The ringing of the phone broke the quiet of the Beazley household. They had just had a simple dinner that Jean threw together from the contents of their small kitchen giving Ruby a chance to have a quiet sit with little Amelia in the sitting room. The baby was not unusually fussy Jean noted, but it was obvious that these two youngsters hadn't a clue how to manage a baby.
Christopher had returned from dropping Lucien at a hotel somewhere near the base and promptly informed her that he had invited the doctor to dinner tomorrow evening at 6, much to her surprise. As she finished the dishes from supper; she was thinking about dinner tomorrow. Her curiosity was getting the best of her; trying to imagine the conversation during that car ride. Lucien was not known to hold his tongue and depending on his emotional state he wasn't inclined to tactfulness either. But Christopher hadn't seemed upset and he gave her a brief little smile when he gave her the news.
Now, having finished cleaning the kitchen, Jean dried her hands on her apron, removed it and laid it on the back of a kitchen chair. She entered the sitting room and sat on the sofa next to Ruby and Amelia who was sleeping soundly in her mother's arms.
"May I hold her?" Jean asked, "What time do you usually put her down for the evenings?" She'd best get the lay of the land before she dove in and created any problems. She knew that there could be some conflict if she just steamrolled over their household schedule. Ruby handed the baby over to Jean to hold and leaned back into the sofa letting out a sigh.
"Well, we have haven't really fixed a time that we put her down. She kind of dictates the schedule right now." Jean smiled at the admission. She remembered life just after she had Christopher Jr, there just didn't seem to be a way to get enough sleep.
"I remember those days." She smiled fondly down at the little girl. "We felt we never seemed to get to sleep. Well, we can work on that. It can be nerve wracking for the first couple of days, but you can get a schedule set and she'll settle down into it." She looked up at the young couple in front of her. "The hardest part is when they fuss. After a while though you'll be able to tell if she's hungry, needs her nappies changed or just needs a cuddle."
Christopher and Ruby looked at each other and smiled. "Thanks for coming Mum, as you can see, we are a little new to this whole thing."
"Well, we all were the first time. Now what's your work schedule Christopher?" Ruby visibly relaxed for the first time since she had come home with the baby. She had been nervous about her Mother-in-Law coming to stay, but so far Jean had been nothing but kind and helpful. She hadn't had much time to really get to know the senior Mrs. Beazley but from her brief encounters Jean had presented a picture of extreme competency, self-control and confidence that was intimidating. It made you feel as if she was meting out judgement from every pore. Ruby hadn't felt she would ever be able to satisfy Jean's expectations, but right now Ruby felt that possibly, she could learn from this woman who had raised her husband into the man he was. Everyone's head turned towards the phone ringing in the kitchen. Christopher leapt up from his chair to answer it before Amelia woke from the sudden noise.
"Yes, Just a minute, I'll get her." Both women heard him say. Chris turned towards the sitting room, "Mum it's for you. It's the Doctor." He held the receiver out to her.
Jeans eyes reflected her surprise. Not willing to give up her grandchild she carefully rose from the sofa and made her way to the telephone.
"Lucien." Jean said as she put the phone to her ear and her wide smile did not go unnoticed by the young couple in the sitting room. "Have you got settled in?"
Lucien couldn't wipe the smile from his face, just the sound of her voice lightened his heart. "Yes, yes I have. Thank Christopher again for giving me a ride. Jean, I wanted to give you the information for where I'm staying so that you can call me if you need. By the way, I called Matthew and asked Charlie to pass the same info along to Mattie so she doesn't worry." Jean turned back towards the sitting room and realized that Ruby and Christopher were watching her intently and quite suddenly her enthusiasm at hearing Lucien's voice was tempered with her discomfort at displaying such excitement in front of her son.
She still wasn't quite sure what had transpired between the two men that afternoon and she felt unsure of her responses given that She and Christopher had not discussed Lucien's arrival with her on the bus. After all, propriety dictated that their relationship should be completely platonic while they shared a home especially as he was her employer. As it was, this was not the time to ruminate about it, she couldn't write the information down with her arms full of little Amelia. "Hold on a minute and let me get a pen and paper to write it down." She set the handset down and returned to the sitting room handing the baby off to Christopher. She was curious to see how comfortable he was holding a baby. He seemed completely enraptured by his daughter, She gave him a brief little smile and returned to the phone.
"Alright, I'm ready." They watched her scribble the info down onto the little pad by the phone. Her voice got quieter as she continued the conversation. "I left Mattie Christopher's contact information as well. Should she or Evelyn have any questions I'll be available."
Now that he'd taken care of the business part of this phone call he didn't want to hang up and let her go. "Jean, I know my coming along made this whole situation a little awkward, but I would like to get an opportunity for us to talk in private before I have to go."
Jean kept her back to the listeners behind her. Of course, he would want to talk and he was right. The bus wasn't particularly private and the things they would need to say should be kept between them until they were both ready for a public declaration. Really, beyond his asking her to come back home nothing had been revealed or decided that she could say gave them a way forward. Right now, her mind was racing with the possibility that she might get to have his love and affection. It had been so long since the thought of a man had physically pushed her body to even hope for satisfying those long buried needs. Just the thought of Lucien's hands on her made her flush pink. "Yes, I think that is a must."
"Have you talked to young Christopher?" He asked, "He invited me to dinner tomorrow. I let him know that I have asked you to come home to Ballarat when you are ready."
"Yes, he mentioned it when he got back to the house, Dinner I mean. I think it'll be lovely having you here."
"Should we talk before dinner?" Lucien asked, a little unsure about what she would want. He didn't want to scare her or pressure her, it would be a sure way to make her change her mind about them.
Jean's mind ran through a multitude of scenarios of how they might get some privacy. Perhaps she could take the baby out for a walk. Lucien could join her, or maybe they could go to the shops to get the needed foodstuffs for their dinner. She knew there wasn't anything in the house at the moment that would allow her to cook a dinner for everyone. "I'll be going to the shops to gather some things for dinner tomorrow. Why don't you come along and help."
Though she couldn't see it Lucien was grinning ear to ear. "What time should I come around?"
"I think after lunch. One o'clock?" she replied.
"One o'clock it is. I will see you tomorrow Jean. And thank Christopher again for me."
"Goodbye Lucien." Jean smiled down the line and hung the phone up gently. She turned around to two smiling faces staring at her from the sitting room. She cleared her throat and ran her hands down the front of her skirt as if brushing out any wrinkles. "Well, I imagine you're wondering about…" She gestured to the phone.
"Mum, He seems to care a great deal about you."
"I don't want you to think that we," She seemed to be searching for the right words, "have been misbehaving." Christopher interrupted her.
"Mum..." She didn't let him finish.
"No let me just say this Christopher. We've become good friends and he's a very good man. I'm not sure what will happen in the future, we haven't really discussed it, but I think that there may be a future for us. I want you to know It doesn't change my staying here to help you. I want to be here for you as long as you need me." She was wringing her hands nervously.
"Mum, I want to let you know that you just have to go to the commissary to do your shopping. it's here on base. I'll make sure that the gate is aware that the Doctor is welcome. I have to work obviously I'm usually up and gone by 8." He watched as Jean relaxed at his very practical response to her explanation. Ruby chose this moment to speak up.
"We so appreciate you coming to help Mother Beazley." Jean cringed inwardly at the name, "I think that when you get us organized we will be able to manage it and then you can decide what you are wanting to do. We wouldn't want you to feel you must stay."
Jean gave them a small smile. She was just a little overwhelmed with all the changes happening almost without her input. She wanted to retreat to, where-ever they were to have her sleeping or even if they were having her sleep here. She really had no idea, but she needed some time to collect herself. She took a deep breath to calm herself.
"Well, let's just start off with you calling me Jean Ruby and how about we talk about how best to schedule little miss's days. I remember well the sleepless nights and never-ending feedings, Jack was the fussy one and you", she looked at Christopher smiling, "never seemed to eat enough as I recall. So, Let's start with how often she wants to eat and what her sleeping schedule has been." In the end Jean determined that the little one had been behaving just as a newborn was expected, needing feeding every couple of hours and mostly sleeping in between feedings.
Jean was shown to Amelia's room and the bed that she would be in for the time being and Jean told them she would take the overnight feedings for the next couple of nights. "Am I able to heat something up for her for the overnight feedings. As she gets a little older, she will go longer and longer without needing the over-night feeding. I can show you some shortcuts for keeping up with the nappies and laundry and we can get you sorted with some easy to prepare meals for dinner as well."
"Thanks Mum, we really appreciate it." Christopher sighed with a smile. Ruby gave her a soft teary smile.
"We really appreciate this Jean." She kind of stumbled shyly using her first name. I wasn't really sure how to handle everything all at once. No one really tells you how tired you'll be afterwards." Jean smiled at that. It was so true, the incredible amount of energy expended to push a small human out of your body left a mother fatigued for days if not week should there be any complications.
"Nonsense, I'm so happy you asked me to help. I was so looking forward to meeting my granddaughter." Jean smiled back down at the little girl in her arms.