AN: I can't believe I've got to chapter ten, when I first planned this out there were about ten altogether, now I'm not sure how many there will be, probably about sixteen. Thank you for your continued comments, it is good to hear what you think.
The Other Side of Never
Chapter Ten
The next day
(Day 1)
Carter woke with a start and looked at the clock, the digits read after 7am, he heard a noise and after hastily donning some clothes went to investigate. He noticed a light coming from Elise's bedroom, so he knocked quietly on the door.
'Yeah' she replied
'It's Carter' he said.
The door was suddenly flung open as she threw herself around his legs, he bent down and scooped her up into his arms and she hugged him tight.
'You're back' she said
'Last night, but everyone was sleeping, what are you doing?'
'Getting ready, I've got to go to school. I've got dressed, but I can't do my hair'
'Here let me', he said taking the brush and brushing her hair through.
'Can you do braids?' she asked
'No, I don't think my hair dressing skills extend that far, how about a ponytail?' he suggested
'That'll be good' she replied
'So' he continued 'how did you figure you'd get to school?'
'Mom. I was going to get ready, then get Toby dressed, then wake Mom and get her to take me, then she could go home to bed. That was my plan'
'Good plan, but as I'm here I'll take you to school then Mom and Toby can sleep in'
'What if Mom wakes and can't find me?'
'We'll leave a note by the bed'
'Are you going away again?'
'Not at the moment, I might have to sometime, but not now'
'Good' she replied smiling to herself
'Had breakfast?'
'No'
'Let's go and fix it quickly and then I'll take you to school okay'
'Will you pick me up too?'
'Yes'
She smiled up at him and put her small hand in his as they made they way downstairs together.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Carter entered the house quietly and encountered Toby making his way downstairs. The little boy's face lit up as he hurled himself at Carter.
'Whoa there' Carter said frantically trying to remain upright and he surprisingly succeeded, he smiled down Toby. 'I think, we need to find you some more clothes'
'I dressed' Toby said
Carter tried to be tactful as to not hurt Toby's feelings.
'Yeah, but it's cold outside, how about we find some long pants and a sweater... are you wearing underpants?'
Toby looked at him innocently, Carter frowned and checked.
'No underpants, we'll find some of those too.....What did you do with the diaper? You still wearing a diaper to bed? You haven't stopped since I've been away?'
Although Toby was reasonably dry during the day he still wore a diaper to bed.
Toby nodded 'In the bin'
'Good'
After dressing him in more weather appropriate clothes Carter took him downstairs and gave him breakfast, whilst trying to sort out the mess in the kitchen. When Toby had finished he went off to the lounge to play with his cars. Carter went upstairs to see Abby.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As he walked up the stairs he heard her coughing, the kind of coughing which brings tears to the eyes of the patient. As he entered her room he found her sitting up, trying to catch her breath.
'You should see a doctor' he said sitting down on the edge of the bed
'Ha ha, very funny' she choked out, as he handed her some water which she drank. 'When did you get back?' she managed
'Last night, late'
She smiled at him 'Elise get to school okay?' she started coughing again.
He waited for he to stop before he said 'Yeah, Toby's downstairs playing'
'I better get up' she muttered
He put a hand on her shoulder and said 'Stay, get some rest. How long have you been like this?'
'A while, they made me go home from work yesterday early, signed me off sick for ten days'
'Good, they examine you?'
She nodded trying to suppress the cough and wheezing.
'Acute Bronchitis?' he said at a guess
She nodded again. He looked to the side of the bed to check that she had the proper medication, satisfied that she did, and he turned his attention back to her.
'You went into work yesterday?' he asked
'Uh huh' she replied
He ran his hand over his unshaven face 'You should've stayed home'
She tilted her head from side to side and whispered 'I know'
He sighed 'Marjorie and Bill?'
'Better, not up to having the kids, Claire's been having them'
Carter nodded then said 'Stay there for a couple of days I'll can manage everything'
'Everything? The kids, the house, work and me?' she replied wheezing somewhat with the effort of having a conversation.
'Yeah' he replied not really knowing what he was getting himself into.
Abby frowned 'Why?'
'Because I love you' he replied kissing her on the hand, whilst looking intently into her eyes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Day 2)
The house was now reasonably tidy Carter decided as he shut the door and drove the kids to town, after dropping Elise at school he and Toby made their way to the grocery store, for what Carter thought would be a quick easy shop.
To start with Carter let Toby walk alongside the shopping cart, which Carter found was his first mistake of the day, every time he turned his back Toby had either wandered off in the wrong direction or popped something unsuitable into the cart. By the time they reached the second aisle Carter put Toby into the seat in the cart, this however did not stop the little boy choosing items and adding them to the cart. Carter then decided to move the cart into the middle of the aisle, which did not please the other customers.
In was then that Carter realised why Abby sometimes asked him to baby-sit whilst she went shopping, or when she did take both of them she was an exceedingly long time. He was glad he had only brought one child, having Elise along as well was a horrendous thought.
He was halfway through the store when Toby complained of being hungry. Carter replied telling him that he would just have to wait until they got home. Toby however had different ideas and Carter had no idea that Toby knew how to whine as much as he managed to in the next ten minutes. Feeling rather exasperated and stressed, he gave in, opening a packet of potato chips and giving them to him. Toby was quiet Carter felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. In the back of his mind he could hear Elise saying something along the lines of 'When we're with Mommy, she does such and such'. But by then he didn't really care.
Somehow he made it back to the house, without any more problems.
Later he found out from Abby that she usually took a couple of small toys to amuse Toby while in the cart and a handful of candy in her pocket, Elise, she told him was very good at getting some of the items on the list. He made a mental note to remember for next time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Day 4)
Carter was tired and the kids still weren't in bed. Abby had told him that she would help but he had replied by telling her he was coping just fine. The truth was that he was finding taking care of the kids like this much more stressful than a day full of traumas at County.
Carter walked into Abby's room to find the children sitting on the bed with her. She looked up at him, noting his expression and said to the kids 'Okay time for bed'
She reached to each of them and gave them a hug and a kiss.
'We have'to?' asked Toby
Abby nodded 'You have to get up early tomorrow, Carter is taking you to Aunty Claire's house for the day'
'Must I?' he answered
'Carter's going to work, but if I'm feeling better I'll look after you the day after, okay?' she replied
Toby looked at his Mom and at Carter and reluctantly climbed off the bed. Elise took his hand and they walked out of the room after Carter.
'Night' Elise said turning round at the doorway and blowing Abby a kiss, which Abby returned to the smiling girl.
'Now remember' Carter said tucking Toby in bed with Elise standing beside him 'What I said yesterday, if you get scared or anything in the night, walk down the hall to my room and get me okay'
Toby nodded at him, Carter looked at Elise and she nodded her assent also.
'One down one to go' said Carter closing Toby's door to and taking Elise to her room, making sure she was tucked up for the night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Day 5)
Carter didn't know what had woken him, but all of a sudden he was wide awake, he glanced at the clock which read just after 2am, before his eyes came to rest on a small figure standing at the side of his bed.
'Elise?' he said somewhat sleepily.
With that the child burst into tears, waking Carter right up. He sat on the side of his bed and rubbed his eyes before picking up Elise carrying her back to her room, where he sat on the bed with her sitting on his lap.
'What up?' he asked whispering softly to her.
'I...' she gulped back the tears, 'I had....a... bad dream', she sniffed, wiping her nose on his top, and he inwardly sighed, deciding that this was not the time to reprimand her.
'Want to talk about it?' he asked
'It was about people leaving and dying' she said
'Oh' he replied
'Anyone you know?'
'There was a man and first he was Dad and then he was you, and Toby and Mom were sad and then Mike and Steffie were there too and they were laughing at us, and then I was all by myself again'
'Mike and Steffie from school right' he clarified
She nodded and said 'I'm scared, will you wait 'til I go back to sleep'
He nodded and moved her back into her bed and covered her over. Then he stroked back the hair from her face.
'Are you gonna leave again? She asked him 'I really missed you when you had to go away, we talked about you all the time so's we wouldn't forget you. Did you miss us like we missed you?'
He took a deep breath and said 'Whenever I missed you I'd look into my heart and there you all were'
She smiled sleepily at him and closed her eyes and he stayed and watched until she fell into a peaceful slumber.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Day 7)
'Are you two ready?' Carter yelled.
Elise came running down the stairs and Toby climbed off Abby's lap in the lounge. Toby was halfway out of the room when he came back to his Mom and planted a kiss on her knee.
'Have fun' she told him then added 'be good for Carter'
Carter came into the room where Abby was sitting flicking through a magazine and bent down and kissed her.
'I'll start dinner while you'll out' she told him as he raised his eyebrows at her, giving her a look which said no. 'But I'll get bored' she said
'Then catch up with your medical reading, you're supposed to be taking it easy' he answered, picking up a couple of articles from the coffee table and putting them in her hand.
She returned his look with one that sarcastically said great.
'I'll take the kids out for something to eat, then we can eat later'
'Looks like you've got it all planned out' she said
'This is John Truman Carter the 3rd you're talking to' he said heading out as she held back a laugh knowing that when he took the kids out nothing went to plan.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'I'm not going in there' Elise said to Carter
'What do you suggest?' he promptly asked her
'I'll go in there' she said pointing to the other door
'You can't go by yourself' he commented
'And I can't go through that door with you and Toby'
'Toby goes though that door with you and Mom'
'Well he's little and it doesn't matter, I'm a big sister and I'm not going in there with you and Toby'
Carter sighed and ran his hand over his chin; he was about to say something when Elise continued.
'It's okay, I know what to do and I can reach the locker by myself'
'What about after when you're cold and wet?' he asked 'There will be no one to help you get warm and dry'
'Look there's Steffie and her Mom she can watch me, ask her, please?'
'Wasn't she the girl in your dream a couple of days ago, who was mean?'
'That' she said 'Was, just a dream Carter, please? Please, please, please, please, please?'
Carter decided that anything for a quiet life was good, so after talking with Steffie's Mom, he let Elise go into the women's changing room at the swimming pool while he took Toby in with him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Despite the initial problems they had fun at the swimming pool, although it was a little busy for Carter's liking. When they were dressed and back in the car Carter took them to MacDonald's.
'We're going here?' Elise asked Carter who nodded
'Wow' said Toby
'Mom doesn't take us here much' Elise stated
'I've noticed' Carter replied
'Do we have to keep it a secret, like the ice cream' she added
'No' he said 'That wasn't really a secret, a mean your Mom knew didn't she and none of us said a thing'
'Mom's clever like that' Elise told him
'I've noticed that too' he said dryly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Inside they stood in the line and waited their turn. Elsie was reading the food list out loud and Carter was helping her with the words she didn't know, Toby was hugging on to Carters leg. When suddenly Carter realised one of his jeans clad legs were wet. Frowning he look down and met Toby's sorrowful gaze.
'Sorry' Toby whimpered his bottom lip quivering 'You mad?'
'No. Why didn't you ask or tell me you needed the bathroom?' Carter asked incredulously.
Toby shrugged.
'Hey, are we moving up the line?' asked Elise as the people in front moved to be served.
'No' Carter answered 'We're moving to the bathroom'
Elise looked at Toby, who look worried about his accident.
'You know,' she said to Carter 'He sometimes does that when he gets tired'
'I know' Carter replied.
Ten minutes later after Carter had sorted out the little problem, grateful that Abby had out a spare pair of pants in the bag for Toby. They sat down with their food, (Carter rather uncomfortably as his the bottom of his jeans were still wet), they happily enjoyed the remainder of their afternoon out together.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Day 8)
It was a sunny day although cold as the four of them headed out, along the road until they came to the sign for Honeyfoot Farm. Here they started walking across a field, where they encountered Agnes's dog.
'Hey look it's Floss' shouted Toby running towards the dog, quickly overtaken by Elise.
Carter and Abby followed at a more sedate pace.
'Don't even think about running to catch them up' he said
'I'm not' she replied 'I can't wait to go back day after tomorrow I feel like I've been cooped up for weeks not days. I'm hardly going to risk that by running across the field'
He smiled and took her hand in his 'Cold' he stated
'You were in such a hurry to go out for a walk' she started
'Okay okay' he muttered back 'Where's Agnes then?'
'There' pointed Abby as Agnes came into view.
'I hope she doesn't smell bad today' he said
'Well if she does you probably won't notice, with all the fresh air and all'
'Mmmmm' Carter replied as they reached the old woman, her dog and the kids.
'Haven't seen you lot for a while' Agnes said
'Oh well you know how things are' replied Abby
'Bert said you'd gone away' Agnes said pointing at Carter
'Well I'm back now'
'So I see, you want to come up to the farm, see the baby chicks?' Agnes asked Elise and Toby
'It's bit of a long walk back' said Abby
'Fiddlesticks, people nowadays don't know what walking is, won't hurt you, You're looking a bit pale, some good fresh air will do you good and some of my special herb tea' she told Abby.
The kids and the dog had already bounded ahead and Agnes started after them. Abby looked at Carter and he returned her look.
'Come on you two, lovebirds' shouted Agnes
Sighing heavily they followed her 'This is not what I had in mind when I suggested a walk' Carter told Abby giving her a quick kiss before Agnes turned round again.
She replied saying 'And this isn't what I thought it would be either'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'Oh Mom the chicks are so cute, can we have one?' Elise asked Abby
'No' she replied, with a little grin.
Elise sighed turning back to the chicks she knew better than to argue with that tone.
'Come now the drinks are ready' Agnes said
'Oh but we haven't finished looking at the chicks, have we Toby?' Elise said
'Then bring them with you' Agnes said, much to the horrified look on Abby and Carter's faces.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They spent longer than they wanted to at Agnes's home and now the kids whinged and whined all the way home because they were tired of walking such a long way, it had been different when they had been chasing Floss the dog.
'Okay' said Abby who was feeling tired too. 'Lets all hold hands and we'll help each other along'
And so they did.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Day 10)
Abby used the time while everyone was out to make dinner for Carter and herself that evening. Carter was working until six, Elise was going to Marjorie and Bill's after school and Toby was there all day, as they had missed them. Abby didn't mind because it gave her time to do the things that she had let go while she had been unwell.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Carter came downstairs after reading Elise a story and walked into the kitchen.
'Smells good' he commented to Abby
'You said that an hour ago when you got in'
'I guess you haven't burnt it then' he replied grinning at her
She swatted the teacloth at him and he artfully dodged it.
'Here' she handed him a soda 'Go and sit and watch TV or something' she suggested.
'I see when I'm not wanted' he said faking a hurt look and heading out the room
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'That was good' he said finishing his meal. Abby had really made an effort and cooked three courses, for probably the first time in her life.
Abby smiled 'I just wanted to say thank you' she told him, carrying the dirty dishes back to the kitchen as he followed her.
She started to run the hot water tap, but his hand closed over hers and turned it off as he kissed her neck.
'Do that later' he said
'Like tomorrow morning when it's like a madhouse?' she queried
'Uh huh' he said as he started to tickle her. She moved backwards and eventually hit the wall, then he moved in closer.
She looked deep into his eyes and before she knew what was happening he started kissing her, in a way that she had only dreamed about since he had left six or so weeks previously.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Much later Carter stared at the ceiling of Abby's bedroom and said 'Thank you for what exactly'
'What?' she asked
'Earlier you said you'd cooked dinner to say thank you'
'Oh that'
'Well?'
'Oh well you know, taking care of the kids and everything and...'
'And?'
'And I wanted to say...' she bit her lip in the dimly lit room.
'What?' Carter asked turning on to his side to look at her
Looking kind of worried and nervous she managed 'Um I ..... John I love you'
He looked at her his expression unreadable.
'I said it after you went to New York, but you didn't hear me, so I guess it's about time I said it again. I love you'
A slow grin spread across his face as he went to kiss her once more.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
