AN: I am not a social worker nor do I have any knowledge in how a matter like this is actually handled. This is fiction, so roll with me. ;-)
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September 25, 2005
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Bella rolled her head and felt her neck crack slightly, as her fingers continued to stroke the hair of the child sleeping on her lap. Running her fingers through Jack's hair, she was reminded that the poor thing really needed a bath. He lay sleeping half on his chair, with his head in her lap. They were sitting in a waiting room at the Seattle Justice Center, which is where the main branch of the Seattle Police Department made its home. Her father had disappeared into Chief Volturi's office as soon as they arrived, almost four hours ago. Aro Volturi had been a friend of Charlie's since their days in the Academy together. Charlie could very well have been in Aro's shoes had he not wanted to stay in sleepy Forks to raise his daughter.
Bella sighed and closed her eyes. It had been such a long day. After Bella got off of the phone with her father, the girls had decided to take Jack shopping for some new clothes and a few toys while waiting for Charlie to drive up from Forks, which was about a 3 hour drive. Knowing him, he probably drove the cruiser and used his siren the way. The thought of that brought a small smile to Bella's face. As the girls were walking around and shopping, they tried to discreetly pepper Jack with questions, trying to figure out what had led him to be separated from his family. They weren't able to get much more out of him than they already had, except that he had been driving for a long time with his mommy. When he wasn't in the car, she was off somewhere while he played by himself.
Bella felt her tears well up once again, for what felt like the hundredth time today, when she thought about when Jack was interviewed by the police a few hours ago. The child psychologist they brought in, Miss Zafrina, had been able to get him to open up a bit more. They learned that his name was Jackson, but his MeMe called him Jacky. He lived with his mommy and daddy, in a place with lots of trees and water. He was able to tell them that he was three years old and his birthday was at Easter time. He had a fish named Nemo and a bed shaped like a race car. He stayed overnight with his MeMe and PopPop a lot of the time, but he couldn't tell them any "real" names.
When he was asked if he knew how long he had been all alone, his answer literally broke Bella's heart.
"I dunno. It was when the man met us at the park. He told Mommy that she had to ditch the kid or she wouldn't get it. She told me to stay on the bench and that she would be back soon." His little eyes welled up with tears.
Upon hearing that, Bella gasped and looked at her father, whose face was etched with disgust.
"What man was that, Jack?" Zafrina asked, "Your daddy?" He shook his head quickly.
"No, my daddy was at home when we left in the car."
When she asked Jack to describe what anyone looked like, he told them that the man was big, with long yellow hair and that his mommy was tall with orange hair and blue eyes. His daddy and MeMe had green eyes and brown hair, just like him.
Once they were through asking him all of their questions, Charlie disappeared into Aro's office, leaving Bella in a waiting room to comfort Jack. He was exhausted and fell asleep almost immediately. Angela and Alice had left for home once Charlie had arrived to bring Bella and Jack to the SPD. They promised to drop all of her bags off at the house before heading home. Alice made her promise to call once everything got sorted out.
About an hour later, Bella felt a nudge on her shoulder and realized that she must have fallen asleep. She blinked her eyes and saw her father's face.
"Dad?" she asked. He smiled kindly at her.
"Come on, baby girl, let's get out of here."
She felt her chest tighten and started to panic.
"But what about Jack?" she asked, tearing up once again. "I can't leave him!"
Charlie shook his head. "It's okay, sweetheart, he's coming with us."
Bella shot him a confused look. Granted, she didn't know the ins and outs of the law, nor was she a social worker, but this seemed highly out of the ordinary. Charlie shot her a sheepish smile, recognizing the look on her face.
"Aro called in some favors for us. There are no children reported as missing with his description in Washington State. They're going to check out the rest of the country's databases in the morning to see if they get any hits. Normally, Child Protective Services would be out here and take him to a group facility until they could place him with a foster family. Once his parents were found, he'd be returned to them pending an investigation of neglect. Although in this case, like I said before, Aro pulled some big strings and got us appointed as temporary guardians."
Bella gave a sigh of relief. She had somehow become attached to this little boy over the past ten or so hours. She gently lifted his upper body and shifted him so that his head was on her shoulder and his legs around her waist. She rubbed his back and smiled a little.
"We're going to have to get him a car seat," she mused out loud.
"I'm already on it, 's almost midnight and too far to drive him home without one, so Aro's offered to let us stay at his house tonight. We can pick up a seat before we head home tomorrow."
Bella nodded and smiled gratefully. Charlie reached out to carry Jack, but she refused to let him go. Charlie helped her up and put his hand on the small of her back instead. As they walked out of the station, Bella heard him mumbling under his breath about her being too stubborn.
It wasn't that she was being difficult, she just couldn't let him go right now. It hurt too much.
After settling herself and Jack into the back of Charlie's cruiser, Bella quietly drifted off.
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September 26, 2005
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The next morning, Bella awoke feeling something warm pressed against her left side and shoulder. She glanced down to see Jack nestled firmly against her, his emerald eyes staring at her face. She smiled and he grinned back at her.
"Good Morning, Little Bit," she yawned, covering her mouth.
"G'Morning, Miss Bella."
"None of that," she laughed. "You can just call me Bella. No need to call me Miss."
Jack smiled brightly at her, but then suddenly his face clouded over and he looked pained.
"What's wrong, buddy?" she asked, concerned.
"I hafta go potty," he whispered.
Bella shifted herself out of the huge, comfy bed and reached out for his hand. Glancing around the unfamiliar room, she tried to figure out which way to go. There were two doors, on opposite walls. She figured one must lead to the hallway and the other to a bathroom. They'd just have to learn by trial and error. They walked over to the door closest to the bed and were very happy to find a spacious bathroom. It had a claw foot bath tub, along with a large vanity and a toilet in its own little alcove.
She stopped for a moment, wondering if he needed help with anything. As if reading her mind, Jack walked over and lifted the toilet lid, getting ready to do his business. Her cheeks reddened slightly at the boy's innocent lack of modesty. She stepped out of the bathroom, giving him some privacy. As she walked back into the bedroom, she noticed a pair of bags from their shopping trip yesterday, seated on a chair in the corner of the room. She picked up the larger one and saw a note on top of the items inside.
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Dear B,
I had a feeling that you might be needing these. Call when you get home! Hope everything goes well for Jack!
Love, Alice
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Bella smiled. Alice's "feelings" were well-recorded as being amazingly accurate most of the time. Inside of the bag, she found a change of clothes and a toiletry bag which contained two toothbrushes, toothpaste, a hairbrush, deodorant, body wash, shampoo and conditioner. Upon closer inspection, she noticed that the soap products were child friendly and tear-free. The smaller bag contained an outfit for Jack, including socks, underwear, a little pair of black Nike's and a small black Mariner's baseball cap. Bella smiled and shook her head. Alice really did think of everything and she was certain that Charlie would get a kick out of the hat. He was a huge Mariner's fan.
"Bella?" she heard Jack call.
She turned around and saw him standing by the bathroom door. She smiled at him and he grinned back. He ran at her and hugged her legs tightly. Bella squatted down and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. After hugging for a moment, she pulled back to look into his eyes.
"How would you feel about a bath to get some of the dirty yucky stuff out of your hair, Little Bit?"
He nodded swifted and clapped, oddly reminiscent of Alice. She stood and picked up the toiletry bag and reached for his hand. Together, they walked back into the bathroom and started to fill the tub. Bella noticed that Jack looked thoughtful for a minute.
"What's up, buddy?" she asked. He shook his head and looked sad.
"My daddy baths me with lots of bubbles." Bella felt her heart clench a little. She put her hand on his shoulder and came down to eye level with him.
"When we get back to my house, I'll make sure we have have plenty of bubbles for however long that you're there." He nodded and smiled.
Once the water was ready, Jack stripped down and Bella helped him into the tub. After a good soak and scrub to remove some of the grime off of his body, Bella started to wash his hair. After rinsing out the shampoo, she applied a small amount of conditioner. She giggled when he started to hum softly as she lightly scratched his head, while working in the conditioner. He let out a little sigh.
"My MeMe scratches my head when she baths me. It feels nice."
Bella was surprised when he looked up at her with tears in his eyes.
"Am I ever gonna see her or PopPop again?" his voice asked, sounding scratchy. "I miss dem. What about my daddy? Bella, I want my daddy!" he started to wail and sob, as tears fell quickly down his cheeks.
Not knowing what else to do, Bella pulled his soaking wet body into her arms.
"Ssshhhh," she whispered into his slick hair. "I promise you that I will do everything I can to find your daddy, sweetheart. I promise."
She held him until he was calm enough to finish up his bath and then wrapped him up in a fluffy white towel that was folded on a rack on the far wall. She held him a little bit longer until she was sure that he was okay and then she helped him get dressed. Once they were both ready to head downstairs, she gathered up their belongings and reached for his hand again. After his moment in the bathroom, Jack seemed relatively calm. She guessed that getting that out of his system helped him get a hold of his emotions, if only for a little while.
She couldn't even begin to comprehend how he must be feeling. When her mother had left, at least she still had her dad and her home. Poor Jack had nothing but the clothes on his back. He was practically just a baby. She was amazed at how well he was taking everything at the moment. She wasn't going to kid herself. There would be bad times and temper tantrums coming, she knew. She wondered if it would be best to get him some counseling when they got back to Forks.
That thought almost made her stop in her tracks. What was she doing? Making plans when she wasn't even sure if he would still be with her tomorrow. His family could be found today or tomorrow. It could be next week or next month. Hell, it could be next year or never at all. What was she getting into? Was it worth it? She was falling head over heels for this little boy and her heart would definitely be broken when he was returned to where he belonged.
She looked down at him, just as he glanced up at her. He gave her a toothy grin. His sparkling green eyes reached in and touched her soul. Right at that moment she knew her answer.
Yes, it was definitely worth it.
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While Bella and Jack had been upstairs getting ready, Charlie was already out and about. Always having been an early riser, even after a night like the previous one, he was awake at the crack of dawn. After getting dressed and having a quick cup of coffee with Aro, the two men parted ways. Aro headed back to work, promising to call Charlie and keep him abreast of what was going on with Jack's case. Charlie decided to head out to the nearest store so that he could grab a car seat for the little guy. Once in the store, he couldn't help but leave with a little something extra as well. On the way back to Aro's, he decided to stop and pick some breakfast up for everyone.
He was just walking in the door with the bag of food when Bella and Jack descended the stairs. It was obvious to Charlie's eyes, and nose, that the boy had gotten a bath. He was now wearing a pair of blue jeans and a black t-shirt, with matching black sneakers and a Mariner's ball cap. His mouth quirked and he felt his mustache twitch at that sight. Even when she wasn't around, Alice was putting a smile on his face.
"Hey kiddos," he said as he set the food on the dining room table.
"Hi, Mr Charlie!" Jack answered politely.
Charlie couldn't stop the smile that started to spread across his face. He had never met a more polite and well-spoken kid before in his life. It was difficult sometimes to remember that he was only three.
"Here, I brought us some breakfast before we head home. Do you like pancakes and bacon, Jackson?"
Jack's eyes lit up and he nodded enthusiastically.
"I sure do!"
Charlie took the three platters out of the bag and placed them on the table. Without thinking about it, Bella opened the little cellophane bag that housed a napkin, plastic knife and fork, as well as Jack's container and started cutting up the pancakes for him. When she was finished, she poured a packet of syrup over top of them for him. She placed the container back in front of the overeager boy, who just smiled up and quietly said, "Thank you!"
She looked across the table at her father and saw that he had an eyebrow raised, while looking between her and Jack. Realizing what had just transpired, she shrugged lightly and dove into her own pancakes. Neither one of them commented on how naturally Bella cared for Jack.
Once they were all finished and cleaned up from breakfast, Charlie went to put their bags into the car, while Bella got Jack settled into his new car seat.
"Hey, Dad?" Bella hollered back at Charlie. "Are you sure that you have this hooked up right?"
Closing the trunk, he stood upright and playfully glared at his daughter over her teasing.
"Baby girl, it's my job to know the law and properly securing children in cars happens to be part of the law. Thus, I am infallible here."
He walked over to the driver's side door and winked at her before getting in.
"Plus, I had the guy at the store help me hook it up."
Bella laughed as she climbed in the passenger side of the cruiser. One thing she would always be thankful for was her awesome relationship with her dad. He wasn't one for showing much affection, but he was funny and loyal and easy to get along with. She glanced back at Jack, ready to apologize for the barrier between them, when she noticed that he was already occupied digging through a shopping bag that had previously been sitting next to him. She watched in amazement as he pulled out some toys, coloring book with crayons and some picture books. She glanced sideways at her dad and saw him smiling into the rear-view mirror, watching Jack.
"You know, you really are an awesome dad," she said quietly. Charlie blushed and focused on pulling out of Aro's driveway and onto the road.
Talking lowly, so that Jack wouldn't be disturbed by what was being said, Charlie told Bella a little about the conversations that he had had with Aro earlier in the day. There had still been no mention of any child matching Jack's age or description on the West Coast. There had been a recent report in Phoenix, AZ about a three-year-old boy named Carter, who had wandered away from his mother at a park, but that child was described as having brown hair and blue eyes. Jack's hair was more of an auburn and his eyes were grass green.
It was decided that Bella and Charlie would have to appear in front of the Seattle courts to officially petition to be his temporary guardians. There was only so far that Aro's strings could get them. Charlie had already spoken with Sue, who suggested that she could watch Jack while Charlie was working and Bella had class. Between them and their friends, they had an amazing support group to shower the lost little boy with love.
As they headed for home, Bella couldn't help but feel hopeful yet anxious about the whole situation. As much as she wanted Jackson to be reunited with his family, she didn't want to lose him from her life. He had already attached himself to her heart. All she could do now was have faith that everything would work out for the best.
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