Rebecca lead Stephen through a series of hallways and stops in front of a large window and looks inside. Stephen takes the cue and turns to look into the window as well.
The room behind the window was laid out with two rows of beds all made with white sheets and blue blankets. Each bed had a bench at the end with drawers. The room was very plain and the windows were high up on the wall.
Spread throughout the room were various children doing different things; some playing board games, some reading, some just laying on their beds doing nothing.
Stephen's eyes were drawn to a little redhead sitting on the edge of her bed hugging a disheveled stuffed dog. She was watching the other children as they played, but didn't move from her spot, say anything or react in any way. Next to her on the floor was a suitcase and purple duffel bag. She looked as if she was just waiting.
"That's Ruby, Mr. Mulhern." Rebecca pointed to the little redheaded girl. She is four years of age. She is quiet and a bit shy. To be honest, she has not said a word since Mr. Brophy has passed."
A woman within the room passed the window and Rebecca signaled to her. The woman helped Ruby off of the bed, picked up her luggage and guided her to the door.
Stephen took a deep breath as he saw them coming down the hall; his heart started racing. He was on the telly all the time, but a little girl four years of age was making him more nervous than he has ever been.
When they arrived to where Rebecca and Stephen were standing, Nora placed Ruby's things on the floor, gave the little girl a hug and returned to the other children.
"Thank you, Nora." Rebecca called after her. Rebecca turned to Ruby and knelt down to to match her eye level. "Hi, Ruby. This is Mr. Stephen. He is your daddy's best friend and he is going to take care of you for awhile. Your daddy asked him to watch over you when he left."
Ruby looked up at Stephen with no expression on her face or saying a word. Stephen looked down at her and gave a weak smile and wave. He was not sure what he was supposed to do in this situation.
Rebecca stood and handed Stephen Ruby's duffel and suitcase. "Alright, we will get you her car seat and you two can be off."
"That's it?" Stephen asked in a panic.
"What more do you need, Mr. Mulhern?" Rebecca asked looking at him sternly.
Stephen looked back down at Ruby and her stuffed dog. "I have no idea what I am doing."
"Most parents don't." Rebecca led them back out in to the main lobby and picked up the purple and black car seat sitting by the front desk. She followed Stephen out the door to his car.
"If you unlock the door, I can help you put this in. Then it's all on you, Mr. Mulhern."
Stephen went around and unlocked the doors to the car. Rebecca waited for him to get the clue to come back around and then explained how the car seat was supposed to be connected in the back seat and how to keep in place for safety. She lifted Ruby and buckled her into place, making sure to show Stephen where each strap was supposed to go and how it was supposed to click into the center buckle. By the tone of her voice, Stephen knew she had no faith in him to remember how to do this; Stephen knew she was right too.
Rebecca helped load Ruby's things in to the back of the car and handed Stephen the paperwork and smiled before going back into the building.
Stephen sat in the driver's seat, his hands shaking as he reached for wheel. In the rear-view mirror, he could see Ruby looking out the window toward the street. She was holding tightly to her little dog.
"OK. I guess we go home." Stephen tried to sound to cheerful, but his voice was shaking. Ruby just looked at him from her seat and hugged her dog tighter.
----------------------------
Having never driven with a child in his car, Stephen was not sure if he was supposed to drive any different, so he drove slower than normal. It took almost double the time to get home than normal.
When he got home he was tired and cranky. He just wanted to sit on the couch and have a large cold beer. He unlocked the front door and tossed the keys onto the table by the door. Kicking off his shoes, he grabbed the note David had left him and dropped onto the couch to read it. He leaned his head back on the couch and pulled his phone out to call David.
"So? How did it go? Was it what we thought?" Stephen could feel David's excitement and curiosity through the phone.
Stephen sighed heavily before saying anything.
"I am going to take that as a big no, " David said, calming.
"You won't even believe when I tell you, " Stephen said shaking his head even though David couldn't see him.
"It couldn't have been that bad?"
"A girl." Stephen said blankly.
"A what?" David asked as if he didn't hear Stephen correctly.
"A little girl. Ruby is a little girl." Stephen rubbed his free hand through his hair in frustration.
"A little-. Why would John leave you-.When did John-." David couldn't finish his thoughts.
"Exactly. Apparently, he had a daughter and that is why we haven't really heard from him in the last four years."
"OK. But why did he leave her to you?"
"I don't know. As far I know, her mother died. And based on the paperwork they gave me, all of his other relatives agreed with him that I should be the one to get full custody and guardianship for the rest of her life!" Stephen said louder as he told the situation to David and just now realized what it truly meant for him.
"How are you going to raise a little girl? You know nothing about girls." David pointed out.
"I know nothing about kids!" Stephen shouted. "My brother and his wife never had kids. I only see Emma's kids at parties and they're older. I only see your son occasionally and it is only for an hour or so. I have no idea what to do with this thing!"
"Well, maybe, not call it a thing." David laughed.
"Sorry, I am just freaking out." Stephen mumbled.
"What did social services say about it."
"Per John's will, I have a week to decide if I want permanent custody. He stipulated, though, that I had to take care of her until I decide. At the end of the week, I can return her to them where she will become a ward of the State until they can get another family member to take her or I can decide to keep her."
"You're going to keep her, " David said matter-of-factually.
"I don't know." Stephen whispered.
"I am telling you. You are going to keep her. The Stephen Mulhern I know and love would not think about returning a child; especially his best friend's." David's voice had an edge to it.
"What if I can't do it. What if I ruin her life?" Stephen asked sadly.
"I don't think you will. John wouldn't have trusted you if he believed that."
"I'm still terrified." Stephen sat up on the couch, rubbing his head.
"One step at a time. Where is she now?"
"She's-" Stephen looked around the house. "Fuck!" Stephen dropped the phone, ran to the door, grabbing his keys.
He ran down to the driveway and unlocked the car and threw the back door open. He bent over to catch his breath before looking up.
Ruby was asleep in her car seat, snuggling her stuffed dog.
Stephen ran his hands through his hair and looked up to the sky. "You really think I can do this?"
He returned to the car seat. Rebecca forgot to show him how to undo all of the straps from the buckle. He pushed the button but nothing happened. He pulled on the straps but they did not come out of the buckle. Despite yanking and pushing on the button pretty hard, Ruby did not wake or make a sound. After several tries, he managed to get two straps unhooked. He maneuvered Ruby through the other two straps and pulled her out.
Having never carried a child either, he held her like a dead body, with her legs and head dangling over his arms.
Inside, he laid her on the couch, grabbed his phone and went into the kitchen so he could call David back.
"I told you I can't do this! I fucking left her in the car! I couldn't get her out the damn car seat thing!" Stephen shouted at David.
"You left her in the car?" David laughed.
"It's not funny!"
"No it's not. You're really lucky is wasn't hot and she's OK." David said trying to calm Stephen down.
"Where is she now?"
"She was asleep so I put her on the couch, " Stephen answered as he peeked out the kitchen door to make sure Ruby was still asleep.
"You have to get her off of the couch. Put her in the guestroom bed." David instructed.
"What? Why?" Stephen asked.
"Because she can roll off the couch and hit her head."
"Shit. Why didn't I think of that?"
"You're stressed at the moment. You're not going to think clearly." David pointed out.
"Do you think you can come help me? Just for the first night? I am terrified I am going to screw this up and this kid is going is going to get damaged or something." Stephen begged.
"I have to finish this book signing and then I can be over." David said reassuringly. "In the meantime, put her in the guest bed!" David hung up.
Stephen cautiously went to the catch and scooped Ruby up, taking her the guest bedroom. Not sure how to maneuver opening the door, he let go of her legs, letting them dangle, as he opened the door and pulled back the covers. He laid her on the bed and pushed her toward the center so she wouldn't fall off.
As he backed out of the room, he saw her little dog lying on the floor by the door. He picked it up dusted it off, and slid it into her arms. She made a little sound as she cuddled the stuffed toy. Stephen watched her for a moment before leaving the room, leaving the door cracked.