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Chapter 11
Four Years Ago (The Day it All Fell Apart)
With a groan, John woke up. His back ached. His neck had a crick in it. Everything hurt. As he turned slightly to his side, his eyes began to open. Placing his hand on his forehead, he winced. And then it hit him. Today was the one year anniversary of Emmy's disappearance.
John sat up and the small, inadequate blanket fell to the floor. He sighed. Last night, he had slept on the couch. At some point in the evening, he and Anna had fought (an almost normal, everyday occurrence now). When he had been heading upstairs, she threw a pillow and blanket down at him, telling him to sleep on the couch.
He probably could have snuck up stairs a bit later and slept in the guest bedroom, but he hadn't even tried. It hadn't been worth it. Putting as much space between the two of them was exactly what they needed for a moment.
A loud breath left his lips. His heart was broken. He never thought he and Anna would be here in this moment. His hand ran through his hair and he knew he should go upstairs now and shower. There were no plans today. He had already taken the day off, but in the shower he could let all of his tears and frustrations out without being noticed.
Standing, he stretched, trying to release the tension in his back. Then he began the walk upstairs. He quietly opened their bedroom door, not wanting to wake Anna, if she was still asleep. But the moment he opened the door, he could hear her crying. His heart began to feel as though it was being tightened by a vice.
He slowly made his way toward her. She was turned away from him, facing the wall. If she had heard him enter, she didn't show any signs of knowing. He carefully crawled himself into the bed and brought his arms around her, holding her tight. Anna just cried harder. Every day was hard, but today felt like his lungs were being crushed and as if the sun may never shine again.
Anna turned onto her back, her watery eyes searching his face. He reached out to touch her cheek, bending over to kiss her other one. Anna's hand cradled the back of his head, allowing her fingers to tangle within his hair. Her face turned to connect their lips and they both grew frantic.
Their hands tugged and pulled until their nightgowns were off. No words were spoken. The two hadn't made love in a very long time. John struggled to remember when it had last been. All they did now was blow up about the smallest things. Their moments of contentment no longer existed and each day they grew further and further apart. John wanted them to move away to start over; he had even spoken to Robert about a transfer to Scotland. But Anna refused to move; she refused to believe that their daughter would never come home, despite all the evidence that had been given.
He was pulled on top of Anna, as she continued to pepper kisses along his jawline. With her eyes, she pleaded for him to continue. They joined as one and Anna hid her face in the crook of his neck. It was slow and with a purpose. Still, neither spoke. And when they finished, they remained connected, both crying with one another for the first time in a long while.
-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-
Now
Light came through the curtains, nearly blinding John as he sat in the chair at the kitchen table. Anna was going on and on about what she had learned by talking to the local primary school. He was trying to pay attention, but his eyes were on Emmy, who seemed uncomfortable about it all. He could understand. This was a big change for her. She had never been to school.
"I don't want to go to school," Emmy broke in when Anna paused between her words. He watched as Anna inhaled sharply and then forced a new smile upon her lips.
"Oh! You'll have so much fun, Emmy! You'll make friends and learn so much!"
Emmy stuck her fork into her eggs and shook her head.
"My mum taught me what I needed to learn. I don't need school."
Like always whenever Emmy referred to Maggie as her mother, John noticed Anna's eyes darken a little bit more. He decided he should probably interject now.
"You really will love school," he promised her, before standing up and shutting the curtains to keep the offending light out of his eyes. "Your mum and I will take you and pick you up every day."
Emmy turned toward him, frowning. "Can't you just teach me?"
At that, John had to laugh.
"No, my little darling, I cannot. You need to go to school." Emmy huffed, turning away and crossing her arms across her chest. In that moment, she looked so much like Anna when she was upset.
She pushed her plate in front of her and stood from the table.
"Can I go outside and play with Butler?"
"Alright," John told her. Emmy quickly moved away from the table, calling for Butler, and rushing into the backyard. Anna loudly sighed, showing her disproval. "What?" John questioned.
Anna shook her head, standing and picking up the dirty dishes. John let out his own sigh.
"Anna, what?"
"You just let her leave in the middle of our conversation and you didn't even tell her to take her plate to the sink," Anna unhappily said, walking over toward the sink and carefully placed everything inside of it. Then she walked back over to the table and began to grab more things.
"What more was there to say?"
Anna just rolled her eyes.
John took in a deep breath. It was still there, the things they hadn't settled four years ago before he left. They had never resolved their final fights. There was still so much the two of them needed to discuss, but they were either too stubborn (or scared) to do so.
"Anna," he tried to soothe over, picking up a few of the items and walking them to the sink. "I'm sorry. I thought…"
"It's fine," Anna cut in. "I'll clean this up. You go and sit outside with Emmy. I don't like her outside alone."
"Anna, she's…." But Anna's eyes darted at him, daring him to continue his sentence. Instead, he rose his hands in surrender and nodded his head. "Alright, I'll go and sit with Emmy."
John went to the glass door, sliding it open. Turning to look at Anna one last time, he could see the sag in her shoulders. He sighed. Would they ever get past this?
-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-
"We have to go to the station," Anna said, stepping outside. She had just cleaned the dishes and had received a phone call in the middle of it. John glanced up at her. She tried to ignore the look in his eyes: the puppy dog look that said he needed her to forgive him.
"Station?"
"Police station. They need to speak to us about Emmy's reappearance. I told them we would come down this afternoon once my parents are back to watch Emmy."
"What do they need to talk to us about?"
Anna shrugged her shoulders at his question. She hadn't thought to ask. Her eyes looked for Emmy. They found her over at the corner of the fence, grabbing the ball to throw for Butler.
"I can sit out with her now. I'm sure you have work or something to do," she offered. She took a seat on the chair next to John and crossed her legs. The tension was growing thicker each day. Anna knew that they would have to work on slowly thinning it, or else they might explode.
"I don't, actually. I will have to go back to Edinburg next month."
Anna's brows rose, surprised.
"Y…you're leaving, again?" She croaked, a lump forming in her throat.
"No. I'll be moving back here, but I have to go to Scotland to wrap things up. I'll only be gone a week."
Anna could feel her body relaxing some, as she realized he would be staying in Yorkshire.
"That's good," Anna quietly said. "It'll be easier for Emmy if you're close."
"Yes," John agreed.
Anna toyed with the edge of her shirt, feeling slightly overwhelmed. They needed to discuss what their plan with Emmy would be after all was said and done. How would shared custody go? Could they remain living in the same home for her? No, Anna told herself. That was ridiculous. John had moved on. No doubt his significant other would prefer he not live with his ex-wife.
"Do you…" John paused, as though he was going over his thoughts.
"Do I, what?"
"Work?"
Anna chuckled.
"I do. Part time at the Abbey. I just take on a few shifts here and there." Before Emmy, Anna had been a teacher. She had plans to return to work when Emmy started school. But then Emmy went missing and her teaching certificate lapsed. In the past few years, Anna hadn't been motivated to go back to teaching and see children when hers was missing. So Mary had offered her a part time job. It kept her busy at times and out of her head, but it was never her dream.
"I wondered if you ever went back to teaching."
"No," Anna said. "I don't think I ever will. I just…." Her words faded. "But I will get a better paying job. I know it's not fair for you to keep supporting me."
"I've never minded," John replied. Anna had to turn her face away so that he wouldn't see the tears in her eyes. "And you'll have Emmy now. It's probably best you stay home with her for a little while, as she adjusts to this new life."
Anna nodded, looking upwards to blink back the tears and then she turned back to him with a crooked smile.
"We'll figure out those details after you come back from Edinburg."
"Right."
-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-
When her parents arrived back at the house, Anna and John left Emmy with them to head to the police station. The car ride between them was silent. John had never been much of a talker, but they used to talk about everything. It felt like a lifetime ago, maybe it was.
John parked the car and Anna stepped out. A cold gush of wind hit her, making her tighten her jacket around her thin frame. John walked up behind her and placed his hand on the small of her back. It made her feel warmth spread through her. She had forgotten how wonderful his touch could be.
Thinking about it, she quickly stepped forward so that his hand would drop from her back. She shuddered against the wind and met his eyes.
"Let's go on inside."
They walked in and were ushered back into one of the offices. The office was dark with a flickering light. Anna glanced at it, feeling uneasy. It was then that DCI Maxwell came in. He made a sound and flicked a few switches on the wall, making the light fix itself.
"That's better. Mr. and Mrs. Bates, thank you for coming in. Why don't you both take a seat?"
They sat and Anna watched as John eyed the DCI carefully.
"What do you need from us?" He asked.
"I've spoken to DCI Jackson, from London. In two months, there will be a trial against Maggie Welsh on the accounts of drug possession, drug dealing, child abduction, and child endangerment."
"Child endangerment?" Anna asked, concern laced in her voice. "I thought you said Emmy had been treated okay, that she hadn't been abused in anyway. What…."
"Mrs. Bates, them dealing drugs and keeping drugs in the same home she was in is the endangerment."
"Oh, yes, that does make sense," Anna replied, sitting back in her chair. Then her eyes stung with tears. How had her daughter been exposed to such things? What if she had gotten ahold of it? The thought alone made her body shudder.
"What does that mean for us?" John asked.
"They would like for you to speak at the trial. It could help put her away for a long time if they hear from the people that were the most impacted by her choices."
"I don't want Emmy to testify," Anna quickly broke in. "I won't have her up on a stand. I won't have…"
"Of course not, Mrs. Bates. We are only asking for the two of you to testify. You don't have to. You can just write a letter explaining how your lives were thrown into turmoil, but I do believe you being there in person will pack a much bigger punch."
"We'll do it," John answered for the both of them. Anna swallowed hard, but nodded in agreement. She wanted that woman to rot in jail.
They were told they would be given more details soon. Then they walked out of the courthouse. Almost immediately, they were accosted by someone taking their picture. They quickly tried to surpass the person and make it back to their car.
"Mr. and Mrs. Bates! Is it true!? Has Emmeline Bates been found!? Where was she? What's her story?"
John helped Anna into her side of the car and then went into his, locking the door behind him. As soon as he knew he wasn't going to get a response from them, the reporter disappeared. Anna saw John's jaw clinch.
"It's really starting again," he said under his breath. Anna felt her chest constrict.
"It is."
To be continued...
