Page 57 of Nyx

"I have," she says, her voice lifting a little. "They're super nice people, and I have supervised visitation."

"That's procedure, and has nothing to do with you as a person. They have protocols and have to follow them to the letter."

It's not a hundred percent true. Some kids aren't removed at all, but in her case there had to have been something that raised a red flag, leading them to believe it was in Aleah's best interest to go through that process instead of staying with Kayla.

"Do you have kids?"

I shake my head. "I don't."

"So you don't know what it's like to lose them," she says, but there's no hatefulness in her tone.

She sniffles, wiping her nose with the tissue.

"I feel like such a failure."

"You're taking the proper steps to make sure she has a wonderful life, but it is a process. I'm not going to lie to you and tell you that she'll be back with you in a couple of weeks. But so long as you do all the things they're asking of you, the end goal in these situations is always reunification with a parent."

"How long can it take? She's going to forget who I am."

I give her a soft smile. "She won't forget you because you're going to attend every supervised visitation. You're going to do the classes, get the counseling, and participate in safety planning. All the things to make sure you're not just jumping through their hoops, but that you're learning what it takes to keep a child safe. Sometimes it can take up to a year."

Her eyes widen. "A year! I can't go without her that long."

"We're here to help," I assure her. "We can help things move a little faster, but just because the classes are taken and the steps are complete doesn't mean that Aleah will immediately be returned to your care."

"What else is there if that's the case?"

I sit back in my chair, hating that I feel like I'm just hitting her over and over with information she doesn't want to hear.

"We have your case notes," I say, placing my hand over the closed folder sitting on my desk.

Her eyes drop to it before lifting back up to mine.

"They didn't take Aleah the first time you reported the abuse. They didn't take her the second or third time. They took her this last time because you've shown a history of returning to your abusive partner."

She drops her head into her hands, sobs racking her body.

"We're not here to beat you down," I assure her. "Quite the opposite. But for the state to return Aleah, you have to prove that you won't put her back into a dangerous situation. I'm new to Juniper House, but I have extensive experience working in women's shelters. I'm not going to sugarcoat anything. It doesn't help you at all."

She continues to sob, and I wait for her to get a little better handle on her emotions. I learned long ago that trying to hug or console an abuse victim through touch doesn't always go well, so I don't make a move to go around my desk to her.

After a few moments, she sniffles, raising her bloodshot eyes up to me.

"He promised he had changed."

"I know he did."

"Things were okay for a while."

"I know."

"He was going to go to classes."

"But never had the time to get them done?"

She nods, sadness filling her already tormented eyes. "He's never going to change."

"It takes a lot of time, education, and consistency for someone to change."