A Father's Love

Chapter 29

    They arrived at the park early Saturday for the team photos. The parents of their team were glad theirs was scheduled before the game instead of after when the kids would have gotten dirty. Luke didn't really care one way or another if Shelby's uniform was clean. Sure, he cared for her school pictures, but if it involved sports, it didn't matter. With sports, one can get a little dirty, especially if it's a kid. Over the last year of being a parent, Luke learned to back off whenever his kid and dirt crossed paths. As long as Shelby wasn't eating or licking it, it didn't matter.

Luke and Rachel agreed Saturday night would be the best time to try having Shelby sleep over at Rachel's. One, the kid was usually tired from T-ball, and being tired may help her be able to sleep through the night. Plus, she needed a good night's rest the night before her game, and if Shelby did struggle, she wouldn't be awake enough and able to focus during the game.

Luke thought it would be best if he brought Shelby over there. He made sure Shelby had everything she needed or wanted. This time, Shelby brought both Pikachu and Maggie. Luke asked Madison for any advice they could use to help her feel at ease. She gave a few suggestions, but most importantly Madison told him to make sure Rachel was calm, comforting, and patient, and to make sure Shelby knew the feelings she had were normal, and to be prepared if Shelby wanted to come home early.

"Since she's comfortable in your home now, maybe try packing something that will remind her of home. Photos are excellent, like maybe one of you," she suggested. "When I take a kid from their home, they bring along a stuffed animal or a security blanket."

"Shelby doesn't have a security blanket. She still has Pikachu, and now she has a stuffed kitten she got for her birthday."

"Those could help. I've also had a child who held onto her mother's shirt because it had the mother's scent on it and that helped the child soothe herself whenever she got scared."

Luke stared, dumbfounded. Finally he asked, "You want me to pack one of my shirts so Shelby could hold on to it?"

"I'm just listing off ideas as they come to mind. You don't have to use all of them, you know."

He sighed under his breath. "I know. I'm sorry. I appreciate the help, really."

"It's okay. I was just giving you a hard time," she assured him. "Besides, you wouldn't believe the many ways I've seen these kids learn how to self-soothe. Most of them don't have anyone to comfort them and reassure them they're safe. In fact, I remember when Shelby was two years old, she would curl into a ball and cover her ears whenever something scared her. She would sit there frozen stiff, unable to move. Sometimes it lasted up to two hours."

Luke's eyebrows rose upon hearing a coping strategy his own kid used to do.

"I saw less of it as Shelby got older. Usually, she'd prefer to duck under or behind furniture. If that wasn't an option, she'd use it again."

Luke thanked Madison and let her go. The guy was just a nervous wreck about the sleepover as Shelby was, if not more.

It wasn't like Shelby didn't want to do it. She enjoyed spending time with her mom and wanted to be able to spend the night, as well. It was having to sleep alone in her own room what was terrifying her. Luke tried to ask what scared her about being alone, but he figured she was still too young to explain her feelings. All she could say was the dark scared her and that she didn't like being alone. When he asked Madison about that, too, she took a guess that it may have been always sharing a room with a foster sibling and never really had the chance to sleep alone, but then she remembered the times whenever she slept alone whenever Shelby slept in her hiding spots. Possibly Shelby could have picked up that problem once Luke got custody and the close quarters of his apartment got her used to it, or it might be a feeling of abandonment. Whatever it was, Madison told him it was good they were tackling this now when Shelby was still small, instead of waiting down the road before it could develop into worse problems for her.