Please Don’t Take My Baby. Cathy Glass

on our copies. I read that Jade was the eldest of five children and she and the two elder siblings had the same surname, while the younger two had a different surname. Jade’s mother’s date of birth made her thirty-five, so she must have been eighteen when she’d had Jade. Jade’s father’s name and date of birth were given – he was the same age as Jade’s mother – but he didn’t live with Jade’s mother, and there was no contact address for him. In the section headed ‘health of young person’ it stated that Jade was pregnant – approximately thirty weeks – and her emotional and developmental health was age appropriate. Under ‘education’ it showed that Jade had gained six GCSEs the summer before and that she was part way through an A-level course, which she hoped to continue after her baby was born.

      ‘You mentioned that Jade might be receiving some home tuition,’ Jill asked Rachel.

      ‘We’ve decided to leave it until after the baby is born,’ Rachel said. ‘Jade felt she wouldn’t be able to concentrate at present with everything else.’ Which I fully appreciated, although I wondered how she would be able to concentrate on studying with a young baby to look after. ‘Perhaps you could teach Jade some home-care skills?’ Rachel asked me. ‘Basic cooking, for example, to help prepare her for when she lives independently.’

      ‘Yes, I’d be pleased to,’ I said, again smiling at Jade.

      ‘I can cook already,’ Jade said a little dourly.

      ‘Great. You can help me, then,’ I said lightly, throwing her another smile.

      Rachel ran through the rest of the forms and then the four of us signed the last page, which formed the contract: Jade was signing to give her consent to being in care, Rachel signed as the social worker responsible, Jill signed as the representative of the fostering agency and my support social worker, and I signed to agree to the terms of looking after Jade. If I wanted to end a placement early I had to give the social services and Homefinders twenty-eight days’ notice in writing, but that hadn’t happened yet.

      ‘So what are you going to do this evening, then?’ Rachel asked Jade as she packed away her copy of the papers.

      Jade shrugged.

      ‘We’ll be having dinner soon,’ I said, for I noticed it was nearly half past six.

      ‘That sounds good,’ Rachel said. ‘What are you going to have?’

      ‘Spaghetti bolognese,’ I replied.

      ‘Lovely. I expect you’re hungry,’ Rachel said to Jade as she closed her briefcase.

      Jade shrugged. ‘Can Ty stay for dinner?’

      ‘That will be up to Cathy,’ Rachel said decisively.

      Jade and Tyler now looked at me expectantly. ‘Yes, there’s plenty,’ I said.

      ‘Excellent. What time does your mother want you home?’ Rachel asked Tyler. The contrast between the man (who’d created a baby and was shortly to be a father) and the boy (whose mother wanted him home at a set time) was not lost on Jill and I saw the briefest of smiles flicker across her face.

      ‘After dinner, I guess,’ Tyler said easily.

      ‘I think we should set a time for Tyler to leave,’ Jill said. Tyler was settled so comfortably on my sofa that he looked as though he was there for the night. ‘What time do you think is reasonable?’ Jill asked.

      While I wanted Jade to feel welcome in what would be her home for the next month, I thought that it could be quite disruptive to the household routine and to Adrian and Paula if Tyler was here every evening until late. ‘I have to see to my daughter, Paula,’ I said. ‘And Adrian has homework to do, so is eight o’clock on a weekday all right? Later at weekends.’

      ‘That seems reasonable to me,’ Rachel said. ‘And Jade needs to establish a routine.’ Then, looking at Tyler: ‘Eight o’clock it is, then, unless your mum is expecting you sooner?’ Again I felt the discrepancy between the boy and the man, although Tyler seemed unfazed.

      ‘She didn’t set a time,’ Tyler said.

      ‘OK, so we’ll say you leave here by eight o’clock and then Cathy can get on with what she has to do,’ Rachel clarified. ‘We’ll just have a look around the house and then I’ll be off.’

      It’s usual for the foster carer to show the social worker and the child around the house when a child first arrives, and I stood, ready to begin the tour. As I did, two sets of footsteps could be heard scampering downstairs and along the hall, and then Paula and Adrian appeared in the sitting room and stopped dead. Perhaps they thought that Jill and Rachel had gone, for they looked surprised to see all the adults.

      ‘This is Adrian and Paula,’ I said, introducing them to Rachel, Jade and Tyler. Jill knew my children from having been my support social worker for many years.

      ‘This is Jade and her boyfriend, Tyler,’ I said to Adrian and Paula. ‘And this is Rachel, Jade’s social worker.’

      ‘Hi,’ Rachel said. ‘Good to meet you. Sorry to take up so much of your mother’s time. I expect you’re ready for dinner. I know I am.’

      Adrian smiled politely and nodded while Paula, who was always a bit shy when first meeting people, came to stand beside me. I left Jill in the sitting room with Adrian – she was asking him how secondary school was going – and with Paula holding my hand, I began the tour of the house.

      ‘This is the kitchen,’ I said to Rachel, Jade and Tyler. ‘We have our meals over there.’ I pointed to the table and chairs in the dining area of the extension.

      ‘Very nice,’ Rachel said. Jade and Tyler stood side by side just inside the kitchen-cum-dining room, holding hands and looking very awkward, as teenagers often do.

      ‘Cooker, fridge-freezer and washing machine,’ I said, pointing them out. I then led the way out of the kitchen, down the hall and into the front room, which among other things contained a sofa, a small desk with the computer, a hi-fi system, and shelves of CDs, DVDs and books.

      ‘I expect it’s useful having more than one living room when you’re fostering,’ Rachel said.

      ‘Yes,’ I agreed. Then to Jade I said: ‘You can use the computer in here. I’ll show you how.’

      Jade nodded but didn’t say anything.

      I then led the way upstairs and showed Jade her bedroom. ‘I’m sure you’ll be comfortable in here once you’ve got your belongings with you,’ I said.

      ‘Yes, it’s a nice big room,’ Rachel said, following Jade and Tyler in. ‘There’s lots of space for your things. And what a nice view – overlooking the garden.’ She went over to the window.

      Jade glanced towards the window but she didn’t go over; nor did she say anything. She appeared lost and overwhelmed, and I felt sorry for her. As with any child coming into care, all that had been familiar to her had suddenly vanished and was possibly gone for good. Jade had spent last night at a teacher’s house and now she was in another strange house with unfamiliar people and their unfamiliar routine.

      ‘Don’t worry,’ I said, touching her arm reassuringly. ‘You’ll soon feel at home.’

      ‘I’m not worried,’ Jade said, putting on a brave face, but she obviously was. She appeared anxious and kept nervously pulling at a loose thread on the sleeve of her jumper.

      We left Jade’s room and as we went round the landing I pointed out Adrian’s, Paula’s and my bedrooms, and then we arrived at the bathroom.

      ‘You can have a shower or a bath,’ I said, showing Jade (and Tyler and Rachel) in.

      ‘You like your baths, don’t you?’ Rachel said.

      ‘Don’t mind,’ Jade said with a small shrug.

      Having seen upstairs, we returned downstairs and into the sitting room, where Adrian was still making polite conversation