The Strongest Stone

Chapter Twelve

When I got home from lunch the social worker was waiting at the front door. I frowned because the kids were not even home. I walked up the driveway and she turned around.

"Morning Charlotte." She smiled. I noted the folder in her hand. Crap, this was an official visit.

"Morning, uh the kids aren't home."

"I know. I just wanted to have a chat with you."

I nodded and unlocked the front door. We walked through the house until we were in the kitchen. I tried to smother my nerves as I made two cups of coffee. Given that I was afraid I'd say something wrong and jeopardise everything, it was easier said than done. As I walked over to the table with the two coffees Beth opened the folder and lifted a piece of paper in her hands.

"I have to admit, at 19, you're barely old enough to take care of yourself." Beth exclaimed. I frowned, I had been doing alright, and granted Lucas being around had made things easier. But I wasn't a child, not anymore. "Most young girls your age are at college. You've had to give that all up."

"They're my family. I don't look at it like giving anything up. I love them."

I smiled, maybe I understood Lucas' decision after all. Because he loved me, it didn't seem like a loss. "Yes, but eventually they will grow up and leave home and go to college. Where does that leave you?"

"I hope they do." I replied without skipping a beat. "If sacrificing study means my brothers and sisters have fulfilling lives then I'm okay with it."

Beth nodded and wrote something down. It was a minute or so before she looked back up. I knew she was going to ask about Lucas before she did. The stupid lie that Ana had started had made things awkward, even If Luke and I were together now.

"Your fiancé, Lucas, is it long term?" She tilted her head, as if she didn't believe the story we had fed her. I didn't blame her for being sceptic. When she'd been told that, Lucas and I were in a weird place. Things were different now and maybe one day I really would be his fiancé.

"Yes. Very much so." I replied.

She stopped and continued to write. The kitchen was beginning to feel like an interrogation room, and the walls suddenly seemed to be closing in on me. When Beth placed her pen down on the table I gulped for air as the nerves choked me.

"This is unprecedented." She replied. "But I'm going to accept your custody request now."

"What happened to three months?" I whispered.

"I will still do visits, but they will all be planned. From what I have seen you're a mature young woman who just wants the best for her family. You've been through enough, and dragging out the process when I can see just how well this all works seems to be a worthless waste of time."

I sighed and all of the worry left my body with my unsteady breath. Beth finished her coffee and closed her folder. "If I can offer one suggestion though Charlotte?"

"Of course." I smiled.

"Don't sacrifice everything for everyone else. Resentment is a powerful thing."

I nodded, unable to speak. Her words resounded inside my soul and sat in the pit of my gut like a bomb of truth. In one swoop she had given me my family, and cemented my fears that one day Lucas would resent me.

I saw Beth out and once she was gone I tried to push aside what she had said. I tried to ignore it. Lucas had assured me that me and the kids were all he needed, but I couldn't. When he returned with the kids a few hours later I couldn't even bring myself to tell them all the good news.