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Part 23
"Why don't we take a walk?" Harm suggested, as all three of them sat at home, one weekend, nearly three weeks later, twitchy and very excited.
Mattie and Mac both looked at him like he'd suggested sky-diving without a parachute.
"What?" Harm asked, "Wendy has both our cell numbers. We might as well wait for her call while doing something beneficial for our health."
Mac conceded that he was right, if Wendy didn't get hold of them here, she'd call them on either cell phone. With an encouraging pat of Mattie's leg, she got up from the sofa and went over to get her cellphone, which had been left on the table to charge up.
"Do you feel up to this, Matt?" Harm asked his daughter, grabbing her sneakers and helping her get them on, "I know this week has been hard for you…"
"No more so than usual," Mattie replied, grunting with the effort of bending enough to get her laces tied, "But I guess this waiting is just getting to me. I don't feel like doing anything, because my mind is on this…but a walk would probably help to release some of the tension."
"Yeah," Harm checked his own cell phone, checking that the battery level was high, "And it's such a nice day, it'd be a shame to waste it, y'know? We could go and spend some time at that park…If you get tired, we'll just take a seat, but it would be good for us to keep busy and get some fresh air at the same time."
"You're pushing me on the swings," Mattie laughed as she informed her Father.
Okay," he smiled and nodded, "I have no problem with that."
Ten minutes later and they were out of the door and into the mid-afternoon sunshine.
At the same time…
Wendy Moon drove into the driveway of the blue house with white windowpanes and a large front garden, where she had been forced to leave Tyler, two weeks before. They couldn't have stayed at the Robert's house any longer, because besides the fact that the Roberts had four children of their own, she and Alfred no longer had official custody of them and now had no say in where they were placed. Pending the court's decision on the Rabb's petition for a resident's order, it was necessary for them to go back into registered foster care. It was only through her old connections that Wendy was able to arrange for the children to come with her today, so that they would be with her once the call from Child Protective Services and the Children's Courts came. She had many friends and acquaintances in this respect, but she usually avoided asking favors of them. In the case of Tiegan and Tyler, she simply could not help herself, the children were as dear to her as if they were her own.
It wasn't long before the boy appeared at the front door, already armed with his suitcase and his pillow (Both Tiegan and Tyler could only sleep with the one that belonged to them, so always took it on overnight journeys away from Nana Moon's house. It had always been this way.) Wendy didn't even manage to make it out of the car before Tyler made it across the distance to her, even with his heavy case.
"Are you all packed?" Wendy asked, "I was going to come in and help you."
"I'm all ready, Nana Moon," Tyler told her, indicating the case and his pillow.
"Are you sure you didn't leave anything out?" Wendy checked, "I don't want to have to come back here later, to pick up something or other of yours…"
"No," Tyler shook his head, "I've got everything, Nana Moon."
Wendy just eyed him, suspiciously.
"I really have."
Wendy's hunch was proven correct when Yvonne Blakely, who had been Tyler's foster-mother for the past couple of weeks, came hurrying out with Tyler's jacket and raincoat.
"Sorry, Wendy, I forgot about these," she told Wendy, "They were in the downstairs cupboard."
Wendy thanked her and then loaded Tyler's suitcase into the trunk.
"Say 'thank you' to her, Tyler," Wendy instructed the child, "For taking such good care of you, these passed couple of weeks."
"Thank you," Tyler complied with the request, but was looking towards where Wendy's hand was on the key in the ignition. He was keen to be on their way. They pulled away, waving to Yvonne as she went to return into her house.
"Are we going now, Nana Moon?" Tyler asked eagerly, "Are we going to my new home?"
"Not just yet," Wendy told the boy and he visibly deflated, "The courts haven't called me with their decision yet, but in the meantime, we're going to get Tiegan and I'll take you both out for dinner, while we wait for the call."
"Do you know how long it'll be, before they call us to let us know?" Tyler persisted, as Wendy negotiated the streets of the unfamiliar neighborhood.
"I'm not sure, Tyler," she told him truthfully, "But it shouldn't be too long, now. Try not to worry about it, honey. I'm sure that everything is going to be okay."
Tyler none-the-less began to debate the matter, silently, as he gazed out of his passenger-side window. He hoped that it would.
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