Chapter 14:
Meggie:


'If you want to head back to bed, I'll can get Callie back to sleep' I said to Jasmine, once Callum had gone into his and Sephy's bedroom.

'To be honest, Meggie, I don't think I'd be able to get back to sleep' Jasmine replied. 'Something's not right here. Sephy rarely has nightmares and when she does she's never screams like that'

I nodded in agreement 'Callum hasn't slept on the sofa since he's been out of jail' I added. 'and Sephy hasn't come out of their room the whole time since I got home from work'

'Something's definitely going on and tomorrow we're going to find out what' Jasmine said, using that determined tone which said she wouldn't let it drop until she knew what it was. I was glad that, because I too wanted to know what was going on, but I wasn't stubborn enough to not let it drop as obviously as Jasmine was.

We both headed into Callie Rose's room. The room was very slightly lighted by the owl shaped nightlight that she always had on all night. Callie looked really shaken when we went in. I perched on the edge of her bed by the pillow and Callie automatically sat up and put her arms around me. Jasmine sat on the opposite end of the bed.

'What's wrong, sweetie?' I asked. I was sure I knew the answer, but it felt necessary to ask anyway.

'I heard Mummy screaming' Callie said. 'Why was Mummy screaming?'

'She just had a bad dream' Jasmine answered before I could. 'and it scared her slightly'

Callie looked from Jasmine to me and back again. 'I thought grown-ups weren't scared of nothing'

'That's a double negative' Jasmine said. 'It should be…' she shook her head, she had only said through habit 'It doesn't matter. Callie everyone's scared of something.'

'Oh' Callie said, clearly confused. 'Not Daddy' she decided. 'Daddy isn't scared of anything'

I laughed very slightly. 'Even Daddy is scared of some things. Everyone is, but it doesn't mean there's anything wrong with them. In fact it would be strange if something didn't have a fear'

'huh' Callie said. It was clear that the more we were saying the more we were confusing her. But within her confusion she had stopped crying and looked less shaken. 'Was Mummy's bad dream because of the bad thing that happened?' Callie asked.

I turned to Jasmine but her face mirrored mine with shock and confusion. What could Callie Rose know that me and Jasmine didn't?

'What bad thing?' I asked.

'I don't know' Callie replied.

'Callie…' I started.

'I don't know' she insisted. 'Daddy picked me up from nursery and when we got home he made my snack wrong and I wanted Mummy but for ages she wouldn't open the door' she shuddered as she thought about it 'And when she did she shouted at me, so I ran to my room. When Daddy came he said I have to be… what was the word?' she scrunched up her face in concentration 'Oh I know; I have to be patient because something really bad happened to Mummy today and she would be moody for a while' she looked up at me 'What happened to Mummy?'

'I don't know, sweetie' I answered honestly.

'Oh' Callie said. 'well it's ok anyway, 'cause Daddy said it will be all right, it'll just take a while. So if Daddy says it's going to be all right, then it's going to be all right' she said the last sentence so matter-of-factly that I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She had such an innocent, blind, doubtless faith in Callum. The kind of trust and belief that could only be found in a young child. The thought that she would grow up broke my head. I had watched Sephy growing up until she was nearly 11 nearly as closely as I'd seen Callum and I'd watched both of them lose that innocence and faith. I couldn't bare for Callie to also lose it.

'Can I have a drink please, Nana Meggie?' Callie asked.

'Sure, I'll just go and get it' I replied and slipped out of her room. To be honest I was glad to be away from everyone for just a moment to think. I couldn't help but wonder and worry about what had happened to Sephy. Part of me wanted to go into their room now and asked Callum but I had a feeling it wasn't a conversation for the middle of the night, so I just headed downstairs to get Callie a glass of water.

When I returned with it, Callie and Jasmine were talking about nursery. Callie was talking about a picture she had painted and talking a lot about a boy called Tobey. I had heard Tobey mentioned before, he was obviously a good friend of Callie's. Jasmine politely found a way to stop Callie Rose, telling her she should try and go back to sleep.

'Ok, Nana Jasmine' and is on cue, she yawned.

'Goodnight Callie' Jasmine said.

'Night Callie' I echoed.

'Will you tell me a story first?' Callie asked.

'Which one?' Jasmine asked. 'Cinderella? Sleeping Beauty? Snow White?'

'No!' Callie wrinkled her nose up in disgust. 'Something less… princey'

'I'm not sure if I know any stories without a prince in them' Jasmine said. She turned to me 'What about you, Nana Meggie, do you know any?'

'erm…' I said, and right then I couldn't think of any.

'Tell me a real story' Callie pressed. Her eyes lit up 'Tell me about how Mummy and Daddy met'

Jasmine and I exchanged a look that said so much more than words could've. Jasmine didn't know much about when Sephy and Callum were really young and first met. If this story was going to be told, it would have to be me. Which I was fine with, I could still remember it like it was yesterday.

'That's a story for Nana Meggie to tell' Jasmine said, 'so I'm going to head back to bed' Jasmine bent down and kissed Callie on the forehead before heading out the room.

'Your Mummy was only 6 months old when they first met' I started. Callie looked at me with wide eyes, obviously trying to imagine Sephy as a baby. 'And Daddy was 2 years old. I worked here looking after Mummy and Auntie Minerva while Nana Jasmine was busy' I purposely left out what Jasmine was busy doing. 'When your Daddy first saw your Mummy he stared at her in horror before turning to me to say "Mummy, she's so small and babyish"'

Callie giggled 'Daddy was silly'

'He was' I agreed. 'Callum avoided Sephy for ages, complaining whenever she screamed or was sick or did anything even remotely babyish' I almost laughed as I thought about it. 'but in the end he started spending more time around her and he became protective of her. He'd help me wash her and change her nappies and things' In one sense nothing had changed throughout all of these years, Callum was still fiercely protective of Sephy. 'Sephy's first proper word, which she said when she was about 14 months old was "Call'm"'

'Were they always friends before they fell in love?' Callie asked.

I couldn't lie and yet I couldn't tell the truth, there was aspects of Callum and Sephy's relationship that Callie was much too young to know about. 'Not always, they had their fights, but in the end nothing could come between them'

Callie smiled 'I want a friend that I've known forever to fall in love with'

I laughed 'You've got a long long long time before you need to start thinking about falling in love Callie Rose'

'I know' Callie yawned. As she started to slide back into a lying down position she muttered to herself 'nothing could come between them' and the second her head hit the pillow she fell asleep.

'Night Callie' I whispered before slipping out.