"Office of Children and Families, Tara Rosenberg-Maclay speaking. Oh hi, Evelyn."
Tara smiled as she heard the voice of the charge nurse at the local hospital, who she'd met when Angel had broken his arm and seen quite a bit of when she was called into the hospital on a case.
She sighed as the listened to what the nurse had to say, frowning.
"Okay. Thanks for letting us know, Evelyn. I'll be right down."
She hung up the phone and stood up, going over to her boss's office and knocking on the door.
"Come in."
"Hey, Steph," Tara greeted as she walked into the office, "I just got a call from the hospital; a newborn boy was left there this morning."
Steph let her pen fall to her desk and brought her hand up to her head, lightly massaging her temples.
"We haven't been an abandoned baby in a while," she sighed before clasping her hands together in front of her, "They are a Safe Haven point though, so it's not exactly unexpected. Okay, is the child in good health?"
Tara nodded, recalling exactly what the nurse had said on the phone.
"Yea, the hospital says he's been checked over and all is fine, they have no reason to keep him there for anything."
Steph picked up her pen again and pulled a notepad towards her, scribbling something on the top.
"Okay, can you go collect him, Tara?" she asked, looking up at her employee, "I'll get started on the paperwork and finding a place for him. You can get petty cash from Angela for the cab ride over there."
"It's okay, Willow's working a half-day today so I have the car," Tara replied, going back towards the door "So I'll head over there now?"
"Please," Steph said, exhaling slowly, an abandoned newborn the last thing she wanted to deal with on a Friday afternoon, "And could you send Alice into me, I'll have her start looking into the emergency foster homes."
"Will do," Tara responded, before walking out of the office and over to her desk, picking up her bag before turning to Alice, who's cubicle was right in front of hers, "Al, Steph needs you for a sec. I'm picking up an abandoned baby; she wants you to start on the foster search."
"Oh right," Alice replied, standing up and moving towards her boss's office before stopping for a moment and shaking her head, "No matter how long I do this job, I can never understand how someone just abandons their child."
"That never gets easier," Michelle spoke up from behind them, "Trust me, I've been at it 30 years."
Tara turned and gave her aunt a small smile before moving away from her desk.
"I'll be back in a bit."
She walked around the cubicles and out the door of their offices, quickly getting the elevator to the carpark and fishing her keys out of her bag as she approached her shiny red vehicle.
She blushed slightly as she remembered how it had gotten so shiny, from Willow's cleaning the previous weekend and what exactly that had led to.
The memory of that day had been playing on her mind the entire week and she was glad it was Friday, so she wouldn't get her work distracted by the images flashing through her head during the weekend.
She hopped in the car and drove the relatively short distance to the hospital, parking on the street outside and walking into the ER, over to the triage desk where Evelyn was sitting, intently filling in a chart.
She knocked quietly on the glass and the nurse looked up, intending to tell whoever it was that they had to wait their turn when she saw Tara and pulled across the partition to let them speak.
"Hey, Tara. Come on through."
Evelyn pressed a button behind the desk and the large glass doors opened off to the side. Tara smiled and walked through them, hearing someone shout 'hey, I was next!', but the nurse ignored him so she did too.
"He's right over here," Evelyn said, walking around to a small area with just a few plastic chairs, where another nurse was sitting with a baby's car seat, whom Evelyn greeted warmly, "OCFS is here, Joan, you can go back to work."
Joan stood and smiled at the baby, then at the two women as she stood before walking back over to the triage desk and taking over for Evelyn.
Tara took the seat Joan had just vacated and peered into the carrier.
"Hey little guy."
She spoke quietly, not wanting to disturb the baby, who looked sound asleep in a plain white onesie and small white socks, a small tuft of blonde hair on his head.
His fists were balled at his sides but they started to loosen up as his head made the smallest of movements and his eyes began to slowly open a moment later, his gaze going straight to Tara with an intensity that a newborn normally wouldn't posses.
Tara watched as the baby began to stir and let out a small gasp when he opened his eyes and looked right her, his vibrant green eyes seeming as if they were staring right into her soul, much like a similar set of eyes did every day.
"Are you alright?" Evelyn asked in concern, taking a seat the other side of the baby carrier.
It took a few moments for the nurse's words to float into Tara's ear and register in her brain.
"Yes, sorry," she replied absently, her gaze never leaving the baby's, "His eyes just remind me of someone. I, um...I thought all newborns had blue eyes?"
"Most do," Evelyn responded with a small shrug and moved a hand down to pat the baby's head comfortingly, "Apart from his striking eye colour, everything appears to be normal. He's healthy, all checks were normal. He was hungry, but we fed him and we've had someone monitoring him since he got here."
Tara smiled down at the baby, tapping a finger against his stomach slightly, which made him gurgle.
"How old is he?"
"We've checked our records here and with the surrounding hospitals, so I assume he wasn't born in one," Evelyn sighed in response, "There's no record of a baby matching his description being born, but I'd say he's only a few hours old."
Tara finally pulled her gaze away from the child and frowned at the nurse.
"Who brought him in? They didn't give any details at all? No name?"
Evelyn shook her head.
"The mother just left him on the desk with a note that said 'find someone to be what he needs.' She ran before I could even get a look at her face, but she would remain anonymous even I did, since this is a Safe Haven facility. I don't think she knew that, she just thought it would be a safe place to drop him off. And no, no name given. Baby 4192 until an official birth cert can be made. I have a Foundling Certificate prepared for you over here."
She stood and went over to the desk, searching through a file as Tara stayed with the baby, watching him drift off to sleep.
"Aren't you just a little angel?" she whispered to him, "Don't worry, sweetie, you're in good care now."
Evelyn returned with a small folder and handed it to Tara.
"That's all the information you need. Have you found somewhere for him yet?"
"We're working on it," Tara replied, putting the file under her arm and picking up the handle of the baby carrier, "Thanks, Evelyn, for all your help."
Evelyn just smiled and shook her head demurely.
"No problem. I'm sure I'll see you around."
Tara smiled and nodded before walking back out of the ER and to her car.
She secured the baby carrier in the backseat with the seatbelt and took a moment to stroke the top of his hair before getting into the driver seat herself and turning the engine on. She heard a gurgle from the back and looked at the baby through the mirror, smiling at him.
"You like that sound, little guy?"
She smiled at him for another minute before pulling away from the street and driving back towards her offices, checking the baby in the mirror every few minutes as she drove.
"You're way too quiet, sweetie," she said with a chuckle as she parked in the carpark of her building and unfastened the carrier, "You're gonna start bawling in a second aren't you?"
The baby just gurgled again and Tara carried him into the building and into her offices, where Michelle, Alice and Steph were all standing around Alice's desk. Steph noticed her and beckoned her over.
"Here's the paperwork from the hospital," Tara said, handing the file to Steph and putting the carrier on her desk, "How's it going here?"
"None of the emergency foster families are available," Alice sighed, rubbing her temples, "I'm gonna start calling around the state homes."
"You can't do that," Tara said, defensively putting her body in front of the child, "They don't have the facilities or the capabilities to look after a newborn."
"Tara, I know it's not ideal..." Michelle started, "But the homes do the very best they can, the children are well cared for."
"I don't deny that for a second," Tara replied, looking between her aunt and her colleagues, "And I'm grateful everyday that those places are available for the children who need them, but this a less-than-day-old child who needs constant care and attention. One-on-one attention."
"Well the foster families aren't available," Alice said, frustrated, "They're all full to capacity or not equipped for babies."
"My point exactly," Tara muttered under her breath, holding her head for a moment before looking back up at her colleagues, "It's not fair to him or the other children in the homes to place him in one of them."
"We don't have much choice," Steph spoke up, feeling her employee's concern, but knowing they were doing all they can, "It should only be for the weekend, hopefully one of the families will be available come Monday."
"And he's already had the most tumultuous time," Tara shook her head, "He's not even a day old."
All four women sighed and Michelle put her hand on her niece's shoulder before Tara bit her lip and nodded to herself, having made a decision.
"I'll take him."
"What?" the other three all asked at once.
"I'll take him," Tara repeated calmly, crossing her arms over her chest.
"You're not a registered foster parent, Tara," Steph pointed out.
"I have police clearance, I have to, working here," Tara argued, "You can put him in my care. And I can give him the attention he needs, at least over the weekend."
Alice and Michelle just looked at Tara, slightly shocked and Steph regarded her for a moment before throwing her hands up in the air and looking at Tara intently.
"You'll have to sign a release saying you're taking over his custodial care temporarily."
"I know the procedure," Tara replied, nodding, "I'll do whatever I have to."
"Well, I'll go get the form," Steph responded, dropping her hands by her sides, and smiling, "I suppose I'll have to give you the rest of the day off to take him home."
Tara smiled as well and exhaled slowly.
"Thank you. I won't let you down."
Steph walked off towards her office and Alice eyed her friend warily.
"Don't, Al," Tara said off the look.
"Tara..." Alice started to speak but Tara held a hand up to stop her.
"This isn't me getting too involved. He's a newborn baby, and it's my job to give him the care he requires. So that's what's I'm going to do."