TW for brief mention of violence/physical abuse
Once they were home, May and Phil helped them carry all of their new things upstairs to their rooms. Skye felt a little guilty as Phil got excited over helping her find the right spots for her lamp and hula girl, since she didn't actually use the room, but squashed the feeling down as best she could.
Downstairs, May began pulling out things to make sandwiches for lunch, and Skye realized just how hungry she felt. Eating three meals a day was definitely one of the best things about living with Phil and May, and she was getting accustomed to eating regularly. She hoped that it wouldn't be too hard to adjust back to less food once she didn't live with them anymore, but she didn't dwell too long on the thought. It was better to focus on the good things she had right in front of her, which at the moment included a turkey sandwich and a cluster of fat, green grapes that popped with a satisfying crunch when she bit down on the skin. While Skye wolfed down her plate, Jemma picked at hers, nibbling on half of her sandwich and pushing the grapes around the plate without much interest.
"Aren't you hungry, Jemma?" Phil asked. He was polishing off his own lunch and seemed concerned that Jemma had barely touched hers. Jemma just shrugged without a word, and Skye saw May and Phil exchange a look. It was the kind of look she saw grownups give each other all the time, the kind that they thought kids didn't notice and the kind that meant they had to talk about whatever the kid in front of them had done wrong.
"Okay, well, you don't have to eat if you don't want to," Phil assured her. "And if you get hungry later, you can always have a snack." As he and May began clearing the table, they were interrupted by the ringing of a cell phone. May fished in her pocket and glanced at the screen. When she saw who was calling, her brows scrunched together in confusion.
"It's Vic," she told Phil.
"I wonder what she's calling about?" Phil mused. May just shook her head, then stepped towards the doorway as she answered the call.
"Hello? Hey, Vic, what's up?" She listened for a few minutes, the look of confusion deepening on her face, then gestured to Phil to follow her. "Yeah, okay. Hey, Vic? Let me get Phil in on speakerphone, okay? Give me a second." She left the room quickly then, and Phil wandered after her, mouthing at Skye and Jemma not to worry as he left. His demeanor was calm, but right away Skye's brain kicked into high gear rifling through every possible catastrophic outcome she could imagine. Judging by the shallow breaths Jemma was sucking in beside her, a similar sensation was happening in her mind as well.
"Why would Miss Hand be calling?" Jemma asked, her voice trembling. "Is it because we did something wrong? Do you think we're going to be taken away?" Skye tried to reassure her, but her voice stuck in her throat. After a minute, she was able to force words to leave her mouth, although they probably weren't words Jemma was hoping to hear.
"I don't know. I have no idea." For a brief moment, Skye felt utterly helpless, but then a flash of impulsivity took over, and a plan lodged itself in her brain. "We have to go listen."
"What? Skye, no, we can't, May left the room so they could have a private conversation."
"If Miss Hand is calling, then it's probably about us. Wouldn't you rather know now if we're getting kicked to the curb again, instead waiting around in agony for a few hours until she shows up to take us away?" Skye gave Jemma a pointed look, and when Jemma faltered, Skye took her by the hand and pulled her down the hall towards the office, where Phil and May had shuttered themselves away with the phone. "Come on, I have to know."
They knelt down in front of the closed door, and Skye pressed her ear against the small gap between the door and the frame, straining to hear. The voices were muffled, but she was able to distinguish between May's and Phil's without much trouble. Miss Hand's was harder to hear, but she was pretty sure she could get the gist.
"I know the timing isn't great, but I'm really in a bind, and given what Izzy's told me about this girl, you two were the first ones I though of," came the tinny voice of Miss Hand through the phone speaker.
"You thought of us, for this emergency situation, even though we've been parents for less than a week?" May was incredulous.
"We're still figuring things out with Skye and Jemma," Phil said. "Still getting to know them, still learning where the boundaries are, what the routines should be…"
"I know, and I wouldn't normally do this, but the situation is… complicated. She's being released from the hospital tomorrow, and I haven't found any other emergency home that can take her. She's in no condition for a group home at this point. It won't be for long, just until I can find her a long-term placement. I know Skye and Jemma are used to being around other kids, and I know you two are the kind of people this girl needs right now."
"Which is what, exactly?" May asked. There was some uncertainty in her voice. For someone who usually seemed so confident, she sounded like she had a lot of doubt.
"People who are kind, and gentle. Loving and attentive. All the things she wasn't getting at home."
"You said this girl really needs our help?" Phil sounded sad, but also like maybe Miss Hand was starting to convince him. It didn't surprise Skye in the least that he was so easily persuaded to help someone out.
"She really does. I met her yesterday, after Izzy got me involved. She seems like a good kid, but she's been through a lot recently. She needs an anchor."
"We don't exactly have the space," said May. "We only have the two extra beds, both of which are being slept in at the moment…"
"We can work something out," Phil coaxed. "We have the pull-out couch in a pinch, and we can get another bed without too much hassle." There was a long pause before May spoke.
"Your heart's already set on this, isn't it, love?" There was no frustration or malice to be found in her tone. Skye could practically picture May smiling and shaking her head at Phil in that "you're so dopey and I love you so much" way that she had with him.
"You know I can't turn away a kid in need, Mel. I know you can't either."
"Okay," May sighed. "Okay, Vic. We'll do whatever we can. You said she's getting out of the hospital tomorrow?"
"Yes, around 10 in the morning, if I'm not mistaken. I'll be pulling a file together this evening, and I'll bring it with me when I drop her off. She's never been in the system before, so there won't be much, more than likely."
"What can you tell us about her?" Phil asked. "Just so we can get an idea of who to expect. And so we know what to tell Skye and Jemma."
"Of course. Her name is Barbara Morse, but she goes by Bobbi. She's fifteen, does well in school, plays sports, all that jazz. Up until recently she lived with her father – apparently Mom wasn't in the picture. A little over a week ago, Dad drops her off at the ER up here in Two Rivers, says she was in a car crash, then leaves without another word. Kid's really hurt, broken ribs, punctured lung, busted knee, all this horrible stuff. The doctors fix her up, but they start to notice some things that don't add up, so one of the nurses reaches out to Izzy, just to look into things. According to Izzy, they have a weird conversation. Bobbi doesn't remember the car accident, then says she does, then admits that there was no car accident at all. Eventually Izzy gets her to admit that it was her dad who did all that to her, not some car crash. So Izzy calls me, we open an investigation, and now we need to find a place for Bobbi to stay that is far away from that father of hers."
"My god," said Phil.
"That son of a… he broke her ribs?" May asked angrily.
"With a baseball bat, apparently. One of the ribs punctured her lung, which is why she's been in the hospital for a while. They had to operate."
"I… I don't even know what to say." Phil sounded heartbroken. Skye understood, she felt bad too, listening to what Miss Hand was saying about this girl. She knew what it was like to be hurt by the people who were supposed to take care of you. She had never had a broken rib, or a punctured lung, though. They sounded like excruciating injuries.
She looked over at Jemma, who's face was twisted up in dismay. Skye reached for her hand.
"We should go," she said quietly, and Jemma nodded. Neither one was especially interested in hearing any more about the awful things that had happened to this Bobbi girl. Skye felt bad for eavesdropping. The things they'd heard were supposed to be private, and now they weren't, all because Skye couldn't control her own curiosity.
They traipsed back to the kitchen and finished washing and putting away the dishes that had been abandoned in favor of the phone call. It was the least they could do, Skye figured. As they put the last few things away, May and Phil reemerged, both with somber looks on their faces. If Skye hadn't known any better, she would have been terrified and one hundred percent convinced that she and Jemma were being sent away.
"Hey, thanks for putting away the dishes," Phil said, noticing their handiwork. "That's a big help." Neither Skye nor Jemma could bring themselves to look even remotely cheerful at his gratitude.
"Would it be okay if we spoke with the two of you?" May asked. Both girls exchanged nervous looks. Skye figured Jemma was feeling wracked with guilt over their spying, since the same feeling was wrapping its fingers around her own heart. May misinterpreted their distress.
"It's okay, it's nothing bad. No one is in trouble or anything like that. Come on, let's sit in the living room, it's more comfortable." Silently, Skye and Jemma followed the adults into the living room and settled onto the couch side by side.
"Well," Phil began, looking uneasy. "I guess the first thing to say is that Melinda and I have really loved being your foster parents this last week. You two are both wonderful, smart, and kind girls, and we're grateful to have you in our lives." Skye felt her stomach clench. This was starting to sound a lot like a goodbye speech. She had thought the phone conversation made it sound like they were all staying, but now Phil was acting like they were going to send her and Jemma away.
"Miss Hand called us, just now," May continued. "And she told us about another girl, who's a little older than you, who really needs someone to help her out right now. She's coming from a place where she wasn't treated right, and she needs someone to look out for her for a while. I'm thinking that maybe you two can understand what that might be like." She looked at both girls, and waited for them to nod.
"So, after thinking about it very seriously, Melinda and I decided that the right thing to do would be for us to try and help," Phil said. Skye bit her lip and tried to keep her chin from quivering. Somehow she had misunderstood everything, and now not only did she feel guilty for spying, she felt the familiar sickening sensation of being rejected, unwanted, and kicked back to the pound.
"When do we have to leave?" came Jemma's tiny voice. It sounded like she was about to start crying, too, but it was she who grabbed Skye's hand and gave a reassuring squeeze, rather than the other way around. Skye couldn't help but feel a glimmer of warmth at the gesture. Of course Jemma could tell how bad she was feeling, and of course she would want to make Skye feel better, no matter how sad she herself was.
"What?" Phil looked baffled, and May's brow was knit together in confusion. "What do you mean, leave? Where are you going?"
"Well you're sending us back, right?" Skye said. A hard edge crept into her voice, but her eyes were starting to grow watery. "You're sending us back to St. Agnes so you can help the new girl."
"We understand," Jemma placated. "It's very nice that you want to help her." The looks of confusion melted off of Phil and May's face and were replaced by sad, worried ones.
"Oh, honey, no," soothed Phil. "That's not what we were saying at all."
"We're sorry for not being clearer," May said. "We would never send either one of you back to St. Agnes, unless that's what you wanted us to do. We made a commitment to you both when we signed up to be your foster parents, and we're not going to break that commitment, ever. We want you to stay with us." Skye wasn't sure what to say. All of her feelings were so jumbled up inside of her that nothing was making much sense.
Sensing her unease, Phil spoke again. "We wanted to ask you both how you felt about another kid coming to live with us. All of us. We wanted to see if you were okay with us trying to help her out."
"Oh," Skye said, after a long pause. "You're asking us? For real?"
"For real," said May. "Phil and I decided that it was something that we wanted to do, but you and Jemma are a part of this family now, too, so you get to have some input in the decisions that will affect all of us. Phil and I will make the final choice, but we didn't want to decide anything without talking to you two about it." It surprised Skye just how genuine Phil and May were being, and how it seemed like they honestly wanted her and Jemma's opinions. Most of the time kids came and went from foster homes without warning, and Skye couldn't ever think of a time when a foster parent had asked her what she thought about something this important.
"It's important to help people," Jemma said. "That's the right thing to do. I think we should let her stay with us."
Skye pumped her head up and down. "Yeah. You guys helped us out a lot by letting us stay here, it's only fair that another kid gets that too. You two are definitely the best foster parents I've ever had."
May and Phil looked touched by their words, and when Phil spoke, he had to clear his throat a few times to get the choked-up sound to leave his voice.
"Thank you. You have no idea how much that means to us."
"We'll have to do some figuring when it comes to beds," May warned. "Bringing a new person into the family will mean some adjustments, and maybe some sacrifices. For example, we might need the two of you to share a room while she's here." Skye glanced at Jemma and saw a guilty look flash across her face. Steeling herself, Skye decided it was time for a small confession.
"We don't mind that," she said. "We um… we actually have something to tell you about that." Phil and May exchanged intrigued looks, but didn't interrupt Skye. "Jemma and I… have kind of been sleeping in the same room since we got here. I was having trouble sleeping, because it's so empty and quiet here, so Jemma let me sleep with her the first night, and after that it… kind of became a habit."
To her immense relief, neither May nor Phil looked upset at her admission.
"We always shared a room with a lot of other girls at St. Agnes," Jemma explained. "And we hardly ever get our own rooms with foster families, so we just weren't used to being alone. It felt…" She faltered. Naming emotions was sometimes a challenge for Jemma. She looked at Skye for help, which Skye supplied.
"It felt… lonely," she settled on. After a moment, she admitted a deeper feeling that being apart had given her. "It felt a little scary, too."
"We had no idea," Phil said, shaking his head slightly. "You must be pretty sneaky to pull that off for so long. Every time I checked on you, Skye, you were always in your bed."
"I waited until you went to sleep," she confessed sheepishly. "And I got up early to go back to my room before you were up."
"You should have told us you preferred sharing a room," said May, not unkindly. "We didn't even think about how it would feel to be alone at night, but if we had known, we could have moved your things in together."
"We didn't want to upset you," Skye explained. "The rooms were both so nice, and you went to all the trouble. It seemed ungrateful to not use it." She ducked her head, a little ashamed.
"All we ever wanted for the rooms was to make a space that you felt comfortable in. If what makes you comfortable in your room is sharing it with another person, then that's all that matters," May said. "We can do some rearranging today, if you want." Skye and Jemma nodded, smiles spreading across both faces.
"Excellent," Phil grinned. "Can I tell you a few things about your new foster sister before we get started? Just so there are no surprises when she gets here tomorrow?" The girls nodded again. "Her name is Bobbi, and she's fifteen, so she won't be in school with you."
"Will she be in school with you?" Skye interrupted.
Phil nodded. "Yep, she'll be at the high school with me. She's been in the hospital for the past week or so getting better from some injuries, so I don't know exactly how she's going to feel when she gets here. She may just need some time to rest and recover, so we'll do our best to give her what she needs."
"Is she nice?" Jemma asked. Worry laced the question, and Skye was sure Jemma was picturing some of the older girls from St. Agnes who used to torment them.
"Well, we haven't met her yet, but I'm sure she's nice. Miss Hand said she thought this would be a good place for her, so I'm guessing she thought we would all get along okay," Phil reassured her.
When it seemed like neither Skye nor Jemma had any remaining questions, May stood and pulled out her phone again. "I'm going to call Vic back and let her know that we're good to go here. You three can head upstairs and start moving some things around, if you want. I'll meet you in a minute."
Phil nodded and led Jemma and Skye upstairs. They spent the better part of the next hour working on their rooms, and eventually they were able to arrange the furniture in Jemma's room in such a way that there was space for Skye's bed to slide in comfortably. They decided to leave the dresser and desk in Skye's old room for Bobbi, and Jemma wasted no time in reorganizing the drawers in her own dresser and desk to make room for Skye's things.
It only took Skye a few trips to move all of her clothes, both old and new, and the rest of her things across the hall. The only things she hadn't moved by the time they finished were her computer parts. She still had those tucked away out of sight, and with Phil standing there with them, she wasn't sure if she wanted to pull them out. She didn't think he would get mad that she had them, but he might think that the stuff was just junk and ask her to throw it away, which she knew she didn't want to happen. She had worked too hard finding all of her pieces over the years to let them go into the trash now. She decided that rehoming her computer-in-progress could wait until the evening, and resolved to move things over at night, when no one but Jemma would notice.
May joined them as they were finishing up, and told them that Miss Hand would be bringing Bobbi by the next day, probably around lunchtime. She praised their hard work and complimented the new room setup, which made Skye and Jemma puff up with pride. They showed her how they had found a place for all of their new things, including Skye's hula girl and compartment lamp, which were on the desk, and Jemma's periodic table poster and her star lamp, which was perched on the top of the bookshelf.
As they all stood in the room admiring its makeover, Jemma suddenly sprung up and picked up her biology encyclopedia from the spot where it had lain on the desk for the past week. Shyly, she opened the cover and slid out her star map, unfolding it with great care.
"Do you think we could hang this up, too?" she asked. Skye felt a warm, fuzzy feeling radiate inside of her. The fact that Jemma felt like the house was safe enough to hang her stars up was a big deal.
"Of course!" Phil said, grabbing the tape they had used to hang the other poster. "You find a good spot for it, and I'll help with the tape." Jemma deliberated, then pointed to the stretch of wall right over her bed, which didn't surprise Skye in the least. For as long as she had known her, Jemma liked to keep her stars within reach.
"That's a really wonderful poster, Jemma," May said, as Phil and Jemma worked together to hang it.
"It's a map of the stars," Jemma informed her. "My dad gave it to me a long time ago."
"Did he like stars, too?" May asked. It was clever of her, Skye thought, to ask Jemma questions while she was preoccupied with something she liked.
Jemma nodded. "Even more than me. When I was little and couldn't get out of bed from my surgery, he used to wheel my bed outside, and we would look at them together. Once I learnt them all, he gave me the map, so I could practice even when it was daytime."
"Surgery?" inquired May.
"On my spine, to correct curvature from scoliosis. I got terribly bored having to lie still in bed all day, but he would read to me and teach me about all sorts of things. Plants, and animals, and chemistry, like from his work."
"He sounds like a good man," Phil said, sticking the final corner down. He gave Jemma a small, sad smile.
"He was." Jemma didn't elaborate, and her finger had snaked over to the bedpost to start tapping, its gentle rhythm punctuating the silence that befell them. May and Phil knew Jemma well enough to know not to press the conversation much further at that point.
"Well," said May, breaking the silence. "I'm going to go see if I can find a store that can deliver a twin bed here by tomorrow. Skye, Jemma, you're free to do whatever sounds like fun the rest of the afternoon." She headed for the door, and Phil followed.
"I need to work on some lesson plans, so I'll be in the office, but you can come find me if you need anything."
"You just want an excuse to not do your work," May teased him, and Phil threw his hands up in mock surrender.
"You can't blame me for trying," he joked. May just shook her head and shooed him out of the room. Skye could hear them both laughing as they moved down the hallway and downstairs.
And now our fledgling family grows by one! Excited for all five to finally be together soon :)