I hadn't told the boys that I was monitoring their "litterpicking" which is something we did with every new person who came to join us but I'm glad I did.
I watch as they ransack the bins and replace the full bins with the bin liners they have. I track the cameras all the way out into the city by the highway.
They all come back to the station eventually with 9 full bags between them and sit outside on their phones.
"Pathetic." I say to myself.
I wait for everyone else to finish and wait for the boys to come back in.
They walk in slowly, pretending they'd done loads of work.
"If you guys ever try to fuck me over like that, I'll make you stay for eight hours instead of however long it takes you guys to do your job properly." I say as I push them out and give them more bags.
I watch as they actually collect litter this time and struggle and once they get to one bag each, which is all I was going to make them do once they got the hang of it, I call them in.
"Do it properly the first time round next time, okay?" I forcefully grab the bags from them and go to the main garbage bin and throw them and when I get back, wait for Officer Sanchez to give me my next bit of information.
"Cass, if you'd like to take a seat at my desk." I nod and sit down and for some reason Caleb, Canu and Aubrey are sitting at my own, pretending not to listen.
"They've written that they want you to take care of their kids multiple times but I don't know. In my eyes, you're just a kid but in the eyes of the law you aren't. I spoke to Lisa Hartford about it and she was completely fine with it, saying they'd help out. You're finances are fine. The only thing is, do you, Cassidy, want to look after them?" I nod.
"Yeah, I do. I don't want these kids to go through what I had to, what Mara had to and her sister." I say truthfully and turn around a little to see the boys staring at me. "She was one of my care workers in my group home and when I was, y'know, she took me back in immediately. When she got pregnant she left and I didn't even get a chance to see her be a mother."
"Why did she want you to look after them?" Officer Sanchez asks, already knowing the answer.
"Because I know a lot about triplets." I say, a little quieter so Aubrey doesn't hear.
"Well, seeing as they need a new home quite quickly. We'll keep them in temporary care for a few days while you get everything ready and if you need anything, just come and visit. Would you like their stuff from their parents home?" I nod, something to get me started off.
I go to the house where they were staying out but realise, that all four adults and four children were living in this house. It was a one bedroom house.
I go in and grab what I can because it would all fit in the police cruisers.
I grab all the stuff and start loading it, diapers, clothes which were all neatly packed and in containers. Every single item of clothing, there was nothing in the laundry. They knew they were meeting their last days.
The best quality things in here are the stuff that belonged to the children. The triplets did only share one crib which was dangerous as it increased the risk of SIDs massively but Matilda's bed seemed perfect.
I tell Officer Stanton to try and take it while I pack all their toys. They didn't have much but I would take everything they did. I grab every last thing I can in the room and turn the light off the eventually empty room.
I can't believe this was happening to me.
I close the door to the house and go back to the house.
I sit down with Lisa and Todd and explain the situation.
"I have to take it and I understand if you guys don't want me living with you guys anymore." I say.
"No. We are here to help and when you go to college, we will take care of them because you need to focus on your studies. We are here to support you." I take a deep breath and let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank you so much. So, so much." I say and we talk a little bit about logistics before I get up and go to the spare rooms. I know the smaller one would be for Matilda as the triplets would share but this room was a lot bigger than Matilda was even used to I'm sure.
I get the stuff we brought from their house start setting it up and after I've set up Matilda's bed, I start dragging their clothes in. I didn't know if this stuff would even fit them, they all looked pretty old.
I hung them up in the wardrobes and put them in draws in their respective rooms. I wasn't going to rip them of what they had.
I start looking in storage to see what I have lurking around and I see that Granpa's kept loads of stuff that used to belong to me. This was all personalised however so I couldn't use it. I wonder what went wrong with me, why my parents didn't like me.
I could never figure it out.
I just go back to the house and order new furniture. I go out to the hardware and get paint, some wood and then go to the baby store and get a wagon stroller, playpens, cribs, toys and more and then go to Walmart for some toys for Matilda and stuff they'd all need like toiletries and towels. I get some blankets, duvets, fitted sheets for Matilda. I get everything they'd need.
I would go for clothes when I got them.
I sand and prime the walls and then sketch out their names in each room. I paint them and then pin some plants and flowers in both rooms. I hope they'd love it.
I leave the windows open but the screens are closed so that they could air and dry quicker without the house getting robbed and I go to the CCTV room where I make sure to activate the cameras outside their rooms.
I start nailing some shelving to the walls and add some little knickknacks I found to the shelves until I could put their stuff there.
I set up the baby monitors for both Matilda and the triplets as well.
I leave the rooms and sit down by the window and find myself staring at the sky, as the sun starts to set.
