Tumblr fanfic

New challenge (Part 24)

"I heard you yell at Chester," Hannah said later that night in bed.
"We both yelled at Chester," Grace grimaced, "We should probably talk to him soon. Clear the air."
"You called Alex your kid..."
Grace blushed, "I know. I'm sorry Hannah, it just... I shouldn't have said it. She's not my kid of course. I just slipped up, I don't know..."
"It's okay," Hannah mumbled, "I wasn't offended. I thought it was... amazing. You care so much about her."
"I do."
Hannah snuggled into Grace's side, "Thank you."
Grace wrapped her arms around the smaller woman, running a hand through her hair.
"So, today royally sucked huh?" Hannah mumbled, bitterly.
"Yeah, I think they call that parenthood." Grace smiled, "What are the plans for tomorrow?"
"Uhm, I need to take Alex to Christine, and I'm meeting with that social worker, Ben. You?"
"I need to shoot a video, but that's it. I can take care of Alex when you're with Ben if you want?" Grace suggested.
"No, she needs to be there too," Hannah yawned, "But could you go grocery shopping? We're out of apple juice."
"Yes dear." Grace joked.
"Shut up." The blonde laughed, "You know, I've been thinking about buying one of those baby walkie talkies."
"A baby monitor? Why?"
"So that I won't sleep through her nightmares again." Hannah sighed.
"Stop beating yourself up over that," Grace said, "It happened once, and I woke up. She was fine."
"Yeah, but what if you're not here next time?" Hannah argued, "Let me get one? Just for my own peace of mind?"
Grace nodded, "Maybe ask Alex first though."
"Yeah, good thinking." Hannah agreed.
"You should really get some sleep now, Han. It's a busy day tomorrow."
****
"Goodmorning." Grace mumbled as she walked into the kitchen.
"Morning!" Hannah greeted chirpily, pushing a cup of coffee in Grace's hands.
"Thanks," Grace took a big gulp, hoping the coffee would kickstart her body, "Where's Alex?"
"Still asleep, for once." Hannah said, leaning over the toaster, "The one morning that she actually needs to be up, and the little princess decides to sleep in."
"Go wake her up then?" Grace said, checking her emails on her phone.
"I should, but she's finally sleeping, and in her own bed. I feel bad for having to wake her up. I'm giving her ten more minutes." Hannah said, bringing the toast over to Grace, "Here you go."
"Thanks babe." Grace mumbled, not looking up from the screen.
Hannah grinned widely. She wrapped her arms around Grace's shoulder and pressed a kiss on her cheek, "You're welcome babe."
Grace hummed, leaning her head back to rest on Hannah's shoulder.
"Are you happy Grace? Cause I'm happy, I'm really really happy." Hannah sighed, squeezing Grace a little tighter.
"Shut up Farto," Grace giggled, "Go wake up your kid, or you guys are gonna be late."
****
"How has your week been, ladies?" Christine asked.
"Rough." Hannah admitted, "We had a bad day yesterday."
"Oh, could you tell me what happened?" the older woman asked, looking at Alex.
The girl looked down at her feet, "I got scared."
"It wasn't your fault baby," Hannah assured her, "One of my friends thought it would be fun to sneak up on her with a water gun." She explained.
"I see," Christine nodded, "What happened after that?"
"Hannie yelled at Gracie." Alex said.
Hannah felt the guilt creep up on her, "But we made up, sweetie."
"And who's Gracie?" Christine questioned.
"She sleeps with Hannie."
Hannah blushed, "Uh, I... uh, it's not what it sounds like... she just spends the night sometimes... to sleep..." she stammered awkwardly.
Hannah heard Christine snort in amusement.
This is gonna be a loooong day!
****
"Miss Hart! So good to see you again," Ben, the social worker, shook her hand, "And look at you Alessandra! You look wonderful!"
Alex smiled bashfully, wringing her hands together.
"Take a seat, take a seat. I'm sorry for the clutter," He motioned towards the mess of papers on his desk, "Busy few weeks. So tell me, how have the last few weeks been?"
"It's been great," Hannah answered honestly, "We've had a few hard times, but we're making good progress."
"Wonderful! Now, I understand you're taking her to a psychiatrist?" Ben said, not looking up from the file, "How's that working out?"
"Good, Christine is really good with Alex."
"And what do you think Alessandra? How are you doing?" Ben asked.
Alex gave him a thumbs up.
"Great!" the man smiled, "So I'm just going to walk you through the things that will happen with the family judge, it should all be fairly routine."
****
"Oh, it smells super good in here!" Hannah commented when they got back home.
"Thanks!" Grace smiled, "Dinner should be ready in 20 minutes."
"Thank you dear." Hannah joked.
"How did it go with the social worker?" Grace asked.
"It was good, he just explained what's gonna happen next week."
Alex skipped into the kitchen and tugged on Hannah's shirt.
Hannah looked down at the girl who made some sort of weird motion with her thumb.
It always amazed Grace how good Hannah was with Alex. They could have entire conversations with just tugs and claps and looks.
"Can she go play outside with Goose?" Hannah asked Grace.
Grace nodded, and Hannah went with the girl to open the slide door.
"How was your day?" Hannah asked.
"Good! Chester called, he wanted to apologize, I told him to come over tonight."
"Uh, okay. I guess we need to apologize too, for yelling at him and stuff." The shorter woman mumbled.
"Hannah? If you don't want to see him, I'll just call it off, okay?"
"Yeah, I know. That's not it. I just, maybe Alex needs more time before she sees him again? I don't want to scare her again." Hannah worried.
"I told him to come around 10 PM, so we could be sure that Alex is asleep." Grace said, "I don't want him near Alex either. Not right away."
"You're perfect Gracie." Hannah smiled.
Grace blushed, "Shut up! Go wash up for dinner, idiot."
"Yes dear!" Hannah yelled, laughing as she ran out the kitchen.
"Eat shit Farto!"
****
"Thanks for letting me come over." Chester mumbled awkwardly, "I'm really sorry for what happened yesterday. I didn't think it through."
"It's okay Chester," Hannah said, "We're sorry too for yelling at you. I know it was just a mistake. I freaked out. So, sorry dude."
"Yeah, and I'm sorry for slamming the door in your face." Grace grimaced, "It was a dick move."
"It's fine, I understand, if that was my daughter I would have done the same."
"Hannie?" the adults looked up to see Alex hiding behind the doorpost.
"Hey baby, you shouldn't be up." Hannah walked over to the kid, and picked her up, " Let's get you back in bed, okay princess?"
"So..." Chester turned his attention back on Grace, "You and Hannah?"
"Don't go there Chester," Grace warned, "there's nothing to talk about."
"Oh come on!" the man teased, "You have to give me something!"
Grace shook her head, but couldn't help the smile on her face.
"Well, you look good, so whatever this 'nothing' is, keep doing it."
"Thanks Ches."
"She's down for now." Hannah mumbled as she walked back in and plopped down on the couch next to Grace and Chester.
"Want a beer?" Grace offered.
"Nah, she'll be up again in a few hours. I don't wanna scare her by being drunk." Hannah tiredly rubbed at her eyes.
"I don't wanna be mean, but Hannah you look like someone chewed you up and spit you back out." Chester commented.
"That's kinda how I feel dude," Hannah chuckled lowly, "I just wish Alex would sleep through the night for once." She sighed.
"Still not better huh?" Chester asked.
"Not at all." Hannah groaned, "I'm trying everything I can to help her and nothing works. It hurts to see her so scared. And I can't do anything about it! I don't know what to do anymore, guys. I feel like I'm failing her."
Grace rubbed her back, "Hannah, you're not failing her. You're doing the best you can. But Alex isn't an easy kid, she's got some issues. It'll take time. But you are an amazing parent to her."
"Yeah you're super good with her!" Chester agreed, "But, again, I don't wanna be mean, have you thought that maybe she might need more than time?" He gently said.
Hannah and Grace looked confused.
"I mean, she's been here for a while now," Chester went on, "and if nothing has changed, then maybe Alex needs something more... specialized? Like, they have these homes for troubled kids, right? I know it sounds awful, but, you have to be honest here, you can give her more time to adjust, sure, but how much time is too much?"
Neither of the three adults noticed the little girl in the doorway, clutching Mr. Bun-Bun in her arms.
"What?!" Hannah shrieked, jumping up from the couch, "You are not being serious, are you?"
Grace placed a hand on Hannah's arm, hoping to calm her down.
"You did not just suggest that I should get rid of MY CHILD?!"
Chester leaned away from Hannah, he had never seen the shorter woman so angry before.
"I don't care if I never sleep an entire night again, for the rest of my life! I will not throw Alessandra away like a piece of garbage! HOW DARE YOU EVEN SUGGEST THAT!" Hannah was livid.
"Hannah, babe, calm down." Grace tried. Chester looked like he was about to shit himself.
"I will not calm down! He's talking about getting rid of my daughter! MY DAUGHTER!" Hannah yelled.
"Sweetie, stop yelling, you'll wake Alex." Grace hushed her.
"Hannah, that's not..." Grace started.
"I don't want to hear it." Hannah interrupted, "Get out."
"But..."
"Get the fuck out of my house, Chester!"
They heard the door slam just after him seconds later.
"Can you believe him?!" Hannah started pacing around the living, "In my own fucking home!"
"Hannah, sit down." Grace said, "You need to calm yourself."
"I can't sit." Hannah mumbled, "I'm gonna check on Alex."
"No."
"No?" Hannah started to get angry again.
"No! You are too worked up Hannah! Sit your ass down, and I'll go check on her." Grace ordered.
Hannah realized Grace was right, but she didn't want to outright admit it. Grumbling, she sat down on the couch, watching Grace leave the room.
Hannah had never been this angry before in her life. She could have slapped Chester for suggesting something so, so horrible. Who the fuck leaves a child behind?!
"HANNAH! Hannah! Alex isn't here!"