Connor did apologise and, as predicted, Tyler did come round. So much so that by the end of the day I was feeling quite relaxed. Kids had spats, kids had fall-outs. All these things were normal. Heaven knew, I’d seen it enough with my own two. And it was lovely to watch the three of them – Mike being one of the boys as well, of course – kicking a ball around and laughing and joshing with one another, just like every other family at the country park that day. But I was still knocked for six when, just before we were leaving, Connor came over – Mike and Tyler were playing competitive keepy-uppy by this time – and flung his arms around my neck.
I was on my knees at the time, packing up the picnic things, which made it easier, given his diminutive size. He also almost knocked me for six, literally.
‘Well, well,’ I said, when he released me and looked self-consciously at me through his fringe. ‘To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?’
He knelt down and started helping me. ‘Nuffing,’ he said. ‘Well, nuffing in particular.’ He sat back on his heels and shrugged. ‘I dunno. I just love being with you lot,’ he said. ‘I never get to do stuff like this. Well, ’cept with school and then it’s mega-boring.’ He did one of his heavy sighs. ‘I wish I didn’t have to go tomorrow. I wish I could stay.’
I grinned at him, my heart melting, quite without my telling it to. ‘Well, there’s a turn-up,’ I said. ‘I thought we were losers. And what about all those bodies under the floorboards, eh?’
‘Even with the bodies under the floorboards,’ he said, leaping up again, seemingly embarrassed by what he’d said now. Which kind of let me off the hook, because I really didn’t know what to say.
We were all exhausted by the time we got home, not least because of the many miles we’d covered, quite apart from anything else and, given that it was Sunday night and Tyler had an early start the following morning, I sent the boys up to get themselves organised while I put Tyler’s trainers in the dryer and Mike emptied out the picnic bag.
‘And, seeing as we’ve been so good, Casey,’ Connor chipped in, ‘and seeing as how this will prob’ly be my last night, can I please, please be allowed half an hour to play Xbox with Tyler before bed?’ He looked across at Tyler hopefully. ‘Just for a little while? Nothing naughty or anything. Just the footie game? Please?’
Tyler didn’t seem that fussed – he was probably more interested in getting packed and chatting to his mate Denver, I reckoned – but he nodded. And with Connor’s small hands pressed together as if in prayer, how could I say no?
‘Go on, then,’ I said, turning back to the sodden trainers, ‘but I warn you, bath first and then I’ll be up to turn everything off in half an hour, so chop chop! You best be quick, hadn’t you?’
They both scooted off and, once we’d finished off the chores, Mike and I went for a brief but welcome sit-down. We’d not yet heard from EDT about what was going to happen in the morning, but I was feeling pretty relaxed about that now and I wondered if Mike was, too. I told him what Connor had said about wishing he could stay with us.
Mike lowered the volume on the TV he’d only just switched on. ‘Casey, are you saying what I think you’re saying?’ he asked me.
‘I’m not saying anything,’ I replied. ‘I’m simply telling you what he said. Though I have to say, now that he’s settling down a bit, it does seem a bit unfair to shoo him out the door after just one weekend. Not if he’s only going to be shipped off to some God-forsaken unit somewhere. How’s that going to help him?’
‘Love, have you forgotten that this kid attacked his social worker with an iron bar?’
He was astute, Mike, I had to give him that. Because I hadn’t forgotten – of course I hadn’t – but, on the other hand, I sort of had. It was just becoming so difficult to reconcile the story we’d been told early the previous morning with the slip of a little lad who was currently in the bath upstairs and about whom I was in the middle of a big reassessment. Perhaps the outlook didn’t need to be so bleak for him after all.
Mike sighed, obviously reading my mind. ‘Love, it’s out of our hands anyway. And it’s alright having one good day, but we have to think about Tyler, too. Besides that, my guess is that they already have somewhere for him. If they hadn’t, I’m pretty sure they would have been on the phone by now, buttering us up.’
‘I know,’ I said, ‘but you know what’s likely to happen. They’ll just take him off us and bung him anywhere they can find a space. I just think that what with Tyler heading off to footie tomorrow, it’s not like it would be a problem for us to hang on to him for a couple more days. You’ll be at work anyway and I’m just thinking –’
‘That you can burrow beneath the surface, find out what makes him tick, see something in him that no one else has, do him some good, and –’
‘And what’s wrong with that? Isn’t that what we’re supposed to try to do?’ I wanted to know, feeling myself getting chippy.
‘Love, there’s nothing wrong with that. I just think it would be madness to go off half-cocked about a child you know so little about. Committing to stuff. Getting his hopes up. You haven’t said anything to him, have you?’ he asked, suddenly looking alarmed.
I shook my head. ‘No, of course not!’ I said. ‘And before you ask, I haven’t said anything to Tyler either.’
‘Good,’ Mike said. ‘Because you can’t think about doing anything till you’ve spoken to him anyway. See how he feels about it. It’s not just what we want. We have to take his feelings into account.’
I promised I wouldn’t do anything before speaking to him, and once Connor was tucked up in bed I went into Tyler’s room to help him finish off his packing. But before I could bring the subject up, Tyler did himself, and I wondered if Mike wasn’t the only one able to read my mind.
‘So he’s going tomorrow then, Connor, is he?’ he asked, as I redistributed his shin pads.
I nodded. ‘In theory. I’ve not spoken to EDT yet, but yes, love, that’s the plan.’
‘They haven’t called you, then? To ask if he could stay with us a bit longer?’
‘No, they haven’t,’ I said. ‘I imagine they’ll pick him up mid-morning. Why d’you ask?’
Tyler glanced at me. ‘I was just wondering,’ he said. ‘You know. He really likes it here now. Really likes it. Did he tell you?’
‘Yes, he did,’ I said. ‘We seem to be flavour of the month now, don’t we? Bless him. Not that it’s hard. He’s barely ever known a real home up to now, has he?’ I let the thought lie. We both knew that Tyler knew all about how that felt. ‘What a difference a day makes, eh?’ I said eventually. ‘Anyway, we’ll see. But would you like it if he did, then? You know, just for a bit? Till they can find him somewhere long-term? I rather got the impression earlier that you could have cheerfully throttled him.’
‘We-ell,’ he admitted. ‘That’s true. I did. But, you know. Whatever,’ he finished, turning back to his case. ‘If you think you should – that you can help him – that’s fine.’
‘“Fine”?’ I pressed. ‘Really? Not “if you must”?’
‘No, really,’ he said. ‘Honest. It’s fine.’