June 20th, 1894
2 weeks had gone by and they had barely spoken to each other if it didn't pertain to work or Elizabeth. Robert spoke to her even less than she spoke to him and it was crushing her.
Not only that, but Robert was not wrong. She was doing it without realizing it. She was turning into her mother. Her mother had dismissed her at every opportunity once she was old enough to feed and bathe herself.
If Robert had not said anything, Rosalind was sure her anger would have grown until she was a replica of her mother. Still, in some ways, it was not her fault. She had not asked for a child and now she had been forced to have one. But then Elizabeth was only in Columbia because she had wanted to meet Robert. If she hadn't needed Comstock's money, she would have never known the child existed.
Rosalind looked over at Elizabeth as she absently picked at the threads on the teddy bear. She was not aware of the strife she had caused and it would most likely remain that way.
Elizabeth noticed her watching and smiled. Rosalind smiled back and closed her eyes. She could not be mad at Elizabeth for simply existing. She was only present in their home because of Rosalind.
She listened as Elizabeth walked over and opened her eyes. Elizabeth stood by the desk and stared up at her. "What do you need?" she asked.
Elizabeth looked thoughtful for a moment before taking a breath and babbling. Rosalind lifted the child onto her lap and let her speak. She still did not understand a word of what was being said. Robert claimed that she could say several words but Rosalind only ever heard her say three of them and none of them were pronounced correctly.
"Rosie?" Elizabeth pronounced it as 'Wozy'. Occasionally Rosalind found that to be cute but most times she found it to be annoying. Was Elizabeth even trying to pronounce it correctly? None of the children she'd cared for had ever tried to say her name. She still didn't know if Elizabeth was ahead or behind when it came to speech.
"Rosie!" Elizabeth called again.
"Yes?" Rosalind looked at her again.
Elizabeth continued to tell a story once she was certain that Rosalind was still paying attention. Rosalind sighed. It wasn't fair for a child to grow up with someone who did not care for her. Could she ever give Elizabeth the love she deserved? Would it be enough for her to have Robert doting on her?
It hadn't been enough for her. Her father had been a busy man and had not had much time for her. When he was around, he spoiled her rotten. Whatever she wanted he would provide. But her mother had been with her all day and every day. It had affected her more than she would have liked to admit.
Rosalind knew that both she and Robert were busy people. They had a lot of work to do if they wanted to keep funding from Comstock. As she grew older, she would be left alone a lot.
Elizabeth yawned and leaned back, "It's time for a nap." Rosalind said. Elizabeth shook her head but did not try to get away as she usually did. "Just for a moment." Rosalind stood and set Elizabeth on the floor. The child whined and Rosalind could tell she was only tired.
She led Elizabeth to her room and frowned at the number of teddy bears in her crib. She moved them to the side before picking Elizabeth up again.
"Robbie?" Elizabeth looked towards his closed door. She had not seen Robert yet today and wondered if he would come out of his room at all today.
"I'm sure he'll be awake before dinner," Rosalind said. She was sure he was awake now. He was avoiding her just as she was avoiding him. Rosalind knew that he would open his door the moment she closed hers and she was tired of it.
Their conversation had ended with nothing but apologies from him but he had not said much to her since. She was desperate to know what he was thinking now. She regretted most of what she said to him and if he would allow himself to be in her presence for more than a few seconds, she would apologize until she could no longer speak.
Elizabeth's soft breathing on her neck reminded her that she was meant to be putting the child to sleep. Elizabeth had done that on her own and Rosalind sighed as she laid her down in her crib.
She left the door cracked and went to the music room. It seemed that Robert had been here at some point.
Rosalind turned on a record and sat on the couch. She did not want to live like this any longer but she wasn't sure how she could fix it.
She grabbed a pillow and hugged it close as she looked at what Robert had been reading. Books about children it seemed. Clearly, Robert was trying to learn but Rosalind would not consider a book written by Comstock, a man who had never raised a child, as a good resource.
"Ah, there you are." She heard Robert enter the room but did not look at him.
"Were you sitting here?" she asked.
"I was," Robert sat next to her and picked up the book again. She wasn't sure why she felt she needed to leave. Robert had not said anything hostile to her but she could not shake the feeling that he did not want her there.
"Did you have lunch?" she asked.
"I did." he said, "I went for a walk and found a nice restaurant." She hadn't even realized that he had left at all. She had been too wrapped up in her thoughts about their fight.
"Oh." she felt herself squeezing the pillow tightly.
"Do you want me to leave?" he asked quietly.
"No." she found herself whispering, "Never." She heard him let out a breath and she looked at him. He seemed to be just as worried as she was.
"I wasn't sure." he admitted, "We've barely spoken to each other since..."
"Because you keep hiding," she said.
"It's not that." he shook his head, "I've had terrible headaches since our talk and I didn't want you to worry about both me and Elizabeth." Rosalind frowned and looked away. Once she was sure he wouldn't start hemorrhaging, she had left him alone.
"I'm sorry," she said quietly. The silence lingered and she took a breath. The record had finished and now there wasn't even music to fill the room.
"I don't think she needs this many toys," Robert said suddenly. Rosalind was glad for the change in subject. She never wanted to talk about that night anymore.
"Then stop buying her so many," Rosalind suggested.
"I haven't purchased any at all." Robert said, "It's you who needs to stop."
Rosalind looked at him again. His eyes were focused on the stack of blocks near the piano. "I haven't purchased any since she first came to stay with us." She said.
"Then why are there so many?" Robert asked. She had not really noticed until he pointed it out. Rosalind had only purchased one teddy bear and Robert had purchased another one as well as the set of blocks that she was looking at now.
So where had all of the dolls and toy cars come from? Was she finding them during their walks in town? Surely Robert would have noticed that.
"I… Don't know." She said slowly.
"They had to have come from somewhere." Robert said, "Perhaps the machine?"
"We haven't used it in over a month." Technically, she had used it on her own just 2 weeks prior but she didn't want to mention the tear again. She was still afraid of another argument. She wondered if their relationship would ever be repaired.
"Then what?" he didn't seem annoyed, just curious. "Maybe someone has been leaving gifts for Elizabeth?"
"Who would do that?" Rosalind asked. Besides Robert's walks in town, Elizabeth was rarely seen. She was not the 'Miracle Child' any longer so no one actually cared about her. She was only mentioned in passing.
"No one, I suppose." He shrugged, "Where is she?"
"She's asleep," Rosalind said. Now that she thought about it, Elizabeth had been asleep for most of the day. She had only been awake for an hour before Rosalind put her down for another nap She didn't have a fever and Rosalind was not sure if she needed to be concerned or not.
"Then we have time to talk." Robert cleared his throat.
"About?" She didn't think she could squeeze the pillow any tighter. Why couldn't he just let this go?
"Our conversation was cut short last time." Robert said, "I don't want you to think that I've forgotten."
"Please, just forget it." She sighed. She wanted things to go back to normal. Back to before she had opened the tear and she could hold a full conversation with him without feeling guilty.
"No." he shook his head, "You said you needed a break and I think it's time you took one."
"There's nowhere to go." She reminded him, "There's nothing to do and I like being here." And she hated being alone. Maybe she should be grateful that Elizabeth was there to keep her company. At least then she would never worry about being alone. She wondered if that was one of the reasons Robert had wanted to keep Elizabeth. It seemed as if it weren't enough that they had each other.
"I don't want you to cry anymore." Robert leaned back and sighed, "You haven't had a moment to relax since and I'm worried."
"About what?"
"Stop making this so hard." He sighed, "You're tired, I know it and you do too."
"The alternative would be to make you as weary as I am," Rosalind said. Looking at him now, he still seemed tired. He had not recovered from his spell and she didn't know why he was suggesting this at all.
"The alternative is that we do this together." Robert said, "Like I promised we would in the beginning." Rosalind was not sure how he expected to do this. Even in the weeks that had passed he had been unsuccessful at calming Elizabeth. He had only managed to get her to sleep 2 times.
She must have looked unsure because he took her hand and squeezed it gently. "Listen to me, I want to be better. For you. I was wrong to force all of this upon you and if you're still willing to keep her then I'll make sure to do my share."
"And if I'm not?" she asked.
"Then… we'll find a nice home for her," Robert said. Rosalind could see that he did not want to do that. He wanted this family to work and she would be wrong if she didn't try.
"We'll keep her," she said. This time she didn't feel as helpless as she had before. When Robert had threatened to leave if she didn't help Elizabeth… He hadn't given her a choice then. Despite how much he claimed that he did, he had not given her an option that didn't end with her suffering.
"I know you're still unsure but I give you my word." Robert said, "I'm sure it isn't worth much but until I get the chance to show you, please take it."
"Only if you understand…" she pulled her hand away, "I'm trying. I really am. It's possible that I won't be what she needs." What she needed was an actual set of parents. Not two versions of the same person. "It's possible that you won't be either."
"No one's asking for perfection." Robert said, "I think we can do this, but only if you want to." He was right. If she didn't want to do it, she would never really be able to give Elizabeth what she needed.
"It's too bad the city already thinks I'm her mother." she said, "I'm sure I'd make a better aunt." She could imagine Robert marrying eventually and having his own children. She would not mind that in the least.
"She isn't actually our child." Robert reminded, "You can be whatever you want to her."
"Eventually she'll wonder about her parents." Rosalind said, "If one of us don't pretend to be a parent, she'll want to know." Could they really tell her about how she'd ended up with them? It would do her no good to know that she had been cast aside by 2 versions of her father.
"She's adopted." Robert said, "We don't have to tell her anything."
"But we will," Rosalind said. With their line of work, it would be impossible to hide from her. She would ask about the contraption eventually.
"When she's ready." Robert agreed. They fell into silence again and Rosalind felt herself relax a little. She could do this but only if she had Robert to help her.
Elizabeth began wailing and they both stood, "I can do it." he said.
"I'll come with you," she said. They walked into the room and saw her sitting up and holding her head as she cried.
"Maybe she rolled onto one of these?" Robert lifted a block from her bed.
"And how did that get there?" Rosalind asked. There had only been teddy bears in the crib before. She could see a small red bump on Elizabeth's forehead. It was as if someone had dropped the block on her.
Rosalind looked towards the window. Had someone broken in? Surely they would have heard it. She walked over and noticed that the window was locked as it usually was. The fine layer of dust let her know that no one had tried to open it at all.
"There are more on the floor," Robert said. Robert looked down at the toy cars surrounding the crib, "This isn't right.
Elizabeth wailed loudly and they both looked at her. She kicked at the teddy bear in her bed until something happened. It took a moment for Rosalind to realize what had occurred, "Robert…" she made her way to the crib and picked up the bear, "Do you see this?"
"I did…" Robert finally picked up Elizabeth but did not tear his eyes away from the bear, "Just to be sure..."
"We are seeing the same thing," Rosalind said.
"It changed colors."
"From orange to purple."
"And the fabric?"
"Well, I don't know the difference in fabrics."
"But it's different?"
"It is."
"She's still crying," Robert said.
"Rub her forehead and give her a kiss," Rosalind said absently. She turned the bear over in her hands. From what she could see, everything else was the same. It was not as soft but it still had the same tears from where Elizabeth had ripped the thread.
"So it just changed?" Robert managed to calm Elizabeth down.
"Only after she kicked it," Rosalind said. She did not see how it was possible at all. The machine was not on and even if it was, they were 2 floors away from it. "Do you think..."
"That she's the one bringing all of these toys here?"
"It's the only way."
"That would explain why she's so tired," Robert said.
"I imagine it's exhausting to rip open the fabric of the universe for a toy train," Rosalind said. She looked at Elizabeth and saw that she had fallen asleep again. Did she know what she was doing or was it just happening?
"How is she doing it?" Robert placed Elizabeth in her crib again and gasped as another toy manifested above her. He managed to catch it before it could fall on her.
"More importantly," Rosalind set the teddy bear down, "How do we get it to stop?" She did not want Elizabeth conjuring up anything else in their house.
"How about we clean these up and put them in the study?" Robert suggested, "And we can figure this out as we go."
0.o.0.o.0
Elizabeth was awake again and Rosalind was determined not to let her fall asleep. "She needs to eat something," Rosalind said. Because if she didn't, she would wake up screaming early in the morning.
"Don't give her too much energy." Robert said, "She might summon another doll." The sudden appearance of toys had stopped shortly after they stored the rest of the toys. It seemed that nothing would appear so long as Elizabeth had their attention. Was this really her work? And if so, what were her limits? Would it hurt her to continue to do what she was doing? As of now, it only made her sleepy but what if it did more? What if it began to cause headaches or bleeding? Despite how curious she was, they would have to stop it now.
Rosalind attempted to feed her a piece of broccoli but she closed her mouth and turned away. "How about a carrot?" Rosalind tried. Elizabeth pushed her hands away and sighed, "All she ever wants is potatoes." she gave Elizabeth a spoonful of mashed potatoes, "Can't be healthy." she mumbled.
"I imagine it tastes better than overcooked broccoli." Robert said.
"I didn't overcook it." she said, "I wanted it that way."
"What an interesting way to enjoy broccoli." Robert said. Rosalind found herself smiling. It was strange to think that just that morning he had not been speaking to her. She had wondered if they would ever speak again. She still felt confused by it all but at least now they were making progress.
Rosalind had just placed another carrot onto the spoon when she heard a familiar noise. The crackle of a tear right behind her... Even her neck tingled with energy as she turned and looked at the small window. A gray and white image of Patriot's Pride stood before her. Rosalind watched the tear dilate and contract for a moment before it closed completely.
She blinked and looked back at Robert. His face mirrored her own and they both looked to Elizabeth. She looked back at them both before reaching towards Rosalind's food. "Mmm," she whined.
"Do you think it was her?" Rosalind gave her more potatoes.
"It has to be but…" he frowned, "How would she be doing it?"
"Because she came here through a tear," Rosalind said.
"I came through a tear as well and I've never opened a tear to my favorite candy shop," Robert said.
"Are you sure? Have you ever thought of something and suddenly it was there?" she asked.
"Only because you brought it to me." he said, "I'd have noticed if something like this was happening."
Rosalind fed Elizabeth more potatoes as she thought. She was certain that Elizabeth was the cause but she could not be certain. She had created a machine in order to open tears and Elizabeth was a child who had not yet turned 2.
"Let's not think about this all night," Robert said. He seemed to be telling himself that.
"Do you have a headache?" she asked.
"I don't." he said, "But I'm tired and I can see you are too. And so is Elizabeth. You'll only regret it if you stay up all night."
"Tomorrow then. We have all day." Rosalind said. Doing research was not easy with Elizabeth around. She demanded attention and they both would not be able to focus at the same time. It would make things take far longer than they needed but she imagined that they would find a way to do it.
Perhaps one could observe while the other theorized. Or Robert could take notes while she attempted to get Elizabeth to repeat what she had just done. Was Elizabeth aware of it? Perhaps the child knew of her abilities. If she knew, did she realize the gravity of it at all?
"Tomorrow, remember?" Robert touched her shoulder and Rosalind blinked. She was holding her spoon out to Elizabeth but the girl was already asleep. Robert picked her up and Rosalind followed them upstairs. She wasn't sure if she would get any rest at all considering all that had happened.
From her conversation with Robert to Elizabeth opening a tear. She had a lot to think about and so little time to do it. If only there were two of her… Rosalind cracked a smile and Robert raised an eyebrow. "It's nothing." she said, "Goodnight."
"Goodnight." Robert set her down in her crib and gave her a hug before returning to his room. It was only 7 pm but Rosalind went to bed anyway. They had a lot of work to do in the morning.