Taylor Swift AU.
Ruben is only 4- and yet she has bounced around families and houses for most of her life. Her mother was only 17 when Ruben was born, giving her baby girl up without a second thought or a glance and the tiny, fragile, delicate bein...
Ruben sat on the floor by my couch petting Olivia gently. Benji circled her, trying to get to Olivia which worried me but the small girl found it hilarious. She giggled away at the cats happily, not a glimmer of worry in her eyes. I pulled out my phone and snapped a photo of the moment.
I looked up at Sam, who had been in contact with me the last couple of days, with an excited smile on my face. He just nodded and smiled too, as if to tell me that Ruben and I were going to have a lot of fun together.
"Alright Ru, I'm gonna head off now." Sam announced. She pouted. "Taylor has my number, she can give me a ring at any time if somethings wrong, OK?" He said pointing at me. I nodded at the girl too. She frowned but accepted, so she got up and ran over to Sam. She wrapped her little arms around him and gave him a hug. "Thank you, sweetheart. You have fun yeah?" He said, earning a nod from her.
Sam and I exchanged a smile again.
He walked out, singing a cheerful goodbye to the little girl now at my feet. She looked up at me once the door closed. "Hello," I said to her. She ran back over to Olivia and dropped to her knees, crawling around with her.
I pulled out my phone again to text my mom.
Mom
Hey Ma She arrived and she's cuter than ever! She loves Olivia
اوووه! هذه الصورة لا تتبع إرشادات المحتوى الخاصة بنا. لمتابعة النشر، يرجى إزالتها أو تحميل صورة أخرى.
Oh Taylor I'm so happy for you
She's perfect
I put my phone back in my pocket to focus my attention back on Ruben. "Do you need anything, sweetie? Are you hungry? Thirsty? Tired?" I asked, taking a seat on the couch. She shook her head, not glancing up from the cat. "What's his name?" She asked. "This one's a girl actually, her names Olivia, but I call her Dibbles." I explained.
"That one?" Ruben asked, pointing at Benj. "Oh, This one's the boy. He's the baby. His name's Benjamin." I said, grabbing him and putting him on my lap. I could see Ruben looking around, presumably for Meredith. "The other cat hides under my bed, if you're looking for her. Her names Mere, and she's grumpy."
"Oh," She giggled.
The girl continued to play by the fireplace with the cats for a while. I had no idea what time she would eat dinner, I was hoping she'd just become hungry and tell me but she hadn't. It was beginning to near 5 O'Clock, so I decided I just make something and she can eat it now or heat it up later.
I wanted to start a routine, to create a sense or normality in her life so I noted what time I started cooking.
Once Ruben realized I had left she came over to the kitchen. "What are you doing?" A little voice below me asked. "I'm cooking some spaghetti," I said peering down at her. "Can I see?"
"Sure!" I bent down and picked the girl up from the floor and sat her down on the counter beside the stove top. I grabbed the jar of mixed herbs and handed it to Ruben. "Wanna pour a tiny bit in?" I asked, holding out the glass bottle.
So many things could go wrong right now, but what the hell? Kids aren't gonna learn anything if you baby them their whole life.
She nodded and shook the herbs gently over the pan. "Great job! That's the perfect amount!" I praised and took the jar back. Ruben smiled and clapped her hands together. "Are you hungry?" I asked again. She shrugged. "When did you have lunch?"
"Sam got me before I could have any. I didn't want to eat it anyway." She said. "Breakfast?" I asked. "Mhm, I had soup."
"Well, in this household it's very important we eat at every meal. It doesn't matter if you don't finish. Just as long as you had enough to fill you up." I explained. "What if I'm not hungry?" Ruben asked. "Then you just eat a little bit. As long as somethings going in that tummy," I said playfully poking it with the clean end of my wooden spoon. The girl laughed and wrapped her arms around her core.
One thing I've noticed about Ruben, is that she's awfully extraverted for a four year old foster kid. Through all my training you're taught to really not expect a child like this. I mean, of course there's always outliers but they did tell us just because they're showing one thing on the exterior doesn't mean that's how they feel on the inside. And that slightly worries me. But all I can do for now is just be here, and hope I can help her when and if she needs.
"Taylor, can we put on our jammies after 'is?" She asked, kicking her legs back and forth. "Oh for sure. We could watch a movie too!" I nodded eagerly. It's nice to have someone I can share my inner child with, even if it is actually a child.
