"It's so good to see you, Ivy," Tracy said, as I walked through the door to the foster home. "Liam's been so worried about you. How are you feeling?"

"I'm a lot better," I replied. "I'm really sorry about Sunday, Tracy."

"Don't be silly, there's nothing to apologise for. I'm just glad you're okay," she smiled. "I'll go let Liam know you're here."

She stood up from her desk, and walked out of the room. I sat in the waiting area for a couple of minutes before she reappeared with my brother.

He pretty much sprinted across the room to come and hug me. I squeezed him tightly, before he sat down next to me.

"You feeling better?" He asked.

"Loads better," I assured him. "How are you?"

"I'm good. Do you want a game of ping pong? We've got a new table."

"Sure," I answered, getting out of my seat.

Tracy smiled politely as we walked past her to go to the games room. There were two boys playing on an xbox in the corner of the room. They looked a few years younger than Liam, and they turned around to say hello when we walked in, then turned back to their game.

Liam handed me a paddle, and took one for himself, and he took the first serve. We hit the ball across the table to each other, and chatted while we played.

"Have you heard from Dana?" I asked.

He blushed when I said her name, and tried to hide his smile.

"Yeah, we've been texting a bit. I told her I would let her know when I'm coming back to yours again so we can meet, if that's alright with you."

"Yeah, of course it is," I smiled. "Invite her round for dinner one day, if you want."

"Yeah, I will. Thanks," he said, hitting the ball into the net. I assumed he was distracted by thoughts of Dana.

"I'm going out with Larissa on saturday," I told him proudly.

"Like a date?"

"Yep."

"Like an official date, though? Or as friends?"

"An official date," I grinned.

"That's awesome!" He said happily. "Where are you taking her?"

I told him about my plans to take her to the lake by her father's house, and how Alice was helping me set it all up. It made me happy that he took an interest in my love life, and he seemed to like Larissa, even though he'd only met her once.

After we finished talking and playing ping pong, I decided to call it a night. It was getting pretty late, and Liam would need to go to bed soon, as he had school tomorrow. I also had to work early the next morning, so I needed some sleep too.

I said goodnight to Liam, then made my way back to the reception area, where I found Tracy.

"So, you said we'd be able to set up another date for Liam to come over again," I said, sitting in front of her desk.

"Yes, of course," she said, opening a big folder on her desk, and flicking through several pages. "We've already done the weekend visit, so we need to try and get him with you during the week. We need to see how everything goes during school time, and after that, we can arrange a date for permanent residence."

I raised my eyebrows at the last sentence she said.

"Seriously?" I asked, and she looked confused. "He can move in permanently? Soon?"

"As long as that's what you want," she laughed. "That's what Liam wants, and we know you're capable of caring for him. I mean, maybe stay away from go-karting in the future, but I don't have any concerns."

"Of course it's what I want," I grinned. "I just thought that it was gonna take a lot longer. You said that we needed to-"

"What I told you during the inspection is a guideline to getting children in our care into a new home. However, you and Liam are related by blood, so it's not like an adoption or a fostering placement. We're putting your family back together, and we don't want to procrastinate if it's not necessary," she said.

"Thank you, Tracy. I'm so relieved," I said. "I mean, obviously, if it took a year to get him living with me, I would have been happy to do whatever you asked. But, I'm so happy that it's not gonna take that long. I've been waiting for this since the day he moved here."

"I know you have, sweetie. I was here that day," she said quietly.

My eyes shot up to meet hers, and she looked sympathetic. I was surprised by what she said. I didn't remember Tracy, but she was here the day I brought Liam in.

"I could practically see your heart break when you had to leave, and Liam's too. I've been trying to help him pull himself back together since that day, and I always told myself that I would make sure you two could be a family again."

Tears filled my eyes as she spoke. I couldn't believe that she remembered me all for all those years.

"When you came here for the first time since that day, on Liam's birthday, I realised that you were all he needed. Your parents did such horrible things to both of you, and you stuck together through it all. Liam told me how you always kept him out of the way when your dad was angry, you always took the worst of it."

The tears had started rolling down my cheeks now, and I quickly wiped my eyes with the sleeve of my hoodie.

"Any big sister would have done the same," I sniffed.

"That might be true," she said. "But that's not the point. The point is, you always cared for Liam in a way that a parent should. I had no doubt in my mind that he would live with you when he was old enough, and I knew that I wasn't gonna let anyone stand in the way of it."

I wiped my eyes again, unable to stop the tears from falling.

"Ivy, when you told me that your mum paid you a visit, I-"

"It was you?" I asked, interrupting Tracy, and she just smiled.

"I didn't pay her a penny, Ivy, I promise."

"But then, how?"

"I asked her to meet me, and she agreed that I could visit her house, as I refused to let her anywhere near Liam," she said. "If I did have the money to pay her off, I would have, but I didn't. So I told her that I had proof that she was responsible for some of Liam's injuries when he first came here. I told her I had evidence, and she got scared."

I had stopped crying at that point, and I was just listening intently to Tracy, amazed by her story.

"I didn't have any evidence, but she didn't know that. I told her that she was not to contact you or Liam ever again, or I would go to the police. Clearly, she was responsible, or she wouldn't have gotten scared."

"I can't believe you did that," I said gratefully, tears were threatening my eyes again.

"Ivy, all those years ago, I watched a scared little boy come into this house, with his big sister standing by his side, telling him that everything would be okay and that you'd be together again. And I made it my mission to see that you kept your promise. I wasn't going to let your mother get in the way of that. If I could have let him live with you that day, I would have."

"Thank you so much," I said, trying to hold back my tears.

"It was my pleasure, sweetie. Liam's been so much happier since you came back into his life, and his happiness is our priority," she said softly. "So, why don't we have him stay with you next week from sunday night to wednesday night, and then we'll go from there?"

"That's perfect," I smiled.

"Brilliant," she said. "I'll let Liam know about next week, and then I'll let you tell him when we've decided when he will move in."

I thanked her again before I stood up to leave, and she stood up too. It may not have been the normal thing to do, but I felt like I had to hug her before I left. She laughed slightly as she hugged me back.

"Goodnight, Ivy. I'll see you next week."

"Goodnight, Tracy," I smiled, then left the building and walked to my car.

All the way home, I thought about Tracy, and all the things she said, and I was so appreciative of her. She was like my own personal guardian angel.