Chapter 2
…
6 months later
…
James heard the radio playing in the background when he opened his eyes to look at the clock by his bedside; he ran a hand over his face before turning to see Jean's side of the bed empty. He got up and pulled on his clothes before walking out to the kitchen to see Hope in Jean's arms being fed, Jean looked up when she saw James and offered him a smile.
"Good morning."
"Morning, how are my two favourite girls today." He said, leaning down to kiss Jean.
"Wonderful, we thought we'd go for a walk in the park this afternoon while you're at work."
"Looks like you'll get a nice day for it."
"I do hope so, we….oh."
The knock at the door interrupted them, Jean was on her feet, quickly handing Hope to James.
"That'll be Laura."
"Laura, it's 7am."
"I am aware of that; we're going for a run."
"You're going for a run."
"Are you just going to repeat everything I say?" She spoke in her Chief Superintendent voice as she went to answer the door.
Laura walked through behind Jean, dressed in black leggings, vest top and hoodie, looking far more awake than James felt.
"Good morning James."
"Morning."
"So are you nearly ready?" She said turning to Jean.
"Just need to grab my sweatshirt, just a second."
Laura watched the way James held Hope close to him as he fed her; it was quite a treat to see James looking so relaxed. She couldn't deny her surprise when she'd found out that James and Jean were an item but she was happy for them. After all Jean had been through with her marriage and divorce, it was nice to see her happy again.
"Jean, why the sudden fascination for running?" He asked when she returned.
"Oh come on James, I told you a few months back that I needed to lose some weight, well Laura's agreed to be my running partner…every morning before you go to work."
"We might even squeeze in a night time run if you feel up to it."
"I wouldn't say no to that." She smiled.
"Jean, you don't need to lose weight, you're perfect as you are."
"Isn't he sweet, all I got of Robbie was "Well if it keeps you out of trouble?
Jean walked over to James, leaning down to kiss Hope before she left.
"I already told you, I don't feel like the old me."
"That's because you're not, you had a hell of a shock 8 months ago when she arrived, you're a new mother and you need time."
"James you are lovely but I'm doing this."
She waved them goodbye before she left with Laura, the door slamming behind them.
"Lose weight? Mummy didn't even know she was pregnant with you in the first place did she huh, she was perfect…and still is." He spoke softly as Hope looked up at him.
…
Laura often went running but decided to choose a slower pace to allow Jean to get use to it; they did some stretching exercises by the canal before they set off.
"How are you doing Jean?" She asked after thirty minutes.
"Yeah…okay I think."
"Do you want to take a break, get your breath back?"
"Would you mind?"
"No, of course not."
They came to a stand still near the end of the banking, Jean leaning down, hands on her knees as she caught her breath. Laura came over to her, running her hand over her friends back.
"Just try and take some steady breathes, here…drink some of this, you need to stay hydrated."
Jean took the water from her and took a few sips before passing it back to Laura.
"Thanks Laura."
"You okay."
"Yeah I think so, how am I doing?"
"You're doing great, it takes time and you're not use to running."
"You can say that again."
"You know you didn't put on that much weight while you were pregnant, in fact it's not even noticeable. You didn't even know about Hope's existence until the very end anyway."
"I know." She sighed, taking a seat on the grass.
Laura eyed her closely before coming down to sit beside her, giving her a gentle nudge.
"Alright…what's this sudden fascination with getting fit really about?"
"I already told you that…"
"Come on Jean, this is me you're talking to. What's going on here?"
Jean ran a hand through her hair before turning to Laura, worry in her eyes.
"I'm fifty one years old Laura and I worry."
"About what exactly, you have James, a beautiful little girl and a wonderful Son, who I might add is yet to meet the lovely James."
"Yes I know, I will."
"Is this about James?"
"I don't want him to look back and regret anything; I don't want to get old before I really have too and I…"
"So this is about staying younger to keep James."
Jean nodded as Laura wrapped an arm around her friends shoulder.
"I know you're still a little emotional after having Hope so please forgive me when I say this but you're a bloody idiot sometimes Jean Innocent."
"Thanks very much."
"Well really, this is James Hathaway we're talking about and he has never…ever been that superficial. He loves you for you, not your looks, not your weight. You heard what he said back at the house, you're perfect as you are. He doesn't care about how thin you are…he probably didn't tell you what I'm about too but a few weeks back…I was at the station dropping off some blood samples and you know that delivery girl that always brings the supplies for your printers and so forth."
"What about her."
"Well, I was busy talking to Robbie about my finds regarding the samples and she was quite openly flirting with your man, asking him all about his weekend and if he might be interested in going out with her sometime and do you know what he said."
Jean shook her head watching as Laura pulled her closer so that their foreheads touched.
"He told her that he was in a loving relationship with his Chief Superintendent, they had a little girl and that he couldn't be any happier with his life…right, so stop all this talk about your not being good enough for him because it's utter crap. You are a beautiful, intelligent and loving woman and James thinks the world of you, for the very few people that boy has dated in the time we've known him…he's never showed as much love and admiration towards them as he has for you and Hope. He loves you more than anything else in this world. If you want to keep running, to get fit then we'll do it, but we'll do it because you want too, not for James…for you."
Jean wiped a few tears from her eyes as she pulled back and smiled at Laura.
"Thanks Laura, I really needed to hear that."
"Good…now, do you want to keep doing this or shall we call it a day. It's up to you."
"We carry on."
"We do."
"Yeah….for me."
"Okay, let's get going then."
Laura was on her feet and extended her arm to help Jean up, waiting for Jean to get herself together before they went on to finish their morning run.
…...
To Be Continued….
