Inferno

~27~ Gentle

Ellie's POV

Watching my son meet his daughter for the first time was a beautiful and devastating experience. The three of us watched as he went over to her and sat down. We couldn't hear what he was saying, but after a moment she looked at him. That moment was one I will never forget. She looked up at him, and the two just studied each other. Saying nothing. They studied each other for at least a minute. Alex grabs my hand and we just stand there, watching our son watch his daughter.

She then silently hands him a Barbie. He takes it, and silently starts playing with it. It doesn't look awkward. It looks gentle.

Alex and I are still holding hands, watching our kid and our grandkid. After a while I look up at Taylor. His eyes are glistening with unshed tears. He sees me and smiles. He feels it too. The gentleness. This kid of ours has been terrified. He has barely spoken at all since yesterday. And now he's sitting down and playing barbies with a girl he doesn't know. His daughter.

After awhile the social worker goes up to Savannah and kneels down to her level. A moment later, Savannah looks around. Liam watches her as she sees us. The moment her eyes lock on mine I just know. She is going to have my entire heart, in a matter of minutes.

She just stares. No expression on her face; she's just staring at me. I silently go over to her and sit down next to her. When she throws herself onto my lap, I want to cry. I want to take her pain on for her. She has just lost her momma. She's trying her best to find comfort in a woman's arms. Wishing they were her momma's hugging her back.

I don't break the embrace until she does. When she invites me to play, I accept gladly. Liam watches us play. He is so overwhelmed right now that I have no idea where his head is at.

We play barbies for quite a while. Before I know it, it's lunchtime.

Alex and Taylor come over to her, then, and kneel to her level. They've been silently watching us this entire time.

"Hi Savannah, I'm Alex. This is Taylor. We're getting pretty hungry. Are you?" Alex asks gently. This is the first time he's truly seen her face, up close. He's staring at his granddaughter for the first time.

She just nods silently.

"Do you like McDonald's?" He asks with a smile.

She nods silently again.

"Good. It's my favorite. We were going to get some food and bring it back. What's your favorite thing to eat from McDonald's?" He asks.

At first I don't think she's going to answer him. He just waits patiently with his smile on his face.

Finally she sighs, and quietly says "chicken nuggets"

Alex nods, his smile still there. "Ok. We will go get you some and be right back, ok?"

She says nothing, she just looks at the ground. They both leave silently.

While they are gone, she silently plays with her barbies. She's organizing them into different groups. She puts their clothes in certain piles; shoes in others. She's very focused on what she's doing.

"Where should I put these shoes?" Liam asks her after a while.

She looks at what he has, and then looks back at him. "Here" she says, pointing to the pile she wants them in.

He nods and puts them where she said.

The guys come back and we sit at the little kid table to eat.

"I forgot to ask you what kind of drink you like, so we got a few different ones. Is there any here you want?" Alex asks gently.

She just nods and grabs the chocolate milk. We eat in silence, trying to decide how much we should do. How much we should say. Liam doesn't hardly eat a thing. He just picks at a few fries.