AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Poor kid. How is he about it all?”
“Honestly, he doesn’t say much. He’s super polite, almost formal, which makes him seem older than he actually is. Can’t say I know where that came from. He’s also very self-sufficient. You know what he did, after his first night here?”
“Tell me.”
“Made himself pancakes. Not even eight years old and he’s in the kitchen at six am, making his own breakfast.”
“That might be a good thing,” I said cautiously, although I wasn’t really sure.
“Well, yeah, I mean it’s good for kids to know how to look after themselves, but when I told him I’d do it and he could just sit down, he actually lookedconfused. I get the impression Sandra just didn’t nurture him at all. If he didn’t do for himself, it didn’t get done.”
“Awful.”
“Ellen’s checked, there’s no file on him in the system, which means she’s never been reported, so I suppose whatever she did was low key enough. What clothes he does have are neat and clean and there’s no signs of physical abuse. Thank God.”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah. So we’re ‘working on getting him used to being cared for’, is how Ellen put it. Next will be making sure he knows he doesn’t have to stay in his room all the time. The house is his, he can sit on the couch, watch tv, go outside and play in the yard, whatever he wants – this box next?”
“Sure. Careful, it’s heavy.”
He lifted it with ease, moving it into the garage and putting it on the floor.
“What happens after that?”
“We’ll start him at school next week. I reached out to the teacher at his previous school and she was pretty helpful. Frist, she said he kept to himself pretty much, didn’t really have friends that she knew of. Which, I have to say, broke my heart a bit.”
“Well, of course it would.”
“Then she told me she recommended to Sandra that his eyes be checked, because he’s a bright kid, but struggles with class work sometimes. It took her months to figure out that he might have trouble seeing the blackboard and once she made sure he always sat at or near the front, he did way better.”
“I can take two guesses as to how Sandra handled that.”
“And both of them would be right. As soon as he’s added to my health insurance, I’ll get that taken care of. After that…”
“After that?”
“I guess it’s just getting him used to the family, being around a lot of people that care about him. That’s why Ellen’s taking him out for ice cream today. Baby steps, right? And we’ve had Jake over for dinner and a movie. Jesse’s a fan of superhero movies, so that makes it easier. There’s an endless list of stuff we can watch.”
“I’m so happy that he’ll have that now.”
“Me too. And I’m super grateful for the Coopers. Ellen’s been invaluable, a rock.”
“She’s amazing.”
“She really is.”
Speak of the devil. We’d just finished emptying my car when Bruce and Ellen pulled up, parking by the curb and giving us a friendly wave. “Sorry, we’re a bit late because Jesse wanted to feed the ducks at the park.”
“No problem. Gabe helped me unload everything. I didn’t want to go in by myself.”
“You could have, but I’m glad Gabe helped you.”
“As you can see, there’s lots. The youngest kid in the family is already nine, so there are probably some things that would be Jesse’s size, if you wanted to check them out. At least until you can go shopping. There are some Hulk shirts, I think, and maybe some Thor ones, too.” I winked at Jesse, my heart squeezing when he gave me a shy smile back. He was pretty hecking adorable and knowing his background made me feel for him even more. “I’m Ally, by the way, Jesse. I saw you at Slow River Ranch, but maybe you don’t remember me.”
“I remember. Pleased to meet you.”
“Likewise. I might have something else you might like, if it’s okay with your dad.”Wow, how weird did that sound? I sent Gabe a questioning look.
