Chapter 21: 'Uncle Simon'.

While it had been a very eventful day for their parents, Morgan and Ben had had an interesting first day at their new school, to say the least. As they waited in the front of the school office for two people they weren't sure would even be coming to collect them, people they had come to rely on and trust, Morgan's patience was wearing thin.

"Where are they?" She complained, a hint of nervousness tarnishing her voice as she spoke. Ben, who had been pacing up and down in front of where his sister sat on a small sofa, had a sneaking suspicion Rachael and Austin weren't going to be the ones to pick them up that afternoon. He thought carefully about the best way to break this news to his sister- he could tell she was worried and he didn't want to add to her anxieties. He didn't want to get her hopes up either; he'd promised himself after his parents passed away that if there were one person he would always be honest with it would be Morgan. She deserved that and so much more in his opinion.

"I don't think mum and dad are going to be picking us up today, Morgs". It still felt weird to Ben, having to refer to Rachael and Austin as their mum and dad, but his and Morgan's safety was at stake so he'd had to sound casual when saying it. Ben looked at his sister whose gaze was focused right back at him, until suddenly, she turned to stare out the door of the office. A blank and expressionless look provided all the evidence he needed to understand she had much more on her mind than she ought to for an eight year old. He had to reassure her everything was going to be okay- but how? As Ben was about to explain to his little sister that everything would work out somehow, the door to the office opened and Morgan, still deep in thought, jumped with fright at the unexpected stranger.

Ben couldn't help but notice that the man, who had plenty of brown curly hair, smelt strongly of the beach and he could have sworn he spotted some grains of sand still scattered in his hair. The guy not only reeked of the ocean but he was also dressed for it, wearing a loose fitting t-shirt with a Billabong logo positioned boldly across the front and long black Quiksilver board shorts. Ben, being quite the professional at first impressions, thought the man looked pretty cool and secretly hoped he came across as someone just as trendy when he was older.

As Simon Joyner closed the door and entered the office he shot a lingering glance at Ben, as Jen- uh, what was I supposed to be calling her again? Rachael- gotta remember that- had instructed her to and winked shiftily at the young boy who, apparently, would understand what he meant.

Ben didn't miss a beat and understood that this was the Simon that Rachael had been talking about that morning before they'd all, finally, gotten in the car. The surfy looking guy in front of Ben didn't look a thing like the Simon he had drawn a mental image of, but he wasn't scary looking, wore cool clothes and looked like someone who'd be happy to play video games with him. He seems like an alright guy… here goes…

Ben hopped up from his chair as quickly as he could manage with his heart beating a million miles an hour, and made his way over to who he was certain was their 'babysitter' for the afternoon, the actor in him exclaiming "Uncle Simon!"

Uncle Simon, that's new! At Ben's words, Simon shot a huge grin at the young boy standing in front of him, saying "Hey champ! How was school?" After having, only seconds earlier, showed off some pretty convincing acting skills, Ben thought about inventing an exciting series of events to report to Simon regarding his day at school. In the end, he decided to go with a simple but effective "It was good, I played footy at lunch".

"Footy, hey? That does sound good" Simon replied before walking the couple of steps to where Morgan had sat looking on intently, and saying "How about you, kiddo? Did you play some footy too?" He didn't want to frighten the girl; he noticed she had been pretty quiet ever since he'd walked in and knew this situation would be difficult for her to get her head around at first, her being the youngest and all. The ex-detective had only agreed to look after her and her brother, if Jen and Nick needed him to, because he'd been at a loose end and figured it wouldn't hurt to be of use to someone. He was also determined to do a good job; he really did plan on making an effort with his new young charges. Simon didn't expect an immediate answer to the question he'd just asked her, but Morgan replied rather promptly with "I didn't play footy, but I did play some netball. I'm not a very good shooter though, but I did make some friends".

"Friends? On your first day? That's impressive!" Simon had managed to get a tiny yet clearly visible smile out of Morgan, it was more than he could have hoped for. Mission accomplished, he thought, as he leant over and picked her bag up off the grey carpeted floor and went up to the office counter. After he had informed one of the office ladies about who he was and that he was there to take Ben and Morgan home, he walked back to where the kids now stood- next to each other waiting for him, and lead them out the door to his car.

The kids didn't say anything more to Simon on the way to the car; instead they talked amongst themselves until they arrived at the charcoal coloured Subaru Impreza station wagon. Their silence towards Simon was broken by Morgan, who piped up "I bags front seat". Simon smiled and shot his next words at Ben "You heard your sister, in ya get! Back seat." Ben looked a little disappointed- he had so much to quiz Simon about- but he wasn't bothered to argue and just did as he was told, clambering into the back. Morgan jumped in with a really smug look on her face. Simon smiled and thought to himself how hard could this be?