Page 63 of Darling Girls

‘About Theo?’

‘No, about another kid. His name is Aaron and he’s ageing out soon.’ Alicia felt weirdly emotional. ‘He’s a good kid. And it got me thinking . . . Hypothetically speaking, if I wanted to foster him . . . could I?’

Several beats passed. Alicia could practicallyseeMeera’s eyebrows rise.

‘Hypothetically,’ she repeated. ‘Isaidhypothetically.’

‘Okay,’ Meera said, clearly not believing her. ‘Well, in that case, no. You can’t foster a kid once they turn eighteen.’

Alicia sighed. It was what she’d expected. In a way she was relieved to hear it. Relieved and also . . . bitterly disappointed.

‘But you could adopt him.’

Alicia blinked. ‘I could? Even if he’s eighteen?’

‘There’s no age restriction on adoption,’ Meera said. ‘It’s unusual to adopt an adult, but it happens – for sentimental or financial reasons, or occasionally if there is an adult with additional needs. Sometimes it’s for inheritance purposes. The adoptee would have to agree to it, obviously.’

‘Obviously,’ Alicia said, wondering if Aaron would. Then she couldn’t believe she was wondering. It washypothetical.

‘Does an eighteen-year-old even need a mum?’ Alicia mused aloud. But it was a silly question. She knew they did. Even at thirty-eight, Alicia would have killed for a mum.

Meera must have thought it was silly too, because she didn’t respond. Instead, she said, ‘Tell me more about Aaron.’

Alicia shrugged. ‘Honestly, I don’t know much, other than that he was raised by his gran. We’ve only met a few times.’

‘It’s not always the length of time that’s important,’ Meera said. ‘Sometimes you just know.’

As the silence settled between them, Alicia wondered if they were still talking about Aaron. She found herself wishing they weren’t. But that was stupid. A waste of a wish.

‘Right,’ Meera said. ‘Shall I go do a little research into adult adoption?’

‘No,’ Alicia said quickly. ‘It was hypothetical.’

But Alicia knew Meera was probably looking into it as they spoke. It was just the kind of thing Meera did.

‘Meera,’ she heard herself say.

‘Yeah?’

She wanted to say,I love you. I want to be with you. I want to feel worthy of love, and unafraid to love someone in return. I want that with you. But instead she said, ‘I’ll speak to you Monday.’ Then she ended the call and banged her head repeatedly against the bedhead.

28

NORAH

Couch, Converse and Thong were already asleep on her bed, but Norah was wide awake. As if today hadn’t been stressful enough, she’d just checked her voicemail – bastard that it was – and found a message from a police officer in Melbourne.

‘Miss Anderson, it’s Constable Perkins from Victoria Police. We’d like to talk to you at your earliest convenience about a complaint we’ve had regarding an assault that occurred in Melbourne yesterday. When you get this message, can you please give me a call on. . .’

‘Kevin, you son of a bitch,’ she said out loud.

The unpleasant sensation she’d felt after receiving his earlier message returned with a vengeance. He’d done it. He’d fucking done it. He’d actually gone to thecops. She hadn’t thought the little weasel had it in him.

Her face became hot and her heart started pounding loudly enough to make her aware of each individual beat. She wanted to hit something . . . preferably Kevin’s face . . . but she had to make do with punching the mattress instead as she tried to corral her thoughts.

The ramifications came to Norah in layers. Not only would she likely be charged with assault, there was also her community corrections order to think about, and the fact that this offence might well send her to jail. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the cops wanted to talk to her and her sisters about adead childfound buried under the home they’d grown up in! With her criminal record, an active assault charge and a community corrections order . . . this could look very bad for her indeed.

She took a deep breath. Jessica was forever taking deep breaths. It never seemed to help her, but given the lack of other options, Norah decided to try it herself. It proved surprisingly effective. As she sucked in air, everything suddenly became clear. She’d just have to deal with it. She’d have liked to deal with it by giving Kevin a swift kick in the balls, of course, but fighting wasn’t going to help her this time. She needed to be more resourceful. The priority was making this go away, and fast. And as Norah had learned when she was young, sometimes that meant gritting your teeth and doing what you had to do.