Kit came downstairs a little later than usual that morning. For the first time in four days he'd had a proper night's sleep and had slept later. He felt refreshed and had intended to make breakfast for Doctor Cole to thank him for what he'd done so far but upon entering the kitchen he found he'd been beaten to it. A bowl of cereal was waiting for him on the table and it had a note resting beside it.
Picking up the note Kit read: Bore da Kit, help yourself to breakfast and a shower. I'm going to be sleeping for a few hours as I've only just gotten in from the hospital. I'll see you around lunch time. Doc Cole.
'What does bore da mean?' Kit thought when he'd read the note. Shrugging he put it in his pocket and decided to ask Doctor Cole that too when he saw him. Once he'd poured some milk over his cereal he sat down and ate his breakfast. While he was eating he thought about Robyn and what had happened the day before. If it hadn't been for whatever it was that she'd done he wouldn't be here now. Somehow she'd made herself appear to him; somehow she'd given her spirit physical form. It went further than astral projection; he'd felt the touch of her flesh. There had been warmth in that touch as if she were really there in the room with him.
It was strange.
Perhaps it had been his own subconscious that had conjured the image. A reminder that there was something out there for him to live for and that couldn't be left behind. It didn't explain why he felt better though. His pain had all but gone and his mood lifted considerably. He could think clearly now. When he did happen to see Robyn he would ask her, she would be able to give him the answers he searched for.
Sportacus sat eating his breakfast with Robbie in the kitchen. He'd been puzzling all night over what Greta had said. It surpassed him how he could have been more like a mother to Robyn and apparently still appeared to be. She'd refused to tell him as she made it clear he could work it out for himself. He was stumped though. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't get his head around it. He'd not given birth to Robyn so he couldn't be mother in that sense, so how?
Robbie watched Sportacus with amusement. He knew when Sportacus was thinking really hard about something because his moustache would twitch slightly. It was a common sign and he couldn't believe that he'd worked out what Greta meant before Sportacus had.
After a few more minutes of watching Sportacus' moustache twitch Robbie decided it was time to intervene.
"You want to know what Greta meant, don't you?" He asked and when Sportacus nodded he continued, "She meant that you have mothered Robyn. You brought her up to be a girly girl and if you had a chance you would have her wrapped in cotton wool. Instead of giving her independence like me, you flap over her like a mother hen and try to keep her in the nest. When she leaves the nest and acts independently you get in a flap like a mother hen. Basically you care too much like a mother would and you interfere like one too. Therefore you're more like a mother than a father to Robyn."
"I don't flap do I?"
"Yes you do. Take yesterday for example, you went into a flap over her tattoo and you almost laid an egg when I told you about her nose piercing."
Sportacus was about to throw something back at Robbie when he saw Robyn enter the kitchen. He stood up and walked over to her. Hugging her he asked if she was ok and she shook her head in response. Pulling back from the hug he looked at her and could see a slight smile crossing her face.
Looking at her dad and then at Sportacus she said, "I'm not ok because I can't figure out whether you're my uncle, a substitute dad or my mum."
Robbie burst out laughing at this statement. It had been a while since laughter had been heard in the house and Sportacus couldn't help joining in. Robyn just continued smiling; she wasn't yet ready to laugh. She wasn't yet ready to forget what had happened or to move on.
Seeing Kit with a blade resting on his wrist had brought back memories of Cain. She couldn't be responsible for another death. A vision had come to her in her sleep of Kit removing the blade from the packet. Instinct had told her that it wasn't a dream and she'd found a passageway through it, a passageway that only allowed entrance to her. It allowed her to step through her vision in a non-corporeal form, a state between solid and spirit. By resting her hand on Kit's she had touched his soul and lifted some of his pain. It hadn't been much but it had been enough to see him through the worst.
The Judges hadn't relished her interference. They had laid claim to Kit and she had foiled their plans. As a bargain for Kit's life they had ordered Robyn to keep this new edge to her ability a secret. She had readily agreed to their terms, she'd not had any choice.
Doctor Cole came downstairs to find Kit sitting in front of a half eaten bowl of cereal staring into space. He sat down slowly in a chair opposite Kit's but the action wasn't noticed.
"Planet Earth to Major Tom." Doctor Cole said sharply.
Kit blinked and smiled when he noticed the doctor sitting where he'd been staring to, "Hello Doc. Nice sleep?"
"You could say that. Did you have a nice trip with the fairies?"
Laughing Kit replied, "Yes thanks. They were giving me recipes for muffins. How did it go in the hospital?"
"Terrible. I was half way there when someone radioed me with orders to go to the battle zone as they didn't have any 'field medics' out there. As I'm more of an on call medic than a hospital medic I had to do as they asked. When I got there all hell had broken loose. The medium security patients were using wooden spoons as ray guns to shoot the 'aliens' but when their ray guns didn't work they battered people with them. I was named king of the aliens and I had at least seven out of the ten escapees trying to stir me to death."
"Ouch. They really seem to like you don't they? First they offer you up as a human sacrifice, then they super glue a hat to your head and now they've tried to stir you to death."
"I know. I could say its all part of the job but I'd be lying."
Kit nodded, "Can I ask you something or rather two somethings?"
"Yes, go ahead."
"Ok, first something. What does bore da mean?"
"Bore da? It's Welsh for good morning. What was the second something?"
Getting up Kit went over to the fridge causing Doctor Cole to turn around so he could see what was going on. Fearing that he'd strain his neck he turned his chair around to face the fridge.
Kit pointed to the man standing next to Doctor Cole in the photo and asked, "Who's that?"
"Michael Jones. He was the man I loved more than anything else in the world."
"I didn't know you were that way inclined. What happened?"
Doctor Cole leaned back in his chair and after a few moments he replied, "Things fell apart. We had a terrible fight over something, what I can't remember. We went our separate ways and I've neither seen nor spoken to him from that day to this. I don't even know where he lives now. I never took the chance to apologise for my part in the whole horrid thing and now I will never have the chance to."
"That's why trying to save mine and Robyn's relationship is so important to you. You were absolutely adamant that I go and talk to her."
Doctor Cole nodded. He didn't want to see another relationship fail as his own had done. It had been twenty five years since he'd last seen Michael. The photo he held so dearly in his heart had been taken the evening before it had all ended.
Ziggy knocked on the front door of the house with the sole intention of cheering up Robyn. In his hand he held the biggest bar of chocolate he could find anywhere and he was determined to give it to her unopened. The temptation was growing too strong for him to resist and he was about to open it when Robyn answered the door.
"You'll get fat if you eat that bar by yourself." Robyn said with a smile and let Ziggy in.
"It's not for me it's for you but if you wanted you could share it with me."
"I'm sure I could do that."
Ziggy smiled and then looking at Robyn asked, "How are you holding up? I thought I'd leave coming over a few days to give things a chance to settle."
"I don't know how I'm holding up to be honest. I know I should move on but I can't. I'm confused about how I feel and…"
Robyn's explanation was cut short when Ziggy kissed her. Not on the cheek or forehead like he always did but on the lips. Surprised she pulled back from the kiss and looked at him with a face that reflected her feelings.
Ziggy saw the look on Robyn's face and was about to apologise for being so stupid when she returned the kiss.
