“So what was your family like?”
I shrugged. “It was really just my dad and me. My mom left when I was thirteen. My dad had one brother, but he never married or had kids. I always wanted chaos.”
“Well, honey, you have come to the right place.”
Three hours later, feeding Maisy in the nursery, I thought about that conversation. I had always wanted to get married young and have lots of kids. But I hadn’t found the right man, and while thirty-four wasn’t old by any stretch, it was old enough that I probably wasn’t going to find my soulmate, marry him, and have the four or five kids I really wanted—unless I had twins… That would be efficient.
Maisy stared up at me, her mile-long eyelashes getting heavy. “Those aren’t productive thoughts, are they, little girl? We get what we get in life, right? And if I don’t get a whole passel of children, then so be it.”
Now, I wondered what was going to happen to this precious baby. Who would be the family lucky enough to raise her? And would they take good care of her? I knew she wouldn’t remember me, of course, but I would never forget her.
The door to the nursery opened, and Allison Scotland swished through. She was one of our local Department of Social Services social workers, and I wouldn’t have traded jobs with her for all the corn in the county. I hadn’t been here long, but I had already heard stories of abuse, neglect, drug-addicted parents, kids not ever even being enrolled in school… Of course, there were great stories too. Children placed with forever families, foster parents who were literally heroes. On both ends, Allison’s work was so important.
“So, I hear our girl is close to busting out of here, huh?” Allison and I had already discovered that we were the same age. We had madeplans for drinks. She was a pocket-sized brunette with a round face and serious glasses that added up to a very striking woman. I couldn’t explain it. You just wanted tolookat her even if she wasn’t magazine beautiful.
I held Maisy close to me. “I don’t want her to leave.”
Allison laughed.
“I’m sorry. That’s not what I mean, of course. I want her out of the hospital, but I just can’t imagine not getting to see her sweet face every day.”
“Oh, I get it,” she said. “But look, we tend to hear the horror stories. We don’t hear the great ones. And a healthy baby girl is going to get adopted in no time. Everyone is going to want her—assuming her parents don’t come back for her.”
“Did you hear that, Maisy?” I asked as she sucked the bottle. “You’re the most popular girl in town.”
“Did you call her Maisy?” Allison asked.
“Sorry. Long story. I know she’s supposed to be Jane.”
“Well, she’ll probably end up as something else entirely, so you call her whatever you want. Cute name. Reminds me of a Dr. Seuss book.”
I looked down at my Maisy again. I thought about what her life could be like, full of opportunity. She would get adopted by a family with lots of kids who would take her on great vacations and send her to college. She would never struggle; she would never hurt. I was happy for her. And it didn’t take a therapist to figure out why I was so attached to her. I had failed a patient. It made sense that I’d want to save this one.
“So, I guess we’ll start preparing to get her in the foster system and—”
Without thinking about it at all, I exclaimed, “I want to foster her!”
Allison’s eyes widened. “Well, Daisy, that’s sweet, but there’s a lot that goes into that.”
“No, no. I’m certified to be a foster parent. For situations just like this.” I smiled brightly. “I mean, if she has some extra medical necessities moving forward…” I trailed off. I knew she wouldn’t. This girl was healthy as a horse.
“That’s a good point,” Allison said. “But it’s like a week from now. Are you sure you can be ready by then?”
I thought about how I’d be at the Thaysdens’ for four nights, about how I didn’t so much as have a picture hung on the wall of my new place, much less a baby’s room ready. What was I thinking? I couldn’t do this. My rational mind knew that. But my mouth blurted out, “Oh, sure. I’ll be totally ready.”
“We’d have to do a home visit, like, tomorrow.”
I nodded. “Tomorrow afternoon maybe?”
“Sure,” she said. “And, Daisy, what would you do about day care while you’re working?”
“I mean, I can get her into day care as fast as any other foster parent, right?”
“Yes, but some of them stay at home.”
Ah. Yes. I started to feel panicked by the idea of Maisy being with anyone else. These were hurdles, yes. But I could figure this out.
I squinted at Allison. “How does that work exactly?”
