"I'm ready." Eva unenthusiastically walked into the bedroom as I finished putting on what little makeup I put on these days. "How do I look?" I could tell she was nervous and that was to be expected as she was about to face something new, probably from here on out if everything worked out with Betsey. "How do I look?"
"Beautiful. You want to go over the schedule one more time before we go?" Capping the lid of my mascara, I watched her nod from the bathroom mirror.
"Her name is Betsey, right? The nanny?" Sitting down on the edge of the bed, she gazed at me expectedly. It had been late when she had called me, so Eva had only heard some of the plan before I sent her to bed with the promise that I would tell her the plan again after she woke up.
"Her name is Betsey Cooper. Natalie, Betsey and Owen will meet us when we get to school so you can see what she looks like. I also emailed Ellen at the front desk. She told me you can stay in the front office with her until Betsey comes to get you. She's going to make sure you go home with the right person. Does that sound like a good plan?"
"Can I call you when I get to Natalie's house?"
"I'm sure we can." Placing the mascara tube back into my makeup bag, I quickly put on some chapstick and turned off the bathroom light. "We can ask when we get there. Think you can help remind me when we get to school?"
"I can do that." Finally a little smile appeared on her face as she sat on the edge of the bed. Her demeanor seemed to cheer up as she ran out of the room, calling behind her. "I'll grab my backpack. I left it in my room." I was happy she seemed to be feeling a little better about the situation. I just hoped that feeling would last throughout the rest of the day.
I grabbed a jacket, as well as my badge and my gun out of the safe and put them on. Eva still hadn't come out of her room by the time I had walked into the kitchen to grab my keys off the counter. As I was grabbing a drink of water, she finally emerged from her room with her backpack.
"Ready?" I placed the glass next to the sink, making a mental note to either use it later or put it into the dishwasher when we got home.
"Ready." She confirmed with a slight nod, although she looked a little more subdued than a few minutes ago. "What should I eat today if I'm not that hungry?"
"I think I have a thermos around here that I use when I'm out on a call, do you want me to heat you up some soup? It will probably stay warm until you're able to eat lunch."
"Maybe a little. I don't think I can eat a lot today."
"Your stomach feeling okay?" Grabbing the container of soup, I grabbed a bowl and heated up some soup in the microwave before dishing it into the thermos, placed a plastic spoon inside before sealing it and placing the container in the front pocket of her backpack.
"It's fine. I got really tired."
"Okay. You let me know if you start not feeling good again." Flipping off the kitchen light, I did one final check around the house by looking around and we were out the door. "All buckled?"
"Yep." Placing her backpack beside her seat, she turned to look out the window for the entire ride. In fact, I couldn't get much out of her even after we had parked the car and walked into the building. Just like they said they would, Natalie, Betsey and Owen were all standing by the window looking out at something in the back of the school.
"There they are." Natalie was the first to notice us walking towards them. She was dressed in dark maroon colored scrubs and her dark hair was pulled up into a neat ponytail. "Hi guys. Betsey, this is my friend Hailey, and her daughter Eva. And this is my son Owen."
"Hi." Owen waved while jumping off the bench so he could run over to stand by his mom. He had some of the same features, as well as the same color of dark hair and a missing tooth on the left front side.
"Eva this is Betsey. She's going to be taking care of you and Owen while your mom and I are at work." Natalie introduced the woman who looked to be in her late twenties. She had thick blonde hair, just a little lighter than Eva's. She had bright blue eyes that were friendly and warm, a protective smile and looked like she could take care of her own if she had to. I could see what Natalie meant when she had talked about her being just the right person to take care of her child.
"Can you say hi to everyone?" I prompted Eva as she looked at me for guidance on what to do next.
"Hi." Eva said shyly, tugging on the side of my shirt. "Hailey, can we ask her now?"
"In a few minutes. Why don't you go say hello to Ellen and tell her the plan for today?"
"Okay." She disappeared into the office, Ellen's voice echoing through the doorway as Eva greeted the secretary with a friendly. "Hi, Mrs. Ellen."
"Hey. How's Eva really doing?" Natalie came to stand beside me as we stood by the door to listen in to the conversation Eva was having with Ellen.
"She's nervous. Besides being with me for the last few weeks, she hasn't had a lot of other people taking care of her, so it will be interesting to see how she does with all this. As for her stomach, she seemed fine, was grabbing her backpack and when she came out and looked drained."
"I'll have Betsey keep an eye on her today."
"Thanks, Natalie. You are literally saving me from having to try and find someone."
"I get it. You need to get back to work and Eva needs a routine she can work with and trust. I have to get to work, but let me know if there's anything else I can do." With that, she went on to hug Owen goodbye and pulled Betsey to the side to talk to her for a moment. After she was finished, she gave one last wave to everyone and walked out the door.