Once Abandoned, Now Found

Chapter 11

A/N: Hi everyone! Sorry about the delay, I had to deal with some stuff and then make arrangements for the new lockdown as I can't leave my house for the next month now.

Here's chapter 11; chapter 12 and some more photos of their shopping trip will be up soon!

Maggie and Danni thought that they would be spending a lot, up until the toy store they had; plenty of clothes, shoes and furniture, all chosen by Alex. But what they weren't expecting was Alex to end up crying and screaming in the middle of the toy store.

Up until then the shopping trip and gone perfectly fine, Alex had a selection of plates and cutlery, diapers, a new changing mat, fluffy towels, and everything else a little would need. In the toy store, everything went to hell.

"P'ease no! P'ease!" Alex begged, choking on her sobs as she stood there and cried.

The eventful and expensive day had finally hit her, and she was too overwhelmed to make any choices or think clearly.

Maggie and Danni stood lost for words, glancing at each other before turning their attention back to the very upset little.

Alex's screams had turned into strangled gasps for breath as she began to hyperventilate. The two women knew they had to do something, but they didn't know what, everything had been fine until they reached the toy store.

"P'ease" Alex forced out, sliding to the floor, no longer having the energy to stand up.

Danni had an idea and quickly ran off, leaving Maggie to try and console the baby.

"We can't help you unless you tell us what's wrong baby," Maggie said gently, crouching near Alex but not touching her.

Alex's brain couldn't formulate the thoughts she needed to turn into words, it was just too much, there were too many toys, all she wanted to do was go home and cuddle with Teggs in a blanket. She was scared that Maggie and Danni would take her new things away from her, she was scared that they would turn out like them. She was scared that perhaps they were just as nice, caring and lovely as they seemed. She was scared that maybe, just maybe, she had a home.

Alex just couldn't stop crying but refused to let Maggie touch her to hug her, offer some comfort. Her fears were two ends of the same spectrum, clashing violently in her head.

At the sound of footsteps, Maggie turned to see Danni holding a fluffy blue blanket, it already unwrapped and flowing free. Danni slowly approached Alex, who was now crying on the floor, picking her up in the blanket and swaddling her tightly. Alex wanted to cry out but the blanket made her feel so secure, so safe, that leaving it was now the last thing she wanted.

Her cries quickly turned to sniffles as she burrowed deeper into the blanket. Once Alex was calmer, Danni pulled the little onto her hip, guiding Alex's face to her neck where it was darker.

"That's better isn't it bubs? No more crying" Danni soothed, rocking her hips to help pacify Alex.

"How" Maggie mouthed at Danni, not believing how quick the change in Alex had occurred.

Danni stood swaying her hips for about ten minutes, letting Alex calm down at her pace, so when they spoke, Alex could understand.

After ten minutes Alex's breathing was even, and she had begun to mutter words into Danni's neck.

"Now baby, do you think you can tell us what happened? You're not in trouble" Maggie asked as Danni gently twisted Alex so that they could see her face. She was bright red, her eyes bloodshot, hair messy, nose sniffly, with big tear tracks running down her cheeks and neck.

"'Oo much" Alex explained, blinking slowly as she readjusted to the store lights.

"Was the noise too much, the lights, the choices?" Maggie asked again, wanting to get the specific cause so that the meltdown could be avoided in the future.

"Everythin'."

"I bad?" Alex questioned, looking up at the two women for reassurance.

"No baby, you're not bad, you're so very good. We don't get in trouble for having meltdowns because we know you can't help it, just like your nightmares." Danni said softly, bouncing the girl gently.

"Would you like to go home darling, we can come back another time?" Maggie offered, not wanting to cause Alex any more upset.

"Teggs need f'end" Alex declared, wiggling out of the blanket slightly to shake Teggs at them.

"Okay baby, how about this. Teggs gets a new friend, you get a toy to play with, and we all choose one book to read at bedtimes? Then we all get something but there isn't as much to do today."

Maggie's suggestion worked, and soon she and her girlfriend found themselves following a tottering girl around the toy store as she looked for Teggs' new friend.

They stopped in an aisle full of stuffed animals, sorted into sections such as "farmyard", "safari", "prehistoric". Maggie and Danni were pretty sure that Alex had no idea what any of the words meant, but she liked the toys.

Alex wandered up and down the aisle, carefully examining every creature until she stopped suddenly and grinned at the women.

"F'end" she said proudly, pointing at something on a shelf.

Alex had chosen a giant stegosaurus, comically bigger than Teggs, and probably close to Alex's size.

"Are you sure baby, he's very big?" Danni asked, wanting to make sure that they didn't buy a giant toy for nothing.

"F'end" Alex asserted, pointing again at the giant dinosaur.

"Alright darling, you can have the giant dinosaur" Maggie was still trying not to laugh, it only becomes harder when Alex designated Danni to carry Teggs' new friend.

"Stop laughing" Danni huffed. Even though the toy wasn't big for Danni, the fact that Alex was skipping ahead with Teggs while Danni lumbered around with a giant toy, it was just funny.

Alex decided on a train set for herself, and she spent the rest of the shopping trip attempting to make train noises. Attempting, because at least to Maggie and Danni, they were just random noises that occasionally sounded like "chug-chug".

The book was all that was left, and no surprise to anyone, it was a dinosaur book. Well, books. Alex convinced Maggie and Danni that it would be much better to have the Harry and His Bucketful of Dinosaurs set rather than just one book, and who are they to argue with the dinosaur expert.