An original short story: Aiden

 This is a 1500-word story I wrote a few months ago. Hope you enjoy!

Aiden was small for his age, which I’d been told was six. He carried a backpack almost as big as he was. It was unusual, but not unheard of, to get a new kid this late in the evening. My other three were already in bed, which was a shame because they usually eased the transition process and helped make a new child more comfortable. They also kept the newbie busy so I could talk with the social worker to get any verbal information and instructions.

Terri was the social worker who delivered Aiden to me. I’ve worked with her for years and know her to be genuinely caring but overwhelmed at times by the workload. She looked harried. And exhausted. Ordinarily I would offer her a cup of tea but I had a feeling she just wanted to get home, so I didn’t.

I crouched down to Aiden’s height.

“Hello Aiden, I’m Nita. You’ll be staying with us for a while. I have three other kids, but they’re already in bed, so you’ll get to meet them in the morning. Are you hungry?”

Aiden had yet to look at me. To look at anything. His eyes were glued to the floor.

“Aiden?” Terri’s voice was gentle. “Are you hungry, love?”

He shook his head once, almost imperceptibly.

Terri looked at me, shrugged.

“All right then, how about a cup of hot chocolate? I think I’ll have one too.” I put the kettle on. “Do you want to take off your backpack and sit at the table?” I made a move to help him slip off the huge backpack, but he backed away.

“It’s okay, you can keep it on. Just sit down right here.”

Terri shot me a grateful look. “I’m going to go, then. Okay if I call you in the morning?”

“Of course. We’ll be fine.”

She crouched down to Aiden’s eye level next to the table. “Aiden, I’ll see you soon. Nita will take good care of you, okay?”

He nodded, once.

“Okay then, good night.”

Once I’d seen Terri out, I returned to the kitchen. Aiden hadn’t moved. I made two small cups of hot chocolate and sat down across from Aiden.

“Here you go, Aiden. You’ll need to be careful, it’s hot.” I made a show of blowing on my cup before taking a small sip. “Mmm, it’s good.”

He glanced up at me, then slowly moved his hand toward the cup. I kept sipping mine. I was encouraged to see him take a small sip.

“You’re going to like my other kids, Aiden. My oldest is Jenny. She’s fourteen. Then there’s Grace. She’s eleven. And Tony is just a bit younger than you. He’s five. They’re really looking forward to meeting you.” I kept up a steady chatter while we finished our cocoa, then yawned widely as I put the cups in the sink.

“How about I show you to your room, Aiden? Come with me.” We went upstairs and I pointed out the bathroom and the other kids’ rooms.

“Your room is right here, next to mine.” I had left the bedside lamp on, and the circle of light showed a small, neat room.

“How about we get your pjs on, then you can go to the bathroom before bedtime?” I figured there was plenty of time later to work on toothbrushing and bathing. “Do you have pajamas in your backpack?”

Aiden nodded and we unzipped the bag and got out his pjs, which were threadbare, but clean. He quickly undressed and slipped into the pjs, then we went across the hall to the bathroom.

“Want me to come in with you?” He nodded, so I came in and stood by the door while he peed. I helped him turn on the faucet to wash his hands, then led him back to his room and got him settled in bed.

“Now, there’s a night light right here by the door, you see?” I turned off the lamp and said, “Good night, Aiden, see you in the morning.”

“G’night.” It was the first word he’d spoken.

I left the door slightly ajar and went back downstairs. Since it was an emergency placement I hadn’t yet received paperwork on Aiden. All I knew was what his caseworker had told me over the phone earlier in the day: that he was six years old and had been removed from his mother’s care following her arrest for drug possession with intent to sell. No siblings, and father was not in the picture. Although heartbreaking, it wasn’t an unusual story. I didn’t expect to learn much more from the paperwork or from Terri, but of course any information I could get might help me to better foster Aiden.

The next day was Saturday, so my kids were out of school. Jenny and Grace took to Aiden from the first moment and got busy acclimating him to our home and schedule. Tony was as shy as Aiden when he had come to me a few months earlier, so I was pleased to see that the boys seemed to hit it off right away. They were playing in the fenced-in back yard when Terri called.

“Hey, Terri. Hope you were able to get some good rest. You looked pretty beat last night.”

“Thanks, I was. It was a long day. How did Aiden do last night?”

“Great. He slept through the night. The other kids seem to be happy he’s here.”

“I’m so glad. So, his home situation was not good. I don’t know if you’ve had a chance to look in his backpack.”

“Not yet.”

“Well, all I could find for him was a dirty pair of jeans and a couple tee shirts that have seen better days. No underwear or socks, except for what he’s wearing. Also, there were no toys in the house. Poor little guy, I don’t know what he did with himself all day.”

“Well, you know I keep extra undies and socks in various sizes just for this kind of situation, and there’s certainly no shortage of toys. I can take care of getting him some new clothes. Has he started school?”

“No, and I’m not sure he’s ready for that. His socialization skills might need some work. My sense is that this is a pretty neglected boy.”

My heart went out to Aiden. “Well, we’ll take it slow. When he’s ready, we can try a couple mornings a week at Tony’s preschool.”

“That sounds good.”

“Is there any history of abuse?”

“There’s nothing in the file, but we both know it’s a possibility. This is his mom’s first offense, so we just don’t know what Aiden’s life has been like.”

I sighed. “I understand. Anything else?”

“No. I’ll bring by his paperwork later this morning if that’s okay, but I won’t come in.”

I understood why Terri didn’t want to come in. It could upset Aiden’s settling-in process if he thought Terri was there to take him away again.

“Perfect. See you soon.”

I let the kids play outside for a while before calling them inside.

“Who wants fruit?” I had diced apples and oranges and mixed them with some blueberries in a big bowl.

“I do!” Tony said.

“Me too!” echoed Grace.

Jenny, who was my quiet one, just nodded.

“Aiden, how about you? Do you want some fruit?”

“What’s fruit?” he asked, his brows furrowed.

“What’s fruit?” Tony laughed. “You know, bananas and oranges and stuff!”

They sat at the table and Jenny helped me serve.

“Here you go, Aiden. This is fruit. You’ll like it.” Jenny said in her soft voice.

We watched as Aiden put a piece of apple in his mouth, chewed it. A smile broke on his face and he said, “I like fruit!”

The kids laughed and talked while they ate. It did my heart good to see them like this. With foster kids, I’d learned early on to take my joy wherever I could; it made the hard times a bit easier.

That afternoon, I loaded up the kids in my van and we went shopping. Because of a recent growth spurt, Grace needed some longer jeans. I also got new jeans, shorts, and shirts for Aiden, along with new pjs that matched the ones Tony had at home. The boys got a kick out of knowing they both had dinosaurs. Afterwards, we stopped for frozen yogurt. “This is good!” Aiden said, as he licked his chocolate cone.

After his bath that evening, and wearing his new pjs, Aiden climbed into bed. I sat on the edge and said, “Good night, Aiden, sleep tight.”

“G’night.”

As I walked to the door, Aiden said, “Hey Nita?”

“Yeah, kiddo?”

“Can I have fruit tomorrow?”

“You sure can. We have fruit every day.”

 I made it to my room before the tears fell. Such a simple request. If it were up to me, I’d make sure Aiden had fruit every day for the rest of his life.