She sighed as she pushed the pram up the path of the base house. It wasn't supposed to have been like this, looking after Amelia. It was supposed to be a short time, just enough for Ruby to get over the birth, to help her get into routine and keep the house neat and tidy until Ruby was ready to be a wife and mother again.
Jean had arrived, with Lucien, and immediately got down to cleaning and washing, cooking and seeing to her granddaughter – who was adorable – and taking walks with Lucien and Amelia in the pram and making tentative plans for her return to Ballarat.
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"You will come back, won't you?" he'd asked hopefully, "to Ballarat ... to me," the last was almost shyly.
"Lucien ..."
"Jean, you know how I feel about you, don't you? I mean, that I ... well ... I think I love you."
"Think?" she raised a quizzical eyebrow.
"No, no," he stated firmly, "I do love you – have come to love you. You give me strength, stability. I rather hoped we could come to be more, and I am sorry that I have been so distracted ..."
"We both have been, me with coming to help Christopher, you with your mother's death ..." she reached across the bench they were sitting on, "I do want to be with you, Lucien, leaving was one of the hardest things I could have done, but Christopher is my son and he needs me."
"And you are right to come to him, but when all is settled," he kissed her hand, "come home to me Jean."
"I will," she smiled and it was the first time they shared a proper kiss, but as he said when she blushed, nobody knew them there.
But now, Christopher didn't need her, neither did Ruby, more and more as the weeks wore on she felt used. An unpaid nanny and housekeeper and she was still sleeping in Amelia's room; that was supposed to be a temporary measure until she found her own little flat or cottage to rent, but Ruby didn't get up in the night to feed Amelia, Christopher did what his own father had done and turned over and continued snoring.
Lucien had come to visit her a fortnight after she left, and a fortnight after that, until, four months in, he came to see her every fortnight, and they spent time together walking in the parks with Amelia in the pram, exploring the galleries on wet days and he would take her out to dinner at least once on each visit.
"I wish I could stay longer," he sighed.
"No, Lucien," she smiled, "you have your patients and the Police Surgeon work; I know these visits are short but I love that you make the effort to come and see me. I just wish I had my own place and then you could have dinner with me."
"Does madam," he nodded towards the pram, "not sleep through?"
"Mostly, but if she does wake there's only me to look after her."
"But surely Ruby will come into her?"
"Last time we went out to dinner," she sighed, "I arrived home to hear Amelia screaming the place down and her parents still in their room. When I spoke to them in the morning Ruby said she didn't like to come into the room as I slept in there, but I told her that if she had just pushed the door she would have seen that I wasn't there."
"Jean, you need a place of your own," he huffed, "I'm going to ring Alice and tell her I'm taking a few extra days, we'll look together."
"Oh, Lucien, we can't," though it was what she had hoped he would say.
"Yes we can," he squeezed her hand, "now, how about a nightcap, eh? I have sherry and whisky in my room – I promise to behave." He winked and it made her giggle.
"Well," she whispered, "it's not as if they know us here, is it?"
"Quite," he grinned, "and it's not as if you haven't been to my room before."
"Lucien," she hissed.
"Look, all they know is that you have come to look after your family, you wear a wedding ring ..." they both thought they were fooling only themselves but, when she was addressed as Mrs Blake by the hotel staff she didn't disabuse them of the notion she was Lucien's wife, and really, being made love to by Lucien was something that had happened quite naturally one night when they were kissing and cuddling on his bed and got a little carried away, and being carried away to the stars by Lucien Blake was wonderful.
"We still need to be careful, though," she let him lead her up the stairs, "I mean I don't want to be away any longer than necessary, we were lucky the first time ..."
"I remembered to bring protection," he patted his pocket, "we'll be right, love."
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"This is perfect," she looked around the little bungalow. "Two bedrooms, the kitchen is just big enough and the living room is so sunny and light."
"And the garden?"
"Perfect to put Amelia's pram in," she stood at the back door, "and close enough for me to walk to their house each day."
"Good," he nodded, "now what is your plan?"
"Well, I shall move in, and then tell them I shall be with them in the morning before Christopher goes off to work and leave after Amelia has been put down for the night."
"Have you told them you are moving out?"
"I hinted," she leant against him and he put his arm around her, "perhaps they will start to look after their daughter themselves now. I do love her, really, she is such a good girl, for me, but I am not here to be an unpaid nanny and housekeeper."
"Absolutely not," he agreed.
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"I'm going back to work," Ruby announced two days later over dinner. "I miss my friends in the office and the money will mean we can give Amelia more."
"Your time is all she needs," Jean snapped, "and now she will have less of it."
"Mum," Christopher gasped, "that's not fair. We love our daughter ..."
"... then why don't you spend more time with her, both of you. You come home from work, eat your dinner then sit in the living room in front of the television, you, Ruby, don't look at her from one hour to the next."
"My friends keep me sane, Amelia isn't the best conversationalist ..."
"You don't have a baby for conversation," Jean threw her hands up in the air, "you have them to love, to nurture ..."
"We don't want to scrimp and save to give her a good life, mum ..." Christopher pushed his plate away.
"... like me? Go on, say it, like I did, to give you food to eat and clothes to wear! And yes those clothes were home-made or sometimes second hand and mended over and over again, but that doesn't mean I didn't love you. I gave you all I could to see you were educated, I took the stares, the pity when I could barely make ends meet on the farm, that's what being a parent is all about." She stood up and took her plate to the sink, purposefully scrubbing it clean before washing up the rest of the pots that her son and daughter in law casually placed on the work surface next to the sink. She tidied the kitchen through tears of anger and frustration then went up to check on Amelia.
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"I'm off home," she huffed into the living room, "Amelia's asleep. I'll be back in the morning."
"Right," Christopher didn't even look at her, so engrossed in the programme he was watching, and Ruby hummed over the magazine she was reading. Jean hoped Amelia would give them the night from hell!
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Three mornings in a row Christopher, or Ruby, greeted her with a screaming four month old baby who only calmed down once she was in her grandmother's arms.
"See, mum," Christopher smiled, "you're the only one who can do anything with her." Ruby appeared at his shoulder.
"Morning, Mother in Law," she smiled unconvincingly, "ready Chris?"
"Yeah, come on, don't want to be late," he patted Amelia's head and they both headed down the path to the car.
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"Well, miss," Jean put Amelia in the pram and set off to shop for groceries, "let's see how they like my plans now, eh?"
Her day passed as any other day since she had come to Adelaide. She shopped, put her purchases away in the little base house, fed Amelia her dinner, changed her and set her out in the garden while she did the small amount of housework. That done, the preparation for the evening meal set in the fridge, she set out for her own bungalow to put away her things and see how Amelia settled in the cot in the second bedroom for an afternoon nap. It was to prevent the child going through more distress over night that she had decided that perhaps she should have Amelia spend the night with her, once in a while, perhaps over the weekend? Lucien had suggested this when she told him how it was now she lived separately from her son and his wife.
"Here, with me?" Jean gasped.
"Why not?" he shrugged, "you would have her to stay when she grew, you said that when you came home you would like it if you could invite your granddaughter to stay one in a while, so why not try it at the bungalow?"
"I suppose it does mean I won't have to get to them before they go to work," she thought about it, "I could arrive to do whatever they want me to do ..."
"See, that's the thing," Lucien huffed, "you are still an unpaid housekeeper, you just don't live in anymore."
It was true, Christopher and Ruby left her some money for the groceries and things for Amelia's meals, but they didn't pay her for the housework or nanny duties for Amelia. Her funds were dwindling although Lucien paid her rent, but she still had to buy food. So, it was Friday, Lucien was due late that evening, and she planned to have Amelia stay for the weekend. She had yet to put her idea to Amelia's parents, which she would do at dinner before she left.
"Oh," Ruby gasped wide-eyed when Jean explained why Amelia was in her pram and not in her cot at dinner time.
"You can have the weekend to yourselves," Jean continued to put the meal out, "your first week back at work was probably tiring, Ruby. It's Lucien's weekend and he is perfectly happy to walk with me and Amelia, he's very understanding."
"It's very kind of you, mum," Christopher smiled, "and we did wonder if you would stay over tomorrow night while I take Ruby to the flicks, but I suppose this would be better – easier for you." It didn't occur to him that his mother was sleeping with Dr Blake, after all he stayed in a hotel, didn't he?
Jean gritted her teeth, she didn't remember her Christopher taking her to the cinema after the boys were born, all she remembered was working on the farm, cooking and cleaning and the occasional bunch of flowers if he had wandered past the florists in town on his way to the pub, even moments of intimacy were so few and far between that she had almost forgotten about them until being with Lucien reminded her what it was like to be loved – really loved.
"Yes it will be much easier, and a trial to see if it would work – I wondered if you would let me take her to Ballarat one day."
"Er, yes, I suppose so, but, why Ballarat? You've left that life behind you."
"I still have friends there, Christopher," she frowned, "Dr Blake comes every fortnight and I do hope to go back one day."
"Well, perhaps when Amelia starts school," he smiled.
Jean said nothing but she wasn't waiting four years before she started her new life with Lucien in the place she had been born in. While she would like to have travelled one day, being with Lucien she hoped would one day lead to that.
"Christopher, I will have to get a job if I intend to stay until she starts school," she put her cutlery down, her appetite had suddenly disappeared, "my loan won't last forever and I do have to pay it back, you know."
Now, this was when Christopher should have offered to help her out, but after a short silence they continued eating and she realised he was never going to help her financially, and while she didn't want to beg she thought he should at least offer to help her, or give her a small wage; she had left a very good position with Dr Blake to come and help with Amelia.
She tidied up the kitchen, put the leftovers in the fridge, said good bye to Christopher and Ruby and wheeled the pram out into the cool evening air.
"Now, miss," she smiled at Amelia, "I would appreciate it if you slept through tonight."
The baby gurgled and gave her a toothless grin. She was due a bottle before she was tucked up in the cot Jean had bought for her – another drain on her resources - then she would sleep 'til morning.
She was about halfway home when a voice made her jump.
"Need a hand there?"
"Lucien," she spun round, "am I late?"
He bent and kissed her soundly, "No, I don't think so. I decided to walk from the station in the hope of catching you." He looked in the pram and chucked Amelia under the chin, "now little lady, aren't you growing?"
Amelia blew raspberries at him and grabbed at his hand.
"Did they mind?" he fell into step with her, "you bringing her to stay for the weekend."
"No, Christopher is taking Ruby to the cinema tomorrow night and was going to ask me to babysit, but they agree this is easier." She fell silent as he digested this. "They expect me to stay until she starts school, but when I said I would have to get a job or I would run out of money neither offered to help me. I reminded them that the loan would need paying back but I think Christopher imagines I am living off the proceeds of selling the farm years ago. That's supposed to be for my retirement."
Lucien rolled his eyes but inside he was seething.
"I asked if they'd mind me taking her to Ballarat, for a visit," she continued, "I told them I still have friends there."
"I see," he thought for a moment, "of course we could always get married – I'd like to marry you ..."
"Is that your version of a proposal?" she smiled.
"Do you want me to get down on one knee? I can, still flexible enough for that," he laughed. "Seriously, though, Jean, I do want to marry you, take you home as my wife – if you'll have this old relic."
"Of course I'll have you, and you're not an old relic," she leant up on tiptoes and kissed him, "there, that should scandalise the neighbours."
"Have you introduced yourself to them?"
She shook her head, "I'm out all day and so are they, so at the moment they don't know my name, we've waved across the fence, that's all."
"So you arriving late in the evening with a baby and a man in tow should pique their curiosity, or get their tongues wagging," he frowned.
"Not if we play it carefully," she opened the door, "after all, the hotel thought I was your wife; I will be soon so ..." she shrugged her shoulders, "... I don't want to lie ..."
"Well, if I'm outside I shall introduce myself as Dr Blake and when I refer to you as 'Jean' they will probably put two and two together and make five ..."
"I don't think I really care much anymore, not here, anyway."
Lucien could see that much longer in Adelaide was not going to do her any good, she felt taken advantage of, used and definitely unappreciated.
"Let's see if we can get a licence while I'm here this weekend and maybe book it for the next time I come over, or I could come over as soon as we can arrange it?"
"Alright," she nodded, "now let's get madam sorted and into bed and you fed."
"I ate on the train," he lifted the baby and followed her into Amelia's room. "Change?"
"Change, bottle, bed," she passed a nightgown over to him.
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With Amelia asleep in her cot, Jean and Lucien made up for missed opportunities to kiss, cuddle and make love. They knew they had a lot of things to discuss but for this evening they would just be who they were, two people in love and separated by miles of Australian rail track and road.
She sighed and ran her toes down his shin. Amelia seemed to be completely settled and still asleep in the cot; Jean thought a little early morning canoodling would be a risk worth taking.
"Good grief," Lucien sighed, "you are insatiable, woman."
"You didn't seem to mind last night," she ran her hand over his bare chest and pressed her naked breasts against him.
"Jean, I did say I would have to nip to a chemist," he hissed.
"Bugger that," she flung a leg over him and looked down into his sleepy blue eyes.
"Floozy," he flipped her over onto her back and found her ready and more than willing.
"Honestly, Jean," he flopped to her side, glistening with post coital sweat, "I think you are amazing. Your granddaughter is in the room next door and all you want to do is make love."
"So, how are you feeling about marrying a grandmother?" she laughed.
"About as happy as a grandfather could be," he reminded her that his own daughter, Li, had a daughter of her own in China.
"I'd better go and see how madam is, she's usually bringing down the house by now," Jean slipped out of bed and grabbed her robe from the door. "I'll just have a quick clean up," she headed to the bathroom.
"Ok, tea and a bottle for Amelia?"
"Ahah," she nodded and was off.
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Amelia was lying in her cot quite happily chewing on the sheet that covered her.
"Well, miss," Jean cooed as she lifted her up, "I wonder how much you heard? Still, far too young to understand."
"She was wide awake," she smiled as she headed back into the bedroom, "quite happy."
"Wonder why she isn't for her parents," he mused.
"Pah!" Jean scoffed, "she barely knows them."
Lucien declined to comment on this. Even though Li had a nanny she spent just as much time with her parents as she did with nanny so maybe Jean had a point.
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Breakfasted, bathed and suitably dressed for a warm autumn day, the not quite family headed into Adelaide firstly to the registrar's office and then to see what the day may hold for them. Lucien reminded Jean he needed to get more protection, they had played with chance twice now and while neither of them would be upset if they did find themselves about to bring another little soul into the world, until they had a date for the wedding they should be careful.
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"There you go, sir," the registrar smiled and handed Lucien the licence, "tell us when you want to get married we can certainly do the biz for you."
Jean thought he was a little casual but who cared, if it could be done that was fine by her. They'd discussed over breakfast what they should do and decided that a simple, legal joining was all they needed. Other celebrations could be seen to back home.
"Well, to be honest," Lucien hummed, "as soon as possible, I'm currently in Ballarat while Jean is here looking after her granddaughter so I'm back and forth, you see."
"Quick then?"
Jean blushed, it sounded a bit as if they had something to hide.
Lucien nodded.
"Well," he tipped his head, "you seem like a good couple, I pride myself on my judging of people and I've never got it wrong yet, so ... now here's the thing, I should lodge it three weeks before the doin's but, we have a cancellation – four o' clock today. I can say the request got lost in the filin' the clerk's a bit of a daydreamer, and Bob's your uncle," he grinned and threw up his hands. "I can even find a couple of witnesses."
"Today?" Jean gasped, "well ... Lucien?" she turned to him, "we haven't got rings, I haven't time to make a dress ..."
"Rings – there are jewellers in Adelaide, darling, and a dress, well ..."
"Not my best Sunday dress," she shook her head, memories of her first rushed wedding flying into her mind.
"Nice shop round the corner," the registrar shrugged.
Jean looked at Lucien, Lucien looked at Jean, Amelia snoozed on in the pram.
"Well?" he raised his eyebrows.
"Alright," she laughed, "let's do it."
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Lucien slipped the ring onto Jean's finger, a twisted band of three colours of gold that they had bought half an hour after they left the registrar's office. He also bought her an engagement ring, a diamond and emerald cluster. He'd insisted.
"It may be a short engagement, love ..."
"Er," Jean looked at her watch, "fourteen hours."
"... but you still should have a ring."
Jean loved the way he was coming over all masterful just for once, because it was in the right way, throwing all her doubts out of the window, assuring her he loved her and wasn't taking advantage of the fact she was lonely and homesick.
She left him in the park giving Amelia a bottle that would tide her over until they got her back to the bungalow for lunch and went to the shop suggested by the registrar for something suitable for a forty six year old grandmother to get married in. She ended up with a cream dress with a lace yoke and short sleeves, fitted to the waist with a softly flared calf length skirt. Over it was a light lace coat with elbow length sleeves and three covered buttons at the waist. Nothing like the dress she married Christopher senior in. It was new, it wasn't straining over a pregnant belly and it cost more than she ever thought of spending on a dress. Lucien had pressed his wallet into her hands and told her to spoil herself. They would travel by taxi together, with Amelia who Jean also bought a new dress for – a sweet little navy blue dress with a pleated skirt that hung from a plain yoke. White collar and cuffs on the short sleeves, navy blue frilly knickers to go over her nappy and a white cardigan to keep off the chill in the air.
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"Nervous?" Lucien held out this hand as she alighted from the taxi.
"A little," she admitted, "more about what will happen to Amelia when we go home."
"We'll sort it," he smiled, "have no worries, Jean, we will face them together, Christopher and Ruby. But, be assured, love, Amelia will not suffer."
"Thank you, Lucien, that means a lot."
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They must have made a strange wedding party, Jean thought later, the bride and groom, thank goodness Lucien had worn a suit when he travelled to see her, a small baby and two strangers as witnesses. But it worked, they were married, man and wife, 'til death part them; all they had to do was tell Christopher and Ruby they were losing their free home help and Mattie and Charlie when they got home.
They thought they should have a celebration, a meal somewhere but as Jean was supposed to be babysitting Amelia that wasn't going to be easy.
"Why don't I go and get a bottle of champagne?" Lucien smiled, "then we can celebrate at home, just the three of us ..."
"You are not giving Amelia champagne," Jean gasped.
"... of course not," he laughed, "but we can perhaps go out to lunch tomorrow, with her, but champagne tonight, and I was supposed to go to the chemist," his shoulders slumped.
"We're married now, Lucien," Jean laughed, "it doesn't matter, not now."
"If you say so, dear," he grinned.
"I do," she said, for the second time that day.
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Lucien left her at the bungalow to see to Amelia and mused as he shopped on the absurdity of the situation. They were supposed to be adults, not teenagers running from disapproving parents, but he did love her, with more than all his heart. She had looked so beautiful and there was no one to see her like that, he would suggest they have a proper reception when they were back in Ballarat, she could wear the dress again and he could show her off; his wife, not his housekeeper anymore.
He bought champagne and then thought she should not be cooking, not tonight, so he bought bread and cheese, cold meats and things to set out as a salad, memories of one of his mother's picnics, strawberries, little cakes and pies, just enough for the two of them, and as the day had been fair perhaps they could sit in the garden and eat their wedding meal.
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"Are you alright, Jean?" he watched her sip her champagne sitting in the garden.
"Just thinking," she smiled, "engaged and married, all in twenty four hours, it's a bid crazy, don't you think?" She watched his face for a reaction, something between worry and disappointment. "I'm glad we did it, darling," she reached across to take his hand, "I feel as if we have eloped, which I suppose we have in a way, haven't we?"
"Reckless behaviour for a doctor and a widow, eh?" he nodded, "now how do I get you back home?"
"I don't think I can just up and leave with you, unfortunately," she pouted, "Christopher and Ruby will have to sort out another nanny for Amelia. It's going to be a difficult conversation."
"I shall come with you," he stated firmly. "I should be with you, at least to assure your son I did it because I love you and I want to keep you safe, care for you ..."
"It's kind of you, but I should be able to fight my own battles, Lucien."
"And you can, it's just that this one is a bit more than your visit coming to an end, you know, like a regular family get together."
"They've used me, Lucien," she sighed, "I wish I had seen it at the beginning, when they asked me to come and help, wish I'd pushed Ruby to help herself more. Sometimes I wonder why they had a baby."
"Perhaps it was a mistake," he shrugged, "you know, that they didn't plan her."
"I didn't plan either of them, or the little girl I lost, Lucien, but it didn't mean I handed them over to my mother to bring up ... or that I didn't love them," tears formed at the corner of her eyes.
"Hey," he went over to her and wrapped his arms round her, "I know, and you are the best grandmother that little mite could have. Let's face them together, we have done nothing wrong ... well not that they know of," he kissed the top of her head, "now, it's getting cooler so how about we go and warm up inside, eh? Anymore talk of Christopher and Ruby can wait until tomorrow, I am a newly wedded man and I intend to have my wedding night."
"Naughty man," she giggled, "let's get this stuff into the kitchen, at least, then I shall let you ravish me senseless."
"Now that is a plan I can go with," he slipped his arm under her legs and swung her up, carrying her ceremoniously into the house – as was his prerogative.
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They were just finishing breakfast, Lucien was washing the pots while Jean cleaned the porridge from around Amelia's mouth and readied her for the day, when there was a loud banging on the front door.
"I'll go!" Lucien called cheerfully through the bungalow and draped the drying cloth over the back of a chair.
"What's all this about!" Christopher brandished the morning paper at him, "is this you?"
"Ah, good morning, Christopher, Ruby," Lucien smiled happily, "Something in the paper?" In truth they should have asked that the notice not be put in the 'Recent marriages' column, but neither had thought about it, and perhaps it would be easier to bring up the subject of Jean returning to Ballarat this way.
"You know bloody well what's in the papers," Christopher growled.
"Language, Christopher," his mother's voice floated through as she came to the door with Amelia in her arms. She reached with one hand and took the publication, "oh, well, there you are then." She handed it back. "No going back now, Lucien," she grinned at her new husband.
"As if I would," he laughed, "shall I put the kettle on?"
"We're not here for tea!" Ruby stepped in and glared at Jean. "Is this what you meant about returning to Ballarat – because you were getting married again? What are we supposed to do now?"
Jean wondered if she should tell them Lucien hadn't proposed until the evening he arrived and the wedding was all arranged and done in less than a day.
"I suggest you start to look after your daughter," Lucien shrugged, "after all Jean was only supposed to stay until you got back on your feet, Ruby ..."
"I had always planned to return to Ballarat," Jean continued, "after all I have a home and a job there. Well, maybe not the job per se, anymore, but certainly a home."
"You are my partner in the practice, Jean," Lucien looked at her, "as in all things. Wife or no, you will still earn a salary as receptionist. Now, are we going to stand here on the doorstep where the neighbours can hear, or shall we go into the living room?"
Jean led the way into the cosy living space and sat down on the couch. Lucien joined her and Amelia sat on her grandmother's lap.
Ruby and Christopher sat opposite them still seething.
"So, go on, what are we supposed to do about Amelia's care?" Christopher continued to scowl.
"You could either look after her yourselves or perhaps engage a nanny," Jean smiled, "Ruby, you could give up work ... "
"Good god," Ruby screeched, "what the heck would I do that for?"
"And how are we supposed to afford a nanny?" her husband scoffed.
"You know, I have begun to wonder why you had a child," Jean mused, "you barely touch her, you don't get up in the night ..."
"You wanted a grandchild," Ruby pointed her finger accusingly at Jean.
"Since when?" Jean raised her eyebrows. "I wasn't in a hurry to be a grandmother, nice when it happened but I didn't push you into it."
"At the wedding, you and my mother talking about children," she folded her arms.
"We did talk about children, mainly what you two were like as little ones, and wondered who the first one would take after, but in no way were either of us considering it would be within the first year. I do love Amelia, she is such a good baby ..."
"Huh," Ruby huffed.
"She is," Jean argued, "I have had no trouble with her these last two nights, nor did she wake me at the crack of dawn."
"Mum ..." Christopher thought he might try to appeal to his mother's sense of nurture, "you are so much better with children, Ruby had such a tough time during the birth ... Amelia is difficult for her."
"... she's not the only one to have a hard time giving birth believe me," Jean huffed, "you men have no idea. But, what you are wanting me to do is not fair, Christopher. You are my son and I had to come and help but you are asking me to be a housekeeper and nanny until she at least starts school, then what, eh? I love her, never doubt that, but I also love Lucien, and I need to have an income, which you are not offering, to support myself here. You say you don't want to scrimp and save to give Amelia what you think she needs, but the way I am living I will become bankrupt and then where will you be. Life is complicated, Christopher, Ruby, and we have to work at it, that means when you have a child you have to rearrange your priorities. I'm sorry, I'm not going to stay for as long as you expect me to, not under these conditions; I would love Amelia to come and stay with us ..."
"... take her," Ruby threw up her hands, "take her with you. We can't afford a nanny...!"
"Ruby, you are her mother," Jean leant forward, her arms around Amelia, "you should be the one to care for her, and I should be the one to come and spoil her ..."
"I work!"
"You should have told me when you asked me to come and help," Jean reasoned, "we could have come to a better arrangement than you expecting me to give up everything, my friends, my position ..."
"You've given that up, now, anyway," Ruby sneered.
"In some ways ..."
"Jean is my wife, her position is more than a housekeeper, she is my partner," Lucien stepped forward; it was alright allowing Jean to fight her own battles but Ruby was going too far, "she is coming back to Ballarat, with me, at the end of the week. We shall help you to find a nanny ..."
"NO!" Ruby stood up and screamed at him, Amelia jumped and set up a howling that had Jean leave the room to soothe her. While she was wandering around the garden with her, Lucien told her parents a few home truths such as: they were selfish, self absorbed, uncaring.
"If you intended to continue working, Ruby, you should have told Jean that. She came to help you, not do everything. I don't know how you expected her to live if you weren't going to pay her a wage ..."
"She's my mother, I shouldn't pay my own family for this. Looking after her granddaughter should not be a job." Christopher stood up and faced Lucien, "I want to know why you all of a sudden decided to get married."
"It wasn't all of a sudden, Christopher, I have been courting your mother ever since she came to Adelaide and loved her even longer. As to paying her, how do you expect her to live if she isn't earning?"
"The money from the farm," he scowled, "that was for her retirement, I know, this is her retirement as a grandmother."
"She took out a loan to come here, to pay for a small flat or cottage, that has to be paid back, how much of her savings is that going to take, eh? Most of it I have no doubt, and I have no idea how much she had saved, but it can't have been much if she had to apply for a loan. Think about it, Christopher, your mother is a young woman ..."
Christopher gasped and Ruby snorted.
"... hey, she is young, and clever and strong, she raised you to be strong, not to rely on her. You are a grown man, a father and it is now time to start acting like one. You say you can't afford a nanny, then Jean is right, Ruby, you should be looking after her."
"We need my wage, for a good life. I want nice things around me ..."
"... so does Jean."
"I don't want to be counting the pennies when I want a new dress ..."
"Learn to sew," Lucien snapped, "Jean does, and looks beautiful in everything she makes."
"How could I go to a base dance in a homemade dress," she sniffed and turned her nose up, "come on Christopher, we have things to do." She dragged him out of the house while Lucien stood staring after them.
"I made quite a mess of raising them didn't I?" a voice filled with emotion whispered behind him.
"No you didn't," Lucien turned and welcomed her into his arms, "I think you did remarkably, on your own, during a war – scrimping and saving. He's ungrateful and she's a grasping little madam."
"Lucien ..."
"I know, he's your son, and she's your daughter in law, but I'm sorry Jean, that's how I see them. They should have been honest with you when they asked you to come and help, not get you here and then use you the way they have. Now, I want no more thought of them on such a lovely sunny day, let's go and find a restaurant that will accept this little lady and have a nice meal and a walk along the shore, eh? We'll sort things out during the week."
"Don't you have to get back?"
"I shall ring Alice and ask her to step in for me; we shall just have to spoil her rotten when we get back."
Jean giggled at that, as if Alice was a beloved daughter and not a colleague and friend.
"What about Amelia?"
"If she has to come with us, then she has to come with us," he kissed the top of her head, "perhaps if she's not around for a week or so they will come to miss her and take her back."
"And if not, it didn't sound like Ruby wanted her?"
"There's more than enough room for another little lodger, Jean."
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The next few days were odd, for a newly married couple. They spent their time doing the most domestic tasks, taking walks – but always with Amelia. Jean thought it should have been time spent alone, time to get to know each other.
"I understand," Lucien hugged when she told him her concerns that it wasn't the right way to start a marriage, "it doesn't make me love you any less, in fact I think it makes me love you more. I should like to take you on a proper honeymoon, just the two of us – you said once you would have liked to have travelled, well I should very much like to make that wish come true."
"Oh Lucien," she sighed, "how can we?"
"I think we have two very capable babysitters back at home, we'll work it out," he pushed his plate to one side, "now, why don't you put her to bed and we can have some time to ourselves, eh?" He winked.
"Lucien," she teased, "alright, but ..."
"I shall wash the pots, love, you see to madam."
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Jean groaned as the phone rang, just like being at home – at home, she wasn't at home and the phone shouldn't have been ringing when Lucien was suggesting various things they could be doing.
Lucien leapt out of bed, "Blake!" he growled down the phone, "Matthew? What? No! I'll get the first train – don't let them do anything, keep the pulse in the leg, and sedate her – heavily!"
"Lucien?" Jean appeared at the bedroom door, wrapping her robe around her slim body.
"It's Alice," he ran his hand over his head, "she's been hurt, badly – I need to get there – Jean," he took her by the shoulders, "there's talk she may lose a leg!"
"No, oh god," she covered her mouth with her hand and tears sprang to her eyes, "you must go, fly, it'll be quickest. Go and pack, just the necessary, I'll phone the airport."
For now she wouldn't ask why Alice was hurt, how she had been hurt, she'd find that out later, now she had to get Lucien on a plane to Ballarat – time to go back to being his secretary.
"Jean?"
"There's one in an hour, last one of the night," she tiptoed up and kissed him, "the taxi's on the way, I'll ring for one to collect you in Ballarat ..."
"I'm sorry," he frowned.
"No, go and see to Alice, she needs you, I have you the rest of the time ... I'll see you at home in the next couple of days."
"Amelia?"
She shrugged her shoulders, "probably."