Following from May 2004…

June 2004…
Sista Phreckle decides that she is ready to be a mom again. What a load of crap.
In July, I see that Phrecklette is losing weight and that her dark circles are worse. She's not being dressed at all, she's not going outside to play, she's being yelled at and being given generous amounts of corporal punishment again. I can't sit still any longer.

July 5, 2004
My friends all urge me to call CPS and one day, I conference my friend in, and we do it together. I feel sick afterward, having just betrayed my family.

July 7, 2004
I start dating new BF exlusively. Meanwhile, plans for Brandon to come out out Nebraska for his birthday continue. I know that he won't show up. But I play along, figuring it'll be easier to end things with him now that his heir apparent is waiting in the wings.

July 9, 2004
CPS comes out to talk to my sister. They observe Phrecklette outside, playing alone in nothing but a pull-up, for 20 minutes, and then knock on the door. The CPS worker calls me at work, trying to come up with a pretext to take Phrecklette out of the home. I can't give her one. Part of me knows I could say something that would give her one, but another part of me won't allow me to go that far.

My sister calls me after they leave, and calls me a terrible name. My mom is wailing in the background about it and she calls me a terrible name too. My family won't speak to me for a few days but then they calm down after it appears that there is light at the end of the tunnel, and that light is a Family Support Worker. All's not lost, Social Services is going to provide services to try and keep Phrecklette in the home. Positive things start happening -- including that CPS is going to put Phrecklette in HeadStart, and they're going to foot the bill.