Cathy Glass - Please Don’t Take My Baby

Which I had to accept. I couldn’t force Jade to see her mother. ‘What work does your mum do?’ I asked.

‘Cleaning. She cleans offices early morning – six to nine, and then rich people’s houses until twelve. She has a sleep in the afternoon.’

‘So who looked after your brothers and sisters in the morning and took them to school if your mum was at work?’

‘Me. And I ain’t doing it any more. Who takes your kids to school? Because it won’t be me.’

I smiled. ‘I wouldn’t ask you to. Adrian goes by himself or with friends, and I take Paula.’

‘Just asking,’ Jade said. ‘Cos I know some foster carers take liberties with their foster kids and use them as cheap labour.’

‘Do they?’ I asked, shocked. ‘I don’t know any foster carers who treat their children that way.’ However, I did know that foster carers and social workers often got a bad press on the estate where Jade lived.

Jade didn’t answer but pulled a face and stretched out her legs to try to get more comfortable. ‘I’ll be glad when I’ve had this baby,’ she said. ‘No one told me how uncomfortable it was going to be being pregnant. It keeps kicking me, the little sod.’ She shifted again and then took hold of my hand and placed it on her swollen stomach. ‘Here, feel this,’ she said.

I had the palm of my hand gently resting on the outside of her T-shirt and for a moment there was nothing. Then suddenly I felt the wall of her stomach bulge and tighten as a little fist or foot kicked out.

‘Isn’t that truly wonderful?’ I smiled. ‘Don’t you think it’s incredible the way new life has grown within you? It’s a little miracle.’

But Jade wasn’t impressed. ‘I’ll be glad when it’s out,’ she said. ‘Then I can walk and sit proper again.’

We continued talking for a while longer, and Jade asked me about childbirth and if it hurt. I reassured her, saying that while the contractions would be uncomfortable she wouldn’t suffer, as pain relief would always be available at the hospital. She said she wanted Tyler to be with her when she had the baby but he wasn’t sure he wanted to be there and kept making excuses.

‘He’s the dad. He should be there,’ Jade said adamantly.

‘It would be nice if he could be there,’ I said. ‘Although I can understand that at his age he might not feel he could. Who will be with you as your birthing partner if Tyler can’t do it?’ I asked.

‘Me mum was going to but we’re not speaking now. So I guess I’ll be by myself.’

‘Jade, love,’ I said, patting her arm, ‘I’m sure you and your mum will have made it up long before your baby is born, but if by any chance you haven’t, and Tyler decides he can’t be there, I will be with you. If you’d like me to.’ Although Jade would have left me by the time her baby was born, there was no way I wanted her contemplating having her baby without the support of a birthing partner.

‘Yeah, OK,’ she said easily as though she was agreeing to go to the cinema or shopping with me.

We chatted some more – about everyday things – and then Jade said she was ‘knackered’ and wanted to go to sleep. I saw her into bed, making sure she was comfortable and fetching the glass of water she asked for.

‘If you need anything in the night call me,’ I said. ‘Don’t go wandering around in a strange house by yourself – you may trip and fall. I’ll leave you to get up in the morning in your own time. I’m usually back from taking Paula to school by 9.15. So I’ll get you some breakfast then, and then we’ll go to your mum’s. Is that all right?’

‘Yeah, sure.’

‘Goodnight then, love. And not too long on that mobile. You need your sleep.’ For as I was leaving her bedroom, despite being ‘knackered’ Jade had found the energy to start texting again.

‘I’m just saying goodnight to Ty,’ she said.

‘All right, love. Five minutes. Goodnight.’

‘Night,’ she called.

I came out and closed her door.

An hour later when I went up to bed I heard talking coming from Jade’s room. It didn’t take great insight to realize she was on her mobile. I knocked lightly on her door and then put my head round it. Jade looked up from beneath the duvet, where she was very comfortably settled in bed, surrounded by her soft toys and with her phone pressed to her ear.

‘I won’t be long,’ she said, anticipating what I was going to say.

I nodded and came out.

Half an hour later when I’d finished showering, it was all quiet in Jade’s room. I went to bed, read for a while and was just dozing off when I heard Jade’s voice – raised and angry, nearly shouting, and very likely to wake Adrian and Paula. Throwing on my dressing gown, I went round the landing, knocked on her door and went in. Jade was still in bed but was now propped up on one elbow and arguing on the phone.

‘Sorry,’ she said to me as I entered, taking the phone from her ear. ‘He’s being such a dickhead.’

I assumed she was talking to Tyler, although goodness knew what he had or hadn’t done. ‘It’s very late,’ I said. ‘Finish the call now, please. I don’t want Adrian and Paula woken and you need to get off to sleep.’

Jade nodded, but I had the feeling that the moment I was out of the room the call would resume. It was then I remembered some advice I’d heard at a support-group meeting for foster carers, from a couple who were experienced teenager carers. They said one of their house rules was that all mobile phones were left downstairs at night and collected at breakfast. This had the double result of ensuring the teenagers weren’t on their phones all night and also that they got up in the morning.

‘Jade,’ I said, kindly but firmly, ‘if you can’t take responsibility for switching off your mobile for the night, then you will have to leave it downstairs.’ The couple had also said that separating a teen from a mobile was a bit like severing a limb.

Jade scowled. ‘You can’t do that,’ she said defiantly.

‘I hope I won’t have to, so please make the right decision.’

Jade scowled again; then, returning the phone to her ear, said, ‘I gotta go now, Ty. Speak to you tomorrow.’

‘Good decision,’ I said. ‘See you in the morning. Goodnight, love. God bless.’

The rest of the night was quiet, and indeed no sound came from Jade’s room the following morning while Adrian, Paula and I got up, had breakfast and then left for school. I was pleased Jade had cooperated the night before, although I appreciated I might have to deal with the same issue again, as teenagers have notoriously short memories when it comes to requests they’d rather not comply with. I also knew teenagers liked their sleep and can sleep all day if they are allowed to, so I was anticipating having to wake Jade when I returned home from taking Paula to school.

To my amazement as I let myself into the hall I heard music coming from the radio in the kitchen and the sound of someone cooking. I slipped off my coat and shoes and hooked them on the hall stand, and then went into the kitchen. Jade was washed and dressed and, having found the largest frying pan, was cooking herself a full English breakfast: fried eggs, bacon, sausages, fried bread and baked beans.

‘Good morning,’ I said brightly.

I could see she’d already had cereal because her bowl with residue milk, the spoon, the open canister of sugar, the open packet of cereal and the four-pint carton of milk were all still on the work surface, together with the butter, a loaf of bread, a carton of eggs, a packet of bacon, a can of baked beans, a bag of frozen sausages, a mug of tea and a carton of juice which clearly Jade had struggled to open, as it was standing in a large puddle of its contents.