Maggie Hartley - A Family for Christmas

Fostering is my vocation and theres nothing I like more than welcoming children into my home and giving them love and stability. But believe me Im no Mother Theresa. Like any parent, by the end of the six-week summer break I was tearing my hair out.

The holidays had been lovely but, boy, they were long and I was fed up with the endless squabbling. To be honest, Id started counting down the days until September when the two girls that I fostered could go back to school.

Louisa was fifteen and shed been living with me for the past three years, ever since her parents had died in a car crash. When she first came to me she was painfully shy and struggling to cope with her grief. But slowly shed come out of her shell and she had a good circle of friends that she could confide in.

Over the past year or so shed turned into a typical monosyllabic, sullen teenager, and she was currently going through a Goth phase. Shed dyed her long, straight brown hair black and had taken to wearing heavy black eyeliner, although I only allowed her to do that at weekends and holidays, when she wasnt in school.

Then there was six-year-old Lily, who had arrived around the same time. Shed been taken into care because her father was a violent alcoholic but her mother refused to leave him. She looked like a little angel with her golden curls and big blue eyes, but her behaviour had been far from angelic at first. She had terrible temper tantrums and had even smashed furniture, such was the force of her anger. Thankfully her behaviour had been much more settled since she had come to live with me.

The girls usually got along brilliantly, but as the weeks had gone by the bickering had increased, and I could see they both needed the stimulation and routine of school back in their lives. Id realised I did too, and when the first day of the new term came around I think it was a relief to all of us. Shiny new shoes had been purchased, school bags had been packed with brand new stationery, and now I was ready to wave them both off.

Have you got everything? I asked Louisa.

Yes, she sighed.

Well have a good first day back and Ill see you tonight.

I will, she said, as the front door slammed behind her.

She was starting year eleven which meant shed be doing her GCSEs, so it was a big year for her.

After shed gone there was just Lily to get ready. She was still in primary school so I dropped her off every day.

Maggie I dont want to go, she wailed, as I ran a brush through her blonde curly hair and tied it back in a bobble.

Youll be fine, I told her. You love school and youll get to see all your friends again.

I remembered that tummy-churning mixture of nerves and excitement that you always felt on the first day of a new term no matter how old you were.

After swapping pleasantries with the other mums and giving Lilys hand a reassuring squeeze before she went into her new classroom, I finally headed home. As I walked through the front door, I breathed a sigh of relief. I flicked the kettle on to make myself a cup of tea and flopped down at the kitchen table.

Bliss.

I was on my own for the first time in six long weeks and it felt wonderful. However, it was short-lived. I took one gulp of my tea when the shrill ring of the home phone shattered my peace.

Hi Maggie, Im not interrupting anything am I? said a voice I recognised as Rachel, my supervising social worker from the local authority.

Just the first proper sit down and hot cup of tea Ive had in the past six weeks, I joked. But dont worry, I wont hold that against you.

Rachel and I had worked together for years and we knew each other well enough to enjoy a bit of banter.

Ive got a bit of an unusual case that I wanted to chat to you about, she said.

That sparked my interest straight away.

Go on then, I said, taking a quick sip of tea. You know Im a sucker for unusual.