Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Kingscliff
The rush and sigh of the ocean was louder than usual today.
The air was still and hot. Somewhere nearby, a kookaburra let out a chortle but cut it short.
No one wanted to expend energy in this humidity.
Reeda pushed her dark hair away from her sweaty neck, fixed it up with a banana clip, and then reached for the salad bowl on her back seat.
She’d made a chicken Caesar salad for Kate and Alex.
After her last interaction with Kate, she was worried her sister wasn’t getting enough sleep, or eating well.
She slammed the car door shut and strode up the footpath to the front door.
No one answered the first ring of the doorbell.
Then a sudden wave of panic rushed over her—maybe the baby was sleeping.
She should knock quietly instead. She raised a fist and rapped it gently against the door.
Within a few moments, Kate flung it open with a tired smile.
“Good morning. Come on in. I’m sorry about the mess. I haven’t got around to… doing anything, really.” She held baby Noah against her shoulder.
“I hope I didn’t wake him.”
“No, he hasn’t slept since about four am.” Kate closed the door behind her. “He’s not much of a sleeper.”
“Four am is criminal.” Reeda followed Kate into the kitchen. “I brought you a salad. I was going to make an apricot chicken casserole with rice, but then realised no one wants to eat that in this heat. So, chicken Caesar salad it is.”
Kate opened the fridge, and Reeda slid the dish inside. “Bless you.”
Reeda kissed Kate’s cheek. “Can I hold him?”
“Please. That would be amazing.” Kate handed Reeda the baby, then leaned her head first to one side, then the other.
“Sore neck?”
She exhaled a slow breath. “Sore back, sore neck, headache. I think I should grab a drink while I’m in the kitchen.”
“Yes, please drink, eat, do what you need to do.”
“Can you stay for a cuppa?”
Reeda frowned. “Sorry, I can’t this time. I’m going to cuddle this little guy while you take a break and then I’ve got to meet with the case worker about fostering a child. I wouldn’t want to drink hot liquid while I’m holding him.”
“Oh, of course. I understand.” Kate looked so forlorn, Reeda couldn’t stand it.
“But I tell you what. If you give me a nappy bag full of supplies, I’ll take the baby with me and let you have a few hours alone. I bet I can fit that pram in the back of my Audi.”
Kate’s eyes brightened. “Really? Are you sure? No, I couldn’t. You might get frustrated or…”
“It’ll be good for me. I’m about to foster children. I need the practice. And he’s a tiny little baby. Whatever happens, I’ll figure it out. Right?”
“Right. Of course you’ll manage. Only, I feel bad.”
“Don’t feel bad. Now that I’ve had the idea, I’m excited about it. I’ll get to spend some quality auntie time with my favourite nephew.”
Kate grinned. “Okay, you’re on. I’ll have you packed and ready to go in thirty seconds.”
Reeda watched as Kate rushed about, heating milk and shoving things into a blue shoulder bag.
“I’ll put the bottle into this little sleeve thingy to keep it warm. He doesn’t usually drink from a bottle, but I’ve managed to get him to cooperate a few times in the hopes that Alex might take him. He’s been helping more lately, though. So, that’s good.”
Sometimes, Reeda wanted to slap Alex, but resisted the urge to say so. “I’m glad Alex is stepping up to help raise his child.”
Kate shook her head. “It’s not like that…”
Reeda raised both hands. “Nevermind, we don’t have to discuss it. Noah and I will be perfectly fine. Won’t we, little mate?”
She cradled Noah in her arms, and he stared up at her with his dark blue eyes unblinking. He really did have the cutest little button nose.
“I’m going to put his seat in your car,” Kate said as she handed the shoulder bag to Reeda.
“No need,” Reeda replied. “I went and bought myself one. I thought I’d probably be driving him around at some stage.”
Kate’s eyes filled with tears, and she blinked them away. Then she threw herself against Reeda and hugged her tight. “You’re the best sister a girl could have.”
“It’s no big deal. I might never have my own children, so I’m going to treat yours like they’re mine. Okay?”
Kate wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “I’m fine with that.”
“Now, get some sleep and maybe eat something. Noah and I are going to be good. Better than good—we’ll be great.”
The confidence Reeda expressed to Kate was more than she felt.
In truth, she was anxious about how well Noah would do without his mother.
Reeda didn’t know how to operate the car seat, the pram, how to bottle feed or change a nappy.
But she wasn’t about to tell Kate any of that. She’d simply figure it out.
She managed to get Noah strapped into the car. He seemed happy enough—at least he was quiet as she drove. She chattered away to him the entire car ride and he didn’t cry, which she took as a sign that he was content.
When she arrived at the Community Services Centre in South Tweed, she pulled into the parking lot, left it running with the air-conditioning on, and climbed out of the car.
The boot of her Audi wasn’t very big, but she’d managed to wrangle the pram into it.
She studied it for a moment, wondering where to hold it without pinching her fingers, then pulled it out and set it on the bitumen.
How did this work? Was there a button or lever somewhere?
She tugged on the handle, but the pram remained stubbornly folded.
Hmmm… she turned it around and tried again.
Still, no luck. She tried pushing, prodding and poking every single piece of the pram.
Her finger was jammed between levers at one point, and she yelped in pain.
Then, sucking that finger, she tried using her other hand and managed to find a red button that moved with a bit of pressure.
Using both hands now, she pressed that button again and pulled on the handle at the same time. The pram popped up into position.
Proud of herself, Reeda kept pushing until she heard the pop of something locking into place.
That must be it. She gave a quick nod, then went to fetch Noah from the car.
Getting him into the pram was another struggle, but finally she had him lying on his back looking up at her, with straps fastened around his shoulders.
“Okay, little mate. Let’s go.” Then she realised she hadn’t switched off the car. She hurried to do that and to pick up the nappy bag, but when she turned around, she saw that the pram was rolling downhill towards the office building.
She ran after it, her heart pounding in terror against her ribcage, caught the pram and pulled it to a stop. With a quick glance around, she realised no one had seen her mistake, and there were no moving vehicles nearby. She inhaled a gasp and released it slowly.
Calm down.
She spoke the words to herself beneath her breath. If she didn’t pull herself together, someone was going to get hurt. She should think before she acted, and stop behaving like it was her first day as an adult.
With the remote, she locked the car, then pushed the pram up the built-in ramp to the office.
She took a number at the reception counter and sat in the waiting room.
A television set hung on the wall nearby with the news playing.
Reeda studied Noah’s face—was he hungry?
She should’ve asked Kate when he would need his next feed.
But she supposed he’d let her know. He seemed perfectly content, although not sleepy yet.
Just as the thought crossed her mind, his face crinkled, and he began to cry.
The wail echoed around the waiting room.
Reeda’s pulse accelerated again. She placed her hands on the pram and began pushing it gently back and forth.
Noah stopped crying almost immediately, so she let the pram come to a rest. But as soon as she did, he started up again.
This time, she kept the movement going. The waiting room was full of people and had a hushed silence that she didn’t want to disturb with a squalling baby.
Already, people were throwing her frustrated looks.
“Nyreeda Houston?” A woman’s voice grabbed Reeda’s attention. It was Noreen. Reeda had met with her previously, and they’d spoken on the phone several times in recent weeks since Noreen had become Reeda’s case worker.
She stood to her feet. “Yes.”
“Come with me, please,” Noreen said.
Reeda pushed the pram after the woman down a short hallway and into a small office. She sat and immediately began rocking the pram again.
“Thanks for coming in to meet with me,” Noreen said. “I’m sure you had a busy day. And who is this little one?”
“No worries,” Reeda replied. “This is Noah, my nephew. My sister needed a little respite.”
“You’re a good sister,” Noreen replied. She shuffled some files on her desk.
“I wanted to update you on how things are going. You’ve completed all your requirements to be a foster parent.
However, my only concern is that your husband, Duncan, doesn’t seem to be involved in any of the meetings, aside from the initial one where we interviewed him. ”
Reeda’s heart skipped a beat. Surely they wouldn’t hold that against her.
“Yes, I know. He has a busy schedule as a doctor. Daytime meetings are difficult for him to get to on short notice, as he is usually booked fairly well in advance. He plans on being a very involved father, though. And I know he will be.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Noreen replied. “And I understand that some careers make flexibility difficult.”
“Will that change my prospects for getting placements?” Reeda asked, her breath catching in her throat as she waited for a response.
“No, it shouldn’t have any impact. We need foster carers, and you both seem like very qualified candidates. If it’s okay with you, I’d like to place you on the active list to begin receiving placements as soon as possible.”
Reeda’s heart skipped a beat. “Really? Wow, that’s great news. Thank you.”
Noah began to fuss, his plaintive cries plucking at Reeda’s heartstrings. She picked him up and held him to her chest as she returned to her seat. He wouldn’t hush, so she stood again, swaying gently.
Noreen smiled at the the two of them. “You’re most welcome. I know you’ll be a wonderful foster mother. Can I ask you a personal question? Other than the fertility issues, we’ve never really discussed what it was that drew you to fostering. Was there a catalyst of some kind?”
Reeda hesitated before answering. She’d thought about this a lot.
It’d kept her up at night. She’d wrestled with the past, given herself over to the what-ifs, and had shaken off the guilt and blame before coming to the realisation that this was what she wanted.
“I know what it’s like to lose your parents.
” Noah began to cry again, his little cheeks turning red.
Noreen’s expression didn’t change. “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Thanks—it was a long time ago. They died in an accident that I survived. I was raised by my grandmother after that, along with my sisters. But if we didn’t have Nan, I know we would’ve had to go into foster care, since we didn’t really have any other close family.
I’d like to think there would’ve been someone loving and kind who could’ve taken us in and given us a home. ”
Noreen nodded. “That’s a very good reason to sign up. Thank you, Reeda.”
Noah’s cries rose in volume. Reeda looked helplessly at him, unsure of what to do next.
Noreen moved around the desk. “Did you bring some milk?”
Reeda nodded, reaching into the nappy bag for the bottle. She tugged it out of its coozie and handed it to Noreen. “I tried to get him to take it earlier, but he wouldn’t.”
“Let me have a try.”
Reeda relinquished Noah to Noreen, who settled him comfortably in her arms. She raised the bottle and touched it to his lips. Within moments he was quietly sucking with only the occasional hiccough to show that he’d been upset.
Reeda watched with a sigh. “You make it look easy.”
“It’s not so hard, you’ll get the hang of it. Don’t give up.”
Noreen passed the baby back to Reeda, who continued to feed him as they finished their meeting.
As Reeda left the office with Noah, tears threatened.
She’d made it through an entire meeting with a newborn, managed to feed and resettle him into the pram.
Noreen had helped, of course, but still, she’d done it. And soon she would be a foster mother.
She was doing it for herself and Duncan, since they’d never been able to have children of their own.
Her husband deserved to be a father. He had such a big heart and would be so very good at it.
She was doing it for Kate and Bindi, who might’ve been separated from her into disparate foster homes as teens if it wasn’t for their grandmother’s kindness.
And she was doing it for Nan as a way of thanking her for raising the three of them when they’d lost their parents.
If only Nan were here now, Reeda knew she’d be proud.