"I am aware of human mortality. I thought it would go over acceptably and it did."

Nod. "It's getting a bit ahead of ourselves anyway, when you only just met, but I do think it would be lovely if you could live with someone you get along with so well, and have so many things in common with. I don't know if there's any way to make it work - I worry that Miss Enderbridge really couldn't manage with you alone, even if Social Services agreed to it - but I'll keep thinking about it." 

"I can do some household tasks and possibly a different set than she could do but not all of them because I'm tiny and clumsy and stuff."

"Yeah, and I think the big challenge would be errands outside the house? Because neither of you can drive, and this isn't a very walkable neighborhood. I don't know how easily Miss Enderbridge could afford to move - it would need to be a place with two bedrooms, if you were going to live with her, and apartments downtown where everything is in walking distance are going to be more expensive. ...Also Miss Enderbridge isn't getting any younger. She might have a lot more trouble with things in five years, and you would still only be eight." 

"I'll be less tiny and clumsy when I'm eight but admittedly still not able to drive."

Nod. "- I think there are services to help older people stay in their homes? Maybe if she had a care worker who came to check on her and helped with groceries and cleaning, it would be easier." She looks thoughtful. "- I did look after two little boys once whose mother couldn't take care of them, and they went to live with their grandmother once she had some help set up. She was younger, only sixty or so, but I think she was actually in worse health than Miss Enderbridge. And of course she was a relative, which - Social Services definitely has a lower bar, there, because we think it's good for children to live with family even if it's their extended family. But - well, you and Miss Enderbridge are clearly kindred spirits, even if you're not related to each other." 

"Does the system care about that?"

"If a potential caregiver is related to the child? Yes. I think it makes sense a lot of the time, when a kid has actually met their aunt or uncle or grandparents before. It can be a bit silly sometimes when it's a family member they haven't ever met - in those cases I think a teacher or neighbor might actually make more sense, but the policy is to look for relatives first. Not that that's relevant in your case, I'm sure they already tried all the avenues to find more distant relatives of your parents." 

"No, I mean, do they care if we're kindred spirits. I think all my biological relatives are in Norway."

"I mean, we do try to screen for compatibility and stuff for long-term foster placements, though I don't know if that's exactly the kind of compatibility they'd usually look for. But I could make a case for it, I think, if the other issues were sorted out." Frown. "How do you know your biological relatives are in Norway? Did they tell you that when you were little?" 

"I think so? Either that or I guessed from the news article about them dying which had a bit about them moving from Norway, I don't know for sure where I learned it."

Nod. "I suppose Social Services either decided it wasn't worth trying to track down relatives in another country, or else decided it wasn't appropriate for some reason for you to live with them. And it would be a bit silly now, I think, since they're going to be people you've never met. I'll - I can start out just setting the groundwork in my notes to your social worker about Miss Enderbridge being an important supportive adult in your life, and then if you still like her in a couple of months, and she's open to the idea, I can see what the options are for getting her some support so she can look after you. How does that sound?" 

"That would be good. Though I suppose it conflicts with trying to move to Alaska."

"I can make some notes about that too, but I do wonder if it doesn't make more sense to just try to live in a house with really good air-conditioning. I don't think Alaska has a huge population, so probably there aren't as many foster or adoptive parents to pick from. But it's definitely worth thinking about both." Evelyn chuckles. "Unfortunately I doubt Miss Enderbridge feels like moving to Alaska, though I suppose you could ask her! It's at least got cheap real estate." 

"I suppose since I can't go most places a house with good air conditioning is probably nearly as good."

"That's my thought. And bigger cities will have better options for places you can go, because there are more options to pick from for schools or libraries or whatever, and you can pick the ones that don't play music." 

And they're home. Does Annie want to help with getting dinner on? Evelyn was thinking they could do another big protein-y salad; the recipe is one she found when she was looking for potato salad variants, called olivier salad, and in addition to the diced potatoes, it has eggs and peas and corn and pickles and cucumber and diced ham, all in a mayonnaise sauce. 

Sure, sounds good to her. If Evelyn'll give her a knife she can cut up the cold things while Evelyn makes the hot things?

"I'm not sure it would be wise for me to go to school."

"I agree for most schools! It would have to be a very special school. But I think if there was a school that could accommodate you, even if only part time, that would be better for you than never getting to go? You should learn some math and science, and I'm not going to be able to homeschool you up to what you're capable of." 

"Well, I think I could homeschool myself if you got me materials, and I do not trust a selection of children my age not to sing, possibly especially because it makes me scream."

"Oh, I wasn't thinking going to school now, and definitely not with kids your age. You're already way ahead of most three-year-olds, you wouldn't learn anything in preschool. I'm more thinking, just, there's a lot of years ahead of you before you'll be legally an adult? And I think it's good for children to have some peer social interaction. By the time you're ten, the other kids your age should be entirely capable of not singing." 

"I am not confident of that but since it seems plausible I will not still be here when I am ten I guess we don't need to argue it."

Nod. "It might still make sense for you to live somewhere remote like Alaska, if there's a way to make it work. Online education is already taking off and I bet there'll be a lot more of it in another ten years. ...Though I guess you might not get anything except the writing, and I think the pictures are important for some of it." 

"That's true, it will be pretty hard for me to learn geometry."

Nod, not that Annie can see it. "I'm sure you can figure something out. And it's not like I've ever had to use geometry in my day to day. It'll depend on what career you end up deciding you're interested in, I guess, but that's a long way out." 

Dinner is ready! They can sit down and eat. 

Om nom. "Miss Enderbridge encouraged me to write a story, so I might do that. I think I would like to type it, is that okay?"