Author's notes: Thank you so much for your continued support of this story. Be warned I may still be writing this one at Christmas, so I hope you have the stamina.
Jane and Betsy colour after her nap and then she asks to learn a magic trick. Just before dinner she wants to read. Jane is ready.
"My turn to pick the story Betsy."
He goes to the pile and chooses the book he's noticed before and is perfect for today, It's called: The Moogees move house. It turns out it is a very fun book. Written in silly verse and giving Jane excellent opportunities to do funny voices. Betsy's giggling by the end and Jane's choking out the last page as the wonderful sound of her giggles fills him with emotion. She looks up at him her eyes shining and asks for him to read it again. Jane's found his new favourite book. She climbs up on to his lap so she can get a better look at the pictures and he assigns her the part of one of the baby Moogees and he laughs when she comes up with her own silly voice. By the end of the second run through tears are shining in his eyes. Betsy notices and looks at him with concern. He strokes her hair.
"I'm not sad Betsy, sometimes something good can bring tears and reading this book with you has been very good."
He points to his smile.
"See, I'm happy."
Satisfied Betsy smiles at him and hands the book to him again. Just then there's a knock on the door signalling the arrival of dinner. After they've eaten Betsy asks to read again. She walks over to her bed and picks up Rose, obviously wanting her to hear the story Jane takes her by the hand and leads her to the couch. She climbs up and sits down. Jane sits down next to her but angles his body so that he can see her.
"I need to talk to you about something Betsy."
She looks up at him expectantly.
"Do you like it here?"
Betsy sits thoughtfully but doesn't answer the question.
Jane bends down so he can look her in the eyes.
"Be honest Betsy. It won't upset me, this isn't my place. I want you to tell me the truth. Do you like it here?"
She slowly shakes her head. Jane gets down on one knee before her and tries to reassure her.
"It's okay, I know it scared you the other night. Can you remember in the story the animals were moving from one house to a new, better house?"
Betsy nods her head.
"How would you feel about us moving to a different house? Do you think you would like that?"
A confused look appears on her face.
"They'll be just you and me, we will have visitors sometimes like Agent Lisbon and Doctor Wride. But they can only come in, if we tell them they can come in. We'll make our own meals and together you will learn to go out and do the things that other little girls do. How does that sound? Do you think you'll like it?"
Betsy doesn't say anything, but looks down at Rose. It strikes Jane what he's just said.
"Rose will of course come too."
Betsy picks up the book and hands it to Jane. He studies her for a few moments and then takes it off her.
"Thinking about it is a good idea. We can talk about it tomorrow and maybe look on the laptop and see if there's a house we like.
Betsy and Jane are sitting at the table with the laptop in front of them. They've played some games and looked for more books about the Moogees but there wasn't any, they did order some books by the same author though. Suddenly Betsy pushes the laptop away and points to the crayons.
"You want to colour?"
Betsy shakes her head.
"No, draw."
Jane's surprised, although he's tried to encourage her to draw, she hasn't shown a great interest in it and has been content to watch him. He puts paper and crayons on the table, placing a sheet in front of them both.
"So what shall we draw?"
Betsy doesn't answer but picks up a crayon and starts drawing. Jane watches, she's leaning over the page with her face almost touching the paper, her hair's fallen forward, obscuring his view. When she sits up a little to change colours he gets a glimpse and smiles, she's drawing a house.
Betsy's house doesn't have a roof, it's just a box with a window and a door. It didn't surprise Jane that she included flowers in her drawing, yellow ones of course. The day before when Betsy was down for the night Jane had a look at houses on the laptop and booked marked selections he thought were suitable, he didn't want to overwhelm Betsy with too much choice. So after she finished he asked her if she wanted to look at some houses and she nodded her head.
"Rose too?"
"Of course."
Betsy sits on his lap, with Rose on hers, as Jane clicks through the houses he's selected. Betsy doesn't answer any of his questions but Jane's able to use his observations of her body language and reactions to learn what she likes. She prefers homes that have large empty spaces and he adjusts his search accordingly. Then there's one that really gets her interest. She moves closer to the screen touching it with her finger, tracing the outline of each photo. Jane can't see any reason for her reaction, it doesn't look that different to a lot of the other places they've looked at, but she lays her hand on top of his hand holding the mouse and then he sees it.
"You like this one?"
She nods her head and twists to face him.
"Do you like it?"
He smiles at her.
"I do, and the thing I like best of all is the swing."
She smiles back at him.
"Me too."