foster sister

[Ishigreensa]

Mark continued making lunch, and brought over her plate already set up for her, and putting it to one side so she could clean up, he knelt down by her.

"Get your stuff situated so you don't get food on it, and then you can eat, okay?"

He loved his little one's art.  She was very creative.

"So, this Halloween, I think we should put a pumpkin Jack-0-lantern by the door, but one that is a lot different than usual.  What do you think?"

[Little Giammy]

The young girl set everything aside to ensure that what she was using wouldn't be a distraction while she ate. She felt a great sense of joy in finishing her drawing before lunchtime. Lucy paid close attention to her dad as he spoke to her about preparing a jack-o'-lantern, and she responded with great enthusiasm, exclaiming, "Yeee! When can we do it?" She clapped her little hands and beamed with a big smile. This was the first holiday she was spending with her new dad, and she couldn't wait to go trick-or-treating with him. "And can we show it to Aunt Mary?" she asked happily.

 

[Ishigreensa]

"Well, we will probably have to ask Aunt Mary over to see it as jack-o-lanterns are hard  to carry around."  He smiled as she got excited.  
"Halloween is at the end of next month," he said for she had only been at school for a month.  "But we should get some orange paper, and start making plans for how to cut the pumpkin out so that it looks extra special.  Not just a boring face, but something simple enough I can carve it."

Mark looked at the picture she drew, and he smiled.  He loved everything she drew.

[Little Giammy]

The little girl pondered, " I can't wait to begin" she said with a large smile "I need to consider my mask!" she added with a thoughtful look on her face. "Daddy, can I pretend to be a vampire girl?" she asked as he placed her meal on the plate before they started eating lunch. Even though she had already eaten ice cream, she was still hungry.

 

[Ishigreensa]

"You still have some time to think about your mask," Mark told her.  "Look, let's just plan a little bit, and we can figure out what you need."

He listened as she asked to be a vampire girl.

"Baby, you can be anything you want for Halloween.  That is the fun of Halloween."

He let her start eating.

"How about after you eat, you think a little bit about what a vampire girl looks like to while I do the dishes and clean up, when I'm done, we can talk about it, and see if that is what you want to do, okay?"

[Little Giammy]

Lucy finished eating her lunch, contemplating how her mask would look. She envisioned it resembling that of a princess, but with added details like a red and black cloak and vampire dentures. Perhaps she could even style her hair in a particular way.

"Daddy, can I put on makeup and wear the vampire teeth?" she asked him.

 

 

 

 

[Ishigreensa]

"For Halloween?" he considered.  "I don't see why not."  When he was a kid going through some poor times, he remembered using his mother's make up along with his two brothers to make a face with it.  He didn't really like it at the time and was embarrassed at first, but realized quickly that no one cared.  It was Halloween.  Everyone did that sort of thing!

He was cleaning up the kitchen around her, and when she finished her lunch, he cleaned up her dishes as well, pushing her drawing back to her so she could add to it if she wanted.

[Little Giammy]

The little girl took a piece of paper and some crayons, starting to draw a princess resembling Cinderella. She added some red accents on the corset of the dress, creating what looked like blood spoons. She enjoyed drawing a mask, contemplating the idea of styling her hair in a braid similar to Elsa's from Frozen.

"Dad, what do you think?" she asked, showing her drawing to her father, who had settled on the sofa after finishing the dishes.

 

 

 

[Ishigreensa]

"That is very pretty," Mark told her.  "I don't know if we can pull it all off, on the gown, but I'll ask Aunt Mary if maybe she knows something that would help if I can get an "Elsa dress" for you.

He hugged her and sat with her with a hand around her.

"Trick or Treating usually means being out for awhile, so I think we should put you in a pull up at the very least while we are out, you know, in case you wet yourself once or twice since there won't be any toilets on the streets.  We could go home every hour, but that would mean less time to get candy...."

[Little Giammy]

Lucy smiled with joy when she realized her dad liked the Halloween mask she had crafted. She snuggled closer to him as he settled onto the sofa, listening intently to her father's advice about wearing protection.

"I don't know," she replied nervously, looking away and blushing deeply.

 

[Ishigreensa]

"Well," he smiled at her.  "We still have a few weeks to decide on that.  So there is no rush to decide right now," he told her.  "What is more important, is that you are comfortable, okay?"

He bent down next to her.

"Don't worry too much about it.  I just wanted to throw it out there, so that you wouldn't be surprised when I asked you on Halloween night if we should put it on you or not.  I won't insist though.  I don't want to ruin your Halloween night, okay?"

[Little Giammy]

Lucy was relieved to be able to postpone that unpleasant decision. She hoped to think it over thoroughly before deciding on something so sensitive. While the idea had its merits and she would have liked to stay longer, the fear of someone discovering her predicament was too embarrassing to bear.

[Ishigreensa]

They watched cartoons for a bit before Mark got off the sofa and went to talk to her school.

"Look, I understand that you don't want her to get any credit for any missed work, but I'd still like her to stay caught up with her class, so can you send some homework home if I pick it up later, and she can at least keep up with what the class is doing at home?"

The school was reluctant at first, but also didn't want a student to get behind, so they did eventually agree to send some work home that mirrored what her class was doing for the next few days.

[Little Giammy]

Lucy was very happy watching cartoons with her dad. They shared a laugh at the silly actions of the characters. She leaned against him until he had to step away to talk on the phone about grown-up things. Undeterred, she continued watching the cartoon.

 

[Ishigreensa]

Mark finished his call, and he called Mary's niece to see what she was doing.  The next day, Mary had invited Lucy to make some treats with her, but Mark thought it would be good if Mary's sister was there, too, that way, when Lucy was expected to spend a day with her, she'd at least know who it was.

"Hello?" I called the number.  "Is this.... Mary's niece?" I asked.  "I heard you were looking for extra money for a few weeks before your college starts or something...."

[Little Giammy]

"Yes, I'm Rose. Hi, Mark," the young woman answered, holding her cell phone. "Yes, exactly! My sister mentioned that you needed a babysitter for a 7-year-old little girl. She also asked me to bring her to her shop."

"I was hoping you could provide more details, like what time I should come to your house and whether the little girl will be awake and ready to go out or not," Rose explained to him over the phone.

[Ishigreensa]

"I am not sure, honestly, if she'll be awake.  She is normally awake when I need to leave, but that's her going to school, too.  So you should come prepared to deal with either situation, but I need to leave by seven thirty, and I would like half an hour to go over anything important with you in person."

Mark smiled.

"I'll have some breakfast for her on the stove and ready to go, and I'll have ten dollars on the counter so you can get you two some lunch, if that helps."

He then shrugged but knowing she can't see through the phone, just said.  "We can talk things over a bit if you come by around 7:00."

[Little Giammy]

"Okay, I will be prepared for this eventuality," Rose said, jotting down notes on a notepad she had handy. "Of course, I will arrive about half an hour early to finalize the details," she added, taking notes of that as well.

"Does the little girl have any allergies or food intolerances?" Rose asked, poised with her pen ready. She wanted to gather as much important information as possible about the little girl she would be looking after before their first meeting.

[Ishigreensa]

Mark smiled and nodded as she said she would come half an hour early, and then heard her ask if his baby had any special allergies or whatnot.  He told her any that he had learned of over the last month, but also cautioned her: 

"I've only had her about a month, so there could be other problems that hasn't come up yet.  Please keep a close eye out for anything I haven't  caught yet, but I will have a full list of any food preferences, allergies, and just temper tantrum foods so you can avoid problems.  I'd hate to have you have a cranky little one the first day you are watching her."

Mark sighed.  "Okay, I'll have a list of numbers on the fridge, too, and we'll discuss other details tomorrow."

 

Once he was done with Rose, Mark walked back to get his baby girl.

"How are you feeling?  Do you want to help me get your bedroom cleaned?  It's been dirty for a couple of days, and you'll have a special guest tomorrow, sweetheart."

[Little Giammy]

Rose took note of everything Mark said and reassured him, telling him that she would be extremely careful about it. "Thank you, Mark. This list will definitely make things easier for me," she said happily to her sister's friend. Before saying goodbye and ending the call.

"Okay," Lucy said smiling, following her dad into his little room and getting to work right away.