As always, this is dedicated to the MMEPAC girls.
"Can you tell me your mummy's name?" Peter Noakes was kneeling in front of Annie, while another policeman, his colleague Constable Smith, stood next to the door. Sister Julienne was stood next to her desk, and Jenny next to Annie, who's hand was clinging to her own.
Annie shook her head, her eyes wide. Peter nodded calmly and smiled,
"Ok Annie, can you tell me what she looks like then?"
Annie quickly glanced up at Jenny, who smiled reassuringly. With a little bit of courage the small child turned back to the policeman.
"She's got yellow hair like me, and she's big. Bigger than me." Annie pointed her hand as if to indicate how tall her mother was, but then waved it around as if she realised that the stretch of her arm didn't reflect her mother's true height. "She's got brown eyes. I've got green eyes like Daddy. I think. I haven't seen him in ages."
"Your daddy?" Peter asked. Annie nodded.
"When did you last see your daddy?" Smith asked from the door. Annie looked startled at him, but a quick squeeze of Jenny's hand reassured her once more and she replied.
"I don't know." The lost tone of voice was noticed by everyone, and the two policemen exchanged a quick glance.
"What did your daddy call your mummy?" Peter asked. He knew that there was only a slim chance of her remembering, but asked the question anyway just in case she could answer at all.
"I - I don't know." Annie couldn't answer, and turned to Jenny, pressing her face into the young midwife's skirt. Jenny quickly knelt down and hugged her, but turned a worried face to Sister Julienne.
"We will undertake a search of the area, but it doesn't look good. A medium height woman with blonde hair and brown eyes, perhaps disadvantaged, will be hard to find around here. And if she's left the area, we've got even less of a chance of finding her" Peter explained.
"It will take a while, what we can do" Smith added, "a few weeks, maybe. A month, maybe longer. I don't know. You will have to sort out somewhere for Annie to go, as she may be waiting a long time. Perhaps try the council."
Sister Julienne nodded, but looked sad as she glanced at Jenny, who was still on the floor with Annie. Jenny was looking back at her with a sad look on her face as she realised that, although they had bonded, Annie would have to be removed and placed in a new home with strangers once more.
"We could take her - Camilla and I" Peter offered, but Jenny shook her head.
"Annie's scared of Chummy." Her voice forbade any discussion, and Peter quickly bade farewell to them all and followed Smith out of the room.
"She can't stay here" Sister Julienne warned. Jenny nodded.
"Then where can she go?" She asked the nun, who couldn't reply. Sister Julienne felt helpless, a little girl was forced to cling on to a woman who was practically a stranger because she was so alone, and now she had to commit the horrendous act of destroying the bond Jenny and Annie had formed in the short time they had had together, removing Annie from her and placing her into a house where she would be among even more strangers.
Unless...
"Doctor Turner, may I speak to you please?"
Patrick looked up from refiling his notes in his office and smiled as his gaze fell upon the nun who had always supported his wife.
"Of course Sister, what can I do for you?" Sister Julienne launched into her story and the doctor couldn't help but feel aghast at the thought that any woman would leave their child willingly, foist them upon strangers. His first wife, Timothy's mother, had spent her last days furious with herself for leaving her son, and even with no biological bond joining them, Patrick knew his second wife would never abandon him either, loving Timothy with all her heart. The bond that Shelagh and Timothy shared was incredible, and to an onlooker, to Patrick, even, it was one bound so tightly that it could never be destroyed.
"We'll take her." Patrick said as the sad tale finished, "that's not a problem, she can stay with us."
"Perhaps, Doctor, you need to discuss it with Shelagh first?" Sister Julienne asked. Patrick merely grinned at her.
"You know as well as I do that Shelagh would never consider rejecting the child. She'd be horrified if she thought I was hesitating. Shall we take her tonight, or will she stay with Jenny and we can introduce ourselves tomorrow?" He asked, rolling up his sleeves as he placed the last files on his desk and prepared to return to work.
"Annie has a strong bond with Jenny, so yes, perhaps tomorrow would be wiser. I cannot thank you enough, Doctor, for caring for her. This way we can still see her and it will be less traumatic for her." She rose from her seat, and Patrick instinctively rose with her, showed her to the door.
"Have a good afternoon" she stated gently, and he thanked her. After Sister Julienne left to tell Jenny the good news, Patrick immediately called his wife. Shelagh was predictably horrified by the tale and immediately set to work to prepare the small bed in his study for the child, even though he assured her that he would help once he had retuned from work.
At Nonnatus House, Jenny was thrilled when she heard that the Turners would care for Annie, knowing that she would be able to visit often and would be welcomed as well. When she broke the news to Annie, it was the fact that Jenny knew, and trusted, these people, and that she would still be able to see her, that finally made the little girl accept her departure.