Quinn stopped in the lobby, rummaged in her handbag for her Oyster card, which still had enough of a balance for several tube rides, and stepped out into the overcast morning. The rain had slowed down to a drizzle, but it was cold and damp, and a chill wind blew off the river. Quinn huddled into her coat and began to walk down the street toward the nearest tube station. She had to get home; there was much to be done. Gabe had dismantled his office and cleared the room, but they still had to paint it before the furniture arrived in two days’ time. More importantly, they needed to find a suitable nursery school before bringing Emma to London. There was a stack of brochures on the counter waiting to be perused. At least now they had an idea of what to look for.
Gabe invited Pete and Brenda McGann round for dinner the night before. Pete was Gabe’s best friend from university days, and Quinn knew and liked the McGanns. They were kind, down-to-earth people, who didn’t act shocked or judge Gabe for fathering a child out of wedlock, despite their staunch Catholic views. Instead, they instantly offered help, in whatever form it was needed. Quinn hadn’t had much time to cook, so they got a takeaway and a couple of bottles of wine, opting for a relaxing evening that required no serving or clearing up. After dinner, Pete helped Gabe take apart the furniture, and Brenda sat with Quinn on the sofa and answered her ever-growing list of questions. The McGanns had two teenage boys, and Brenda was the only close friend who had any knowledge of raising children in London, where the choices were numerous and overwhelming.
“So, what do I look for in a nursery school, Brenda?” Quinn had asked. “Besides the obvious, I mean.”
“Make an appointment to see the school. Of course, they will tell you only positive things and steer you toward what they want you to see, but don’t be shy. See how clean the toilets are; that’s always a good indicator of how sanitary the place is. Ask about the ratio of teachers to students, and inquire about their security measures and response time to an emergency. Do they have a nurse on the premises? Are parents allowed inside?” Brenda added as an afterthought.
“Why is that important?”
“It’s much safer when parents are not allowed on the premises and meet their children by the gate. This way no strangers are ever in the building, and everyone is accounted for. There are always cases of custody disputes, and at times abuse, and it’s best to keep those issues out of the schoolroom and let the individuals and the courts deal with them. There have been cases of parents kidnapping their own children or even their children’s friends. People don’t think rationally when they are under great strain.”
“I see,” Quinn said, pondering this. “That would never have crossed my mind.”
“And it shouldn’t, but we live in strange times, when people seem to snap all too easily. You’ll be amazed at what you’ll have to consider as Emma gets older. Becoming a parent changes your life inside out. You have to know where your child is and with whom at all times. Never take anyone’s word for it. There are too many cases of children being snatched off the street or from the park, and sometimes even from their homes. You must be vigilant, Quinn.”
“Now you’re scaring me,” Quinn said. Emma was so trusting, so sweet. She’d had reservations about leaving Edinburgh with Gabe and Quinn, but accepted the situation because adults she trusted told her that she must. What if someone tried to steer her wrong or lure her away?
“I don’t mean to scare you, but you need to understand the reality of the dangers around you. My boys are teenagers, but I still worry all the time. There are so many negative influences out there and situations we have no control over.”
“It must be easier with boys,” Quinn said, thinking of all the things that could happen to a little girl, especially in this age of child trafficking and sexual predators.
“You would think that, but that’s not necessarily the case. Nowadays, boys are just as vulnerable as girls. If a girl makes an accusation of sexual assault, whether it actually happened or not, the boy is guilty until proven innocent, not the other way around. Many girls cry foul because they can. It’s a very effective way to hurt someone who rejected them, and it’s difficult to prove that it was consensual if intercourse took place. I worry about my boys all the time. They don’t understand how underhanded some girls can be. In the old days, girls trapped boys into marriage. Today they just send them to prison.”
“That’s an awfully grim view,” Quinn said, wondering if Brenda was being a bit biased, having only boys. Her birth mother never sent anyone to prison, when she should have. Girls were just as vulnerable, if not more so, because it was equally difficult to prove that an assault had taken place instead of a consensual act.
“It is, but it’s the grim reality of the Internet Age. Kids don’t realize how much ammunition can be gathered against them from social sites. They post inappropriate pictures, make careless comments, and engage in cyber-stalking and bullying. Sometimes things get out of control.”
“Thank God Emma is only four,” Quinn breathed. “I’m utterly unprepared for the world of parenthood.”
“Neither am I, and I’ve been a parent for sixteen years,” Brenda sighed. “Things were so different in my day. Today, kids hook up before they even ask each other’s name. Sex is casual and frequent. Many kids have dozens of partners before they even leave school,” Brenda said bitterly. “Sometimes, I honestly can’t wait for my boys to go off to university. I just can’t handle the pressure of having two teenagers with raging hormones in the house.”
“Does Pete feel the same way?” Quinn asked carefully.
“He doesn’t really talk about it, but he worries. We were each other’s first, you know,” Brenda added with a sad smile. “We were such innocents.”
It was only after the McGanns left and Quinn and Gabe had gone to bed that night that Brenda’s comments finally made sense.
“They’re going through a difficult time with Michael,” Gabe said after Quinn shared with him what Brenda had said. “He got involved with a girl at the start of term. They were happy for a few weeks, but then Michael started to lose interest. The girl got her feelings hurt and accused Michael of assaulting her. She’s since taken the accusation back, admitting that she only did it to hurt him, but Brenda and Pete have been to Hell and back. And it damaged their relationship with their son, since they had to keep asking him point blank if he’d done anything that might be construed as an assault.”
“You can’t blame them for asking. Can you?”
“No. Nor can you blame Michael for being upset. It’s taken a toll on everyone. Michael is angry and silent these days, hurt that his parents didn’t support him when he needed them most. He wants to switch schools and then join the military immediately after graduation, but Pete and Brenda hope they can still talk him out of it. Pete is riddled with guilt, and Brenda is angry. She’s not a woman who deals well with having no control over a situation.”
“We really are woefully unprepared, aren’t we?” Quinn asked as she snuggled closer to Gabe.
“We’ll get there,” Gabe replied. “One thing at a time. Was Brenda helpful about the nursery school?”
“Yes, very. I have a list of things to look for, and a list of things to avoid.”
“Then we are already ahead of the game,” Gabe muttered as he began to drift off.
“Right,” Quinn agreed, but she wasn’t convinced. She hadn’t asked for any of this, and after her conversation with Brenda, she felt more unprepared than ever.