Abandoned and Recovered

Chapter 9

"Is 'Uffin!" squealed Sadie after seeing her favorite cartoon come on the TV.

Ava laughed lightly from the couch. The two were having a lazy morning with the tiny girl dressed in only a diaper and her t-shirt and the older woman also still in her sleepwear.

"Mamamamama" babbled the baby as she bounced up and down happily.

The past several days had been spent inside with Sadie becoming more comfortable with her new and improved life. Ava was happy to see the girl open up, relax, and grow accustomed to living as the baby she truly was.

Though there was still a ways to go emotionally and mentally, progress was being made.

A series of knocks on the front door drew the black haired woman's attention, but her little girl was too wrapped up in her show to pay attention.

Not wanting to make a big deal about her leaving the living area, Ava simply stood and made her way over to the entrance.

She glanced behind her to ensure that the girl was still distracted and slowly opened the door slightly.

At first, Ava thought her mind was playing tricks on her. The sight of Victoria in front of her was almost too unbelievable.

Both women simply stared at one another as if waiting for the other to speak first.

Finally, the brunette cleared her throat and held up a trash bag in her left hand.

"Hey. I brought this. You never answered my text, so I thought I'd just drop it off."

Ava was dumbfounded at the audacity of the woman to appear at her home uninvited.

"Oh" she mumbled out lamely after a moment.

Victoria looked a mixture of confusion and nervousness at the brief response. She swung the bag in her hand back and forth slightly at the awkwardness that radiated between them.

"So...do you want it?"

The black haired woman nodded slightly after another pause and held her hand out expectantly.

"She's still with you then" came the flat statement.

"What?" said Ava, slightly startled.

"You've still got her. You wouldn't take the stuff if she wasn't here. I figured you couldn't let her go."

Now the older woman was truly speechless.

Before she could respond, however, a wary voice called out to her.

"Mama? Whew 'ou?" called Sadie.

Ava suddenly came to and whipped around to face the little girl.

"Stay in the living room, Sadie" she said seriously.

The tone of her caretaker caused the girl to stop her crawling abruptly. She could tell the woman was agitated but was unsure why.

Ava stepped back slightly with the bag in hand and tossed the thing over a ways towards the kitchen. She would normally be more careful with what could potentially be inside, but was far more worried about a confrontation between her little girl and Victoria.

Unfortunately, the latter had heard the voice from inside the apartment. Her expression quickly switched to an unsettlingly amused look.

Boldly, the brunette side-stepped around her former friend and into the baby's line of sight.

Sadie's confused expression instantly turned to terror at seeing who was keeping her Mama preoccupied. Victoria's smile only seemed to grow at the reaction.

"Mama? You've got to be kidding me" she laughed humorlessly.

The tiny redhead began to tear up at seeing the source of her past abuse reappear suddenly at what she now considered her safe space.

"Get out" came Ava's low voice. "I'm serious about this, Victoria. Let it go."

The other woman simply ignored the command and stood defiant.

"You're lucky, Sadie. Lucky that someone's willing to keep you" came the shaky voice. "I did everything for you! I gave you everything I had and more. You were a whiny fucking brat that always wanted more than she deserved."

"Out!" roared Ava from behind.

"I came here to tell you that. It's not about the stupid shit in the bag, it's about telling you to get the fuck out of here and stop wasting everyone's lives! You aren't a fucking baby and you just..."

Anger seemed to overcome the woman as she was unable to finish her thoughts. She simply clenched her fists as Ava's angry voice could be heard in the back of her mind. She felt a hand grip her shoulder roughly and, without a second thought, the brunette broke from the grip and rushed forward.

Sadie screamed in terror as a hard kick landed on the side of her face. A flurry of kicks followed the first as she felt her face, neck, and torso being hit repeatedly. The girl could only wail and cry out in pain and fear from the assault.

Though a number of kicks had already landed on the baby, Ava was finally able to grab the out of control woman and drag her from the apartment and away from her little. Once the two were in the hallway, the oldest woman released her hold on the thrashing brunette and dashed back inside.

She promptly closed and locked the door as Victoria wildly beat her fist from the outside.

"Fuck you both! Fucking assholes! Sadie you stupid bitch!"

The words were muffled slightly but not enough to be easily tuned out. Ava leaned back against the door in a daze as she felt the vibrations from the poundings and heard the curses of her ex-friend and petrified shrieks from her baby.

"MAMA! OWIE! PEE NO HUW' NO PEE!"

Ava breathed in and out deeply as she attempted to regain some level of control over herself. Everything seemed to be out of focus and spiraling at the moment.

"MAMA!" screamed the tiny girl as she laid on the floor in pain.

Ava pushed herself off the door shakily before regaining her composure and moving towards the baby with purpose. She reached down and began to check over the girl as best she could with her flailing and crying.

A welt would likely appear on the side of her face from the first kick, and the older woman felt sick from the turmoil they had just endured. Despite this, she pushed through and continued to silently check her baby. After several moments, she surmised that, thankfully, bruises appeared to be the only lasting result of the attack.

"God...I'm so sorry, Sadie" she said trying to wipe away the girl's tears as she dropped to the floor in front of her.

"So sorry..." she whispered out as she began trying to comfort the distraught girl.

—

Ava sighed tiredly as she laid down in bed and turned off the light. Her baby girl was sleeping soundly in her crib; and for that the woman was incredibly thankful. The day had been severely taxing on them both, and the older woman was looking forward to getting some rest.

Unbeknownst to Ava, once she had fallen asleep, Sadie sat up in her crib and rubbed at her eyes. The girl looked over sadly at the woman who was sleeping peacefully only a few feet away.

Victoria's words had cut deep, and she found herself unable to refute them no matter how hard she tried. Sleep was not an option for her as thoughts raced in and out of her mind.

In the short time they had spent together, Ava had spent so much time and money on her. The woman had tried so hard to take care of her and seemingly put her life on hold.

Guilt gnawed at the tiny girl as she sat in her bed. Hesitantly, she climbed out of her crib before dropping gently to the floor below. She held Booboo tightly in one hand and suckled softly on her pacifier.

Carefully, she exited the bedroom and headed towards her shoes and the front door. As she was wearing a pair of footie pants and her anchor onesie, she simply needed to put her Vans on to be ready.

Taking one last look behind her, the girl despondently opened the door and headed out of the apartment building and onto the deserted Boston street.