Part 1 (2/2)

It was around then that I had that niggling sixth sense kick in. Just the feeling that there might be something John was holding back. I tried to dismiss it, because there was really nothing I could put my finger on. But it was there.

And for very good reasons.

'Another kid already?' Kieron said as I went back into the living room to tell them, by now with Levi, who'd woken up, in my arms. Riley cooed and took him from me, talking baby talk at him. 'Isn't it a bit quick?' Kieron added. 'You know, after Justin?'

It's easy to forget, when your children are grown up, that the things you do still have an impact on them. I'd been pretty low since Justin had gone, I knew, and I was touched to see the looks of concern on their faces. They glanced at one another now. 'Kieron's got a point,' Riley said. 'Are you sure you're ready?'

'Definitely,' I said, meaning it. 'I'm kicking my heels here, aren't I?' Which was true. Before Mike and I had switched to fostering, I'd been running a unit for troubled children in a big comprehensive school. It wasn't normal for me to have nothing to do but rattle round my house, even with my new grandmotherly duties. Then I paused. Perhaps I wasn't seeing things clearly. 'But how about you two? If you're not up for it, I could always ask to put it off.'

'Don't be daft, Mum,' said Kieron, obviously rea.s.sured by my determined manner. 'Be good to have another kid in. And if it's a girl, that's even better. I won't have to fight for my games console and footie games this time.'

'And we'll be able to do lots of girl stuff together,' agreed Riley. 'Baby stuff, clothes shopping, make-up and hair ... how old is she?'

'Twelve,' I said. 'And funny you should say that. John Fulshaw remarked that she was a very girlie girl.'

'So she's going to love Justin's bedroom, then,' Kieron said, laughing.

'Isn't it going a bit over the top to decorate the whole room again?' Mike wanted to know, once he was home from work and we were headed down to the chippy. I'd been planning on cooking, but what with getting the house sorted out, plus all the excitement of knowing we were getting a new foster child, I'd been too excited. Plus I fancied fish and chips.

'Oh, it won't be that much work,' I rea.s.sured him. 'And Riley'll help me, I'm sure.'

'Would have been no work at all if you hadn't gone so overboard doing it up in the first place,' he chided. That was Mike all over. He was so much more sensible and down to earth than me. A proper thinker. We'd been married fifteen years and I'd lost count of the times when he'd sat me down and said, 'Now let's just think this through ...' And he was right. I had gone a bit overboard for Justin, taking my football theme to perhaps rather excessive levels, with green carpet, football borders and wallpaper, a football clock I'd even painted footb.a.l.l.s on the bookcase and dresser.

'I'm sure she will,' Mike agreed, 'but look, love, are you definitely sure you're ready?'

Him too now! Had I really been acting like a nut job just lately? Because he was looking at me in the same way as the kids had. Yes, I'd been down, but how could I not have been? Losing Justin had really saddened me, but we had been warned to expect that. It was a grieving process I had to go through, no more, no less. Not surprising when you have such an intense relations.h.i.+p with a child. But I was over it and keen to move on now. Justin would always be a part of our lives, but day to day I needed that new challenge.

'I am ready!' I said to Mike. 'And I am going to start re-decorating right away. And just you make sure you book that time off on Friday, okay? Honestly, love, I am more than b.l.o.o.d.y ready.'

Which was just as well, because it looked like we needed to be.

'It's a sad story,' John told us on the Friday morning. He'd arrived on the dot of eleven, as he'd promised, and come armed with a folder full of papers. I thought back to when he'd visited to tell us about our first placement, and how madly I'd rushed around the house, tidying and polis.h.i.+ng. So much water had pa.s.sed under the bridge since that time. John was very much like a friend now. So no big cleaning-fest; just three big mugs of coffee, as we gathered around the kitchen table to discuss the facts.

'Sophia only came into care about a year and a half ago,' he went on. 'Prior to that she lived with her mother no siblings who had been bringing her up alone. One-night stand, far as I know. Certainly no father in the picture. And then a tragedy: the mother name of Grace Johnson had mental health problems, by all accounts, and had a near-fatal fall down the stairs when Sophia was 11, which was thought to have been a suicide attempt.'

'Suicide?' Mike asked. 'That sounds grim.'

John nodded. 'There was a difficult family situation, apparently. Compounded by Sophia's illness. But I'll tell you more about that in a mo.' He consulted his notes, obviously scanning them for the important bits. 'Ah, here we are,' he said. 'The mother went into a coma didn't die from which she has never recovered. She's been cla.s.sed as being in a persistent vegetative state, from which they don't expect her to recover. Very sad.'

We both nodded.

'So then it seems,' he went on, 'that Sophia went to stay with an uncle and his family they formally fostered her but after a year, when the uncle's wife fell pregnant, apparently, they decided they could no longer keep her. Even sadder. So at that point a different fostering team were approached, and that's when she was placed with her current carer, Jean. But, as you know, Jean's not well now, so that's where we're at.'

He sat back. 'G.o.d,' I said, 'the things some kids have to go through. And of course we want to help Sophia, don't we, love?' I turned to Mike.

He nodded. 'Absolutely. But tell me, John. You mentioned something about an illness. What's wrong with her?'

John sat forward again. 'That's what we need to discuss. Have the two of you ever heard of a condition called Addison's disease?'

We shook our heads. 'No,' I said. 'Never.'

'I doubted you would have. Neither had I, until now. It's rare, apparently a disorder which destroys the adrenal glands. And it's even more rare for it to be diagnosed in someone so young. But it's controlled she has to take tablets every day, which replace the hormones she'd be producing naturally cortisol and, let me see, yes something called aldosterone, so, in that sense, it won't present you with too much of a problem. Apparently, it only becomes one if she gets stressed or feels under pressure ...'

'Which she might well do at the moment, mightn't she?' asked Mike.

John nodded. 'Fair point. But I'm not really the one to tell you how it might become a problem. Apparently, social services are going to arrange for you both to have a quick tutorial with her doctor and her specialist nurse.'

'Okay,' I said. 'That sounds sensible. Better to know what we're doing than not. But how is she generally? Sounds like she's been to h.e.l.l and back, from what you say.'

'I don't know, to be truthful,' John answered. 'There really isn't a great deal more on her file.'

Where have I heard that line before, I thought ruefully. It had become almost a catch phrase when we'd taken on Justin. John caught my expression and looked apologetic. 'I'm sorry,' he said. 'It's just that she hasn't been in care that long, and when they are fostered with other family members, they never seem to be as strict with the record keeping. I'll see what else I can find, obviously, but, in the meantime, how are you placed for taking her next Wednesday?'

'That's quick,' said Mike. 'How will we manage to fit in an initial visit? I'm sure neither she nor we would want to commit until we've met each other.'

'I know,' John said, the hope in his face clear as day. 'But I was hoping we could do that on Monday. Jean goes into hospital on Wednesday, you see, for tests, so it would get complicated if ...'

'Fine,' I said. 'Monday is fine. The poor thing. But one thing, John.'

He nodded. 'Yes?'

'Why us? Why me and Mike? It sounds to me that this is a pretty mainstream and also very short-term placement. Why have you picked us and not a general foster carer? Is it the illness?'

He shook his head. 'Well, okay, partly,' he agreed. 'But mainly because her behaviour apparently can be a little challenging. Nothing major and you'll know from experience that I don't use the word lightly. She's just a little undisciplined, it seems. And the feeling is and this is strictly between you and me, okay? that there's been a general lack of discipline in her life since she's been with Jean, and what with the complication of the Addison's well, you can see how easily a child with that sort of issue can become manipulative if allowed to.'

'I get it,' I said. 'She needs some boundaries, then?'

'I think that's about the size of it. So it's right up your street. No points, as I say, as this really is just temporary, but just do what the two of you do so well. And don't let your heads swell, because I shouldn't tell you this, but it was my boss who suggested we place her with you. He said, ”If anyone can turn her around, the Watson family can. After all, look how well they did with Justin.”'

'That's nice,' said Mike, though I could tell by his voice that he knew he was being sweet-talked.

'And just as well I cracked on and got the room ready, then,' I added. 'Why don't you take John up to see it, love, while I put the kettle on again.'

My head was whirring while they went up to admire my creative efforts. The poor child. How tragic. To lose her mum to lose all she had in the world and to have to cope with what sounded like such a debilitating condition on her own. I wondered if she ever got to see her mother in hospital at all, and when John and Mike came back downstairs I asked.

'Yes, she does,' John said. 'Every six weeks or so, for an hour. Not that she gets anything out of it. She apparently gets really upset after each visit, which is why she doesn't go there more often.'

'Poor kid,' I said. 'It must be awful.'

'The world we live in, I'm afraid, Casey,' he said. 'Hey, but a great job on the bedroom. Fit for a princess! Oh, and be prepared, because it'll seem like she really is a little princess. She has quite an entourage, this one, in terms of a team. So you'll need plenty of cups at the ready ...'

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