Finding Lilibeth

Once breakfast was finished Gramps informed Lilibeth that Mark Little would be coming to check on her. Immediately Lilibeth got scared, she thought he was involved in selling her. She didn't trust him anymore and didn't want to speak to him. "Do I have to see him?" Lilibeth whispered to Gramps with tears forming in her eyes. "I will be with you the entire time and we can ask for another social worker so you won't have to see him again" Gramps reassured the girl by gently squeezing her hand. Lilibeth nodded her head in understanding but still was unsure. "How about you go play till I call you? I will speak to Mr Little first" Gramps stated. "I don't have anything to play. I left my skateboard and bike with Darren" Lilibeth mumbled.

Gramps looked at Dj and then back at Lilibeth. "Ok well then my little Beth after the social worker leaves we are going shopping for toys" Gramps told Lilibeth smiling at her. "For now, Zac can play cards with you, no cheating Zac" Gramps warned playfully. Lilibeth smiled at Gramps then looked at Zac "you don't need to play, I'll just wait in my room" Lilibeth mumbled to Zac. She didn't want to force anyone to play with her when they didn't want to. "I want to play cards with you Lili" Zac told his sister sitting next to her. Lilibeth peaked up at her brother and saw him smiling at her, she gave a small nod and Zac took her hand leading her to the lounge room so they could play a game of go fish or snap.

"Dj, I'm proud of you for getting your sister out of that house. I don't know how much longer she would of survived" Gramps told his eldest grandson. "I know. I'm just grateful that you were able to help. If you hadn't of taken me in when dad kicked me out, I would be just like Beau" Dj stated shaking his head. Darren had never wanted kids and Dj had taken the brunt of the hatred to spare his other siblings. Beau had been taken under Darren's wings as a way to hurt Dj and it did until he had gone away to study and was able to look at things clearly. Dj knew that Lilibeth would also be on the receiving end of Darren's hatred as she was the youngest and Darren had told them all he no longer had to raise children. That was part of the reason Dj had returned, just to check if Lilibeth was safe or not.

Zac and Lilibeth were playing snap together. Lilibeth had played this before at her school and she knew she was good at it. Zac was competitive though and wanted to win. Both of them were so involved in the game that they didn't hear when Gramps, Dj and Mr Little entered the room so Mark could speak with Lilibeth. Mark was glad to see Lilibeth smiling and playing as he hadn't seen her like that before. "Snap" Lilibeth squealed out when she slap her hand down on the cards leaving Zac with none. "You cheated" Zac called out causing Dj and Gramps to laugh. If Zac didn't win he accused people of cheating. "Did not" Lilibeth called out and then spun around to see who else was in the room.

Lilibeth saw Mr Little and lowered her eyes to the ground. She curled into herself as well making herself seem smaller as not to draw attention to herself. "Good to see you again Lilibeth" Mr Little stated not noticing the girls body language. Gramps did and so did Dj and both stepped towards Lilibeth to offer there support. "We need to have a chat Lilibeth so how about you and I go somewhere private?" Mark stated without reading the room, he was so nervous that he didn't stop and look what was happening. "You can speak to my granddaughter will myself or Dj present" Julian boomed out causing Mark to step back a little and see what was right in front of him.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable Lilibeth. I just want to make sure you are ok here" Mark tried to clarify. "Lilibeth is fine here. You failed to see she was not when she was in the care of Darren" Julian spoke up. "You saw her engaging with Zac and having fun. Did you ever witness that while she was in the care of Darren?" Julian asked. "Uh no?" Mark said well more like questioned. "Right, now if Lilibeth still requires a social worker, you will make sure it be someone else next visit. Lilibeth clearly isn't comfortable with you" Julian added. Julian wasn't going to allow someone into his home that Lilibeth didn't feel comfortable with no matter who it was. "Yes sir, my boss will be in contact. Lilibeth I'm very sorry that I let you down and made you feel uncomfortable" Mark stated before going to leave.

"You didn't help when I was in hospital. I ran away, they sold me and you didn't help" Lilibeth whispered out but everyone heard her. "I didn't know. I should of spoken to you Lilibeth. I was wrong" Mark stated before excusing himself. He was happy that Lilibeth was safe now but he was also ashamed that he hadn't bothered to question her when she ended up in hospital.

"I'm proud of you my little Beth" Julian told Lilibeth. Lilibeth looked to her Gramps not sure why he was proud. "You spoke up for yourself and for that I am proud" Gramps clarified earning a smile from Lilibeth. "And I believe we now have a date with a toy shop. Let's get some shoes on and go buy some toys and maybe some lunch" Gramps added before walking towards the shoe rack at the door to retrieve Lilibeth's shoes.

Gramps, Dj, Zac and Lilibeth headed to toy store so Lilibeth could pick out some toys. Lilibeth had only ever had a few board games and books even when she was with her mother. When Lilibeth saw everything she was shocked, she couldn't believe how many toys there actually were. Zac grabbed her another bike knowing the one at there dads place would be long gone along with a skateboard and a helmet. Dj headed to get board games and Lilibeth was happy just looking at everything. Gramps stayed beside Lilibeth trying to get her to pick something for herself. Eventually Lilibeth picked out a nail polish set and tie dye kit. She had looked at the beanie babies for a while so Gramps got a few for her.

When they arrived home Lilibeth tried to refuse all the things they had brought but Gramps wasn't taking no for an answer. Lilibeth deserved a happy, normal childhood and he would give her one. That included having toys and not having to be scared in her own home. He would make sure of it. Zac even let Lilibeth paint his nails and helped to paint her nails as well.