"I hope any of you listening in your cars are staying warm and out of the wind today. It's looking full of bluster out the studio window. Coming up is a request from one of our listeners. Music from the old days before instruments were added. Plainsong is so much less frenetic than the classics we're accustomed to probably because it is exactly that, plain song, and this is a beautiful piece. Here is O Quando in Cruce. A Benevento chant from the 7th or 8th century, replicated today by Ensemble Organum…."
Sharon had paused the vacuum when she heard the music stop, she had meant to listen to the name so she could write it down and look it up later, unfortunately, the host quickly moved on to the weather, distracting her with a glance out the window to confirm what they were saying. She was not sure why, they did not broadcast from a nearby station, and she knew that well enough. Still, her first instinct whenever anyone mentioned the weather was to look outside for herself. What she saw was suitably winterlike, and she sighed. At once glad she had told Isaac to delay his drive home until tomorrow, when the forecast was infinitely improved, and worried that it might make a poor impression on Sidney. It was not the most inauspicious start when one foster parent couldn't even be there to welcome him into their home. Hopefully, he would understand.
Now, as male voices echoed in elongated notes through Latin phrases she could not translate, she started the vacuum up again, its close hum turning the radio into background noise, and continued her cleaning. Behind her, the window showed blinding sun off white snow, drifting flakes and trees getting blown about now and again. It was the sun she was worried about. It had melted things yesterday, made the roads icy. She was, admittedly, easy to worry, but it seemed prudent, if he didn't have to come today, to let him come tomorrow, when it might be a little safer on the roads. And with more traffic to notice if he needed help.
It was that same sensible concern that had seen her cancel her piano class today to give her more time to clean. She did it slowly enough as it was. Why she was cleaning when the boy coming to stay was a teenager and probably used to mess was anyone's guess. But she preferred to show what she considered was the proper attitude towards guests. A clean house, even if it might not stay that way for long, was worth the effort for anyone she cared enough to have inside. And effort it was, indeed. Sharon was lightheaded by the time she had finished the floor, and needed to sit down for a breather before putting everything away. Checking the time, she wiped the table while she regained her breath, frowning at scratches in the varnish, and considered what she was wearing. Sidney did not seem to hold to very high standards when it came to clothes, and she did not want to make this final coming together of all the pieces any more uncomfortable than it was bound to be by dressing overly well.
It was an occasion, but it was no night out on the town. Her light blue dress, a heavy sweater and slippers would likely do just fine.
When she had her breath back, and had put the vacuum away in its closet with the rest of the cleaning supplies, she had a half hour left before school was let out for the day. The weekend actually. They had all decided that moving Sidney in over the weekend would be better than during the week for numerous reasons, not least of which was to avoid distractions. She hoped his boss at the diner had been amenable to losing his, or her, busboy for the evening, she did not know if their plans had cut into his schedule in anyway, the boy had not mentioned any conflicts when they had mentioned it.
Sharon filled the kettle in case any tea was wanted when Sidney and Kiera, the care worker, arrived, and checked on the meat she had almost forgotten to take out of the freezer. It was still frozen in the middle, so she stuck it in the fridge and decided that pasta would do. Her meal plans were never set in stone for this very reason, she was absolutely horrible about remember to get meat from the freezer, or to buy that one specific, and all-important ingredient when she went to the store. Sticky notes were only useful when you thought to read them, unfortunately.
With cleaning done, the hard wood floor was thankfully easy to maintain on both floors, and everything else she could think of prepared: she had vacuumed, cleaned bathrooms, dusted, washed sheets and remade the bed in what would be Sidney's room, printed out a map from their house to the school just in case… She turned off the radio and began heating the kettle to wait through the minutes until they rang the doorbell in silence, hands wrapped around an empty mug, wondering anew at her nervousness. She was not new to parenting. Not even new to fostering. She knew the routine. Knew this did not have to be permanent if it did not work out, though she hoped it did. She knew there were people willing to help and offer advice if she needed it. She even knew that she had liked Sidney, the few times they had met before now. He seemed, on the outside at least, to be very put together.
Maybe that was what worried her. That she was about to find out he was not quite as calm and collected as he seemed. Well, really, there was only one way to find out, was there not? For a moment, her expression lightened from its worried frown as her lips twitched into a half-smile, and Sharon shook her head at herself, reaching for the newspaper crossword for a distraction. Five more minutes before they would be arriving at any time.