Chapter 10 #2
If it was one thing Lace had already learned, it was that the chemo staff at the hospital was not only efficient, but over-the-top empathetic.
“And she’s alone for that, too?” Vince’s voice choked, and he looked appalled.
“So far.” Lace reached over and placed her hand on top of his.
“But not going forward,” she was pleased to tell him.
“I’ve requested and gained approval to not only change my sessions to Tuesdays, but they’ve sent it up the chain for permission for me to be allowed to sit with her while she gets her spinal infusions. ”
“You…you’d…do that for her?”
Lace didn’t even blink. “Of course. No child should have to undergo that kind of thing without support.”
“I… I don’t know what to say, Lace.”
Vince, who was probably never at a loss for words, having gone through life as the glib Sothard, appeared to be stumbling now.
“I’d…like to be there for her, too,” he said, finding his voice after blinking back what looked suspiciously like tears. “Do you think I can be part of this?”
Lace wasn’t all that confident he’d be allowed.
“Mmm. I think you’ll have to get approval from her social worker, which… Apparently that woman’s not the nicest or brightest person on the planet. Chatty, for sure, but the nurses don’t care for her.”
“But you were able to get the okay,” he reminded her.
“Partially.” Lace had to chuckle. “The nurses said they’d try to make it work for me. Since I’m also a patient, they’re going to pitch my presence as ‘consolidating space due to overcrowding purposes’.”
She loved the staff’s creativity, and hated to burst Vince’s bubble, but…
“You’d be a completely different story.”
“I’ll work on it,” he told her, with newfound strength in his tone. “I know a few people. And…I’d like to share something with you.”
Vince sounded so earnest that Lace gave him the solemnity she felt he was seeking. “I’m listening.”
He jumped right in. “I’ve actually put in my paperwork to become a foster parent,” he revealed in a rush.
What?
Lace couldn’t help herself. She broke out into an enormous smile.
“Seriously? You did? Oh, my god, Vince. That’s so awesome.”
He blinked. “You…don’t think it’s weird?”
“Absolutely not,” she told him with certainty. “I think it’s a fantastic thing to do. What’s the criteria? Do you feel like you’ll be approved?”
Lace knew nothing about the foster parenting process, having been taken in by her grandparents just after her birth.
But if she’d been in Inez’s shoes—a small cog in a sometimes-sterile government system—she would have yearned for a foster or adoptive home that would have given her even a fraction of what she’d had with her grandparents.
Vince would provide that, Lace was certain.
Vincent finally allowed his excitement to shine through.
“They’re running a background check on me already, which I know will come back clean, then they’ll have to look into my health history and my finances, which are also more than fine.
On top of that, I’ve submitted three personal references they can check; two from previous superior officers and one from a buddy on my SEAL team. ”
This was the second time Vince had mentioned being a SEAL, and it once again thrilled Lace in ways she couldn’t even describe. There was just something about competent, fearless men, that did it for her.
Swoon. Men in full gear jumping from helicopters…
Vince was still talking, so Lace forced her rising fantasy back into its box for later.
“After I’ve been fully vetted, I’ll have to take some on-line training classes, but I’m not worried about that, at all,” he said confidently.
“Good for you,” Lace squeezed his hand. “It looks like you’ve got this all figured out.”
She hesitated for only a second before asking the question that immediately popped into her head. “Do you think it’s possible you might be able to foster Inez?”
If there was ever a heart-in-your-eyes moment, Lace witnessed it now with Vince.
“That’s what I’m hoping for,” he responded gruffly. “I just… I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself.”
Lace scoffed. “You’re kidding me, right? You’re already better for her than the people she lives with who won’t even accompany her to the hospital.”
Vincent looked momentarily uncertain.
“What?” Lace asked. “You are, you know. Without a doubt.”
He sighed. “Yeah, but… There’s one piece of the puzzle I haven’t figured out yet.” He spoke, tentatively.
“What’s that?”
So far, Lace couldn’t see anything wrong with his plans.
“I…don’t have a place of my own to live, remember? As much as I love my parents,” he rushed on, “I don’t want their house to be regarded as my primary residence.”
“An apartment then?” Lace asked.
It wouldn’t take him too long to find a place to lease, but…
Vince shook his head
“No. I’ve decided that doesn’t feel right. I want to buy a real house; a place where a child will feel welcome, and have room to play.”
Lace knew he purposely wasn’t saying Inez’s name, but that’s who he was thinking of.
“How long will that process take? Buying a house and getting it vetted by the foster agency, I mean?” Lace had no clue about that, either.
He gave a self-deprecating scoff.
“Too long, probably, to get myself set up to foster anytime soon. I haven’t even started looking yet,” he admitted. “When I get home today, my mother is going to help me make a list of things I’m looking for in a home, and hopefully we’ll get the ball rolling.”
“Do you want a small house or a big one?” Lace probed.
“Nothing too big,” he responded, and disappeared into his head for a moment, as if picturing something in his mind’s eye.
Lace knew all about doing that, but Vince, unlike her, didn’t get lost, because he continued.
“Something older probably,” he mused. “With character. At least three bedrooms. Maybe a big deck off the back, surrounded by trees. And a yard large enough to have a swing-set, and maybe even a dog.”
Lace couldn’t stop the words that seemed to overflow from her mouth like a fountain.
“I have a house, Vince. Come live with me.”