Chapter 2 of 2 today … don't miss Ch 64!

(7/4/2019)

CHAPTER 65

Elizabeth was standing on the playground at school waiting for Halley and Grace to finish class. Eve was sitting on one of the benches talking to a little boy that she had just befriended.

"Elizabeth!" A fellow parent called to her as she approached.

"Hi Jenny."

"I meant to offer my congratulations. I haven't seen you in ages."

Jenny had a daughter in Halley's class but Elizabeth had taught her son the year before.

"Thank you. How have you been with work?"

"Oh, it's been hectic as you are aware. Juggling work and children is sometimes impossible. I have today off work just to catch up on things."

"I can understand that."

As Elizabeth spoke to Jenny, she saw a male loitering towards the back of the crowd. He could have been anyone's parent but Elizabeth had never seen him before. Something about him made her uneasy. She tried to shrug it off considering he was probably just an uncle or friend helping someone out.

The bell rang and almost immediately children surged out of all the doorways and it was chaos. Screaming and chatter filled the air. Elizabeth turned her head to see Gracie running toward her.

"Mommy!" she shrieked and flew into Elizabeth's arms. Eve was beside her, and as soon as Gracie let go, Eve tried to squeeze in and hug her sister.

"Hi sweetie. How was your day?"

Grace hurriedly hugged Eve before excitedly relaying details to Elizabeth.

"So fun. We got to sing a new song in music class with actions and everything!" Straight away she dropped her bag and began to sing, despite people everywhere. She was in the midst of shaking her hands to her side, looking more like a bird than whatever she was supposed to be, when Halley and Oscar appeared.

"Mommy!"

"Hi Halley. Hi Oscar. You both ready to go?"

They both nodded in agreement. Elizabeth said goodbye to Jenny and headed toward the car. She glanced back briefly when she remembered the man and saw him standing there on his own, still staring toward the doors to the classrooms. Elizabeth looked at him curiously before Gracie tugged on her arm and they continued toward the car.

Once inside the car, Halley and Grace continued to detail everything that happened at school while Oscar sat there silently, as he normally did. Originally it had bothered Elizabeth, but Viola had assured her that Oscar barely mentions anything about school. His own mother has to pry it out of him so now Elizabeth keeps the questions for her nephew to a minimum.

"And we also learnt about stranger danger" Gracie said.

"Yeah, it's safety week next week!" Halley added.

"So what did you learn Gracie?"

"Well, today we learnt about strangers. To yell and tell."

Thinking this was a good conversation to have with all her daughters and nephew, Elizabeth continued to ask them questions about identifying strangers and what to do in an unsafe situation.

After Elizabeth had dropped off Oscar home, Gracie looked up at her mother with a puzzled expression.

"But how do we know if the person is a stranger or a friend?"

Elizabeth pondered for a moment, glancing at her in the rearview mirror as she spoke. "Maybe we should make up a safe word then. It will always be me, Daddy, Aunt Viola or Abigail to come and pick you up from school, but if it wasn't … say it was Uncle Shane or Aunt Katy we can have a special word. It will be our secret password that I will tell that person when I send them to pick you up."

"Like what?" Halley asked.

"I don't know. Why don't you think of something?"

"Ummm …"

"Unicorn!" Gracie called out.

"Fairy!" Eve yelled.

Halley was a bit slower but added hers at the end. "Purple?" she said hesitantly.

"Okay …" Elizabeth said slowly. "Purple fairy unicorn it is!"

"Purple fairy unicorn?" Gracie confirmed as Eve dissolved into a fit of giggles.

"Yes. But you can't tell anyone, besides Daddy of course. It will be our family secret. Do you promise not to tell?"

"Yes" they all said from the back seat.

Elizabeth made a mental note to write a hint for their safe word into the notes on her phone when they got home.

Eve went to play with Grace and Rip in the backyard while Halley sat down at the kitchen table with her homework book. She spoke to Elizabeth as she did, asking for help every now and again. As she was finishing, Elizabeth glanced at her phone and saw a missed call from Jack.

"I better call your Dad back."

"Can I do it?"

Elizabeth looked at her in surprise. None of the girls were allowed to use their parents phones.

"Okay. It's probably a good idea that you know how to call Daddy."

She sat down next to Halley and showed her how to unlock the phone and call Jack. She locked her phone and got Halley to do it all herself. Halley held the phone up to her ear as it rang.

"Hi Daddy."

Elizabeth heard his response. "Hi Halley" Jack replied. "What are you doing?"

"Mommy's teaching me how to call you."

"That is a good idea. Did you do it all yourself?"

Halley looked up at her mother, who nodded to her with a smile. "Yes."

"Well done. Very smart. Is Mommy still there?"

Halley nodded. Elizabeth couldn't help but laugh. "You can't nod, sweetie. You have to speak, remember?"

"Yes, she's here."

"Tell her that I will be home early today. I'm leaving in five minutes."

"Ok. Bye." Halley hung up the phone.

"Well done, Halley. We will have to keep practicing but make sure you ask permission before using my phone, okay?"

Halley nodded. "Can I go play outside now?"

"You sure can."

Halley eagerly ran out of the kitchen toward the back door.

Elizabeth made herself a cup of tea and collapsed onto the couch. She could hear and see flashes of the girls through the window as they played outside, squealing as Rip chased them around the backyard. Ten minutes later, she heard Jack entering the house and dropping his keys on the hall table.

"Beth?"

"Here."

Jack walked in and sat down next to her, leaning over to press his lips to her cheek.

"Hey. How are you feeling?"

"Fine today."

"That's good. How are the kids?"

"All good."

"And the baby?"

Elizabeth grinned at him. "Fine too."

"Good."

He leant back on the couch and Elizabeth moved back into his arms.

"Why are you home early again?"

Jack sighed before putting his hand to his pocket and pulling out some papers. Elizabeth knew exactly what that meant. She had done this many times before but this time was the first that it truly surprised her. After all, Jack was still recovering from a head injury.

"Oh no Jack. For how long?"

"Just a month and it's not overseas, just interstate. I will be back in time to go on our trip."

Elizabeth's eyes skimmed over the paperwork. She folded it back up and leant back on his chest. She could feel the tears in her eyes and she tried to shake them off before he saw but they wouldn't budge. The more she tried, the more upset she became until they were running down her face and she let out a sob. Embarrassed, she curled further into Jack's chest as his arms wrapped tightly around her.

"Hey … don't cry. It will be okay."

"I know" she whispered back to him. Truthfully, she didn't know what came over her - she blamed the hormones.

"I won't be far away. I can be back here in a few hours if there are any problems."

She nodded against his chest, not wanting to answer for fear that her voice wouldn't even leave her lips.

"And I'm not in danger. Frank is still recommending that I check in while I'm away to address any issues I may have, especially being so far away from you but I think I will be okay. Besides worrying about you, that is."

"I will be okay." Her voice betrayed her just like she expected. It broke mid sentence.

"Why are you crying then?"

"The baby … I'm just emotional right now. It will be okay."

"Maybe we can organise to get someone to help you while I'm gone. I don't want you doing everything yourself."

"It will be okay."

"Not while you are pregnant and still working. I'm supposed to leave in less than two weeks but I'm sure we can sort something out by then. Shane will still be stationed here, so he can look in on you too.

Elizabeth couldn't be bothered arguing. She just nodded her head and curled herself up against Jack's side, her head on his chest and her arm around his waist.

"You found out yesterday, didn't you?" she whispered.

"Yes. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. Honestly, I was struggling a bit."

"That's okay. I understand. I know you mentioned there was a possibility of it happening but I honestly thought we were safe from this for another little while."

"I know, baby. Me Too" he said as he pressed his lips to her forehead.

On Wednesday afternoon, Elizabeth was at school hurriedly trying to get her students ready before the bell rang to signal the end of the day. She was feeling flat after Jack's news the night before and her students must have picked up on her vibe because they drove her crazy. Elizabeth was normally so patient but by the end of the day she was delighted to hand them back to their parents and truly wished she was done for the week, despite having two more days of work remaining.

Finally, the bell rang. The children suddenly snapped to attention and grabbing their bags, most flew out the classroom door. Elizabeth stood in the doorway saying goodbye to each student as they passed her. At last, the seemingly endless stream of children finished and Elizabeth stared out into the playground watching some of her students embrace their carers.

Elizabeth felt the hair on the back of her neck stand to attention and as Elizabeth glanced up, she saw the same man from the other day watching her. Today he wore a grey singlet and black track pants. He had tattoos all down his muscular arms and his black hair was spiked up. Although a semi-attractive man, he seemed rough. He had no child with him but his attention was not seeking a child in the crowds. His chilling eyes were instead focused on something else – and at that moment they were locked on Elizabeth.