Finding a Family

Chapter 28

April's POV
It was our first day back to class after our week long fall break. Unfortunately, I had heard that a lot happened in that week.  During break I was contacted by a lawyer who was representing Hannah's parents. He told me that Hannah had been taken away from Freddie and Alan and put into a foster home. The lawyer asked me if I would be willing to testify on behalf of Hannah's parents at the trial. Of course I agreed. I couldn't understand why anyone would think Freddie and Alan were unfit parents. They love Hannah so much and have helped her make so much progress. She is a much different girl than the terrified one who was clinging to her fathers on the first day of school; she is much more social and confident and has been doing well academically. I suspected their sexuality had something to do with the situation. The fact that Hannah's parents were gay certainly didn't bother me. To me all that mattered was that Hannah had two loving parents that gave her a home. Some parents made side comments here and there but overall nobody seemed to take issue with their sexuality.

As I got ready for class to start I was both eager and nervous for Hannah to arrive. I figured she would be pretty shaken up being that she had been taken away from her parents but I also wanted to meet her foster parents. I was curious to see who was taking care of Hannah and I wanted to make sure she was in good hands. It baffled me to see that she wasn't placed with her grandparents given that they were foster parents themselves. Before I knew it, my students were walking through the door. Many were excited to be back in school but others were missing being on break. Ryan was helping the students getting settled at their desks as I was waiting near the door for Hannah to arrive. A couple minutes later Hannah walked in somberly with the saddest expression on her face as a man and woman trailed behind. As soon as she saw me, Hannah ran up to me and wrapped her arms around me. "Miss April!" she said relived. "Oh, hey there sweetheart," I said a little taken aback. Hannah had never been this affectionate with me. "How are you Hannah?" I asked as I stroked her hair. "I want to go home," she said in a tearful voice. "Oh I know sweetheart, I know things haven't been easy," I said to her. Hannah's foster parents had a defeated look on their face, I imagine it couldn't have been easy taking care of a child who was so homesick. "Sweetheart, why don't you go sit with Mr. Ryan while we have a chat," I said to her gently. Right on cue Ryan walked over and invited Hannah to sit with the rest of the students. Hannah reluctantly let go of me and went with Ryan.

"Hello, you must be Hannah's foster parents, I'm April, one of Hannah's teachers," I said as I reached out to shake their hands. "Hi. I'm Jack and this is my wife Annie. We've been looking after Hannah," the man replied. "How have things been going?" I asked gently. "Well, it hasn't been easy. Hannah has been very sad and she really misses her parents. There are so many things that we don't know about Hannah and we are still learning how to best take care of her," Annie said solemnly. "I know this can't be easy. Let me know if there is any way I can help you," I replied. "Thank you, we really appreciate that. It seems like Hannah is comfortable with you," Annie said. "It wasn't always like that, there was a time when Hannah hated coming here," I replied. "Well, I guess we'll get going then. You'll call us if there is any issues?" Jack asked. "Of course. I'm sure everything will be fine," I reassured them.

As the day went on, I was heart broken to see how sad and depressed Hannah was. She had a flat expression on her face and appeared as if she was mentally somewhere else. I did not see her smile once and nothing seemed to be able to perk her up. Ryan and I tried to engage with her but Hannah just looked at us with her sad eyes without saying anything. Katie tried to play with her but Hannah wasn't interested. "Miss April, Hannah doesn't want to play with me. Maybe she doesn't like me anymore," Katie said to me sadly. "She's just a little sad today sweetheart. Sometimes when people are sad they don't want to talk to anyone and just be by themselves," I explained. "Oh," Katie said defeatedly. "Tell you what, how about you come help me get things ready for our art project. Would that make you feel better?" I asked Katie. Katie's face lit up and she excitedly followed me to the art supplies.

The day had come to an end and the parents were arriving to pick up their children. Katie's parents had arrived and were helping her getting her things together. As she was gathering her things Katie walked up to me with a colorful paper in her hand, "Miss April, I made a card for Hannah so she wouldn't be sad anymore. Could you give it to her?" she said to me. "Oh that's very sweet of you Katie, but why don't you give it to her sweetheart?" I replied. "Maybe she wants to be alone still," Katie said nervously. "Oh honey, I think she might appreciate your card, how about you and I give it to her together," I suggested. "Katie slowly walked up to Hannah who was sitting with Ryan as I followed behind. "Hannah, Miss April told me you were sad. I made you a card to help you feel better," Katie said as she held out her card. "Oh that was very nice of you Katie, wasn't it Hannah," Ryan said as he took the card and gave it to Hannah. "Mmm hmm, thank you," Hannah said sadly. "Katie that was very nice of you and it's a very pretty card. Hannah is just still pretty sad and I don't think she feels like talking right now," Ryan said to Katie.

I walked Katie back to her parents who were waiting with her things, "that was very kind of you Katie. Hannah just needs sometime to feel better," I said to her gently. Katie's parents looked concerned when they looked over and saw how sad Hannah was. "Is everything okay with Hannah?" Katie's father Scott asked. "Hannah has had some things happen at home that have made her a pretty upset," I said being careful not to say too much in front of Katie. The next thing I knew I heard Hannah crying, "NO! I wanna stay here! I don't want to go with them. Mr. Ryan, don't let them take me," I heard her cry. I looked over and saw that Annie and Jack had arrived to pick up Hannah. She was clinging to Ryan, sobbing, and begging him not to let them take her. I walked over to them to see if I could being of any help in the situation. "Hannah, honey what's the matter?" I asked her gently. "Miss April don't let them take me," she sobbed. "Sweetheart why don't you want to go with them? " Ryan asked her as he held her. "I want to go home! With Daddy and Papa! What if they come here?" she sobbed. "Sweetheart, I know you want to go home with Daddy and Papa but right now you have to go with Jack and Annie," Ryan said gently to her. Hannah looked at me desperately, "honey, right now you can't go home, I'm sorry but you have to go with Jack and Annie," I said to her. Jack gently pulled her from Ryan and Hannah started screaming, "NO, NO, NO! I WANT DADDY AND PAPA! I WANT DADDY AND PAPA!" Hannah continued screaming as Jack carried her out of the classroom. You could heard her cries and screams down the hallway. Ryan and I looked at each other both shaken up by what we had just witnessed. We looked over as saw the Katie was standing there with her parents frozen in fear. "Mommy, Daddy, who were they? Where's Hannah's Daddy and Papa?" she cried as she buried herself in her mother's arms. "Oh Katie, sweetheart, I know that must have been pretty scary to see," I said gently to her. "Some strangers took Hannah. Where are Hannah's Daddy and Papa?" she asked with tears in her eyes. "Katie, right now there are some grown up things going on. Right now Hannah can't live with her Daddy and Papa so she is living with foster parents for a little while until the grown up things can get sorted out," I gently explained to her. "Hannah misses her Daddy and Papa very much, that is why she was so sad today," Ryan explained. "Katie everything will be alright. Hannah is being well taken care of and I'm sure she'll be back with her parents very soon," Scott said as he picked up Katie. Katie nuzzled into her fathers neck and continued to cry as her father did his best to soothe her. "I'm so sorry Katie had to see that," I said sympathetically. "It's okay, I can't even imagine how tough it's been on Hannah," Katie's mother, Liz said. "Sweetheart, I'll see you tomorrow," I said as I put my hand on Katie's shoulder. "B..bye Miss April," she said through her tears. After Katie and her parents left Ryan and I looked at each other both defeated by the whole day. "My goodness, poor Hannah," Ryan said. "I know, it breaks my heart to see her like this," I replied. After witnessing what Hannah was going through I knew I had to help in any way I could to make sure she got home. She belonged with her parents and I don't understand how any one could think differently.