Chapter 4

When Robert and a sweet-smelling Gretel came back, they both heard screaming coming from the guest room and ran upstairs. Jayne was thrashing about in bed.

Robert went over and tried to wake her from her nightmare. She woke with a start and shot straight up in the bed. It took her a few seconds for her to calm herself down and realize where she was. Robert hugged her and Gretel jumped on the bed and rested her head in her lap.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Robert asked.

"No, I'll be fine. Guess Tom affected me more than I thought."

"Well, I'm here if you wanna talk... Why don't you go have a nice hot bath, it's only three. I've ordered a cab for four-thirty; it only takes twenty minutes at the most to get there by car."

"Thanks, Robert, for everything. I don't know how I'm going to repay you."

Robert didn't say anything he just turned and left the room.

He was in the kitchen getting dinner ready when he heard the front door open. He looked up at the clock. It was six-thirty.

"How'd it go?" Robert shouted.

As soon as he turned round and saw the miserable look on her face, he regretted asking.

"Terrible, the animals love me! Tom White seems like a great man to work for so I'm going to have to get up at seven on Monday morning and it's all thanks to you!"

Her face broke into a massive grin and she wrapped her arms around him.

"Look, why don't you take the plates into the living room and I'll get a bottle of wine," he said, blushing.

As Jayne put the plates down on the coffee table, her eyes went towards the drawers in the sideboard.

"I wonder if they're still there...," she whispered to herself. She walked over to the drawer, pulled it open, and took out a photo album. Robert came into the room and found Jayne poring over the photographs.

"Been snooping around, have we?" He sat himself down on the floor next to Jayne and started to look with her.

"That's your mother Louise, isn't it?" Jayne said.

"Yes, that's her. Sweet sixteen and pregnant."

"Ahh, Robert, a picture of you with hair. That one must be really old."

"Watch it, Jayne, or I'll get Gretel to lick you to death."

"Hey, here's one with you and my big sister Lucy. You were a cute five-year-old, Robert."

"Oh, yeah, and I think that big bundle in her arms must be you," Robert said. "You were a cute baby; it's a shame you had to grow up!"

"And here's one of the whole family," Jayne said. "Let me see if I can remember you all... there's so many of you... There's you, your sister Mary, still cannot believe she became a nun. Oh, and there's Tom and James the terrible twins. I take it James is still gay, what a waste."

"Oh yes, he's still very much gay. He stopped by with Ben, his boyfriend just before I lost my arm."

Jayne turned to face him. "Is Ben as cute as James?"

"I wouldn't know. He's got a good sense of humor though, not over-sensitive, he can take a joke."

"He would have to, with you around," Jayne replied turning back to the photos.

"Do you remember the trouble you got me into, Jayne, with my granddad when I caught you and Mary trying to smoke?"

Jayne smiled. "Oh yes, we were playing at being grown up. How was I to know that five year-olds weren't supposed to smoke?"

"Well, I learned your lesson! Granddad made me smoke. I was sick all over Grandmother's floor, which she'd just cleaned. She threw me out and made Granddad clean up the mess while she gave him an earful. You caused a lot of trouble that day, Jayne."

"Did I ever thank you for not squealing on us?"

"You made me a thank you card and when I picked it up all the dried paste you used to make the picture stick fell off, remember?"

"Oh, yes, well, it's the thought that counts." Jayne replied as her face turned bright red from the memory. "Who's that you've got your arm around, she looks familiar but I can't place her."

Robert smiled. "That's Kimberly, she was my first girlfriend. She was the first person I slept with. You nearly caught us, too."

Jayne smiled. "Do tell," she said as she poured them both another glass of wine.

"We were both enjoying ourselves and just as we climaxed, I heard you and my little sister Kate knocking at the door wanting to come in and see what the noise was all about."

Jayne burst out laughing. "I don't remember that. What happened? I think I would have remembered if I'd walked in on you."

"I heard my mother drag both of you away and send you out to play. You nearly put me off what I was doing."

"Sorry, Robert," Jayne said, trying to stop herself from laughing. "I remember Kim now, or rather your white suit and the medallion you used to wear when you two went out to the disco. Oh, and she had the world's biggest perm. I'm surprised she could get through the door with it."

"God, don't remind me," Robert said. "I am so glad there are no pictures of me in that suit."

"You were almost as tall as everybody else, Robert, when you had your platforms on... so long as they weren't wearing theirs."

"Ha-ha," Robert said. "I remember you telling me I looked nice and getting upset when you were told you were too young to come out with me."

"Well, Robert, I grew up," Jayne said, with a wistful look on her face as she let her thoughts drift back to those days

"Who was it you had a crush on?" Robert asked. "The one Mary teased you about but she would never tell us who it was?"

"I don't remember," Jayne lied. The truth was, it was Robert she'd had a crush on but she was not going to tell him that. Not tonight, anyway.

She turned the page to a picture of a 3-year-old girl and a 29-year-old Robert.

"Ahh, your baby sister Hannah... I can remember when she was born. Your mother couldn't stop smiling."

Robert smiled, too. "Well, when Mom and John got married, they both thought they were too old to have any more children. You should have seen John's face when he held his daughter for the first time. I couldn't believe all the stuff they had to go through when they married, just 'cause she was white and he was black He was twice the man James was." Robert paused. "I also remember a certain night, Jayne, when you where baby-sitting Hannah until I got there. And what a mess I ended up in."

Jayne remembered it well. She'd agreed to watch the baby for a short while, as it was Louise and John's first wedding anniversary. Robert was going to baby-sit but he was running late so Jayne said she would watch her until he arrived. She hadn't minded because she'd decided that she was going to tell Robert something that night. "You mean when I changed Hannah's diaper and didn't fasten it up right so when you came in and picked her up, it fell off and you got coved in, well, shall we say, her dinner?" Jayne said.

"Yes," Robert said. "I had brought my new girlfriend to meet Hannah. The baby made quite the first impression. And I'd never seen you leave a room so fast, Jayne. For a moment, I thought you didn't like my new girl friend."

"Well, I was so embarrassed I just had to get out of there."

Then he turned the last page. There on the page was a picture of his daughter staring back at him.