Stella "do you wanna go to the park", Marley "yeah", Stella "let's go shower then", the two of them went to the bathroom, and took a shower. Stella was getting ready, as well as Marley, Stella did her daughter's hair, Stella "get your jacket honey", Marley "okay", Stella and Marley left the house and off to the park, Marley was riding on her scooter, Stella right beside her. When they finally reached the park, Stella stood on the bench, while Marley played in the park. Stella wasn't one of those people who was willing to take her eyes off of her daughter who was playing, so she kept her eyes on her no matter what. Stella had started talking to her husband, Kelly "hey", Stella "hey", Kelly "how's it going", Stella "great, how's work going", Kelly "good, nothing much going on over here. And you", Stella "we're good babe. We're at the park right now, I think baby girl made two friends, they are playing tag together", Kelly "that's cute", Stella "yeah, when are you getting off of work. We miss you", Kelly "actually another fifteen minutes and I'll be out of work", Stella "do you want us to come pick you up", Kelly "that would be a surprise. Would love to see our princess and you of course", Stella "okay. We'll be there shortly", after the phone call. Stella "baby we've gotta get going", Marley "okay", she said bye to her friends and they headed home, to get the car and drive to pick up Kelly from work. Marley was tired so she had fallen asleep from her fun time at the park, Kelly grabbed his duffel bag, and then got in the car, him and Stella kissed. Kelly "how long has she been out", Stella "since we got in the car, she got tired out from the park". They drove to get some Chinese takeout and then finally headed home. Stella carried the food, while Kelly carried the youngster up to her room and in bed. Stella put Marley's food aside, her and Kelly sat on the couch and had their dinner.
(Marley Kay's nightmare)
The six year old tossed and turned in her bed, clenching onto her stuffed teddy bear, her blanket snuggled in her other hand, her thumb in her mouth. "You haven't been a good girl", Marley "I didn't do anything. I'm a good girl", "no you've been a bad girl", he began brutally beating her, Marley let out the loudest cries as she was beaten. Marley "I'm sorry, I'm sorry", she yelled numerous times but that didn't stop him from hurting her. He stop beating her and grabbed her by the collar on her shirt and dragged her to the room, he locked the door. She froze, crying again and again, her body was trembling, she had nearly peed herself. She was absolutely terrified, Marley began tossing and turning in her bed yet again. Letting out the most intense scream, Marley stood up in her bed, clenching to her bear, tears coming down her little face, body drenched in sweat, and her bed wet from her having an accident. Stella and Kelly had stopped what they were doing and rushed their Marley, Stella picked her up, her hand holding her daughter's head as she cried into her shoulder. Kelly "it was just a dream baby, just a dream", Kelly had removed the blanket and sheets from the bed and tossed them into the washing machine, and Stella carried her to the bathroom, quickly washed her up before wrapping her up in a towel, caressing her, and trying to calm her down from the nightmare she had just experienced. Stella carried her little one to the room, going through the drawers to grab a pair of pajamas and clean underwear from the dresser. Stella got her dressed, back to the living room they went, as the couple watched a movie, as Marley fell asleep in Stella's lap. The night went by faster than ever. Today Marley had her first appointment with a therapist, something Kelly and Stella weren't totally on board with at first but knew it could potentially help their daughter somewhat recover what she went through. The three of them stopped at a food cart, getting a donut for breakfast, along with some drinks, and then they drove to the hospital. Upon arriving at the hospital, specifically the area for psychiatric evaluation, Stella and Kelly filled out a basic questionnaire about their daughter, while Marley was holding her teddy bear tightly and playing a game on her iPad. After the questionnaire was completed Stella brought it to the receptionist behind the desk, within a few minutes the therapist called Marley's name, Stella took her by the hand and they followed the therapist down to her office. Stella wasn't allowed in the office so she stood in the waiting area, while Marley entered the room with the therapist. Marley clenched tightly to her teddy bear, "hi Marley. My name is Dr Gonzalez, do you know why you are here", Marley didn't say a word, but slightly nodded her head. "Well today I could just start to know you and what you went through", Marley nodded not wanting to speak. Stella felt for her daughter, not knowing how it was going, "sweetie you don't have to talk today if you don't want to", Marley backed away and clenched onto her teddy bear a bit harder than she ever had before. "Stella", Stella "yes, is everything okay", "Marley is very quiet, not communicating with me at the moment. Could you join us, it's usually not allowed but I'd be willing to make an exception to have either you or Kelly in here every time with us", Stella "okay", Stella followed the therapist into the room, Marley immediately hugged her, "we'll Marley doesn't seem like she's in the mood for talking, so could you just give me a brief reasoning to why she needs a therapist", Stella "sure", Marley hid her face in Stella's shoulder, Stella "well her biological father was very very abusive. I don't wanna go into detail because he constantly hurt her with a belt, he was an alcoholic", "I'm sorry to hear that. How did you know that was happening to her", Stella "she called me for help, me and my team of firefighters rescued her, while the police arrested him. Me and my husband decided to adopt her and love her like she deserves", "that's very beautiful. Does Marley have anything fun that she likes to do", Stella "do you wanna tell her what you like to do with me and daddy", Marley nodded her head in a heartbeat. Stella "she loves to dance, color, and play dress up with her daddy", "that sucks like a lot of fun Marley. Has anything helped her since the incident", Stella "not really, she doesn't really bring it up but she has these terrible nightmares about everything that happened. One happened yesterday", "do you ever think of having her journaling her thoughts", Stella "no, not all", "I think it could really help her, even if it's the littlest of words it could really help her", Stella "okay I'll look into it", "and maybe you and your husband could journal, it could bring the three of you a bit closer together", Stella "that actually sounds like a great idea", "and at the end of the week try talking with her. Even if it's a how was your day? What was your favorite part of your day? Little things like that could help", Stella "okay", after scheduling her next appointment, they headed to the station. Kelly had to pick something up, and after they did they headed straight back home. Marley was currently napping, Kelly was cooking dinner and Stella was on the computer enrolling Marley into a school that was 10 minutes from the fire station.

(Marley Kay's first day of first grade)
It was finally that day, Marley's first day of school, Stella and Kelly were both already awake, Kelly "you alright", Stella "yeah, just a bit nervous for her", Kelly "it's okay", Kelly "what should I make her for breakfast"? Stella "I don't know, her favorite. Chocolate chip pancakes with strawberries and her favorite turkey sausage, the round ones", Kelly "okay", Stella made her daughter lunch, and then goes upstairs to wake her up. Stella "Marley Kay, it's time to wake up love", Marley began rubbing her eyes, then yawned, Stella "first day of school. Are you excited", Marley nodded her head, not wanting to even think about going to school. Stella "your clothes are right here laid out for you, get dressed and then come down for breakfast", Marley "okay mommy", Marley didn't talk much but talking around Kelly and Stella was no problem at all. In a few minutes, Marley was sitting at the table eating her breakfast while Stella was styling her hair. Stella "your gonna have fun love don't you worry", Marley "okay", she said trying to have some enthusiasm like her parents. Stella and Kelly had gotten dressed for work, Kelly threw Marley's backpack over his shoulder, Stella got Marley's coat on, Marley held her lunch bag as they left the house and into the car. The drive to the school was pretty quick, Kelly pulled into the parking lot and they got out and started to walk to the front entrance of the school. Marley held Stella's hand very tightly, they reached her classroom, Marley hid behind her mom, "you must be Marley Kay", Summer was scared and a bit nervous. "Hey it's okay mommy can come in and take you to your desk", Marley felt like she was going to cry, knowing Stella and Kelly would be at work while she was at school. Marley "I don't want you to leave mommy", she said playing with Stella's hair, Stella "you'll be okay babe. You're gonna have so much fun, so much fun and whatever you learn today you can tell me and daddy after school", Marley hugged Kelly and Stella, then they did their hand shake, Marley went and sat at her table, and waved at her parents. Stella and Kelly headed to work. The duo and their team had a couple of calls, all of them good outcomes, good saves. Kelly was playing cards with the guys, Stella was in her office just looking at pictures of their daughter, who she missed so much. Sylvie "hey", Stella "hey, do you wanna come with me and Violet to get lunch", Stella "sure", the three of them left heading to grab some lunch together. Sylvie "are you okay", Stella "yeah". "How's Marley",  Stella "she's okay, I really miss her", Sylvie "she's just in school", Stella "I know I just miss my baby so much. So much", Kelly and Stella finally left work heading to the school to pick up their daughter from school. The students were in line behind their teachers, Marley "mommy mommy", she yelled happily more than ever, the teacher allowed her to run into the arms of her mother, Stella spun her around kissing her on the cheek multiple times, Kelly hugged her too, kissing her too. Not wanting to cook dinner, they stopped at McDonald's, Stella "happy meal", Marley "yes mommy. Apple juice and chicken nuggets", Stella "I know baby", once leaving the drive through, they headed back home. The three of them had dinner, watched a movie and started playing hide and seek. They were on the last round, Stella was trying to find Marley, and once she did she picked her up and tickled her, the loudest and cutest laugh came out of her, Kelly and Stella would not stop laughing, it was all too funny. Bedtime was simple, the three of them slept together, not wanting Eva to sleep alone just yet. Soon Marley Kay would be introduced to the whole team, and the team would be hosting a charity event at the station.