Eight Months Ago & The Present Day
The Present Day
Mark walked into the kitchen his arms full of old magazines and supplements. There was one thing about having a party, it made you get rid of all those things you had been looking at and meaning to deal with for months. He started to sort them out ready for recycling and smiled as he saw a brochure slide to the floor about gated communities. He had been round quite a few houses with Rae and Jesse, flattered that they wanted his advice, and, he had to admit, more than a little curious to see what the places they had narrowed it down to were actually like.
Eight Months Ago
Mark picked up the phone as it rang in the hallway and heard the unmistakable accent of his friend. "Mark? Hi, it's Rae…" He could hear the smile in her voice as she waited for the greetings to be over, and then asked her question. "Are you free this morning?"
Mark had checked his calendar, but he had been pretty sure he was free. "Sure, Sweetie, why what did you have planned…? I would love to come look at houses with you… Ok, I'll meet you there at ten."
They had spent an enjoyable afternoon the previous week sitting in the sun at Jo's going over house details, and prices. Some of the places had been wonderful, with wonderfully silly prices to go with them. Rae and Jesse had looked through them with glassy eyes for a few minutes before consigning them to the trash bag they had by their feet.
Some houses had been in areas that Rae just wouldn't consider, she was so scared about moving into her own place, even though she desperately wanted to be living with Jesse and then the baby as soon as possible. It had been Steve who had suggested looking at gated communities, remembering the one he had lived in for a short while when he had been investigating a murder.
Mark laughed to himself. Rae couldn't believe that he was suggesting that they live in a secure community where three people had been killed! But after a while both she and Jesse had come around to thinking that it would probably be just the type of place to suit them.
They had logged on to various sites on the Internet and had narrowed it down to two communities, and now it looked as if he would be getting a chance to go and have a look around.
The Present Day
Mark slid the magazines into a paper carrier ready to take to the recycling centre later on in the week. Then he returned to the lounge to carry on tidying up. As he did so he saw the photo of Rae and Jesse smiling up at him from the coffee table. It had been taken that afternoon, when they had chosen their new home. He remembered how nervous Rae had been about committing them to a new property, but how excited too.
Eight Months Ago
"Oh, Jesse, look, what a lovely house!" Rae had the window of Mark's car down, and she was looking out at a pure white house with an extremely neat lawn, dark blue garage and something pink growing around the front door. It had a number 37 on the front wall and Mark had a feeling that she was hooked already.
"So, Mark, I guess we can just go home then, Rae has made up her mind. We might get back in time for all that wonderful surf I saw earlier." Jesse had obviously felt the same way as Mark. He was grinning and looking over at Rae. Mark knew that it was a long time since she had been excited about anything, and he was glad that this was giving her pleasure.
The car drew up at the kerb, and they got out. Standing in front of the black railings, which had gold tops to them, stood an extremely smart and dapper young man of about, Mark guessed, thirty-five. He had a beautifully cut and obviously very expensive suit on, black shiny shoes, and a crisp white handkerchief in his top pocket.
"Good morning, good morning. My name is Rupert Jenkins. You must be Ms Yeager." He had held out a manicured hand to Rae who had taken it, and Mark noticed that he had shiny nails. To match the shoes and the teeth I guess. "Who is Doctor Travis?"
"Ah, that would be me." Jesse had told Mark later that he knew that he couldn't look at Rae, because if he did he would laugh. He didn't know why, but he was absolutely certain that Mr. Jenkins would be someone that Rae would find extremely pretentious, and if he weren't careful he would be caught out laughing.
"Would you like to come this way?" Rupert moved through the gate and into the gardens as he spoke. "This is number 37, Fairview Drive South. A three bedroom property with views over the valley." He opened the front door, and almost without pausing for breath began to speak again. "As you can see the kitchen and breakfast room are to your left…"
Mark wandered off to the right. He let Rae and Jesse cope with Rupert, he just wanted to be nosy and see what you got for your money these days. It had been a long time since he had been in the market for property, and he hadn't had the chance for a real good nose around since Steve had bought his computer driven home, a few years before.
"…what do you think Mark?" He turned with a start as he realised that Jesse was talking to him.
"Oh, lovely, lovely." He had no idea what Jesse had said, but he hoped that was a good answer.
The Present Day
Mark picked up the photo and looked at it a little more closely. If you knew what to look for you could see that Rae had her fingers crossed. But she had been sure, and she knew that she wanted that house. They had driven home, but by two that afternoon they had been back and were sorting out the paperwork. Rae hadn't wanted to buy a place, she was happy renting, and so was Jesse. So the formalities had been much quicker. They had agreed to a moving in date for two weeks later, and then driven back to Bob's to celebrate.
It was while they were there that the nerves started to close in on Rae, and she became very silent. Mark remembered watching the couple as they were talking quietly together.
Eight Months Ago
"Rae, honey, are you all right. I thought you would be real excited about the new house, but you seem very quiet. Are you feeling ok?" Mark could see that Jesse was concerned about her, as he was, she had been very animated about the whole thing when they had been signing the papers, and had even had him take their picture outside their new home, but now, she seemed completely different.
"What? Oh, yeah, I'm fine, I'm sorry, Jess, I was just thinking about the house… it will be safe won't it? For the baby, and for you?"
"Of course. You don't think I would have agreed to sign the papers if I didn't think we were all going to be safe did you?"
"No, I guess not…" She had smiled then. "It is a beautiful house, isn't it?"
"It sure is. Once we get settled in we can have a party. We have a lot of people to thank, and I think it would be nice to show off our new home to everybody."
"That would be lovely. We've never thrown a party before have we?" Her smile turned a little sad. "I guess we haven't had that much to celebrate, until now. Ow!"
"Rae, are you alright?" Jesse became instantly concerned.
She smiled at him and took his hand, and then gently placed it on her stomach. Slowly a huge grin spread across his face. "Do you feel it?"
"Oh, yeah. Wow, he or she is really getting into the party mood. Can I tell Mark?"
"As long as he doesn't come at me with his hands outstretched, yeah I guess so."
"Hey, Mark, I just felt the baby, I mean really felt him."
Mark smiled, the baby had been moving around for a few weeks, but by the time Jesse had been able to touch Rae it always seemed that the movements had quietened down and he had never felt a real hard kick before. Mark did come with a hand outstretched, but it wasn't toward Rae. He shook hands with Jesse. "It's a great feeling isn't it? I can still remember feeling Steve and Carol." Mark became a little quiet for a while as he moved back into his memories. "Katherine always said that the only bit of being pregnant she missed was feeling the baby moving around, when nobody else knew about it."
"I agree with that. It's funny, you wait nine months for the baby to arrive, but I have always felt really empty once it has. Oh, I know you have the baby to hold, and that is so wonderful, but those moments when you, and only you are aware of your child, they are so special… Sorry, I guess I got a bit soppy there." Rae had smiled, an embarrassed look on her face.
Jesse had stared for a minute. Mark knew that all of them kept forgetting the fact that Rae had already been pregnant three times. Maybe if her other children were here it would be easier, but they kept thinking that all this was new for both of them.
"Well, you have plenty of time to enjoy your special relationship. Just don't go hauling too many heavy boxes, or moving furniture around, ok?"
"No, Sir. I guess you'll tell Alex if I do, huh?"
"Tell Alex what?" None of them had heard him come up to them, and Rae turned, as she did so her baby got another kick in just under the ribs, and she instinctively placed her hand over where it was battering her. "Ow, for goodness sake, Alex, this baby is doing a dance in here. I guess I don't need to worry about the sedatives anymore, ow!"
"Rae, can I?" Alex was blushing now.
"Yes, but nobody else." Rae looked around, as if afraid that half the room would start coming towards her. Alex gently laid his hand on her, and her baby, drawn by the pressure and warmth rewarded him with a healthy belt.
The Present Day
Mark chuckled to himself. The baby had spent the whole evening at Bob's kicking out at Rae, and in the end she had given up and decided that it was time to go home and hope that it would quieten down if she lay down and tried to sleep. He never did find out if it worked, but two weeks later she was moving things into her new home, and looking more happy and relaxed than he had ever seen her.
Seven & A Half Months Ago & The Present Day
The Present Day
"Mommy, can I take my cricket set tonight? Maybe Aunty Rae can teach us some more rules." CJ came rushing down the stairs, one stump in his hand.
"Well, I think it will be dark for some of the time, but yes, take it, I'm sure there will be somebody there who will play with you. Maybe Uncle Steve, or Uncle Jesse."
The little boy went happily back up the stairs to get his things, and Amanda watched after him. She knew how fulfilled Jesse and Rae were now that they were a family. In a way she envied them the time they had to come with their new baby. Then she thought about how Jesse had said that he had been up seven times the night before, and Rae had been up nine times when it had been her turn, and she decided that she would be quite happy to have her turn at cuddles, diaper changes, feeding and burping, but the best bit would be handing it back to mom and having a good night's sleep.
Amanda let her mind wander across the last few months. She knew that both Rae and Jesse had been visiting with Brian Dobson regularly, and that Rae still was. There had been such an improvement in both their lives that she knew that it wouldn't be long before Rae would be stopping her visits too. Amanda tried to work out when it was that Rae had started to really live her own life again. She had a feeling that it was about the time that she cleared her things out of her old place.
Seven and a half months ago.
Amanda walked into Rae and Jesse's apartment building her hand tightly around Rae's. She was worried about her friend, and so she had insisted that she come with her and help her clear her place.
Jesse was at work; he had come back with Steve the day before, and taken all his furniture and belongings. He had wanted to be here with Rae, but as he had been off work for so long he didn't like to take any more time, especially as he wanted to be at home after the baby was born.
"Are you alright, Rae?" Amanda could feel her hand shake as she held it.
"Yeah, no, no not really, I just want to get my stuff and leave. I can't believe that I am even here." She looked around. "There, that's the plant that fell over, the one that told Jesse where we were." Rae had slowed her step and Amanda found herself walking ahead of her.
"Honey, I can do this for you. Once the movers get here, I can just tell them to come get all the stuff, and we can sort it all out the other end."
"No, Amanda, I have to do this, to close this part of my life off. He's dead, he can't hurt me any more, and I have to lay his ghost." Rae was walking quickly again now, and Amanda sighed and just kept moving.
Once they got to the front door Rae unlocked it and went in. She had stood in the middle of the living area and the tears came up in her throat. The last time she'd been here HE had been with her. Amanda saw Rae begin to shake and then she had moved closer to her and put her arms around her.
"Hey, come on, maybe this was a bad idea. I can sort this for you, you know that."
"No, I'm sorry." Rae had wiped her eyes with her hands. "I will do this. He can't harm me, not from the grave." She took a deep breath and moved over towards the bedroom. She pushed at the door with her hand and then walked into the room. Rae had told Amanda later that she had been instantly surrounded by memories and sounds. She could hear his voice, and see Jesse's terrified face as the tape was put across it. Then in her mind she heard the gun go off and Amanda watching from the doorway saw her jump.
She was just about to go and guide her out of the room when Rae started to move again, and she headed for the end of the bed. Down on the floor in between the mattress and the wall was a large bloodstain. Rae covered her mouth with her hand and then without any help from anyone she left the room.
The Present Day
Amanda got up and went up towards her bedroom, as she crossed the landing a red cricket ball came hurtling towards her. She just managed to move out of the way and watched as it went the full length of the upstairs before crashing into a doorframe the other end.
"And we are planning on going straight to bed instead of going out are we?" Amanda looked at the two extremely worried faces peering around their own doorframe.
"Sorry, Mom!" Dion was the first to speak.
Amanda saw him dig his brother in the ribs.
"Ow! Sorry, Mom." CJ was not impressed by what Dion had done, but knew better than to make more trouble.
"So I should think. Now I suggest that an extremely clean bedroom might be a good way to make up for that little happening." Amanda chuckled as they disappeared. Blackmail, I just love it.
She moved into her bedroom and over towards her closet to pick out an outfit for later. As she did so she heard her front door bell and rushed for the stairs, but was beaten by two young men. The door was flung open and Amanda stopped and watched the scene from the stairs. CJ and Dion were caught up in a huge bear hug and they were hugging back. In between their happy faces was the equally happy face of Ron.
It took Amanda another hour to get back to the door of her closet to decide what to wear. As she did so she found her thoughts returning to where they had been. The day that she and Rae had cleared her place. It was getting a new tenant the same day, and Rae wanted to make sure it was clean and tidy for him.
Seven and a half months ago
"Rae just sit down for a moment, and then we can get on. You aren't taking any of the stuff from the bedroom anyway, the removers are going to sort that out first and it will be picked up by that guy from the refuge at ten."
"Yeah, I know, but I had to go in there, otherwise I would always wonder whether I could or not. Now I know that I can." Rae got up then and moved in there once again. Amanda knew now that she'd had a very pressing reason for going in there, but at the time Rae hadn't wanted anybody to know about it. She looked around the room, but Amanda could see that she wasn't as overwhelmed this time. "Ok, let's get the stuff packed up in here. Thank goodness the new place is bigger than this. At least all this will fit in to it. I can't afford to buy a third set of furniture."
The Present Day
Amanda lay down on the bed. They had worked extremely hard that day. Rae had told her how disgusting the place had been when she had moved there. How, when she had opened the door on it for the first time, after the previous tenant had moved out, it was like she was still there, because you could see the shapes of all her ornaments and belongings on the walls. She hadn't wanted to do that for Alex, who was going to be taking over her lease. He was also taking over Kira, because Rae had been worried how the young cat would react with a baby.
"Hey, dreamer, you look miles away." Ron came into the room, and Amanda jumped as he spoke.
"No, not miles, but months. I was just thinking about when Rae and Jesse moved into their new place. You weren't here then, but it was a hectic time."
Seven and a half months ago
The van from the refuge had taken all the bedroom furniture with grateful thanks. Rae hadn't explained why she was giving it to them, and they hadn't asked. The bedroom carpet had been taken up and was rolled up outside the door to the apartment. Steve was going to come over and take that to the county dump later. Rae knew that she had forfeited her bond because of the carpet, but it was a small price to pay to still have Jesse with her.
"Rae, come on we have to go, all your furniture is on the moving truck. The driver said they would see you in the morning." Amanda was getting worried about her now; Rae had gone back into the bedroom and was down on her hands and knees on the floor. Suddenly she let out a cry.
"I've found it, I've found it!" Amanda had a feeling that Rae would have leapt to her feet if she had been able. She could see tears shining in Rae's eyes, and her left hand was held in a tight fist.
"What have you found?" Amanda spoke softly. She knew that whatever it was, it was of very great importance to her friend.
Slowly Rae unfurled her fist and there dusty and dim was her engagement ring.
The Present Day
Rae had explained to Amanda that it had been ripped off her finger and flung across the room when Levington had taken her. Nobody had mentioned it when Jesse was found, other things had always been happening and she had never had the chance to ask about it, she had put if off because she hadn't really wanted to accept that it was gone forever, now she wouldn't have to.
Amanda smiled and looked at her watch. She had a while yet before she needed to get ready. Rae had seemed to blossom in more ways than one after that day, she already knew that Levington had been put firmly where he belonged, which was now six foot under and moving out of that apartment seemed to have given her the chance she needed to put everything behind her. As Amanda lay there she heard feet outside the door, and then suddenly her two wonderful boys joined her, and she could see Ron at the door. This was what life was all about. Being with the people you loved, with your family. Rae and Jesse had that now, and she for one couldn't be happier for them.