A Family To Stay: A Holby City Fan Fiction (Kian & OC #4)

Chapter 11

"Haley! Jacob got into my schoolbag!" Emma wailed as the toddler boy padded into the living room, oblivious of the mess he had made.
Haley walked into Emma's room, seeing the disaster area her son had made; papers strewn all around her desk, pens and colored pencils scattered all over the carpet and half the floor. She picked up the bag, careful not to let anything more spill out.
"He didn't damage any of your homework, did he?" Haley asked.
"Nooo....he just spilled it everywhere." Emma replied.
"Oh no! It looks like he tore up some of your folders! Don't worry, I think we have some." Haley observed, helping Emma pick up the mess. She noticed that Emma's pencil bag was pretty beat up, and the colored pencils were mostly stubs.
"Emma, tomorrow's Saturday. Do you want to go to town with me? We can buy you all new supplies." Haley asked her.
"Okay."
"Sure. Let's clean this all up and get ready. We'll stop by the store to get Jacob some clothes too." Together they picked up the mess Jacob had made.
"Now, just keep your door closed, okay? I'll see if there's a safety lock we can put on there to keep him out." Emma nodded, but then yawned hugely.
"You wanna sleep, hon?"
Emma shook her head.
"You're exhausted, aren't you?" Haley questioned, looking at the young girl.
"I have trouble sleeping...."
"What about it? Nightmares? Feeling wired?" Haley wondered.
"A little bit...but not nearly as bad as before. My mom has been gone for over a month..."
"You know I've been thinking about what to do next, so me and Kian can look for a therapist for you."
"Really?" Emma perked up.
"Well, yeah. You haven't been getting along very well and I know how hard that can be for you. Would that be alright?"
"Sure." Emma answered.
******
At Holby, Fletch and Kian discussed the situation with Emma; her dad hadn't said anything about when he would get her, and people at school would be asking about her home situation.

"Kian, Jac had you and Haley as Emma's guardians in her will. It would be easy to apply as her foster parents. I mean, she had to have wanted to have you in her life at some point, right?" Fletch wondered.
"I guess it would be best until Johnny gets his act together. I can't believe a guy would ignore his kid like that. Poor Emma's been shuffled between homes for too long. Hopefully, once she's in counseling things will start improving." Kian agreed.

"So she'll be able to stay with Haley and you?" Fletch asked.
"I hope so. We'll have to see if we can set up a meeting with a social worker." Kian replied.

Kian went to the social worker offices as soon as he had a chunk of time on his schedule. He had a copy of Jac's will, and his and Haley resumes. What did you take when you were asking to be a kid's foster parents?

He thought.
"Hi..." He greeted the receptionist. "My name is Kian Madani."
"Oh hello! Welcome to the Social Worker office! How can I help you today?" The woman asked pleasantly.
"Um...well...I'd like to apply for my wife and I to foster a friend's daughter. Her mother passed away and her father hasn't shown any desire to become involved in her recovery...so I was wondering if you could help us." He explained.
"Well, we'll have to follow certain guidelines. Both you and your wife will have to fill out paperwork and we'd have a caseworker visit your house." She glanced at the forms.
"You work full-time and your wife works part-time."

"Yes, I'm a cardiothoracic surgeon, she works at the hospital gift shop here. It's always been that way and it works because we have two younger children." He replied.
"Hmm...and you're both in your thirties? The receptionist asked.
"No, she's 32 and I'm 44. We've been married for about 6 years."
"I see...is there anything else we should check out?" She inquired.
"Can I take some paperwork home? My wife and I have to look over them together.
"Of, course Mr Madani. It's so good that you're considering this."

After taking the paperwork home, Kian decided to talk to Haley about setting up an appointment for the counselor, as he knew how hard she had been working with Emma.
"Hey babe, I'm sorry to bother you, but we need to talk..."
"What's wrong?"
"No, nothing like that.....I....kind of got some paperwork so we can apply to be Emma's foster parents."
"Really? Kian, that's a great idea!  That would make things easier for her!"
"But..."
"But what?"
"It's not going to happen overnight. We still have to see who our caseworker is or if Johnny will be okay with it. And we also have to find someone who would be willing to meet with Emma and make sure she's happy with the arrangement before accepting it."
"Right. Right, we need to talk to them and see if we can arrange a visit." Haley nodded. "If it works out, we'll hire a professional to evaluate Emma."
"Already covered. I'm taking Emma for a therapy session next week. We have to have a social worker come to the house for routine visits; they want to see us as a family."
"Well, we better get prepared then." Haley said, hugging her husband. "I'm so glad we're trying to give Emma some stability after all she's been through."