Discovery

by Char Webster

  “You may not be on a team now, but fall soccer will be here before you know it and I’m sure you’ll want to break them in so they’ll be good for tryouts,” Kate replied with a smile.

  “REALLY??? You’ll let me try out for a team?” Zach said with wonder.

  “Of course. You did tell me you loved playing, right?” Kate asked. She remained smiling, but her heart went out to these kids, who had not been treated very well.

  “Yeah, I love soccer. I really want to be on a team again,” Zach said excitedly. “I guess shopping won’t be too bad.”

  Kate laughed and turned to Alex. “Do you want to try out for any sports or join any clubs or activities?”

  “No, I’m fine,” Alex answered.

  “There isn’t anything you did before that you liked?” Kate prodded. She ushered them into the family room next to the large kitchen. The house had been lovingly redecorated and updated by her parents, so the kitchen was modern with new cherry cabinets, the latest stainless steel appliances, and granite countertops. The hardwood floors ran throughout the first floor of the house.

  Alex didn’t answer; she just shook her head no. Kate was going to have her work cut out for her, helping this girl. She had made progress with their previous conversation, but Kate didn’t believe for one second that it was going to be easy to get through to Alex.

  Just then, Zach exclaimed, “You have a pool!” He ran to the window to check out the pool and the backyard. Alex joined him at the window with a half-smile. She seemed pleased with the idea of a pool but didn’t want to show it too much.

  “Yes, we have a pool. If you don’t have swimsuits, that’s something we’ll have to pick up tomorrow,” Kate replied. “Are you guys hungry or do you want to go upstairs to see your rooms?”

  Alex was the first on the stairs. “I want to see my room,” she said.

  “Okay, let’s go,” Kate said as she picked up Maddy. She was already making a mental list of what she was going to need for the kids. A gate at the top of the stairs would be first on the list. She didn’t want Maddy to fall down the wooden steps and get hurt, or worse.

  The children ran up the stairs in excitement.

  The first door on the left looked out to the front of the house and was done in a soft yellow with a queen-sized bed and white bedroom furniture. The comforter had pale yellow and blue flowers and matching throw pillows. The curtains were sheer and allowed in a lot of light. It was a cheerful room. Alex looked up at Kate but didn’t say anything. Kate said, “Alex, this is the room that I had imagined for you. What do you think?”

  Alex shrugged and flopped down on the bed. She tried hard to mask the smile on her face.

  The room next to Alex’s faced the backyard and the pool. It was done in a light slate blue color. Zach was about to claim the room, but he looked at the comforter with dismay. The comforter was a little girly with a flower pattern, but Kate assured him they would get a more “guy-ish” one the next day. Zach seemed happy with that and decided to see how comfortable the bed was.

  The bathroom was next to Zach’s room at the top of the steps. On the right side of the stairs were three rooms: the master bedroom that Kate took over when her parents gave her the house, and two additional rooms. One of the rooms faced the back of the house and was done in a light pale pink color that Maddy seemed to like.

  Kate put her down, and she immediately sat down on the rug and said, “My room.”

  Kate laughed and said, “Yes, this is yours.” Kate was concerned that Maddy may fall out of the bed in there, but Alex popped her head in and said, “Maddy has slept in a regular bed before. She doesn’t need a crib or rails anymore.”

  Once again, Alex had answered what Kate was thinking. Weird, Kate thought, Alex must be really perceptive.

  Alex got a funny look on her face, and she swept out of Maddy’s room and into her own.

  “Why don’t you guys grab your stuff and put it up in your bedrooms, and we can meet down in the kitchen when you’re done,” Kate suggested.

  Zach and Alex ran down the stairs, grabbed their bags, and took them up to their rooms. They didn’t have many things to put away. From moving around so much, most of their things were gone now. Kate added few more items to her mental checklist of what she wanted to get the children tomorrow.

  ~*~*~

  The kids devoured the pizza and breadsticks Kate had ordered from Angelo’s. It wasn’t a night to cook, and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to treat the kids to something. They had all had a rough day.

  Kate was shocked that they liked her favorite: mushrooms, bacon, and jalapeños. She had only ordered two pizzas, but only one with jalapeños so that Maddy wouldn’t have to eat hot peppers, but when she turned around, Maddy had swiped Kate’s slice and was happily munching on them. Kate took the slice and changed it out for one without hot peppers but Maddy looked disappointed when she did.

  After dinner, Kate gave Maddy a bath and tucked her into bed. Kate didn’t have any children’s books yet, so she decided to make up a story to tell Maddy. As Kate weaved a tale about all kinds of animals and their adventures with Princess Maddy on the grounds of an enchanted castle. Maddy fell asleep with a smile on her face, clutching a very worn out stuffed dog.

  Alex and Zach were hanging out in their rooms when Kate stopped by to check on them.

  “We’re going to the mall early tomorrow to get everything that you guys will need, so don’t stay up too late,” Kate told them both. “I’m going to watch a movie downstairs if you would like to join me.”

  Both of them declined. They wanted to just hang out in their rooms. Kate hid her disappointment and instead said, “Okay, well, good night then. If you need anything at all, just let me know.”

  Kate flopped down on the couch with a sigh. She hadn’t bothered to turn on the TV. She never watched it much anyway. She just sat in the quiet house with her head back and her eyes closed. She couldn’t believe what had happened that day. How in the world did I end up with three kids? Even though it seemed beyond imaginable, she was strangely content with the situation. Every part of her felt that this was the right thing to do.

  ~*~*~

  It was way easier than he had thought it would be to climb into the window of Kate’s house. She was so trusting and the neighborhood was safe and quaint. None of her windows were locked and he suspected they had never been locked before. If Kate was going to be keeping the kids for a while, she would need to step up security.

  He pushed his brown hair off his forehead more out of habit then needing it out of the way and crept quietly to the boy sprawled on his stomach. Smiling at the pile of bed linens on the floor, he put the pillow back on the bed near Zach’s head and covered him with the sheet. He turned to check on Alex and Maddy when he heard a mumble from behind him. He looked over at Zach and noticed the stress on his face even in his sleep.

  He went into Alex’s room next and was surprised at how grown up she appeared. Somehow over the last year, Alex had gone from little girl to pre-teen. He gently pulled the book from her hands and placed it onto her nightstand. At least that hadn’t changed, he thought. She still loved to read.

  He closed Alex’s door quietly and moved to the next room where Maddy was staying. He slowly slipped inside to get a quick peek at Maddy, but was shocked to see her awake.

  She squealed and scrambled down from her bed, running to him. “Bud!” She grabbed him around the legs, squeezing tightly.

  He almost panicked, hearing her loud voice. “Shhhh.” He bent down and scooped Maddy up, hugging her tightly.

  “I missed you, cutie,” he whispered into her ear. “It’s time for you to go back to sleep. I’ll see you soon.”

  He tucked her into bed and kissed her forehead. “Be good for Kate.” She nodded to him and he smiled sadly as he climbed out of the window, shutting it tightly behind him.

  ~*~*~

  Kate was awoken at 6:00 a.m. by a little body snuggling up against her in bed. This tiny thing wa
s digging her toes into Kate’s legs and giggling quietly. “Good morning, little one,” Kate said with a smile at her small intruder. “What are you doing up so early?” She just got some giggling as a reply, and then Maddy snuggled up to her even more.

  Kate had been content to lie there for a few more minutes with her eyes closed, snuggling with Maddy, but the little giggler had other plans. “Pancakes, please.”

  Kate laughed. “Oh, so you want pancakes?” she asked. Maddy was nodding her head enthusiastically. “Do you want to put some chocolate chips in then?” Maddy started to clap and yelled, “Yes!”

  “Okay, then. Let’s go make some,” Kate replied as she got up and headed down the steps with Maddy.

  By the time the pancakes had been made, Zach stumbled downstairs, sleepily rubbing his eyes. “I smelled something good,” he mumbled. “Are those chocolate chip pancakes?” he asked with building excitement.

  “Of course,” Kate said as she handed him a plate.

  When they were just about finished eating, Alex came down to join them. “We saved you some pancakes,” Kate told her.

  “No, thanks,” she replied. “I don’t want anything.”

  “Are you sure? They’re already made,” Kate prodded.

  “I said I didn’t want any,” Alex said with a little bit too much force. Before Kate could say anything, Zach jumped in. “Lex, what’s up with you?”

  “Nothing,” she answered, and then looked at Kate. “Sorry.”

  “It’s okay. If you don’t like pancakes, I can see what else we have,” Kate started, but Alex cut her off and said, “I don’t want anything. I’m going upstairs to change.”

  Kate watched her leave the room and sighed. Alex was going to be harder than she thought. Zach took that minute to answer Kate’s silent thoughts. “Mom used to make chocolate chip pancakes for us. They’re our favorite. She used to make faces on the pancakes with extra chips.”

  That explained a lot, Kate thought to herself. “Maybe next time we can add some extra chips and make our own faces.”

  ~*~*~

  After breakfast was cleaned up, everyone went to get dressed and ready to go. They arrived at the mall just as it was opening. Two hours later, they each had numerous bags from several of the stores. Maddy even had a new stroller that she was lounging in as they walked to their last store to look at athletic shoes.

  Kate walked through the sneaker displays with the three kids and laughed as Maddy pointed to bright pink ones for Zach. Movement caught Kate’s eye outside the store.

  She looked up and was shocked to see her hot guy from the other night. He looked just as good as he had at The Deck, with a blue T-shirt on that brought out his brilliant eyes. He was simply looking into the store. Kate secretly hoped he would come in to look around so she could say hello. At that point, several people entered the store, passing between them, and she lost sight of him. When the people moved away, he was gone again.

  Kate sighed. He had disappeared, again. She gave herself a mental shake. What am I thinking about? I have too much going on to worry about guys right now.

  Even though she had decided that it was not a good time for guys, she couldn’t keep herself from looking around for him as they walked through the mall toward their car.

  ~*~*~

  They spent the afternoon in the backyard enjoying the nice summer weather. The pool was a great distraction for them. Zach and Alex met the neighbors’ kids, Eric and Emily, who were only a year older. All four of them spent most of the time in the pool having fun.

  Kate put Maddy down for a nap and settled into a comfortable chair on the porch with her book. She was slightly hidden from the pool, but could still keep an eye on things. She wanted to give them some privacy, but not too much.

  At a good part in her book, her phone rang and she looked down at the number. “Hey, Cindy,” Kate began.

  “Where have you been?” Cindy demanded. “I called you twice last night, and you didn’t call me back. I wanted to talk about our plans for Saturday night.”

  “What plans?” Kate asked.

  “Oh no! You’re not backing out now. You said that I could fix you up with one of Mike’s friends, and that’s what we’re doing. I have it all arranged. We’re all going out Saturday.” Cindy rushed on. “You need to dress nice. I think you’re going to like Greg. He’s cute, about five ten, and has blonde hair. He’s in marketing for one of the stadiums in Philly, so he can get us into just about any event we want.”

  “Cin, slow down. You didn’t talk to me before you made these plans. I had only mentioned that I might be interested in dating, not that I wanted you to jump right in and set something up.”

  “Well, if I did talk to you first, you would have just come up with a reason not to do it, so I went ahead and made plans. One date is not going to kill you,” she replied.

  “You’re going to have to cancel them. I’m not going to be able to make it,” Kate told her.

  “Oh, come on. I’m not going to cancel. You’re coming.” Cindy was just not going to give up.

  “Cin, I can’t go Saturday. I don’t want to leave the kids so soon after they just got here,” Kate replied.

  “Kids? What kids?” Cindy asked, baffled.

  “My kids. I have three foster kids now,” Kate told her. There was complete silence on the phone as Cindy processed what Kate had said.

  After a long silent pause, Kate said, “Hello?”

  “You’re kidding right?” Cindy asked. “That’s not even a good excuse, Kate. You’re not getting out of this so easily.”

  “I’m completely serious, Cindy. I have three foster kids now. You remember that phone call I got yesterday from Mrs. Johnson? Well, she had these kids who needed a home desperately and I just felt compelled to help them,” Kate explained.

  “Are you nuts? You really are crazy, Kate. You’re too young to be a mom to three kids. Did you do this just to get out of dating forever?” Cindy joked.

  “I need to help these kids, Cin. Something about this just feels right. I need to do this,” Kate said with passion.

  “Okay . . . So when do I get to meet these kids?” Cindy asked, changing gears. “I still think you’re crazy, but I know you, and I know you’ll be great with the kids.”

  “Thanks. That means a lot.”

  “I’ll let you off the hook about guys for now, but just because you have kids, that doesn’t mean you can’t go on a date now and then.” Kate laughed. There was the Cindy she knew and loved.

  They spoke a few minutes more, and Kate filled her in on the kids who were now a big part of her life.

  Mrs. Johnson stopped by the house that evening for a home inspection and brought the kids some ice cream. Kate smiled when she left. Everything was settling into place.

  ~*~*~

  Brooks hated waiting. He had called Frank twenty minutes ago and he was still not there. His need to know what had happened to the kids, was nagging at him.

  There was a knock on the door, followed by Frank appearing without waiting to be told to enter. He was one of the only people who could get away with that.

  “We’ll find out where they are tonight. It shouldn’t be that hard to break in and get the address from their file,” Frank told him. “It’s an in-and-out job. No more than a few minutes. The security there is almost non-existent, which is good for us.”

  “Good. I want those children,” Brooks replied, finishing off his second glass of scotch. He rolled the ice around in his glass and contemplated his next move. “We’re too close to finishing this. Those kids need to be here soon. They’ll almost make up for losing the other one.”

  “You’ll get them,” Frank promised, and left Brooks alone once again.

  Brooks looked out his window, not really seeing the manicured lawn, sculptured gardens, and fountain his wife loved so much. He was thinking about his plans and how he was so close to getting exactly what he wanted.

  His wife entered the den and walked up to stand next to hi
m. He gave her a forced half smile. He indulged her most of the time, but she really needed to stay out of his way when he was in a mood. She never knew when to just leave him be.

  “Are you coming in to dinner? You should really come see the children. It’s their only time to spend with you.”

  “Not now, Louise. I’m busy with important matters,” he answered, getting frustrated with her.

  “You can take the time out to eat dinner. At least stop in to see your children,” she nagged.

  “They’re not mine, and I don’t have time for this.” He turned away from her and walked out of the den. He didn’t notice the look she shot him when he walked out.

  She was getting too attached to the kids he had found. They were a means to an end, nothing more. Some had met his expectations, and he rewarded them and kept them around, even after they reached adulthood. Others, well, he had disposed of them. If she was going to get attached to all of them now, it would make getting rid of the disappointments that much harder. He was going to have to do something about that. Maybe send her on an extended trip abroad. That should keep her out of trouble for now.

  ~*~*~

  Dawn Johnson woke up groggily to the repeated sound of a phone ringing. She looked at the clock, and it read 4:42 a.m. Moaning a little and hoping it was not an issue with one of the children from the agency, she answered the phone with a sleepy, “Hello?”

  “Dawn, I hate to wake you, but there was a break-in at your office,” Sam Connors, Director of the state’s entire Family Services Division, told her.

  Suddenly getting a clearer head, she uttered, “Oh my, why would anyone break into the office? We don’t have anything valuable, and we don’t have any prescription medicines there.”