Page 89 of Fourth Heartwarmers Trilogy
“Look, we have to pay for this stuff and get going. It seems that Maisie had an accident in her pants and fought like hell whenthey tried to help her clean up and change her clothing. She wouldn’t let anyone touch her but Charlie.”
Rushing along beside Colin, Jaqueline felt her stomach clench with concern. “Poor baby. She’s so proud of her bathroom training. I’m surprised she had an accident.”
“Wait… you haven’t heard the rest. Both Maisie and Charlie have been refusing to eat and haven’t had anything since yesterday when we left them at the office. They’re staging a starvation protest, and they won’t eat until they can come home with us. Guess the foster family that took them in won’t be responsible for such behavior and don’t wish to keep them. According to Cord, because they’re short of foster facilities, they have no choice but to place them with us for now.”
***
When she heard the rest of his explanation, Jaq laughed, exploding with happiness at the outrageousness of his statement. She hurried toward the cash registers. “I wonder where they came up with that idea. My Lord, a protest.” She burst out giggling again, getting stares from the other shoppers. “Colin, what have you got yourself into. Those two little geniuses are smarter than we ever gave them credit for.”
In a short time, Colin pulled his vehicle into the parking lot of the Children’s Services office and saw Cord waiting for them at the entrance. “Ms. Lather has them with her in her office. Just to warn you both, they’re tired and obviously hungry. Maisie hasn’t stopped crying for Colin and Charlie won’t speak to anyone but Maisie. They’ve misbehaved according to Ms. Lather, but I will admit she does have a certain admiration in her voice when she told me.”
Colin and Jaqueline rushed to the door Cord held open and burst in together. Both children looked up from where they cuddled together on a sofa, holding hands.
Maisie shouted, “Cowin. He’s here, Charwie. I told you. And Jaq is here too.” As Maisie cried out, her body flew through the room, flinging herself into Colin’s waiting arms. “I missed you too much, Cowen.” Then she started to cry, big sobbing heaves of sorrow that wrung his heart into a puddle.
In the meantime, Charlie flew toward Jaqueline, almost knocking her over. His arms clung around her neck so tight she had a hard time breathing. Not that she cared. On her knees in front of him, her shaking hands soothed his mussed hair, and her lips traveled over his small face. Finally, she pulled away so she could look into his swollen eyes. “Oh, Charlie. We’re so sorry that you had to be away from us last night. We did everything we could to make them let you stay, but they kept flinging rules at us, rules we weren’t allowed to break. Then Colin hired Cord to help us, and he’s doing a good job. He says you can come home with us for now.”
“Yes. For now.” Interrupting, Ms. Lather’s voice hardened as she approached the group. “It’s imperative that you get a court to give you guardianship, Mr. Jones. Those children won’t be happy otherwise. Even though we were able to place them together, they were totally miserable last night and from what I understand, they made sure everyone else shared that misery.”
Colin kept Maisie in his arms as he stood, her face buried in his neck while she sucked her thumb. A faint urine smell lingered, and her tiny body shook from sniffling hiccups that only went to prove how upset she’d become. His large hand soothed her, rubbing her back continuously. “We heard. Cord told us about their hunger strike. As much as it breaks my heart to know they must be starving, I can’t help but feel a certain pride in their resourcefulness. No doubt it got them the attention they neededwith the big shots. They should be fully aware now that Maisie and Charlie would be miserable anywhere else other than with me.”
Jaqueline flinched when she heard those words. The meaning all but floored her, and if she hadn’t had Charlie wrapped in her arms, she might have reacted even stronger. All along they’d planned the outcome being Colin taking care of the kids, becoming their guardian, and eventually their adopted father.
But what about me? Right now, I’m needed… sure. But will that be the same back home in Vancouver? Where do I fit into the future scheme of things? How can I walk away, leaving them to carry on without me… living their lives, and me not being there every day to share it all?
Chapter Sixteen
Once they were seated in Maisie’s favorite restaurant awaiting their pancakes, the kids appeared much less troubled. In fact, Charlie seemed happy to tell them all about the home they’d escaped and the other children being fostered at the same place.
“Most of the kids were little like us, but they had a boy, Josh, like maybe fourteen. He told us he was their real kid.”
Maisie spoke up, “He was fat and mean.”
“Yeah, he didn’t like us staying in his house. The big bully kicked one of the other kids hard… real hard.” Charlie’s disgust rang in his voice.
Shocked, Colin asked, “What happened?”
“So, she began to cry, and he told her to shut up, then blamed it on someone else.”
Maisie inserted, “He kicked a girl.”
Colin felt his temper begin to climb but tried not to let the kids see his anger because he didn’t want to frighten them.
Maisie reiterated her point in Jaqueline’s direction. “Uh-huh, Jaq. He did… hard. A girl. Maman wouldn’t like that, would she Charwie?”
“Yeah, she’d be so mad. The big meanie came at Maisie. But I wouldn’t let him touch her. She was scared of him.”
Colin’s hands clenched under the table, but he kept the spiraling rage out of his voice. “You did good, Charlie. I’m proud of you. How many were living at that house? Foster kids I mean.”
“Lots. Like maybe this many.” Charlie held up the fingers on both hands and began to lift each one, stopping at seven. “Maybe even more. Like babies. Some of them weren’t allowed in the TV room.”
Jaq’s expression hardened. “Now I know why you weren’t willing to stay with them Charlie. I need to ask one more thing. How did you come up with the hunger strike?”
“You mean not eating? Their food was yucky. Macaroni mushed with ketchup. Maisie and I didn’t like it. Same with their breakfast. Soggy cereal I never saw before. They mixed it with watered milk. Blegh!” He made a face that Jaq had to laugh at.
Colin coughed and covered his mouth to hide his grin. “Did any of the other kids play with you and Maisie?”
“A few did. But they told us we had to be quiet, not to make a lot of noise… and only talk to the adults if they ask you a question. It was weird. Anyway, Maman said we should be with Colin, no one else. Maisie and I didn’t want to be with strangers who only agreed we could stay because Ms. Lather pleaded with them.”
