An extra long chapter as I'm not sure I'll be able to post again before Christmas. Hope you all have a lovely time and thanks for yohr lovely feedback on this story.
The Children's Home looked very depressing as Steve pulled up to it a couple of days later. Kate too was quiet as she took in the grey brick building that didn't really emit any happiness.
"Hopefully it looks more inviting inside," Steve said. Although he had yet to meet his possible daughter he didn't really want to think of her having to stay here by herself.
"Yeah," Kate agreed as she undid her seatbelt and exited the car before following Steve up the pathway to the front door.
Steve pressed the doorbell and they waited for a response. It was slow to happen, but just as Steve was about to press the doorbell again, he heard movement in the hallway.
"Sorry about that," the woman who answered the door said. "I'm busy in the kitchen making dinner,".
"No problem," Steve replied.
"You must be here to see Eleanor," the woman said.
"Yes," answered Steve. "I'm Steve. This is Kate. A friend,".
"Hi," said Kate.
"Come in," the lady called Pat said. "Eleanor is in the living room," she told the two police officers.
"Right," said Steve, a little hesitant. "Are Ross and Mandy here?". They were the two social workers that had been in the gaffer's office. They had promised to be there at the home for this first meeting of estranged father and daughter and guide them on possible ways forward.
"They're on their way," Pat said. "I'll show them in to you when they arrive,".
"Ok," replied Steve.
"I'll head back to the kitchen," Pat said, "otherwise dinner won't be ready on time,".
Steve and Kate watched her shuffle off before Kate turned to Steve. "You ready?" she asked.
"I think so," Steve said.
"After you," Kate said as she followed Steve in to the room where Pat had said the little girl would be.
As soon as Steve opened the door to the room he could see that the children's home was as depressing inside as it was on the outside. The whole room could do with a renovation and a large dose of TLC.
The paint on the walls was peeling off and the carpet had lots of stains on it. In one corner were two ancient sofas that reminded Steve of the type his parents had when he was a child. They were well worn and thread bare and also had random stains on them. The television they were gathered round was fairly new.
At the back was a large wooden table that needed a good polish. It was surrounded by a host of mismatched chairs and was obviously where the residents of the home ate their meals.
A noise in another corner of the room caused both Steve and Kate to turn their heads. In this corner was a small bright blue, plastic children's table. Seated in one of the small kid sized blue plastic chairs was a little girl who was staring warily at the two strangers who had just entered the room.
Kate held her breath. The paternity test that social services wanted to carry out wasn't really going to be necessary as she was looking at a very familiar set of brown eyes. Only these eyes were very sad for someone so young.
Having made her assessment of the unknown people, the girl twisted back on her chair so her back was to them and concentrated on whatever was on the table in front of her.
Kate gave Steve a nudge, wanting him to take the lead but he froze. He had no idea what to do or say having set eyes on the girl. He too had seen what Kate had seen and knew that this child was his. He looked at his friend, asking for help.
Rolling her eyes, Kate stepped forward. "Hi," she said, trying to be friendly. "Are you Eleanor?".
The little girl didn't answer verbally. Just nodded her head once as she went about her task.
"My name's Kate and this is Steve," Kate said, introducing them to the child who just kept herself hunched over the table.
"What are you doing?" Kate said as she approached the table. She saw that the child was busy colouring in a picture. "Oh colouring," she said. "Do you like colouring, Eleanor?".
"It's Ellie," the girl said.
"Oh," said Kate. "Well thank you for letting me know, Ellie." She said. "Can I sit down here?" she asked as she pulled a small chair out from under the table.
Ellie nodded once again whilst still colouring in. Steve watched as Kate lowered herself as gracefully as she could in to the small chair.
"What are you colouring in?" Kate asked, not recognising the characters in the picture. It had been a few tears since Josh had been this young.
"Paw Patrol," Ellie replied.
"Do you like Paw Patrol?".
"Not really," Ellie replied, "but it's all the home has,".
"Oh," said Kate sadly as she looked at Steve wondering if he was going to talk at all, but he still looked frozen to the spot. "So what would you like to colour? Disney?" she suggested.
"Yes," replied Ellie.
"One of the princesses?" Kate guessed.
"Umm," said Ellie as she put her crayon down and thought about her answer. "They're ok, but I like Piglet the best,".
"I like Piglet too," Kate said, trying to make friends. "Why do you like Piglet,".
"Because he's small like I am. My Mummy used to call me Piglet,".
"Oh," replied Kate feeling bad. She was supposed to be here to make the girl feel better, not remind her of her dead mother. "Can I help you with your colouring?" She asked, changing topics.
"OK," said Ellie quietly as she picked up her crayon again.
Kate picked up a crayon and asked Ellie what she should colour with it and did as directed. Steve watched them for a few minutes before Kate looked at him, to see if he wanted to say anything.
Steve knew he really should say something but still couldn't find any words. He was spared the agony of trying to find something when the door opened and the two social workers came in to the room.
"Hi," said Steve.
"Hi Steve. Can we have a quick word?" Russ asked.
Steve looked at Kate who gave him a nod so he followed the social workers out of the room.
"Sorry we weren't here to greet you," Russ said. "We were held up in traffic,".
"How's it going?" Mandy asked, interestedly.
"Not great," Steve replied honestly. "I don't know what to say to her. I'm not sure I can do this," he admitted. "I don't know what I was expecting," he continued. "I thought she would be more……bouncy and energetic and full of questions, but she's very quiet. She is alright isn't she,".
Russ and Mandy shared a look. "She's had a tough time," Russ explained. "She's lost her mother and she's been separated from her brother. Then the emergency foster care fell through," he continued. "The other residents here in the home are a lot older than Eleanor-".
"It's Ellie, apparently," Steve interjected, remembering what the little girl had told Kate.
"Ellie," Russ corrected himself. "So I suppose you could say she's not really enjoying it here,".
"Oh," replied Steve, feeling a bit stupid for asking the question. He hadn't thought about any of that. It made sense now. "Just out of interest, what have you told her about me?".
"Well," said Mandy, "it's best to be honest with children. They know when you are telling them a lie. We've told her that we might have found her Daddy and that he wanted to come and say hello,".
"Right," said Steve.
"I bet she's as nervous as you are," Mandy added.
"It's that obvious is it?" Steve asked.
"A little," said Mandy. "Just go in there and be yourself," she continued.
"Myself," Steve repeated, trying to give himself confidence boost. "I can do that," he said.
"Good," replied Russ. "We'll be with Pat in the kitchen if you need us,".
"OK," said Steve before he headed back in to the living room.
Kate and Ellie were still at the table colouring in the picture when Steve returned. They looked hard at work although they were talking to each other.
"Can I sit down?" Steve asked as he approached the table.
Ellie stopped what she was doing to give him a quick nod although she didn't look at him. Steve pulled the chair out and lowered himself in to it. It was a long way down and his knees were almost hitting his chin by the time his backside made contact with the chair. At which point there was a loud ripping sound.
Kate stopped what she was doing and looked at him. "Was that you?" she asked.
"Yeah," said Steve.
"That's disgusting," she said.
"Oh no!" cried Steve, realising she thought he had broken wind as the sound was similar. "It's not that," he said. "I think I've split my trousers whilst sitting down," he explained before standing back up again and trying to get a look at the damage he had done. "Are they split?" he asked his audience.
"Yep," said Kate trying not to laugh as she looked at Ellie. The two shared a grin.
"Is it bad?" Steve asked as he tried to get another look.
"Let's just say we can see your underwear," Kate said, "which is very nice by the way. I love Tweety Pie," she teased.
Steve closed his eyes. It had to have been today that he was low on underwear and had decided to wear the pair of pants one of his friends had bought him for a birthday present.
The sound of a loud giggle from Ellie caused both Steve and Kate to look in surprise at the little girl. "You're silly," she informed Steve.
"I'm glad you two are finding my predicament so amusing," Steve retorted as he promptly sat back down on his chair as a further splitting sound was heard, causing both Kate and Ellie to laugh some more.
"What am I gonna do Kate?" Steve fretted.
"Have you got anything in the car?" she asked.
"Some gym clothes," Steve said.
"Do you want me to go and get them for you?".
"Please," Steve said as he handed Kate his car keys.
Kate got to her feet with ease before leaving the room. Keen to give father and daughter some time together, she took her time getting Steve's clothes, choosing first to detour to the kitchen to see the social workers and Pat.
"How's it going?" Russ asked Kate from a small table. He and Mandy were having a drink whilst chatting to the care home worker.
"Steve's split his trousers," Kate said.
"What?!" asked Mandy, a little surprised at the turn of events.
"Don't ask," Kate replied. "I'm just gonna get him a change of clothes from the car. Ellie found it quite funny though. Had a good laugh at his expense," she continued.
"Really?" asked Pat and Kate nodded in confirmation. "That's the first time she's laughed since she got here," she said happily, pleased the little girl at last had something to laugh about.
Kate took that comment to heart. She would relay it to Steve later. "Is there somewhere he can change?" she asked.
"There's a small bathroom just to the right of the front door,".
"Thanks," replied Kate before she made her way to the car and retrieved Steve's gym bag. When she arrived back in the living room she was pleased to see that Steve and Ellie were still talking to each other whilst they coloured in. "Here you go," she said to Steve, handing him his bag. "There's a small room you can change in just by the front door,".
"Ok," said Steve. "Can you help me up?" he asked Kate.
His partner took pity on him and helped pull him to his feet whilst trying to help him preserve some sort of modesty. With his bag covering his backside, Steve hastily left the room whilst Kate sat back down and resumed helping Ellie with her picture. When Steve returned he did the same until it was time for the care home to have their dinner.
"We better go," Steve said to Kate as Pat started putting dinner plates on the table. Russ and Mandy also entered the room, keen to see how the visit had gone.
"Ok," replied Kate, as she put her crayon down. The picture was all but finished by now anyway.
Steve and Kate slowly got to their feet unsure what to do next. "Good bye Ellie," Kate said, taking the lead and giving the little girl a little hug. "It was nice to meet you,".
"Yeah," was all Steve said as he too stood and gave Ellie a little pat to her back. They wandered over to where the social workers stood.
"Shall we have a little talk outside?" Russ asked Steve.
"Sure," said Steve as he started to follow the sicial workers out of the toom.
"Are you gonna come back?" Ellie asked from her seat, causing Steve to pause.