CLEAN || Taylor Swift Adoption

TWENTY-FIVE

~TAYLOR~

August 10, 2019

"Okay, Everleigh, that's all that I need to talk to you about," Ashley said, looking at the girl who had been trying to distance herself more from me today than she had been for the past few days. It seemed to be out of character for her, and part of me was worried that she was trying to separate herself so much. Maybe it had something to do with things that had gone on earlier, but it still worried me to watch her shut down so easily. "I'd like to talk to Taylor for a minute, if that's okay with the both of you."

"It's fine with me," I said, giving her a small nod before turning to Everleigh. "Ev? You okay with that?"

Everleigh nodded. "Thank you," she said softly to Ashley before she turned on her heel and walked upstairs, Benjamin trailing behind her. Since she moved in, he'd taken a liking to her and seemed to follow her around quite a bit. It was kind of adorable, and I knew Everleigh loved the cats, so I could only assume that she secretly loved it.

"Of course," Ashley said with a smile, waving to Everleigh. "See you in a couple weeks."

Ashley and I both watched as Everleigh left the room. I reached over to the cat that was sitting on the couch next to me, scratching Olivia behind her ears as Ashley began to talk again. "Okay. So this is something that I like to do with foster parents when a new kid moves in with them, just to figure out how the placement has been going for both parties. So how has it been going with Everleigh?"

I smiled. "I think it's been going about as well as can be expected," I said. "She's very sweet and I think she's starting to adjust well."

"Okay," Ashley nodded, jotting down some notes. "Do you have any concerns about anything? I know she can be kind of quiet, and if there's anything that's been off-putting or worrisome, I'd love to help you clear some of that up."

I chewed on my lip. "I mean, there have been some times where I feel like she just has no idea how to be a kid. I took her shopping while we were in L.A. to help get some new clothes for her and boost her wardrobe, and she didn't really get the concept of buying whatever she wanted in the store. She just... I feel like there are times where it's like she's been forced to grow up too fast."

Ashley nodded. "And unfortunately, that's often the case for kids in foster care. However, Everleigh has been like that for years. Unfortunately, a lot of the families that I've initially thought would be good placements for her have ended up abusing her—physically, emotionally, or both—or neglecting her. Other times, the family just had circumstances where they could no longer keep taking care of her, so she had to be moved. She hasn't had the easiest life, so I'm really thankful that you're giving her a safe haven right now. I don't know how much you really know about her life..."

I chewed on my lip. "She's hinted at some things, but most of the time, she's been very reserved about things," I said. "And I want to respect that. I can only assume that she's gone through some pretty awful things in her lifetime. But I can't help worrying about her, you know?"

"Yep," Ashley agreed. "Here's what I can tell you about Everleigh. She's stubborn as a mule, especially when she doesn't want to let you in. She will not talk to you, she will shut herself away, she will do whatever she can in order to isolate herself from the world. But more than anything, she wants to be loved. Sometimes, she just needs a good hug from someone to remind her of that. Sometimes, you have to directly tell her that she's safe, that you're there for her, whatever is causing the situation to occur. She hasn't been able to trust people, and it's been brutal for her."