Chapter 6: New Beginnings

It didn't take long the next morning for Stephen to talk to the new school and arrange for Chloe to transfer there immediately. He had taken her with him, so she was able to start straight away. She didn't need to go back to her previous school as she had left nothing there. The school told Stephen that because she was now living in the catchment area for that school they more or less had to take her, but they were happy to do so anyway seeing she had only just started in Canberra.

They gave him a list of things she would need, including the school uniform, which they advised was not compulsory, but strongly recommended. He knew that Katherine had not only not had time to purchase a uniform for her previous school, but also didn't have the money, so he made arrangements to meet Chloe at lunchtime and took her to the shop where he had been told was best place to get what was necessary.

She was thrilled for the first time in her life to have a proper school uniform and new at that. She proudly wore it back to school that afternoon as it had been a perfect fit. Stephen took her other clothes and the rest of the things he bought her back to his house, leaving them on the bed for her to put away later.

Chloe was bubbling with excitement when he collected her after school and as they drove the short distance to the hospital, she told him all about her day and how much she enjoyed her new uniform, thanking him profusely. Stephen had brought a small bag with some clothes that Chloe had picked out for her mother to wear home when she was finally released from hospital.

Once more she burst into her mother's ward, this time proudly displaying her new uniform and talking a million miles an hour about her day.

"Slow down darling. I can see you're excited, so I guess you've not only started in your new school, but you are happy there as well. But tell me, where did you get that uniform? It seems new and looks so good on you."

"Oh mum, the new school's great and I love the uniform. Stephen bought this for me at lunch time. Isn't he wonderful" she gushed adoringly.

"Stephen how am I ever going to repay you? And don't say give me your shirt again! You are just too generous" she told him, smiling with gratitude at him.

"Well if you're not going to give me your shirt I might have to send them back..."

"No you won't, I'm keeping them. Mum, give him your her shirt" Chloe interrupted laughingly.

"OK, if I can't send them back and she won't give me her shirt, I'll just have to think of something else. Perhaps a kiss?" he suggested hopefully, but all three were laughing too much by this stage.

"Come here you big lug" Katherine said affectionately once she'd stopped laughing. She pulled his face down, giving him a nice, but not passionate, kiss on the lips as she whispered again how grateful she was for everything.

"So what did the doctor have to say? You didn't ring me, so I assume you're staying overnight again" he asked.

"Yes, I should be able to get out at 10 am tomorrow. He was pleased with my progress, but they just want to monitor my reactions for one more night. He was concerned about making sure I kept off my feet for at least another week, but I told him about my good Samaritan who was going to look after me, so he said I could be discharged in the morning if the overnight observations were OK."

"Look after you, you lazy wench? I'm going to stay in my lounge chair and expect you to crawl around waiting on my every whim" he said haughtily.

"Me too mum, it's time you looked after me too for a change. After all, there's nothing wrong with your knees, so you can crawl around" Chloe added equally demandingly.

"Isn't it wonderful to be so blessed with family and friends who only want to help you?" Katherine sighed, by which time they had all burst into laughter once again. Stephen thought it was wonderful the way they all seemed to interact and the ease with which they could laugh so heartily.

As they were driving home, Chloe asked "can I make spaghetti bolognaise tonight? It's one thing I can cook and quite enjoy it. I think I saw everything I need in your kitchen, other than some mince meat."

Once he had agreed, Stephen drove to the butcher shop so they could get some mince and took her home. She raced upstairs to shower and change, hanging her new school uniform up so she could wear it again tomorrow, seeing she'd only worn if for half a day and then put her other things away that Stephen had bought for her that day.

Soon she was bounding back down the stairs to start the preparation for dinner, feeling real grown up.

"Have you got some red wine I can use with the mince?" she asked, knowing that while she'd never used wine in her cooking before, the recipe she followed called for it. It would be nice for a change, she thought, to be able to follow a recipe properly and not have to take short cuts or leave expensive things out.

"Just as long as you only use it for cooking and don't drink any" he replied, as he selected a bottle, the rest of which he thought he would like to drink with the meal. She quickly assured him that drinking red wine was not something she was at all interested in doing at this stage of her life.

"This meal is delicious" Stephen was commenting sincerely as he tucked in to a dish he realised he hadn't had in many years. What's more, he was enjoying the wine with it – a good selection he decided, patting himself on the back.

Chloe insisted on being allowed to clean up the kitchen before she went upstairs to do her homework. Stephen decided to sit in his favourite chair and slowly sip the rest of the wine, as he reflected on the significant changes to his lifestyle that had occurred over the past few days. He decided that he was more than pleased with the company. Chloe had turned out to be a surprisingly good companion for a 14 year old girl (almost 15 he reminded himself as she would have done).

But he was really looking forward to bringing Katherine home tomorrow. He was quite drawn to her and hoped that she would be happy here. Thinking of that reminded him that he had some furniture to rearrange, so deferred drinking the rest of the red wine until after he had fixed up her new bedroom.

He went into the back of the garage where he knew there was an old double wardrobe that he thought was virtually empty. After removing the few things inside it, he gave it a quick clean and reckoned that it would be good enough for what he wanted. He managed to get it into the games room, using a small trolley he had tucked away in the back of the garage.