peep!’ He chuckled then. ‘He’s a lovely little fella, that one. They’re both down there, by the way – Emma’s busy changing him, and he’s gurgling away, bless him. You know, I swear he’s even watching the cartoons with her. I told her you’d been down once you’d had your coffee. Anyway, how about you?’ he finished. ‘Did you manage to sleep through?’
And I lied. ‘Yes,’ I said, nodding, ‘I did. Right through.’
And I felt awful. I wasn’t even sure why I’d lied to Mike, not really. Was it the idea that Hannah might just come and snatch Roman away without a by your leave? Was it because I felt so sorry for this poor motherless girl? Whatever the reason, I vowed then and there that it would not be – it mustn’t be – the shape of things to come.
Chapter 5
What with the phone business and the computer business – not to mention the general night-feeding business – I had got out of bed that morning feeling somewhat heavy of heart. Emma hadn’t even been with us for twenty-four hours yet, and already we’d been cast in the roles I least wanted – me as the stern deliverer of rules and regulations and her as the unwilling recipient. If ever there was a situation most likely to cement her position as a sulky teenager it was the one that I had no choice but to create: the speller out of ground rules on all fronts.
But perhaps that was going to happen anyway. Emma was just a child herself, after all. And though she wouldn’t have to sit down and work through the list of points and privileges that was the basis of our specialist fostering programme, she perhaps did need to have certain things made clear.
Roman had gone straight to sleep after his morning feed, so I suggested Emma do likewise, and while she got her head down I got on the phone to Maggie about Emma’s mobile.
‘Oh, it’s absolutely fine to let her have it,’ she reassured me. ‘Just as you would with any teen of her age. Unless you have good reason to think you shouldn’t, obviously. Why – do you?’
‘No, not really,’ I said, swallowing the slight guilt I felt. ‘We were just thinking of the circumstances and wanted to be sure, that’s all, because she’s a little older than the kids we normally have. What would constitute “good reason” in this case?’
‘Oh, the usual,’ Maggie said. ‘If she’s sitting chatting on it for long periods late at night, that sort of thing. In which case you’d obviously need her to leave it downstairs when she goes to bed.’
All of which constituted sound advice, I thought. And would be something with which I could reassure Mike when he got home. Though it wasn’t late-night phone calls that I needed to have stern words about – it was the thing I’d neglected to mention to Maggie, the middle of the night sessions on my laptop. So that was exactly what I did, just as soon as she was downstairs.
‘It won’t happen again, Casey,’ she promised plaintively. ‘Honest it won’t. I was just so lonely – it’s scary being up in the middle of the night all by yourself, when everyone else is sleeping and everything, and now I don’t have my iPod to listen to I just get so freaked out. An’ I get so tired, I can hardly keep awake without anything to listen to. And I just saw it there – and you did say I could borrow it – and I just wanted to catch up with my friends. I’ve hardly seen any of them since Roman was born …’ She sighed. ‘I just wanted to cheer myself up, that was all.’
Which left me with very little I could say, because, much as I knew it had been important to discipline her, at the same time my heart really went out to her. I remembered when Riley had been small and Mike had needed to be in the warehouse overnight for some reason and how frightened I’d been, left alone in the house with a tiny baby. And I’d been an adult, not a fourteen-year-old among strangers. I also remembered how when Kieron had been Emma’s age he could
And I lied. ‘Yes,’ I said, nodding, ‘I did. Right through.’
And I felt awful. I wasn’t even sure why I’d lied to Mike, not really. Was it the idea that Hannah might just come and snatch Roman away without a by your leave? Was it because I felt so sorry for this poor motherless girl? Whatever the reason, I vowed then and there that it would not be – it mustn’t be – the shape of things to come.
Chapter 5
What with the phone business and the computer business – not to mention the general night-feeding business – I had got out of bed that morning feeling somewhat heavy of heart. Emma hadn’t even been with us for twenty-four hours yet, and already we’d been cast in the roles I least wanted – me as the stern deliverer of rules and regulations and her as the unwilling recipient. If ever there was a situation most likely to cement her position as a sulky teenager it was the one that I had no choice but to create: the speller out of ground rules on all fronts.
But perhaps that was going to happen anyway. Emma was just a child herself, after all. And though she wouldn’t have to sit down and work through the list of points and privileges that was the basis of our specialist fostering programme, she perhaps did need to have certain things made clear.
Roman had gone straight to sleep after his morning feed, so I suggested Emma do likewise, and while she got her head down I got on the phone to Maggie about Emma’s mobile.
‘Oh, it’s absolutely fine to let her have it,’ she reassured me. ‘Just as you would with any teen of her age. Unless you have good reason to think you shouldn’t, obviously. Why – do you?’
‘No, not really,’ I said, swallowing the slight guilt I felt. ‘We were just thinking of the circumstances and wanted to be sure, that’s all, because she’s a little older than the kids we normally have. What would constitute “good reason” in this case?’
‘Oh, the usual,’ Maggie said. ‘If she’s sitting chatting on it for long periods late at night, that sort of thing. In which case you’d obviously need her to leave it downstairs when she goes to bed.’
All of which constituted sound advice, I thought. And would be something with which I could reassure Mike when he got home. Though it wasn’t late-night phone calls that I needed to have stern words about – it was the thing I’d neglected to mention to Maggie, the middle of the night sessions on my laptop. So that was exactly what I did, just as soon as she was downstairs.
‘It won’t happen again, Casey,’ she promised plaintively. ‘Honest it won’t. I was just so lonely – it’s scary being up in the middle of the night all by yourself, when everyone else is sleeping and everything, and now I don’t have my iPod to listen to I just get so freaked out. An’ I get so tired, I can hardly keep awake without anything to listen to. And I just saw it there – and you did say I could borrow it – and I just wanted to catch up with my friends. I’ve hardly seen any of them since Roman was born …’ She sighed. ‘I just wanted to cheer myself up, that was all.’
Which left me with very little I could say, because, much as I knew it had been important to discipline her, at the same time my heart really went out to her. I remembered when Riley had been small and Mike had needed to be in the warehouse overnight for some reason and how frightened I’d been, left alone in the house with a tiny baby. And I’d been an adult, not a fourteen-year-old among strangers. I also remembered how when Kieron had been Emma’s age he could
Similar Books
