✅ My Cousin's Keeper [NaNoWriMo 2021]

128. My Baby's Decision

My phone chimed before I even got to the meeting room. I might have ignored it, figuring that Tess's presence had to be my highest priority, But nobody who had my details on XV could be ignored. I glanced at the screen, and saw that it was Ffrances. Maybe she wanted to know where Tess had gotten to or something; working at Pine Ridge, she was bound to find out pretty quickly if the girl had checked out.

But the message was more of a warning for me. Not a direct threat, but letting me know that Tess was on the way. And that Ffrances would be interested to hear what we had talked about afterwards. The way she said it made it clear that she would be asking Tess what we discussed, and what I said. In the circumstances, I thought that this was likely to be some kind of test. Ffrances had reminded me, in no uncertain terms, that I was expected to agree to whatever Tess decided. If she wanted to be a baby, or to redecorate the nursery, or to take a vacation over the Easter break, it was entirely down to Tess to decide. And if I didn't approve, the only thing that I was allowed to say was that I would ask Ffrances. So this was my chance to prove that I'd really meant it when I agreed to those terms. This was my chance to show Tess that I trusted her to be an adult, and that I wasn't going to hurt her again.

I took a deep breath, and walked into the plum meeting room. I had arrived a couple of minutes before Tess, but I knew that it wouldn't be long. Just enough time to acclimate myself to the weird purple decor in here. Around the front of the Fitzgerald there were a dozen meeting and interview rooms that had colours instead of room numbers; designed so that visitors from outside the company would be able to intuitively walk to the only door that would let them through. I hadn't read all the psychological studies that had led to that choice, but knowing the way SYL organised things I didn't doubt that all the work had been done before making such a decision.

I was only standing there for thirty seconds before the door opened. It was nearly a week since I'd seen Tess, and already it seemed like forever; but she didn't look any different from the last time we'd spoken. Like her absence was an extended school day, and my subconscious mind just wanted me to overlook it and carry on as normal. About the only thing reminding me that anything out of the ordinary had happened was the expression of pain flashing across her face as she pushed the door open. I had some sympathy for that, as I'd only started to use my own sore shoulder normally earlier the same day. She clearly didn't want me to notice the discomfort, because she didn't allow herself to make a sound; and I might not have noticed the momentary flicker of pain on her face if her head hadn't been slightly tilted to one side. Still, if she didn't want me to see, I would have to live with that. I knew well that I was on thin ice now, and I didn't want Ffrances to hear that I'd been too harsh on our little girl while she was still recovering.

"Tess!" I greeted her, and almost went in for a hug before realising that any touch could still hurt her. I would have to offer sympathy at a distance until I had a better idea of how close it was safe to come. "Are you okay? I've not seen you in nearly a week, I've been out of my mind. I've not been able to stop thinking about you all this time. Please tell me you're okay."

"I'm okay," she said. "Did Ffrances tell you where I've been?"

I gave a quick explanation, that I knew where she had been but not why. I couldn't interrogate her, and I didn't want to make her worry again, but I did my best to hint that I would have felt a lot better if I actually knew what had happened.

It was so hard to hear her say "I can look after myself," but I told myself that she couldn't keep up this mask of independence for too long. When she came home, it wouldn't be long before I could get into littlespace again, and then she would be happy to let me make the decisions and do everything for her. I could hardly wait.

"Spike's stepfather is the big problem," she said, and I could hear the fear in her voice no matter how much she tried to hide it. She knew what that man was like; and I wished she had felt comfortable enough to tell me all this before. Then, we might both have been able to avoid the thug. "He's been a problem for a while, and I've been doing my best to avoid any contact with the guy. Spike is usually his punching bag, and he just takes it because he's worried Duke will hurt his mum. Cares so much about other people that he's willing to just take a beating. But now it's clear that this is just going to keep escalating. Duke found out somehow that I've been spending more time with Spike, and he wasn't happy. So we've called the police, given them all the evidence they could ask for, and we hope they're going to do something about it soon."