"Hey, you." I greeted her from the couch, watching her cross into the living room dressed in a pink nightgown with small hearts patterned around it. We had just finished dinner about ten minutes earlier. She had helped me put the milk back in the fridge before disappearing to her room to change.
"Yep! Got my pajamas on." Pinching her fingers in the middle of the gown, she gave a little twirl before climbing onto the couch beside me.
"I see that. What about your teeth? They brushed just in case you fall asleep during the movie?"
"Mhm." Scooting closer, she laid her head on my lap while staring at the screen in anticipation. I had just barely pulled up the movie and was reading over the summary on my phone when she walked into the living room.
"Monsters Inc. Is that what you still want to watch?" I double-checked before clicking play on the movie. Seeing the tired but excited expression on her face, I knew already I would be carrying her to bed. "We can always wait until tomorrow if you're tired."
"I'm sure." She said confidently, rubbing at her eyes a couple of times. "But don't you have to work tomorrow?"
"I won't be working weekends until I can find someone to watch you."
"Someone is going to be watching me on weekends too?" Eva panicked, now sitting against the couch with a frown.
"Maybe not every weekend, but there's going to be a lot of days where I'm going to have to work," I told her as she flopped back down in my lap with a sigh. "When I'm not working, we can plan things we want to do together, like going to the park."
"I like the park." Her tone brightened a little, a small smile emerging as I ran my fingers through her blonde locks. "Do you think we'll really find Paige?"
"If she goes there enough, we might be able to find her," I told her hopefully, not wanting to dash her excitement about how often we would be able to make it back to the park. Hopefully whoever watched over her would be able to take her back often. If she didn't find Paige during that time, I hoped Eva would find closer and make friends elsewhere.
"That would be nice," Eva said through a yawn as she rubbed at her eyes. "I still wish you could pick me up every day."
"I do too." Raking my fingers through her blonde locks in long strides, the silence of the house reminded me of what things were like before Eva had come along. Empty. Lonely. Too big for one person. I had no idea what I had been thinking when I bought it. Now I understood why. It had been waiting for someone else to fill those walls too. "Tell you what, why don't you think of some other things we can do together and we'll figure out what works for the both of us."
"Okay." She stated as I clicked play and the upbeat intro to the movie began. Shapes formed a blue door, each rhythmically danced to the beat of the music. Various doors flashed onto the screen, a monster peeked its eyes out of one of them, another grabbed at the letters. Eva let out a little giggle as a green snake-like creature fought with the letter M before slithering out of sight.
By the time Mike and Sully were trying to reach the door after being banished to the Himalayas, Eva had stilled, her chest rising and falling. I leaned over to confirm my suspicions about her being asleep, before pausing the movie and shifting to the edge of the couch. One hand cradled her neck, the other supported her legs as I stood up with her in my arms. She stirred slightly at the movement but her eyes remained closed as I walked with her down the hall.
My right hand flicked on the hall light as I ducked into her room and carefully placed her in bed, loosely tucking the covers around her body. "Goodnight, Eva." I said quietly, retreating out of the room and closing the door slightly before flicking the hall light off. When I returned to the living room, I sat back down on the couch with one leg tucked underneath me. My hand absently grabbed my phone to check the time when I also noticed a text from Jay.
How's it going with Eva? The text had been sent almost fifteen minutes ago, around eight-forty five. After our many conversations, I wondered just how much he really wanted to talk about this, other than finding out how I was handling everything.
Better than I thought it would. I found out Eva has a friend she met on the playground when I first told her about me. She really wants to find her. A part of me hopes she will, but I'm also hoping she'll be able to make a friend at school.
It sounds like they really hit it off. Did she get a name?"
Paige. Not a lot to go off, really. She did mention she has a brother and they have to go to the park with their parents because they weren't old enough to go to the park by themselves.
That's a good start. You planning on going back?
I told her we could go back sometime. I think it would be good if she could find her again, but I also told her there was a chance we might not be able to. I guess time will only tell.
She's been with you since Tuesday. She's a good kid. She'll find her way, whether she finds the little girl on the playground or not. Did her social worker ever call you back?
No. I'm hoping she's just busy with other cases and will call me back tomorrow. That way I have something to tell Eva's teacher when I talk to her on Monday.
Hopefully. Let me know what happens. Goodnight, Hailey.
Goodnight.