A/N: Thank you for the reviews for the last chapter guys and gals, I really appreciated it. I figured I'd update again before I head back to work this weekend. I disclaim as usual. Please R&R!
Reaching his hand through the open door, Randy's fingers found the switch against the wall. Clicking it with his finger, his apartment was bathed in the glow of the overhead lighting. Stepping in through the doorway, he shrugged the small Barbie backpack higher onto his shoulder. Matched with his impressive physique, the pack looked more ridiculous that it would on most people.
The Police Station had provided the back pack which held all of Juliet's overnight clothes. They had been back by her mother Beth the evening before. It seemed Juliet was to stay overnight at the friends' house, and be picked up by Beth in the morning. Randy absently wondered how Beth would have felt to know that yesterday afternoon was going to be the last time she would ever she her daughter. It didn't bare thinking about.
As it was, the female Detective Juliet had been placed with had done her best to break the news to the little girl after Randy had arrived. Trained to work exclusively with children, she had explained that Juliet would not understand what had happened to her mother. She had given Randy a list of numbers he could contact for guidance when Juliet eventually began to question he mother's location.
That filled Randy with a feeling of cold dread. Here he was in his apartment, totally unfriendly to children. He had nothing here that could possibly have be any use to a child, unless said child was into hard liquor and Jenna Jameson porn. As it was, Randy had been provided with the key to Beth's apartment. He was told that he could go there at any time to collect any belongings he felt Juliet might need. At least he had been spared the grim duty of clearing the apartment out. That macabre privilege would be left to Beth's mother. At least when they could eventually get hold of her.
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Randy sighed heavily. This was all getting too much for him already. Blurting out he would take his daughter might possibly turn out to be the biggest mistake he had ever made in his life. Randy didn't have the first clue when it came to caring for a small child. He didn't know what she would eat, what clothes she would wear, and what kind of things she enjoyed. Randy's knowledge was so sparse that he didn't know for sure whether Juliet would be wearing diapers or not.
Turning back into the doorway, Randy studied the little girl closely. Hidden behind a lavender jacket zipped up to her throat, she clutched a stuffed rabbit to her for dear life. Her small face looked fearfully from behind the twin fluffy ears. It was like looking into mirror for Randy, as Juliet clearly had inherited his eyes. Two large blue orbs studied Randy as intently as he studied her. They eventually moved from the figure of her father to scan the unfamiliar surroundings.
Remaining in the doorway, she made no move to follow Randy inside. Extending his hand down to her, Randy did his best to be reassuring in the circumstances. "Come on inside Juliet."
Ignoring the hand Randy offered her, she took one small step inside the apartment, bring her feet together. Gradually she took another step, and another, before she was finally all the way though the door. Randy took the opportunity to nudge it closed, as Juliet headed further into the apartment. She was inquisitive as most young girls her age, her head twisting in slowly in all directions as she took in the room. Seemingly satisfied, she twisted to face Randy full on.
Obviously uncomfortable, Randy shuffled his feet. His plan to get her from the Police Station and to his apartment had worked. But he had no clue what he was supposed to do next. As it was, Juliet apparently hadn't spoken since she had been informed of the news of her mother. She wouldn't speak to anyone. Not the detectives, not the child officer, least of all Randy. It seemed Juliet had no idea who he was, and had no desire so far through her life to find out either. They were strangers to one another.
Being the adult of the situation, Randy knew it was his responsibility to take charge and settle Juliet in. Smiling gently, he knelt down to be on more of an eye level with her. To his dismay, she took a distinctive step back as he did so. "Okay Juliet, this is my apartment. Do you like it?" Her face remained impassive, her expression not changing from that of mild alarm. "It's pretty big. It's got a master bedroom and two guest rooms, all with their own en suites. Plus I have this huge flat-screen television through there. Do you want to see it?"
Juliet remained motionless, only blinking. "Are you hungry? Can I fix you something to eat?" Heading towards the kitchen area, Randy began scouring cupboards and his refrigerator for anything he could feed the girl. Glancing up from behind the island in the centre of the kitchen space, Randy saw Juliet had only turned to face him. "Are you thirsty?"
Nothing. Juliet still didn't make any sound that she understood, much less acknowledged what Randy had said. "Maybe you just want to go to bed right? You must be tired."
Stepping out onto the main floor of the apartment, Randy felt silently relieved to see that Juliet had followed him towards one of the guest rooms. Pushing the door open, he clicked the light on. Dropping her backpack on the edge of the bed, he closed the curtains to the night sky against the far wall. Turning back, Randy smiled at Juliet he had progressed further than the doorway. "Is this okay Juliet? It's a really comfy bed. And it's a double. You've get plenty of room to stretch out if you want to?"
Randy felt ridiculous. She was five years old and no taller than his knee. She could probably lie horizontally across a single bed and still be too small to reach end to end. She remained impassive, simply looking at Randy. Unable to take the silence anymore, he felt like dropping to his knees and begging her to tell him what to do next. "Juliet, please say something. Anything at all."
She sighed, and headed into the room. She walked in the same way as she had earlier. Taking one step at a time and bringing her little feet together each time. Stopping at the edge of the bed, she looked up at Randy. "Do you need help to get undressed Juliet? Can you do it yourself?" Silence. "Okay, well I'll give you some time to get ready for bed and I'll come back."
Heading out of the room, Randy retreated the main area of his apartment. Running his hands back over the short crop of his hair, he exhaled in a gust of breath between clenched teeth. This was harder than he had originally feared. The fact that he didn't know what he was supposed to do was one thing. But Juliet seemed unwilling to communicate in any way. Maybe it was the distress of losing her mother. Maybe she was too exhausted to talk to Randy. Maybe it was the fact that she was alone in a strange place with a man she didn't know.
Whatever the reason, Randy was too drained to think about it any further. Deciding he would call his own mother first thing in the morning for advice, he realised he had to make sure Juliet was settled.
Pouring a glass of mile for Juliet, he headed back to the guest room. He stopped in the doorway to watch her silently. She had changed into a white night-dress with pictures of butterflies coloured onto it. Carefully, her small hands were folding the clothes she had been wearing, doing her best to put them as neatly as she could on the end of the bed. Randy felt a feeling he didn't recognise sear into his chest, piercing his very heart as he watched her tuck her shoes neatly beneath the bed. The way she moved them to make sure they were perfectly in line made him want to weep with sorrow for what he didn't know.
Reaching the edge of the bed, Juliet gripped the covers and hauled herself upwards. Realising she was too small to do it alone, Randy headed into the room. He was too late however as Juliet managed to get into the bed alone. Pulling back the quilt, she slid her legs beneath it, before pulling it back up to cover herself entirely.
Placing the glass on the table next to the bed, Randy softly lowered himself to sit on the edge of the bed. Grabbing her stuffed rabbit from the ground, he carefully slid it next to her beneath the quilt. Her tiny face was weak with exhaustion, as her lips parted into a heart-felt yawn. "You need anything Juliet?" Without answering, Juliet's eyes fell to a complete close.
Randy smiled sadly, somehow transfixed with watching her chest rise and fall in a gentle rhythm as she fell into the waiting clutches of sleep. Randy didn't know why, but somehow the urge came over to him to stroke her hair. Gently placing his palm of the side of her head, he gently stroked several strands of hair away from her face. Juliet murmured, the first sound she had made since meeting Randy.
Lifting himself from the bed, Randy crept towards the door. Glancing back towards her, he sighed softly. She was an angel lost in a sea of white. Dwarfed by the covers, she looked peaceful and vulnerable all at the same time. Reaching for the light switch, Randy flicked it, flooding the room in darkness. Deciding to leave the door open, a beam of flight fell directly onto Juliet as she slept. Her tiny frame was haloed in the light as though she were some heavenly cherub.
Retreating to his own room, Randy didn't realise how exhausted he had been feeling until the tears started to fall. The night had taken its toll on his weary mind, and he had no defence left against the grief. Burying his head in his hands, he let the tears come. The fell in river over his cheeks, but he didn't bother to brush them away. He wouldn't. Somehow, he felt that by denying them would somehow be disrespectful to Beth. Sobbing his last, Randy undressed and climbed into bed himself. Knocking the light off, he fell into a dreamless slumber.
Randy awoke in the middle of the night for a reason he didn't know. Blinking his eyes open in the darkness, he knew something had awoken him. Gradually, his crystal blue orbs became used to the lightning level. The familiar features of his room fell into place before him, all be it in a hidden shadowed state. The sound of traffic outside was persistent, but muffled, so he doubted that had been what could have awoken him.
It was then that he became aware of the extra presence in his room. Looking down at the foot of his bed, his breath caught in his throat. Curled in a foetal position at the end of his bed was Juliet. Her face was buried into her rabbit, and Randy was certain he could make out the sound of her breathing. It was distraught, as though she had been crying.
Carefully sitting up in bed, he watched her for a second. Somehow she had made her way in the dark from her room into his, for what reason he didn't know. Debating on what to do, Randy carefully reached forward to the edge of the bed. Carefully taking Juliet into his arms, he leant back into his pillows, holding her tiny body close to his as he pulled the covers over them both.
Wrapped in the warmth of her father's arms, Juliet's breathing became still as she relaxed. As she fell back to sleep, Randy could feel himself dozing alongside her. His last waking thought was the happiest he'd had all day. Feeling his daughter slumbering against his chest, Randy was certain that he'd made the right decision.