Author's note: Yes, I know the last chapter was hard to stomach, but please do not lose faith in Wendy or any other characters. Remember there is a far bigger picture here, and the story will begin to move along rather quickly now with loads of explainations and yes, resolution. Wendy Darling - what she has truly been doing - being one of them. Again, please understand, there is a method in my madness and in my writing. I would not just throw that in to offend my readers. It will all make sense very soon, I promise.
My Darling Love
Chapter 42 – Baby Jane
"A star danced, and under that I was born."
-William Shakespeare
The newlywed couple returned from their extravagant honeymoon a month later. John and Margaret lived only a block away, and for a short while they visited the Darling home often. Since she became a married woman, Margaret took on the disposition of her stepmother Millicent. John's expensive taste and love of the best things in life money could buy had spoiled her. Margaret announced immediately from her honeymoon that she was expectant and due in the summer. She wore expensive clothes and boasted about her husband and home. She had the maid to do the housework, a nanny to look after Martine and a chef to cook all her meals. With nothing else to do but sit around and look pretty for her husband, she spent quite a lot of time away from the house attending brunches and garden parties. Never having any luxuries provided without a cost in her life before, Margaret felt it her right to make up for lost time.
Margaret spent John's money as soon as he made it, even though George advised him to cut off her access to the family funds. "John, she'll put you in the poor house. You must train your wife that money is not always meant to be spent."
John claimed he was kept under Margaret's thumb, and could not stop his wife even if he wanted to. "She pouts and stomps her feet when she does not get her way," John told his parents after showing them a luxurious mink stole he had just purchased for Margaret.
Mary really didn't believe that was true, so she attempted to talk to Margaret herself. Unprepared for their confrontation, Mary almost fainted when her daughter-in-law flew off the handle and accused Mary of being jealous. "You are envious that of all the Darling men, I got not one but two of the best and you were stuck with the miser. It's not my fault George doesn't shower you with gifts!"
Mary felt Margaret deserved a good slap for three reasons. One, she cast her insult at George's kitchen table while dining on the food "George" put there. Two, Margaret did not have the permission to address her father-in-law so informally. Three, without mentioning Peter by name, she still mentioned him.
And so, Mary slapped Margaret.
"Margaret was not speaking of Peter, Mother, she was speaking of Uncle Harry who still helps her with Martine. Your assault to her refined cheek is unforgivable!" John shouted to Mary later that same day as he raged from their home.
To punish his mother, John refused to allow his parents any contact with Martine or the son Margaret gave birth to the first week in July. John saw his father heading to work one day and told him, "It's a boy, we named him Joseph for Grandpa Joe."
George shook his hand with a smile that turned to a frown when he questioned how mother and son were faring. "It took Margaret about a month or so to recover, but Joseph does well with the nanny."
The next time Mr. and Mrs. Darling heard anything of the new Mr. and Mrs. John Darling and family was on Christmas Eve, when George was dispatched to John's house to drop off presents for the children and the grandchildren. "They went off on holiday, and Mrs. Darling is expecting again," the butler who received them replied. As George bowed his head, saddened by their snub, he was further informed, "I almost forgot, they are moving to a mansion uptown when they return."
Life went on at the Darling house as it always had. Days turned into weeks, weeks passed into months. With John's estrangement from his parents, Mary waited for a letter from her daughter that never came. In fact, after John's wedding, Wendy seemed to have fallen off the face of the earth. "What happens if your brother Peter gets to her?" Mary asked George almost every night.
He would reply, "I've contacted the police where he was living, and they wrote that he fled the area, and suspect he returned to Europe. We are the ones you should be worrying about."
His reassurances soothed her mildly. "Wendy will write." And Wendy did write, eventually, but only to her grandfather. He read the letter completely several times with George and Mary watching before ripping it into shreds and stuffing it into his mouth. After he swallowed it whole he offered, "Said she was fine, a little homesick, and will try to get home in a month or so, a special delivery if you will."
It was a little longer than a month, but they did receive two special deliveries, just not from the postman.
The first came from an officer of his majesty armed forces who arrived on the Darling doorstep late in evening with a letter addressed to Mr. George Darling. The officer took off his hat when he entered their home and lowered his head as George read the official document signed in black ink from King of England's chief aid.
Dear Mr. George Darling,
I regret to inform you that your son Michael Frederick Darling died in combat maneuvers on the 7th day of October. His body has been recovered and is being shipped home to you. At this time, His Royal Highness, the King of England would like to express his sincerest condolences for your loss...
"Now we only have two children," the father who had just lost his first child to the clutches of death said softly.
"No, George, one. We've already lost John." Mary held his shoulders from behind as he broke down where he stood and began to weep inconsolably.
"None then, you might as well count Wendy as well. She is never coming back," George said heavily, as he turned to his desk to look over his own accounts for Michael's savings.
Mr. and Mrs. George Darling wrote to their two children who were alive somewhere in the world and informed them of Michael's casualty. John's letter was returned unopened, marked "RETURN TO SENDER" in John's hand. Wendy's letter was removed from the windowsill in the attic where Mary placed it, but no response came. George made the funeral arrangements while Mary picked a uniform for her youngest child to be buried in. He hadn't died in combat, for there was no war raging in world at the time. He died in a bar fight in on a military base somewhere overseas, arguing over a whore who preferred the company of one man to another. Just like Grandpa Joe kept the secret of what was written in Wendy's only letter since she left, George kept the secret of fatal wound Michael received when his back was turned.
On the morning of yet another funeral, "the hardest loss is that of your own child," the neighbor next door informed them, Mary and George dressed together to say their good-byes to their boy. They descended the stairs, softly reminding each other of old memories, of when the house was full of their own infants running about like wild animals, when they saw a pretty pink bassinet placed lovingly by the front door. Inside the bassinet asleep was a little baby wrapped in a pink blanket. "Her name is Jane, please do not change it" was all that was written on the card folded near the infant. Without question of paternity or demand for explanation George raised the infant up into the sunlight that poured in from the open front door and repeated her name, "Baby Jane..."
She was a tiny little thing, not a newborn baby but a baby nonetheless with the bluest eyes and a cute smile that made her face light up when she first cast her sight on her "father."
"Oh, isn't she just precious!" George exclaimed as he showed his dumbfounded wife the delicate creature he held in his arms.
Mary looked at the card lying in the bassinet and read her name, and recognized the pen. "George, this baby belongs to Wendy, she wrote this."
George, still holding Jane, glanced at the card and handed the baby to her "mother." Grandpa Joe was coming down the stairs fixing his black tie for his grandson's funeral and saw two new parents at the front foyer waiting with hopeful eyes.
"I am to tell you without further explanation from the words of your daughter, that she is trusting you both with her baby, for you are the most loving and caring of all parents. Please raise Jane as if she were your own. Wendy doesn't want her or anyone else in the world to know that she is her true mother, and no one is to speak of her father being anyone but George." He now looked at the child. "Ahhh...look George she has your eyes, and Mary Elizabeth's smile. I think you should for good measure leave the nursery window open on the first full moon of every month. I hear angels bestow their blessings on the full moon."
"Wendy will never come home then?" Mary asked, holding tightly to her only daughter's little baby.
Grandpa Joe shook his head. "I wouldn't say never, Mary Elizabeth, it's just right now her adventure in life has led her elsewhere to another world of sorts. She is writing a book though, and as soon as it has an ending she will send it to us."
George and Mary carried their new daughter to church to say good-bye to their youngest son. He was handsome, even in death, and was laid to rest in new row in the graveyard, one purchased just for the Darlings. John came to the funeral alone, "I read his obituary in the paper," he told his father as he offered him a handshake and left without watching the casket lowered into the ground. He said nothing to Mary who held Jane, and would not even give her the courtesy of a peck on the cheek for all her years of service being his mother.
The Darlings returned home and put their daughter to bed after feeding her and giving her a bath together. Since the day their children had first run away to Neverland, George commanded the front door be bolted shut. "All our children are home safely; no need to keep the door open for intruders to come in and steal our family away. From now on the front door will remain locked."
Margaret had another baby, and just as John had read his brother's obituary in the paper, Mary and George learned they were grandparents again, the same way. "Mr. and Mrs. John Darling announced that have welcomed a new son to their home..." George read no further, but Mary read every line.
"They moved into Millicent's old manse," she told her father who nodded his head as she spoke. "Have you seen them?"
Grandpa Joe nodded his head again, "Not Margaret, only John. He comes into Harry's tavern all the time. He has a lady friend there that works as a barmaid, she's a widow."
Mary shook her head as she rose from the table and began clearing it from breakfast. "What's gotten into him?" Mary muttered as she dropped a dish breaking it into the sink.
"You are right on that account, Mary, it is not Margaret. It is John," Grandpa Joe agreed. "He said she's too difficult to deal with at home, doesn't take well to the new babies, only cares after Martine. She won't let him take her to bed for fear she'll find herself with another baby, so he chooses to seek solace elsewhere. Must be something in his bloodline." Grandpa Joe rested his head on her shoulder and she in return kissed his bald spot atop his head. Jane, sleeping in the parlor, awoke and began wailing for attention, "Ahhh, the call of motherhood, Mary Elizabeth, so becoming on you."
Jane was a perfect baby. She giggled easily and ate all her meals without complaint. George finally got to enjoy being a stay-at-home father without any of the concerns regarding money. Finally having the ability to give a child all of his time, or maybe the simple fact that he was older, George felt more comfortable and at ease with Jane. Mary showed him the correct way to change a diaper and feed Jane with a bottle, and soon enough Mary was certain their new baby would be calling him "mommy." If Jane awoke in the night, George went to her, allowing Mary to rest and, unlike the times when his own children cried out without relief, Jane nestled into his arms and returned to her peaceful slumber.
As she grew into a toddler, George took her into his garden, and she helped him pick flowers and harvest the vegetables he grew in his greenhouse. Mary would watch from the kitchen window as George sat on a stool and pulled weeds, and Jane squatted next to him, and asked the endless questions infants her age normally do. "Why is the sky blue, Daddy? Why is grass green? Do you see the same colors I do or are they different? Is your red my blue and my yellow your green? How do you know?"
George kept working and answered each question as best he could, always ending them with, "What would you like to know next?" He never lost his patience or gave the simple response of "because I said so," as other busier parents seemed to. When his work in the garden was done, he would carry Jane inside sitting her at the table to color. She kept him company outside, and he returned the favor inside, taking the chair right next to her with crayon in hand putting out pieces of artwork with his daughter to be plastered about the house.
Jane spent much time with Mary as well, around the home and at the park. They would go for a walk after lunch, and Mary would push her daughter on the swing and swing along with her. Just like Wendy, she had a knack at the piano, and even at an early age she would sit on a pile of books and tap away at the keys in attempt to make music. As she grew older into childhood, Mary gave her lessons, and soon she was a regular Mozart. Jane also loved to dance and pretend. Mary would take to the keys and Jane would dip about and twirl on her toes, "Watch this, Daddy." Jane would hop on one leg and kick with the other. George would smile proudly and clap for her display. With the performance over, Jane would insist they all do something else together, as a family.
Thus, being together as a family, and loving each other endlessly became the new comfort in this home. Jane helped her mother make all the meals and set the table all by herself. As her parents sat down, Jane would interrupt her mother as she served George first, "Before we eat we must thank God." George and Mary were impressed and they held hands and said the prayer before eating. The table was alive with chatter, often leaving George laughing with his mouth full, Jane rolling off her chair, Grandpa Joe and Uncle Harry using the tablecloth instead of a napkin to wipe their heads in their fits of laughter, and Mary nearly choking on her potatoes because of the humorous conversations they delighted in.
And after every meal, mother, father and daughter did the washing up. Mary would stand at the sink and wash the dishes; each plate, cup, fork, spoon, and knife cleaned would be handed to Jane standing up on a stool who would dry them. With the plates and such washed and dried, Jane would hand each off to her father George who would put them away.
"Thank you for all your help, Jane." Mary would peck her little girl on the cheek, "Thank you for your help, Daddy," Jane would pass the kiss on to her father with a whisper, "Now you kiss mommy and thank her too." George would lift Jane off the chair and step around to Mary and place the kiss on its final destination, his wife's lips, "Thank you, Mary."
Going to mass on Sundays was an adventure all of its own for the new Darlings. Jane would race ahead of her parents, wanting the seat nearest to the front as she could get. She knelt down as soon as her parents arrived next to her and said her own prayers. "Now, Jane, we are going to learn prayers, it will take you some time to memorize them, so for now we will do it together and I will help you along." Mary only had to repeat the "Our Father" and the "Hail Mary" once and Jane remembered and she still insisted her parents pray with her. After Jane said her good morning to God, she would silently gaze in awe up to the altars, as if waiting for the Lord Himself to appear.
Mary and George never had to drag her to church, like their other children, nor tell her to behave. In God's house, she was always on her best conduct, and every Sunday she was dressed and ready to go waiting by the front door. "If we don't leave right now, I will not be able to sit in the front row." Jane was now doing the dragging of George and Mary. As the service began, Jane would make George pick her up when he stood. She sang along word for word with all the hymns, and in tune with the organ. The priest gave his sermon, and if one of her parents happened to make a comment or begin whispering back and forth, Jane would shush them with her finger, "Listen to the priest Mommy and Daddy, God speaks through him."
Jane was no trouble at all, and she was now only a small child of no more than four; she always kept her room tidy and neat. Mary purchased a special toy box with her name carved in the wood, and every night before she went to bed, she would scurry around her room and replace all her toys and things inside it. She threw tea parties for her parents and cuddled up next to them at night, and listened quietly as they told her stories of a blissful kingdom with a King called Michael and his sister the Princess Gwendolyn and how together they defeated dragons, lions and crocodiles. They said the bedtime prayer together and without having to be told, she would jump down from their bed and head to her own with George and Mary giving chase. "Sweet dreams, dearest Jane," Mary wished from the doorway, as George tucked her in with a kiss on the forehead. Instead of one bedtime fairy, the house now had two who took turns standing guard over the beautiful little girl with curly dark locks and eyes as blue as forget-me-nots.
And as Grandpa Joe had asked, Mary always kept the nursery window open on the first full moon of the month. Those mornings after the full moon, Jane awoke overjoyed and full of her own stories about her happy dreams that flooded her mind in the night. "Well, Mother, I was on a pirate ship and the Captain let me steer this big wheel. I told the pirates your story about the dragon that breathed fire and how King Michael defeated him with his sword and they all cheered, even the captain. Then the captain took me down to the galley and let me feast on ice cream! He told me not to eat sweets because it will spoil my supper when I'm home, but on his ship I could have all the sweets I want. Then he let me dance in his cabin like I do for you while he played his fancy piano. It was a jolly time!"
The part Mary and George always waited for, word of Wendy, never came. At the end, all Jane would tell them, "I wanted to stay there forever but the captain told me he knew I missed you both already and I should keep growing up and make you proud. So that's what I gonna do."
Mary and George loved Jane, and loving her kept them young at heart, and maybe a little younger in body too, but not much. Mary began to show the first signs of her maturity with a few strands of gray hair neatly mixed into the brown on sides of her head. George had not one gray hair at all, but his hairline was receding a bit and his widow's peak grew more prominent as the years went on.
In contrast, Grandpa Joe did nothing but grow older an older, and soon he became absent-minded which led to him being unfamiliar with everything and everyone except George. He continually called Mary by her mother's name, and Jane he addressed as Mary and got into the habit of getting lost on his daily walks. "You need to keep your father at home, Mrs. Darling, we found him eating out of a trashcan," the constable told her as he dropped Grandpa Joe off yet again.
Grandpa Joe was mischievous with Jane, and acted childlike with her, rolling around on the floor and playing games. On Christmas morning, he seemed as much a youngster as Jane herself. He flew down the stairs and waited expectantly for mother and father to come down so the gifts could be unwrapped. He asked for extra dessert at dinner every night. The money George gave him for his tobacco pipe he spent on candy at the corner store and would hide the empty wrappers in odd places throughout the house for no reason, only, "he told me to." Who 'he' was, was as great as a mystery as why, when he was caught, he would blame his innocent sibling, Jane. His misdeeds got him in more trouble than Wendy, John and Michael had ever found, and he became so troublesome that Mary had forbid from taking Jane from the house on his adventures.
"Father, where's Jane?"
Grandpa Joe scratched his head and shrugged his shoulders. "Who's Jane? I took Mary Elizabeth to the park early this morning. But she was having so much fun I didn't want her to leave, so I came home without her, Elizabeth."
Mary and George threw on their coats and were out the door in a heartbeat. They ran all the way to the park to find Jane waiting patiently with a constable. "She told me her name was Jane Darling and her parents would be by to pick her up in a moment. She made me wait here instead of bringing her home, that way we would not miss each other along the way. She's a bright little tyke," the police officer told them as Jane was embraced, looked over and kissed by both her parents. "I would advise you to not let her grandfather take her out anymore alone. She told me he wanted to play hide and seek. He hid and she spent the better part of the morning looking for him."
As time went on, Grandpa Joe grew stubborn and nasty, and continued to reverse in age, acting like a two-year-old who threw temper tantrums when he didn't get his way. He stomped his feet and cried when Mary told him he could not run outside and play in the mud. He accidentally tripped playing blocks with Jane on the floor in the parlor and broke a lamp. Grandpa Joe, a grown up with years of experience and once wise in years, hid in the hall closet and begged George not to spank him. George was flustered and all he could manage was, "Ridiculous, I could never spank a child."
Finally, after months of increasing mindlessness, Grandpa Joe took ill in the autumn and depleted further, becoming bedridden and in need of full time care. Returning the favor, Mary now nurtured him, as he did for her when she was a child. He still called her Elizabeth and referred to Jane as Mary Elizabeth, although most unfortunately, George was now forever lost to him. "Who is that man, Elizabeth, that brought up my supper? I don't want any man in this house at least not until I die, you promised me when we married. Remember you are still my wife."
Mary gathered the dishes and kissed her father on his cheek. He went for her lips, causing poor Mary to pull away so swiftly she fell over. "I'm not Elizabeth, Father! I AM Mary Elizabeth your daughter, please!"
Grandpa Joe was an insulted husband who grabbed his daughter harshly by the wrist when she stood. "Please father..." Mary sobbed, overcome by grief. Grandpa Joe suddenly and rather unexpectedly calmed, only to violently yank his daughter's ear to his mouth, whispering a disturbing sentiment that dropped her to her knees.
"Now get out of my sight, Elizabeth!" he shouted with his words complete and rolled over on the bed away from her.
Jane, curious of her great-grandfather's behavior, asked George, "Why does Grandpa think Mommy is his wife?" George tucked her into bed and brushed the hair from her face and responded, "Sweetheart, Grandpa is senile, and doesn't remember that grandma Baker is heaven with God. He calls you Mary Elizabeth because that's your mother's name, and in the fantasy world his mind took him to, the only two girls alive within it are Grandma Baker and his daughter, your mother."
George asked Mary what her father had told her after Jane was safely tucked away when he found her quite shaken wringing her hands at the kitchen table. Mary looked up to her husband and repeated, "He told me George, 'the devil is going to get you Mary Elizabeth. He is going to use your husband as his executioner.'"
George frowned, and shook his head, "Rubbish, Mary..."
Uncle Harry was Jane's godfather and he visited often. His presence became more constant when Grandpa Joe took his turn for the worst. Being the most qualified doctor of the family, as well as Joseph's best friend, he looked in on him daily, although in Grandpa Joe's state of mind, he didn't appreciate it.
"Now there are two men in my house, Elizabeth. May the devil curse you, you filthy whore. If I had my strength still, I would force you down on this bed and give you a good one to teach you who owns the hole between your legs!" He would yell this and other indecencies as Mary cleaned up his room and readied him for bed. She shut the door behind her and still he ranted on about his wife's offensive behavior.
Jane was allowed to stay up later as she grew. George would sit with her on the sofa and read any book she liked as Mary went upstairs to look after her father. Mary's heart was broken by her father's words, but knowing this was no longer the good friend she had known all her married life, only his evil altered ego back from the past, she put on a strong face and smiled when she re-emerged from the hell on the second floor.
It was a downward spiral that left George and Mary considering committing Grandpa Joe to a mental hospital. He had gotten into the practice of climbing out of bed in the middle of the night and barging into Mary and George's room screaming and hollering at the "wretched adulterer" who had "taken my place in my wife's bed." Grandpa Joe had apparently "always known he'd come back to steal you away, Elizabeth," although Grandpa Joe, "would never let that happen!" Before he slammed the door and left he informed George to get out or face a "fate worse than death."
Mr. Baker seemed to gain enormous strength, and one Sunday morning as George stood at the top of the stairs dressing for church was shoved from behind and fell down the entire flight. "Run, Elizabeth, take Mary and save her! I just killed the devil!" he shouted as George tumbled down. Mary, his wife, ran to his aid, ignoring her father, and Mr. Baker lunged forward and pushed her down the stairs as well. "Go to hell then, Elizabeth, you whore!"
Hers was the lesser injury, for George, seeing her plummet, used whatever strength he had left to rise and catch her right before her head smacked full force into the railing post. "YOU COULD HAVE KILLED YOUR ONLY DAUGHTER!" George cried out as he leaned back and slid down the wall. He had a nasty gash on his face from where his glass in his spectacles broke and tore into this skin, not to mention the internal damage Mary was sure there was when George clutched to her and moaned in agony, "There is something wrong..."
Baby Jane came to the rescue with Uncle Harry at her heels. They waited outside for her parents to leave for church and, hearing the commotion, burst in and saved the day. Mary was shaken up but mostly unharmed. Harry carried his little brother to the parlor and assessed the injury, with Mary watching over them. Jane stood at the bottom of the stairs, a small child of only five. She shook her finger up to Mr. Baker and took to the stairs one by one, stomping up like an angry mommy about to confront a bully. Grandpa Joe stood his ground, but only until Jane took his hand and smacked it as hard as she could manage.
Something hidden in her raged, and the beautiful blue in her eyes fled as the red fire of anger poured out from within. "You are a very bad man, and I don't like you anymore. If you are not nice to the people that love you and are not sorry for being hurtful to them God will punish you for it!" She finished her declaration by sticking out her tongue and shouting, "Now go to your room Pop-pop and think about what you did." He turned slowly giving a backwards glance of remorse to his great granddaughter who stood with her hands on her hips glaring back. "No supper for you until you say you're sorry!"
Mr. Baker went to his room and went to bed. Like the child he had become, he cried himself to sleep. Mary went to check on him after Harry left, taking George to the hospital. She set Jane down for her nap and then took a seat next to her father and crocheted to keep her hands busy. "Do you love him?" Grandpa Joe mumbled hidden under the blankets ashamed of his behavior.
"Yes, with all my heart." Mary replied and Mr. Baker wailed loudly, a noise made by someone who was having their heart ripped from their chest.
"I'm sorry I was always so mean to you, Elizabeth, I don't blame you for taking back your old lover. Just tell me why you punish me and do it in my house with me still alive. I can't bear it. You told me it was finished with him, Elizabeth, before we married, you promised. Why are you breaking your promise now when I need you most..."
Mary had patience for many things, and a strange curiosity with the confused identity of her mother in her father's eyes. "Joseph," Mary purred, as her mother before her would have, "who is my old lover?"
Her question left her father clinging to his blanket and weeping inconsolably. "Tell me, Elizabeth, tell me who he is so I can kill him and give us peace."
Mary was puzzled by his return of her question. "You beat me and raped me our entire marriage for my supposed crimes against you and you don't even know who my lover was Joseph?" Mary sneered, furious at her father, even in his lost state of mind.
That remark enraged Mr. Baker and he snapped back, "You and your secrets, Elizabeth! You filthy bitch! WHORE! I shouldn't have been so surprised when I stuck it in you the first time and found you already busted! I should have known the moment you spread your legs for me. If I was a wiser man I should have just left you there like that when I was finished, I'm sure you were already ready for the next indigent scab!"
Mary rose from her chair. She leaned down to her father and whispered maliciously in his ear, "My mother loved you, Father. She loved you more than she loved me and you did nothing but punish her for it. I never got to call you bastard, because after she died, you and I found peace. But now the good sweet man that has lived in my house since that peace was made has died and gone to heaven... Now, nasty old Mr. Baker is back. I hope this part of your soul rots in hell you bastard." Without another word, Mary left.
Later in the day, Harry returned "George is asking for you, but he doesn't want you to bring Jane with you. The hospital is a scary place for children, he's afraid she'll have nightmares."
Uncle Harry stayed with Jane while Mary went to her husband. With Harry snoring on the sofa, Jane crept into Grandpa Joe's room. He sat up on his favorite chair and was trying to figure out how to light his pipe. "Pop-pop," Jane called him and he smiled at her.
"Mary Elizabeth, come here dearest." Jane shook her head and remained in the doorway. "Please, Mary Elizabeth, come to daddy. We will pack our bags and runaway together! Oh what fun!" He chuckled, offering a happy smile.
"No, Pop-pop, I'm Jane, not Mary."
Grandpa Joe's short-term memory had also faded into nonexistence and he did not remember child ever residing in the house named Jane. "Where is Elizabeth? She is my wife you know. Are you one of Mary Elizabeth's friends?" he asked her, noticeably confused by the little girl.
"James says your Elizabeth in heaven and she knows I'm here."
"Who is James, little girl?"
Jane entered the room and touched the hand she had reprimanded and kissed it. "James is the pirate captain of the Jolly Roger. I told him you were being mean so I was mean back. He told me to apologize for being harsh with you because you lost your marbles. I'm sorry I smacked your hand."
He nodded not knowing what she was talking about and returned her grin. "Is James your father, little girl?" He asked this question as Jane strolled around the room glancing about.
A child's mind is a simple place, not made for complicated questions of paternity, George was her father and she thought that quite obvious. Jane was tad more intelligent that the average five-year-old, and wise in some ways unexplainable, knowing things others older than her did not. She finally answered, "My father is your son, and you were very mean to him today, you pushed him down the stairs. If you want us to leave, I mean my mommy and daddy, we will."
Grandpa Joe shook his head, "No, I don't want my son to leave, or you either, little girl."
Jane approached his a gently kissed his cheek. "Then you should say you're sorry and then you should say a rosary."
Grandpa Joe nodded again in agreement and caught Jane by the hand as she went to turn away. "Is Elizabeth your mother?" he asked rather worried, as if his wife had another child he was not aware of.
Jane shook her head and smiled again. "No, my mother is Mary, father's wife. You were mean to her too. I think you are just confused. Maybe Mother reminds you of your wife, but she's not. Your wife is in heaven waiting for you, James told me." Grandpa Joe now held his head and in his hands and cried. "No, don't cry, Pop-pop, they'll forgive you, I know they will. Come here and we will pray the rosary together and then I will tell you a story."
Grandpa Joe was instantly excited and followed Jane to the bed. She took out a magnificent set of rosary beads from her pocket, rubies strung together with diamonds marking where the sacred prayer was to be said, which made Grandpa Joe ogle. "Where did you get those?" he asked, astonished.
Jane was unimpressed by them, "James gave them to me, and they are his. He said I can borrow them tonight to pray with you, then I have to give them back." Playing mother, she tucked him in and made him watch as she began saying the prayers moving her hands along the beads without stopping to think as most who pray do.
"How did you learn to pray that way?" Grandpa Joe asked.
"Mommy and Daddy taught me."
Grandpa Joe interrupted her further down her rosary, "Who is James?"
Jane only smiled and continued.
Jane finished and rewarded Grandpa Joe for being so attentive with, "I'm going to tell you a story now," having him pull the blankets up to his neck and close his eyes.
"Now, there was once a pretty peasant named Elizabeth, and she was madly in love with the prince named Joseph, they met on the street when she bumped into him. Now, there was a bad Queen named Millicent, who said they should never be together again, because Elizabeth's parents were not wealthy and lived in a small cottage on the outskirts of town. But Prince Joseph saved Elizabeth from a lion, and it was love at first sight the day they met and they just had to be together. So they got engaged and hid it from everybody. But don't worry, Pop-pop, my story has a happy ending. You see there was this brave knight named George... You see pop-pop I named the knight after your son, his name is George..."
Mary arrived home hours later and checked in on her father. Sleeping alongside of him was Jane cuddled up under the blankets. Grandpa Joe would have only two moments of clear mind before he was cast into the oblivion of delusion; this night was one of them.
"Mary Elizabeth," he whispered as his daughter picked Jane up to carry her to the nursery.
"Yes father," she softly replied.
"Tonight is a full moon, don't forget to leave the window open. And please, my dearest daughter, sleep in Jane's room tonight."