Keeping It in the Family (Linstead)

Chapter 68

The representative who had shown up from Child Services was a blonde woman in her forties by the name of Heather Cranley. Somewhat to Jay and Erin's surprise, she had proven to be very understanding of the awful circumstances in which they were meeting, and receptive when she learned of their previous plans to adopt. Erin had exaggerated about how close they had been to applying, but for good reason.

After talking to the two of them, Heather had asked to speak to Clementine alone. Erin had offered up her office for the purpose.

Heather and Clementine had been in there nearly half an hour by the time Heather came back out, leaving Clementine in there. It had been a long, tense half hour for Jay and Erin, awaiting whatever verdict was going to come their way. Now was the time for them to find out.

After closing the office door to prevent Clementine listening in to the conversation, Heather walked over to Jay and Erin, who rose from their chairs to speak to her.

"Clementine is deeply traumatised by what she's been through. Of course we all knew that. She's also terrified of having nowhere to go, and she feels a strong attachment to you, Erin, as the first responder who rescued her. Her clear desire is to stay with you, and on a temporary basis I see no reason not to allow that to happen. I'm going to recommend that she stays with you for a month initially. There will be a process to go through if all three of you decide you wish to make the arrangement permanent."

"Oh, thank you. Thank you so much," Erin said in great relief and happiness. "It's the best thing for her, and we'll take excellent care of her."

"Yes, we will," Jay promised sincerely.

"Anything else you can tell us, or advice you can give us?" Erin asked.

Jay found it a very intelligent question. Any help they could get would be most welcome.

"Given the circumstances, it was tough to get much out of her. But I can say that she's quite mature for her age. As for advice? The main things you need to do are make her feel safe, make her feel cared for, and be there for her whenever the pain of losing her parents and what she's been through tonight hits her. I know you both work here in Intelligence, so having a nanny is going to be necessary at least some of the time. Make sure you choose that person well because the last thing Clementine needs is more upset."

"I hear you," Erin said. "In the mean time, my foster father will be happy to help out. He's retired now, so has plenty of free time."

"Okay, well here is my card," Heather said, producing it and handing it to Erin. "If you need anything, please call me."

Elsewhere, all of the other members of the Intelligence team had been affected to various extents by the mass shooting.

Burgess, and by association Ruzek, had the worst of it of course, although she was at least currently medicated to prevent the shock overwhelming her. As if the mental trauma of what she had been through wasn't bad enough, when Ruzek had driven them home, he had noticed some media people gathering in the street near their house.

"Scum," he had said, turning the car around before they got close enough to be noticed.

The media hacks didn't care about the human aspect of what had unfolded, or how Kim's part in it would affect her. All they wanted was footage, maybe even a chance to ask questions, of the heroine of the day. Well they could think again, he thought. Kim likely wouldn't want that kind of publicity at all. She certainly wouldn't want it less than a couple of hours after the shooting. In truth, let alone wanting it, right now she probably couldn't handle it.

"What's happening?" Kim asked.

"I saw media gathering near the house. We're going to stay with your parents instead."