The next morning, I'm woken up by my phone ringing in my ear. I'm exhausted from the two appointments I had last night but I still wake up enough to grab my phone off of the coffee table and answer it, putting the phone to my ear.

"Hello?" My voice is still a bit muffled from my face still laying in the pillow.

"Eleanor, am I catching you at a bad time?" Bethany, the social worker, asks me over the phone.

"Um, no. Sorry, I'm just waking up," I sit up now and when I open my eyes, I notice that Josie is in the kitchen making pancakes on the stove. "What can I do for you today?"

"I have some great news. Josie's father got his charges dropped. He's being released later today," She tells me. "So we won't have to find her another foster home, she's going home with her dad."

"Wow, that is great. She'll be thrilled," I say in return. I'm curious to ask what he did or why he was arrested in the first place. I know that when I had first met Josie, she said that it was because he was framed for some white-collar crime at his company but I don't know the man so I'm suspicious of the fact that he was framed. It's her father though so I don't blame her for believing that he was framed. Then again, I guess if the charges were dropped then that probably means that he was innocent after all.

"Can you meet me at my office at two? We'll get the paper work finished and her father will be there as well to take her home," She explains to me. "I'm sure that he'll want to thank you for taking care of her lately after what happened with Davis."

"Yeah, we'll be there," I confirm with a nod. I didn't have anything planned for the day and I know that Josie will be happy to be going home now. After everything that she's been through lately, I think that being around her family will help her heal.

"Great! See you soon then. While you're here, I'll discuss your brother's case as well," She adds before our short conversation is over and we say goodbye.

"Good morning," Josie greets me from the kitchen. "You were sleeping late so I decided to go ahead with breakfast. I'm not sure that I'm doing it right though."

"That's alright," I yawn and stretch before I get out of bed and walk into the kitchen. "That was Bethany from the social work office."

"Really? Any good news?" She asks me, turning around to look at me and she completely disregards the pancakes that she's currently cooking on the stove.

"Yeah. Great news, actually. Your dad is getting released today," I inform her. "You're going home, Josie."

"WHAT?" She drops the spatula on the ground and she starts grinning so widely that I'm worried that her face is going to rip in half. "Are you being serious?"

"Yes, I'm being serious," I assure her with a small laugh. "I guess they dropped the charges against him. So we're going to meet him at the office in a few hours so that he can take you home."

"I'm going home today?" She repeats, looking unbelievably excited right now.

"Yes, Josie. You're going home today," I confirm and I reach around her to turn off the stove. She's already made a good stack of pancakes and the ones on the stove now are just half cooked but I don't think that they're going to get fully cooked now that Josie has this great news.

"Oh my god," She breathes out. "I'm going to see my dad. I'm going to get to go to school again. I have to get dressed. I have to... I have to... I don't know what else to do but I feel like there's so much that has to get done!" She starts getting gradually louder as she gets even more excited and she's starting to get so excited that she doesn't even know what to do with herself.

"Just eat breakfast for now," I instruct her so that she has one thing to focus on for right now. "And then you can shower and get dressed. Make sure to pack everything up. I don't have any use for the new clothes we got you so you can take all of that with you."

And so she grabs a few pancakes and puts them on a plate before scarfing them down as if she somehow believes that the faster that she eats, the faster that two o'clock will come around and she'll be able to reunite with her father. I have to remind her a few times to slow down so that she doesn't get a stomachache.

I let her shower and then I take a quick shower too, getting dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. Josie gets dressed in the fanciest outfit that she's gotten since being here. I haven't bought her too many clothes but just a few outfits and a lot of underwear. She's wearing a summery floral skirt with a pink blouse and sandals. She asks me to braid her hair, which I do, and then she spends the rest of the afternoon absolutely freaking out about seeing her father again.

It's apparently been a few months since he's been arrested and he's the only family that she has so she's pretty excited to be seeing him again. Especially considering with him being in jail, there was a strong possibility that she wouldn't be able to see him outside of that jail for quite some time if he got convicted.

I know that she was always convinced that he was framed but she had to have been terrified that they wouldn't realize that and would find him guilty anyway.

At about 1:30, Josie asks me for about the twentieth time if we can go now and I finally say yes. It's time to go now. So I grab my bag and make sure that the apartment is locked up before we head out to get to the metro station so that we can get to the social work office.

However, we both stop short just outside of the apartment building because there's a car in the parking lot right outside the door. Cars being in the parking lot isn't something to be surprised about but the fact that this car has my name written in window paint in huge letters across the windshield causes both of us to stop.

"Did somebody buy you a car?" Josie asks me as we both slowly approach the new-looking car.

"I don't know..." I trail off. "Come on, let's just get you to Bethany's office, I'll deal with this later."

"Wait, if this really is your car, wouldn't it be faster to drive? The metro station is like, a mile from the social work office," She reminds me. "Go see if the keys are inside."

Looking through the window, I see that the keys are in the ignition and there's a note on the passenger side seat. There's a lump in my throat because I have no idea who this is from. Who the fuck would buy me a car? My first thought goes to Micah but of course, he didn't buy me a damn car. He's stubborn but he's not insane. And this car seems brand new but there is a license plate with new tags, I notice.

Josie doesn't wait for me to process what's happening, she just hops into the passenger side and takes the note out. I get in too, sitting in the driver's side and she starts reading the note.

"Dear Eleanor, please accept this gift as a sign of my regret for not checking up on you and your brother earlier," Josie starts to read it aloud. When I realize that it's from my father, I take the note out of her hands and I toss the note into the backseat.

"I'm giving it back," I decide. "But I'll get you to your dad first."

"Yay!" She cheers as she starts adjusting the seat to her comfort and I start backing out of the parking space but then we both start cleaning up the letters of my name on the windshield so that I can see through it to drive safely. I've never had a car but I used to drive Cynthia's car sometimes when I was at the foster home. I've driven my friends' cars from time to time too so I know how to drive and I have my license.

Josie is right about it getting us to the office sooner but after today, I have to figure out how to get it back to him without actually talking to him. I don't want his charity, or his gag money, like he thinks that buying me a car is going to keep me out of his hair.

"So when you're with your dad again," I start a conversation as I drive. "Are you going to tell him what happened?"

"No," She says quickly. "No, I couldn't do that. It'd crush him."

"I know that it could. But I think that it'll help you heal faster," I suggest to her. "I never told Casey and it sucked keeping it all bottled up like that. I'm not going to force you to tell him but I'm just saying that I think that you should. He would want to know."

"It wouldn't change anything," She doesn't look as excited anymore and I feel bad for ruining her great mood but I think that it's something that we have to talk about before we're with other people. "It would just hurt my dad or make him angry at Davis but he's already in jail so he can't do anything that hasn't already been done. You got over it without talking to anybody, remember?"

"I know but-"

"I'm not telling him," She insists again. "I'll be fine."

"Alright. Well, if you ever need somebody to talk to, you know that you can always call me," I inform her. I'm not sure how she's going to keep it from her father when she's having night terrors almost every night, screaming her head off. She wakes me up almost every night at least once or twice with her nightmares so unless her room is sound proof, he's going to find out that something is wrong. But I'll just let her deal with it however she wants to deal with it.

"Thanks, Eleanor," She smiles at me. "I hope he hasn't gotten all rough and tough in jail."

"I'm sure he hasn't changed," I assure her. "He's still your dad."

"Yeah, you're right," She agrees. "I'm just nervous. I don't know why. I'm mostly excited but I'm still just a little bit nervous too."

"It's just the adrenaline," I suggest to her. "You're finally getting back to your life, that's a huge deal."

"I know," She agrees with a nod. "I just can't wait to see him. I have a lot to tell him, like how I learned how to make pancakes."

She keeps talking all the way to the office and once I park the car, she's already running into the building before I can turn the car off. I get out of the new and temporary car and I follow Josie into the building and then into Bethany's office. There's already a man in there that I assume to be Josie's father because when she sees him, she leaps into his arms and starts crying uncontrollably.

He hugs her tightly to him, looking like he might cry himself.

"It's nice to see a happy ending like this one," Bethany tells me as they reunite. "And you helped make it happen."

I don't think that I helped this happen but I don't say that. It's not like I had any part on getting Josie's dad out of jail, I was just watching over her for a little while. Whether I was there or not, this would still be happening.

"So, Josie, your dad has already filled out the necessary paperwork so you guys are all set to get back home," Bethany informs them after they've stopped hugging and Josie has herself together again. "But before you go, you should meet Eleanor. After Josie's foster family didn't work out, Eleanor stepped up and took care of your daughter for a little while."

"It wasn't a big deal," I assure them but the man is already walking toward me with a grateful look on his face. "I had an extra bed."

"Thank you for taking care of her, Eleanor," The man puts a hand on my shoulder and then Josie hurries toward me and starts hugging me.

"I'll come visit sometimes," Josie promises me. "I don't know how you don't starve to death without me there."

"I am pretty useless in the kitchen," I agree with her.

"Dad, I forgot to tell you that I made our biscuits and gravy all by myself," Josie turns back to her father and starts talking to him again. He engages in the conversation and I just try to blend into the wall because I'm clearly not part of this conversation anymore, which is fine because this is a really special moment for their little family.

I bet that Josie's dad is a really great dad. He looks at her like she's the most important thing in the world to him. Like he would go through heaven and hell just for her. I can't help but feel just a little bit jealous but I'm mostly happy for Josie that she has that support from her father. Or that she has that support at all. She'll grow up to be so special, I can already tell.

"I'm going to head out," I tell Bethany quietly in hopes of just being able to sneak out of the office. Josie has my number and my part here is done.

"Oh, wait, I have some info about Casey," She stops me from leaving and then pulls a folder out of her desk and hands it to me. "Everything is all set, I just need you to get these signed by your supervisor at work, just confirming your employment and it asks for a few documents but just read through that and as soon as that's finished, the transfer of custody should be almost finished."

"Okay, awesome. Not a problem," I say even though that most definitely is a problem. I mean, I can obviously just get Jill to sign a document saying that I work for her or I can forge a signature. But if I need documentation like tax forms or a paycheck or something like that, I'm not sure how I can get that kind of thing.

So after I get the paperwork that I need from Bethany, I slide out of the office and since Josie and her father are still so busy catching up with each other, they don't even notice me leaving.

I drive the fancy new car back to my apartment building and then once I'm parked in the parking lot there, I lean into the backseat and grab the note that I'd thrown back there earlier to keep it away from Josie.

Dear Eleanor,

Please accept this gift as a sign of my regret for not checking up on you and your brother earlier. If I had realized that your mother was not around to care for you, I would have done something to help you out. I would like to talk more about this, please call me soon. Things are more complicated than they may seem.

As for the car, I hope that you like it. It's under my name so I'm paying the insurance and if you need gas money, or money for anything, just call. I want to help you and Casey find a better life than the one that you are living right now. Just give me a call.

Sincerely,

Your father

I take the note into the apartment with me and leave it on the kitchen counter as I decide what to do. He left a phone number scribbled on the note too so if I want to call him, I can. Do I want to call him? If I did, it would be to tell him that he can take his car and shove it up his ass because I don't want it.

But I kind of do. It'd be really great to have a car, especially with me having to meet my clients all over the city and sometimes, where they want to meet just isn't near a metro station. Helping Casey move in and out of his dorms would certainly be a thousand times easier. So would grocery shopping—or any shopping, really.

I could get out of the city more often. I don't know where I would go. Maybe just for a drive, spend the day just sitting in a field somewhere, relaxing in the car. It's been a long time since I've been out of the city other than for work and it'd be nice just to have a breath of fresh air.

But I don't want to call him to talk about our feelings or for whatever reason it is that he wants me to call him. I don't have anything to say to him and I can't imagine what he would have to say to me that he hasn't already said. He's already apologized, he's already explained that he didn't know that I was on my own and that my mother wasn't taking care of us. What else is there?

He abandoned me—us—and fourteen years is too long to wait before deciding to be a father again. Because he doesn't want any part of my life, or Casey's. He's made that very clear by never wanting to talk to us. When he thought that we were being cared for, he was totally fine just ignoring our existence completely. So all of this now, the car and the apology, it's not because he wants to be a father to me or Casey, it's because he feels guilty. And he should feel guilty. I want him to rot in that guilt.

I put the keys down on the table, unsure of what I should do with the car. I want to keep it but I don't want him to think that I want to have a relationship with him or anything like that. But he knows where I live somehow so if he wants to talk to me, I'm sure he'll find a way even if I don't call him.

That probably means that whether I keep the car or not, I don't have a say in what happens next.

But then again... I rarely ever do.