Innocent: Part 3 of 3: The True Story of Siblings Struggling to Survive

‘I was thinking it would be nice if Molly went to nursery a few mornings each week,’ I said. ‘I could take Kit to a toddler group so they both get used to playing with other children.’

‘Excellent idea,’ Tess said positively, and smiled at Molly. She took a notepad and pen from her bag and made a note. ‘Do you have a nursery in mind?’ she asked me.

‘There is a good one attached to our local infant school, but I know they have a waiting list.’

‘Looked-after children can usually be found a place,’ she said. ‘Give me the details and I’ll speak to them.’

I told her the name and address of the nursery, then as she wrote I quickly googled their contact number on my phone and read that out. ‘They also run a toddler group one afternoon a week where the parent or carer stays. There isn’t a waiting list, I checked. I was thinking of taking Kit to that. Obviously, Molly would come too.’

‘Fine with me,’ Tess said, and made another note. ‘Anything else?’ she asked. Both children were playing again.

‘Yes,’ I said. ‘I’ve received this letter from the allergy clinic at the hospital.’ I passed her the letter. ‘You remember a referral was made that time I had to take Kit to the hospital and he was kept in overnight?’ She nodded as she read the letter.

‘He doesn’t need to go to this, does he?’ she asked me, looking up.

‘No, I don’t think so. He’s not allergic to anything.’

‘Other than vomiting linctus,’ Tess said cuttingly.

‘Exactly. If you are OK with it, I thought I’d phone and cancel the appointment.’

‘Yes. The children have been through enough unnecessary medical tests, they don’t need any more.’

She handed back the letter and I put it to one side to deal with later.

‘Can we have our mobile phones?’ Molly now asked me.

Tess looked at me, horrified.

‘Toy ones,’ I clarified.

She laughed. ‘For one moment I thought –’

‘I know. But surely no one gives a child aged three a real one?’

‘You’d be surprised.’

‘Can we have our phones?’ Molly asked again.

‘Yes, OK, but we’ll put the volume on low,’ I said.

I retrieved the toy phones from the cupboard and turned down the volume on both before handing them to the children. They began pressing buttons and the recorded messages, sounds and music played as Tess and I talked. She asked me about the children’s routine, their development, general health and well-being, which was a standard part of most social worker visits, and took notes. Finally, she said, ‘All that’s left is for me to have a look around.’ It’s usual for the social worker to check the foster carer’s house when they visit, just as the supervising social worker does. ‘Are you going to show me your bedroom?’ she asked the children.

‘Yes,’ Molly said, and took it as a sign to turn up the volume on her phone and on Kit’s. It didn’t matter. Tess and I had finished talking.

Tess took Kit’s free hand and I took Molly’s and the four of us walked around the house, in and out of the rooms, to the nursery rhymes coming loudly from Kit’s phone and the voice counting to twenty from Molly’s.