Is this really family life/Является ли это действительно семейной жизни?

Chapter 10

Aileen looked at Mickey as if she were a gift from God.

"You'd take him? Really?" she asked amazed. "Why?" She didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth but with all the setbacks Callen had had over the years she knew better than to take anyone at face value, and besides she knew Callen himself would ask.

"Look, I'm with the Forestry Service and I've been passed as a foster parent, you can check my records. I fostered my little brother when my parents split, and Callen looks like he could use a break," Mickey said honestly.

Aileen called her office, and was pleasantly surprised that Mickey Halloran was indeed registered as a foster parent with Child Services in Santa Clarita. Aileen made arrangements to immediately have Callen placed into her care as soon as Dr. Martin signed Callen's release papers.

She walked back in with a smile on her face.

Callen was waking up and glared at Aileen as she walked in smiling.

"I'm not going, you can't make me," he stated.

Aileen smiled at him, "I'm not. We have somewhere else for you to go, just until you are 100% better."

"Fine, we leaving now?" Callen asked uncaring. As long as it wasn't Bayliss, he really didn't care what hole he was dropped in.

Aileen sighed, "Don't you even want to know where you're going?"

"Why bother? One 'rent' is as whacked out as another 'rent'."

"Rent?" Mickey asked confused.

"Callen's nickname for foster parents. They don't keep him, they rent him from the system, so to him they are all 'rents'," Aileen explained.

"And we are telling "Ranger Smith" why?" Callen asked, being awake and on meds had brought out his snarky side.

"Because, Ranger Halloran has offered to foster you until you are well. The doctor said you should be able to leave in a few days and then you'll have to come back in another few weeks for a follow up appointment, so having you stay with Ms. Halloran is a plus as she lives nearby."

Callen looked at Aileen like she had lost her mind.

"You check her out?" He asked guardedly.

"No." she sighed, "You're so annoying, I'm just going to throw you to the wolves," Aileen said sarcastically. "Of course I checked her out."

"So what's wrong with her?" He asked with a sidelong glance at Mickey.

"Nothing!" Mickey said. She could see why Callen was pegged as a challenging child.

"So why d'you want me then? Don't you know how much of a danger I am?"

"Stubborn I am." Mickey grinned, "I don't know about you being a danger, but what I do see is a scared kid who needs someone to believe in him."

Callen looked stony faced. "Had that, don't need it anymore," he said and looked away as those annoying tears threatened to fall again. "And, I'm not scared!" he said under his breath.

"Ok, I'll take your word for it," Mickey said.

By the time Callen was ready to leave the hospital, he was a bit more receptive to staying with Mickey.

Hetty had bid her goodbyes to the stony faced teenager and had left the room as Mickey had come in. "Are you leaving?" Mickey asked with a smile.

"I am Ms. Halloran, my work here is over for now," she said.

"So you're not taking this one too?" Callen snapped at her.

Hetty turned and looked sadly at the teenager, a flash of something Callen couldn't quite place in her eyes.