Chapter XXXIII: Give me a sign
Monday. Two weeks had passed since Gina's return from the sleepover. During these days, the vixen had been a role model to Aran, helping Jennifer to teach him how to behave like a good puppy. The wolf had shown some early progress, along with overcoming his withdrawal issues.
The morning had been average and was best described as 'quiet', maybe even 'too quiet'. There were no irregularities, not even during lunchtime. However, Aran_did_ try to show off by finishing his food before his 'sibling'. Apart from that, there was nothing out of the ordinary.
That is, until Jennifer triumphantly dropped an envelope on the table when both of her charges were done eating. The envelope had a pink cadre and was printed with elegant black letters, that read nothing but Gina's name on it. In the top right corner, the paper showed a logo of three connected chain links, of which the middle one had been broken.
"This came in the mail for you today, princess," Jennifer commented.
The collie slid the envelope towards Gina and nudged her to open it. There was no seal on the paper, so the envelope could be opened effortlessly.
"Do you want me to read it out loud?" the vixen asked.
"You don't have to, but if you want to, I'm not going to hold you back," the collie reassured.
"No, that's okay. I think Aran would like to hear this."
Jennifer nodded.
Dear Gina,
_ _
It has been five months since you were enrolled in the Chainbreaker program. During your stay with your caregiver, you showed impressive results and an inspiring recovery. I was touched by the report Miss Hayzenthlay wrote about the time you spent with her as well.
_ _
I'm glad to announce that as of today, we declare that your link in the Chain has been broken. You've managed to overcome your difficulties and reach your learning goals, and became a healthy person in the process. In other words: you have graduated!
_ _
Since your birthday is approaching, I figured that you'd want to return to your parents. They will help you to become potty-trained again. You will be supplied with a small stock of diapers and pull-ups to help you get started.
_ _
We hope that the rest of your life will be as fruitful as this special period, and that you'll always look back on the days you spent in our program with pride and satisfaction. I've attached your graduation certificate with this letter.
_ _
Enjoy your new life!
_ _
Sincerely,
_ _
Joseph Boden, Chainbreaker Handler
"Wow... this is amazing! I didn't expect that I'd be back home before my birthday!" the vixen exclaimed with joy.
Jennifer faintly smiled.
"Did you know about this?" Gina then asked.
"I did know that our time together was nearing its end. However, caregivers don't know the outcome of a handler's evaluation any earlier than the charges do. I knew this was coming, but they never tell us exactly when. It wasn't as much of a surprise to me as it was to you, though."
"Are you excited about going back to your parents?" Aran queried.
The vixen pondered for a few seconds, then nodded. "This isn't meant to be permanent, regardless of how much I enjoy being here," she replied, then turned to their caregiver. "I really appreciate all your kindness, Jenny. You've been so gentle and loving to me, I don't know how to express my gratitude."
"That's okay, dear. As much as I care for you, at the end of the day, it's also my job. I get most of my satisfaction from seeing my charges change into better people. However, if you want to_do_something, I can only think of one thing."
"What's that?" Gina asked.
"Sign your certificate, dear. That's the final step of the program: accepting and acknowledging that you're done with your change," Jennifer replied, handing a sharpie to the vixen.
Gina scribbled her signature on the certificate under 'Charge: G. Althares'. Three other people had signed it already: Joseph, Primrose and Kaiser. When she was done, the vixen returned the sharpie to her caregiver. After all, there was one last spot to be signed.
"I see you have no doubts about this, princess. That's a good sign," the collie replied, then put down her signature as well. "Like Joseph wrote: enjoy your new life."
The vixen smiled.
"I will. By the way, does that mean that Aran will be alone now, or will Joseph appoint another charge to you?"
"No, I'm going to spend time with just my wolfie for a while."
She winked to Aran.
"That's okay, Gina, I'll be alright without you. Over the past weeks, I've began to understand that Jennifer knows what she's doing."
"Speaking of which," the vixen said, turning to her now former caregiver, "can I ask you something personal?"
"You can, but I can't guarantee that I'll answer."
"Why are you a Chainbreaker? Like, how did you become one? It's not like people can sign up for this kind of job, right?"
"You've both asked me before, and I think that's private."
"Really? I'm curious about this as well," Aran supported the vixen. "I don't believe you're doing this just because you want to help other people. You said that you love me like my mother wanted to love me, that's not something you do because you're paid for it, I suppose."
The collie sighed. "Alright, since you're insisting. I never told Wesley about this, though, so this is the first time I'm explaining this to any of my charges."
"That's okay, we're not going to hurt you," Gina said with a smile.
"Fine then. In a certain way, being a Chainbreaker is therapeutic for me as well. You see, I used to think of myself as an irresponsible parent."
"You're a mother? I mean, an_actual_mother?" Aran blurted out.
"Not anymore, little one. I met a Western Shepherd named Jack when I was seventeen, and he became my husband a little over two years later. Then, at age twenty-one, I gave birth to a son. Jack, however, had troubles adjusting and couldn't handle this change in his life. He most probably suffered from post-natal stress disorder, something that's more common in females, but can strike males as well."
"What do you mean by saying he couldn't deal with the changes?" the vixen queried.
"He found it difficult to change his way of living to facilitate a healthy way of raising a puppy. It might also have been a factor that he was a shepherd, while I gave birth to a collie. I guess he wanted a puppy that looked like him, but there is no natural way to influence which of the two parents a child will resemble."
"I can imagine that your relationship became tense because of his difficulties," the wolf stated.
Jennifer nodded. "He became abusive, mostly verbal, but sometimes physical. As my son became older, Jack eventually seemed to settle down and accept that his life had changed and there was nothing he could do to revert said change."
"Did he even_want_ to have puppies?"
"I don't know for sure, Gina. He told me he did, but sometimes, I still doubt about whether he said that because it was true, or because he wanted to please me. Personally, I loved the idea of having a puppy. For a few years, it looked like we were becoming happy again. That is, until Jack lost his job and he started to lose control of himself once more."
"And he started to abuse you again?"
"Yush, but not just me. He eventually began to verbally mistreat our son as well, and that was too much for the young collie. Shortly after he turned eight, my puppy ran away from home."
Jennifer paused for a moment, trying to find words without bursting into tears.
"What's the matter? Didn't your son come back?"
The collie slowly shook her head.
"A fisherman found his body under a bridge, a couple of days later. My son had frozen to death in the cold of the winter night. I can still remember when I held his lifeless body."
Jennifer sniffled.
"And Jack, the poor Shepherd... he finally understood how he had behaved. However, he blamed it all on himself and he hanged himself that same evening. In not even a week's time, I had lost my puppy and my husband."
Gina petted Jennifer's back to comfort the collie. She took a short pause, then continued her story.
"I ended up with a special victims unit for people that had experienced traumatic and radical events. After two years of intensive caring, support and psychological therapy, of which I spent the first three months in a recuperation commune, the therapists told me that I showed promising results. However, I wanted to prove to myself that I had the ability to be a good mother. The problem was that I feared I'd be unable to find a trustworthy male in time, especially because of the hurtful memories I had concerning Jack."
She sniffled again, then took a deep breath.
"My therapist told me about the Chainbreakers and asked if I was interested in becoming a caregiver for "larger" cubs and pups. After some consideration, I eventually acquiesced, and my therapist contacted the corporation. They sent Joseph to question me, mostly concerning my motivation and who I was. My therapist helped me to explain that this would be a form of therapy for me as well, and eventually Joseph agreed to sign me up. I had to follow an intensive training course to learn all their rules and principles, though. It was tough, but I stood fast and worked diligently. Of course, I failed every now and then, but there was always someone to pick me up and encourage me again."
"And that's how you ended up here?"
"Indeed, wolfie. I've taken care of a few charges that slept over at my place, all the while under Kaiser's supervision. When he decided I was doing an adequate job, he talked to our handler and arranged a personal charge for me, raising my status to full-time primary caregiver."
"And then you got Wesley, right?" Gina asked.
"That's right, and I wasn't too happy about that during the first few days. Even Kaiser thought the Retriever might be too much for me, but I insisted that Wesley stayed with me, because I believed that I could help the puppy breach his bad behavior. In the end, it all turned out well."
"But what about me?" Aran wondered aloud.