"Give what you have. To someone it maybe better than you dare to think."
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Sara woke a little after nine. Rubbing her eyes she wondered if the events of the previous night had just been a really strange dream. As she walked out to the kitchen to she saw Sadie sleeping soundly on the couch. It wasn't a dream, but Sara wasn't upset. True she didn't have a clue as to what to do once the child woke up, but she didn't feel as worried as she did last night. As she started up the coffee machine, her phone rang.
"Sidle"
"Hey Sara, it's Catherine. I didn't wake you, did I?"
"No, I was just got up. Listen I'm really sorry about waking you up last night." Sara apologized.
"Don't worry, I think you had a good enough reason. So are you still up for some shopping? I found the booster seat in the garage. It's a little beat up, but is still functional. Lindsey and I haven't eaten yet, so maybe we could stop by the diner." Catherine asked, she wasn't sure if Sara wasn't sure if Sara was as desperate as for help as she sounded last night.
"Yeah, that sounds good. I still have to get changed. By the way, what is the booster seat used for?" Sara was happy Catherine was willing to help, but confused with the apparent need for someone to have a 'booster seat.'
"It's like a car seat for kids that are too big for a car seat, but still too small to ride safely in a car. It's law in Nevada that kids under 4"9' or under 85 pounds ride in a booster seat. You really didn't know this Sara?" Catherine this was going to be an interesting learning experience for both of them.
"Catherine, it's not like they teach you this stuff at Harvard? How was I supposed to know? How did you learn all this stuff? Is there some book or journal I can read that will explain all this to me?" Sara quipped a little to sharply.
"Girl, there are hundreds of books. We'll get you taken care of, don't worry. Lindsey and I will be over in about a half an hour. You are going to survive." Somehow, Catherine thought.
As Sara was on the phone, Sadie began to wake up. She didn't know where she was, but could see Sara at the table talking on the phone. She remembered what happened last night but was happy to see she was still with Sara.
"Hey kiddo, you're awake." Sara said as she noticed Sadie moving around. "My uh.. frie… uh.. Coworker is going to come over with her daughter Lindsey and we're all going to go shopping. How does that sound?" Sara still wasn't too sure how to speak to the little girl. Sadie looked at Sara and nodded. The little girl walked over to where Sara was sitting and whispered.
"Bathroom?"
"Oh, yeah right down here," Sara ushered the Sadie down the hall. "You can, umm, get ready here, I'm going to go in my room and change. We're going to the diner for breakfast." Sara didn't know what else to say as the little girl walked into the bathroom and closed the door. As Sara got dressed, she realized that Sadie didn't have anything to change into. The clothes she had been wearing were worn and somewhat dirty. Sara knew she'd have to pick up some clothes for Sadie, as well as whatever Catherine had in mind.
"Mom, why do you have a booster seat in the back seat of the car?" Lindsey asked worriedly.
"Well, Sara has a 5-year-old staying with her for the weekend and she doesn't have anything. Plus I think you're a little too big for it now. So we're going to help them out. We'll go to breakfast first, and then going shopping."
"So I get to spend my day off with two boring adults and a 5-year-old. Ugg." Lindsey wined. "I thought you didn't like Sara anyways, why are you helping her?"
"Sara and I have our differences, but this isn't about her or me, it's about helping out a little girl that just lost both her parents. Do you think you could help us too? I know you like shopping." Catherine was not in the mood to deal was a grumpy 13-year-old, but she knew how caring Lindsey could be and hoped that would be the side that was present. Lindsey had been through a rough patch and Catherine was about at her wits end.
"Yeah, I guess. Does she have a name?" Lindsey, still not thrilled with who was going to be her company, but she did like to go shopping.
"It's Sadie, and she got to Sara's late last night. That's all I know." Catherine replied thinking back to her conversation last night. She spent more time calming Sara down, than learning about the child. Well other than the child could sleep.
Catherine knocked on Sara's door. Lindsey stood next to her occupied by her MP3 player. Sara opened the door and welcomed them in.
"Sadie, this is my coworker Catherine, and her daughter Lindsey." Sara tentatively introduced the two to the little girl. Sadie looked at the two visitors and quickly went to Sara and grabbed her hand.
Surprising both women, Lindsey went over to Sadie and bent down to her level and said, "Hey Sadie, are you ready to go to breakfast? Do you like pancakes or waffles better? The food at the diner's really good." Sadie didn't reply but smiled at Lindsey.
"Wow, Sara, she looks so much like you!" Catherine said. The same dark eyes and dark hair, Catherine could only assume that this must have been what Sara looked like as a little girl.
"Greg said the same thing. So you guys ready to go? Did you bring that booster seat thing?" Sara asked as she grabbed her purse and motioned for the crew to head out to the car. Sadie held fast to Sara's hand but was enticed by Lindsey.
Catherine introduced Sara to the mystery that had been the booster seat. She showed Sara how to load and secure the seat, and turned to Sadie and said, "You ready to go?" As she picked up the little girl, "Here you go, this is going to be the seat that you get to ride in." Sara was shocked that Sadie didn't fight Catherine. Catherine sat her in the seat and proceeded to show Sara how to strap her in. The rest climbed into the car and they were off to the diner.
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