Trials of the Heart
Chapter 24 - Live your Life.
It is true that the pain of loosing someone or something dulls as time passes.
Ruth could see that sad twinkle in Jay's eye on more than one occasion but he had slowly moved on.
As September arrived Jay took and passed his driving test prior to buying himself a rather nice car with the money his Nan had left him, Ellie got a place at university in Nottingham and was due to leave by the end of the month and Leila fully moved out down to London with her new boyfriend promising to visit often and keep in touch. Ruth was doing well on her speciality registrar training post and River was beginning to get ready to go back to school.
It was a rare Saturday when both Ruth and Jay were off work they were stood amidst the isles of decorating equipment, paint and wall paper with a rather excited eight year old bouncing from shelf to shelf pulling out the most lurid and disgusting colours of paint or patterns of wall paper.
"We are not having a gold bedroom." Ruth put her foot down
"It'll look like a palace!" Jay sulked
"A Chav Palace!" Ruth wrinkled her nose "How about Lilac?"
"Too Girly!" Jay wrinkled his nose "Yellow."
"I don't like yellow its too bright…" Ruth complained
"there is nothing wrong with too bright!" Jay protested "Ok Red, Gold and Black leather?"
"What sort of look are we going for? Porno den?" Ruth shivered "No chance."
"Pink with ickle frogs?" Jay joked poking her shoulder and gesturing at the prince charming wall paper River was currently rolling around the shop floor.
"Erm how about no?" Ruth shook her head "Shades of Blue?"
"I like blue." Jay agreed "Your eyes are blue"
"Well duh!" Ruth rolled her eyes picking up a pamphlet with some painting ideas on for blue colour schemes as he wrapped his arms around her.
"I like blue eyes." He whispered in her ear sending shivers down her spine
"Jay this is totally..." Ruth started to protest but he was kissing her neck gently, she couldn't help but close her mouth as she stifled a small moan.
"I think we need to get this bedroom ready." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively as he pulled back successfully earning himself a clout round the head with the pamphlet.
"Geeze are you channelling Nan's spirit?" He joked rubbing his head as Ruth picked up a tin of paint.
"No your just being an idiot, How about this light blue for the walls." She said rolling her eyes and holding up the tin of paint.
"As long as you wont hit me with it sure!" Jay agreed stepping back faking fear of the tin of paint.
"I want pink, purple and silver." River announced suddenly bouncing up to them whacking Jay around the ankles with a roll of gaudy yellow and orange paper.
"Geeze women!" Jay complained before making a move towards River who ran of giggling.
He started to chase her and Ruth felt herself beginning to blush her squealing filled the air in between her husbands yells of 'I'm going to get yoooooooooou'
She buried her head in her hands shaking it embarrassedly as the echo of 'could someone please claim and remove the screaming child from inside the bathtub on isle twenty?' echoed over the loud speaker.
It was like being out with two six year olds. Not a fully grown adult and usually rather sensible eight year old.
She sighed and wandered over towards isle twenty where sure enough River had planted herself in a bathtub was engaged in a 'sword' fight with Jay, she was using the gaudy yellow wall paper and Jay was using the pink froggy prince charming paper.
"What is going on here?"
Ruth's face turned white as the security guard appeared on the scene. She blushed as he turned to face her.
"Please could you remove you daughter from the bathtub unless you wish to pay for it as well as the wall paper they have ruined." He told Ruth in a rather snotty voice.
Jay took one look at the anger building on Ruth's face and dropped the wrapping paper looking slightly ashamed. This left him open to attack from his younger sister who hit him squarely behind the knees causing them to buckle and him to collapse to the floor swearing loudly.
"Right that's it!" The security guard yelled angrily "Pay for the paper and get out."
Ruth was fuming as she handed over the £4.72 for the two rolls of horrifically designed paper. She waited until they were on the street until she laid into Jay.
"How old are you again?" She began "Twenty eight or eight? Because I'm beginning to wonder! River I could expect something like this from! She's a child! Jay you're an adult! Though if you ever behave like one it'll be a miracle! That was the single most embarrassing ten minutes of my life!"
"You loved it really." Jay tried as River wandered along kicking at the floor her little lip quivering.
"Do you hate me?" River blurted out suddenly interrupting the glaring match that was going on between the two adults.
"No sweetie I could never hate you." Ruth immediately reassured her looking down at her watery blue eyes "But that sort of behaviour in a shop is inappropriate and your brother should have known better." Rut explained. "We now have two useless rolls of wrapp.. Ouch!" Ruth complained as the frog paper hit her around the head.
"You never said it wasn't appropriate on the street!" Jay winked flicking his hand so the wrapping paper collided with Ruth's bottom.
She whirled around a mixture of fear, anger and embarrassment crossing her face. Jay gulped nervously and River looked between the two of them frantically wondering what was going to happen.
"River?" Ruth asked not taking her eyes off her husband "Hand me that wallpaper.." she added holding out her palm to the eight year old who obliged.
A second later Jay found himself on the receiving end the role of wall paper. He began to fight back surprised by exactly how good his wife's aim was.
"Go Ruth! Go Ruth!" River chanted between fits of laughter as Ruth brought her brother to his knees.
His response was to drop the paper and grab her around the waist and pull her onto the verge with him where why collapsed in a heap laughing madly as River launched herself on top of them wrapping her little arms around Ruth who was in fits of giggles. Jay lent over and began to tickle River who squirmed madly squealing loudly.
Ruth suddenly cleared her throat causing the siblings to look up from their tickle fight.
"I think we should probably find another DIY store." She suggested "Maybe we could try not to get thrown out of this one?"
"Yes Mum." Jay stuck out his tongue cheekily.
Ruth rolled her eyes as he stood up and helped River to her feet.
"Lets get these rooms decorated hey trouble?" He ruffled River's hair affectionately "After all we definitely don't want to be on her bad side do we?"
"No!" River agreed sticking her tongue out at Ruth before following Jay towards the car.
After travelling for a good three quarters of an hour they found the next DIY store and thankfully managed to decide and pay for their chosen items without getting thrown out this time.
They returned home to where Ellie was waiting having moved some of the furniture and covered up some of the rooms in advance as well as having made up plates of sandwiches which the three returning members of the family chomped down hungrily.
Once they had eaten they all retreated upstairs where Jay turned on some loud obnoxious pop music and they broke out the paint. Once Jay's Nan's old room had become Ruth and Jay's new freshly painted bedroom they moved onto Leila's old room which was fast becoming River's dream bedroom.
They were all wearing old clothes that were fast becoming rather paint splattered. Ellie was looking casual in an old T-shirt of Jays and some old jogging bottoms, her scars clearly visible but there were no visible new ones. Ruth could stop herself from smiling supportively at the teen every time they made eye contact. She found it rather poignant that Ellie's scars were healing as the family itself healed.
They were halfway finished, Jay was still dancing to the music as he painted, Ellie had resorted to her mp3 player to save her from the cheesy pop, Ruth was watching Jay wearing a half amused but half horrified expression whilst little River was currently sporting a rather interesting selection of blue splodges all over face and arms her including a particularly large one on her cheek.
As the song finished Jay turned to see Ruth watching him closely. He popped his brush back into the tin and flicked his fingertip across her nose smiling cheekily.
"Oh your dead." Ruth said as she realised what he'd done, her nose was now a nice shade of purple she grabbed the nearest paint brush and flicked it. Hard.
A train of speckles of pink paint was now running down from the top of Jay's head to mid way down his chest.
His Jay's jaw dropped as Ruth smiled evilly and River stifled a giggle.
She didn't see it coming. He picked up the remained of the tin of paint and threw it towards her hitting her squarely in her chest dripping down his old t-shirt.
River decided this was a good time to join in picking up her own paint brush and flicking it madly, spraying little globs of paint all over Jay, All over Ruth and all over an unaware Ellie who was still listening to her mp3 player.
"What on earth…?" Ellie asked turning around as she removed her earphones to see what had hit her only to get a splatter of paint from Jay's paint blush across her face.
The painting quickly descended into chaos from that point on.
Purple, pink and blue paint was flying everywhere.
No one and nothing was safe.
Ellie was sporting rather fetching pink streaks in her hair.
Ruth looked like she was a painter's canvas decorative splotches covering her body.
River looked like a three year old who had been in the paint cupboard while their parents weren't watching.
Jay however was the worst off as all three girls seemed to have ganged up on him. He was now lying on the floor soaked from head toe in pink and purple paint River pointing a paint brush at his chest threateningly.
"I surrender!" He gasped between laughs as Ruth collapsed on the floor next to him breathing heavily.
"Me too." She said rolling over so her head was on his chest, the paint squelching between them.
"Me three." Ellie agreed joining them on the floor running her fingers through her hair.
River dropped the paint brush on the floor and plonked herself down on Jay's legs as they regained their breath and examined the damage.
"I like it!" River suddenly burst out examine the paint splattered walls.
Ruth had to admit they were actually quite artistic with splitting of colours everywhere.
"This was never going to be a good idea was it?" Ruth laughed
"Oh no never." Jay shook his head smiling
"Can we put handprints on the wall?" River asked hopefully waving her painty hand in Jay's face.
"Yes as long as its not my face where you put it." He said sticking out his tongue.
"Lets make a handprint picture above my bed!" River said excitedly "we can all sign it!"
"Ok then trouble what colour shall we use?" Jay asked as Ruth sat up allowing him to sit up too.
"Purple." River said excitedly producing a think silver pen from a draw. "then we can sign in silver pen!"
She walked over to the wall and wrote in big childish letters - My Family.
Jay jumped up and went first, Ellie joined him and Ruth watched from a distance and River did her handprint too before stepping up nervously.
She felt a lump rising in her throat. She hadn't ever really bean part of a family. Her own was nothing like a family should be but River, Jay and Ellie… she guessed this must be what having a real family was like. She smiled as she felt the paint squelch between her fingers as she added her hand print to the end of the row.
She had never been Happier.
-
It had been over a year since Ruth had first moved into Jay's house and they had become a couple. She had realised it rather suddenly on the off chance when she flicked back through her diary for no reason one morning.
She felt movement next her and looked down to see a sleepy Jay waking up.
She snapped the diary shut and shoved it back into his hiding place between her textbooks. She still wrote in it and it was still private. Sometimes it was nice to look back on how much Jay had changed her, for the good.
"Morning." She said in a rather brisk voice to him.
"What was that?" he asked curiously as he stretched
"What?" Ruth asked faking innocence
"What you just shoved in the draw?" he narrowed his eyes slightly
"Nothing." She blushed the Diary was private and always would be. She wrote it when he was asleep or at work, it contained way to many old secrets and memories not all showed her husband in the best light.
"What's with the secretiveness?" He asked poking her side causing her to squirm.
"Nothing!" Ruth snapped irritably as he reached a hand over and began to tickle her "Jaaaay!" She squealed like the innocent child she had never been
"Talk!" He said simply as he tickled her
"I was just… thinking.." She gasped "about… what was… going on this time last year! That… was my old diary…" She added
"You have a diary?" he asked leaning back looking satisfied that he had gotten the information out of her.
"I've got to keep track of important dates somehow Jay not all of us are as spontaneous as you!" Ruth rolled her eyes she didn't have to admit that she wrote down all her personal thoughts in the said diary too.
"No and not all of us are as boring as you." Jay stuck out his tongue before leaning down and kissing her on the lips. "I love waking up next to you." he added shyly
"Me too." Ruth agreed leaning in for a deeper kiss which Jay returned happily
"So Adam's party… is that a date in your diary?" he asked sticking his head back out the bathroom holding his toothbrush in his hand.
"Not yet." Ruth shrugged
"Aww come on Ruth we haven't been out in ages and Ellie is only around for another week so we wont have a baby sitter for River after that…" Jay protested
"Oh ok then." Ruth sighed as he did a victory dance, It could quite possibly be their last night of freedom so they should enjoy it.
"Great!" He beamed in between dance moves "Promise you wont regret it!"
"Oh you know I will." Ruth sighed digging through her sock draw
The next night Ruth found herself wearing a rather pretty little dress that Jay had treated her too, it was the exact same shade of blue as her eyes rather too low cut for Ruth's liking but Jay seemed to like it and it dropped down to just above her knees. She was also wearing a simply black pair of shoes and carrying a simple black clutch bag. They entered the club with a few of the slightly younger members of staff Ruth clinging to Jay's arm trying to pretend she wasn't feeling uncomfortable about this night out at all.
They hit the bar at to everyone's surprise Ruth was the one that suggested they did a few shots. Unknown to them her idea had been based solely on the fact she wished to get ridiculously drunk so that she wouldn't feel quite so uncomfortable, plus if everyone around her was drunk too that was always a bonus as they would remember less the next day.
Two shots of chocolate orange flavour corky's and two shots of black Sambuca later Ruth was happily hanging around Jay's neck as he sipped his beer feeling rather tipsy himself after partaking in the shot taking with his wife.
Soon they were several drinks in and on the dance floor, Dancing amongst the flashing lights. Jay spun her around. Ruth felt like she was floating. There was only her and Jay in the room, no one else, it was like a scene out of a movie. The lights, the music, her prince charming and wait was that a frog?
She jumped backwards trying to get away from the frog then burst out laughing as she realised it was only Jess in her green party dress.
Jay gave her a weird look so she grabbed his hand and pulled him close so they were dancing almost face to face. He wrapped his arms around her and gazed into her eyes his thoughts flickering from the memory of the night after they were in the club last when Ruth had gotten so drunk and he had slept in the arm chair in Leila's room with her to the thoughts of exactly how much he loved the girl in front of him.
He smiled and bent down capturing her lips in a passionate kiss which she returned.
They were oblivious to the other people around them, their colleagues and the other clubbers. They were just together than that's all that mattered, the kiss deepened and Ruth suddenly became aware of the eyes on them.
"Lets take this somewhere more private." She suggested in a whisper. Jay agreed and took her hand as they stumbled from the club giggling at the most random of things.
As they tumbled down the road her heel snapped and she almost fell to the ground but Jay caught her.
"Stupid shoes." She muttered irritably throwing them from her feet into a random bush.
"Looks like you need some superglue!" Jay laughed slightly before scooping her in his arms "But I guess that means I'm going to have to carry you home."
"I can walk barefoot!" Ruth protested drunkenly wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing his cheek.
"Nah I wont let my Cinderella walk back shoeless!" Jay said proudly as she nuzzled into his neck
He found them a taxi and somehow they made it back to the house where Jay insisted on carrying her inside before she fought her way out of his arms and scurried upstairs haphazardly giggling madly as he chased her.
They reached their room and Jay caught her by her top and spun her round to face him before wrapping his arms around her neck so their faces were only centimetres from each other.
"I think I love you a bit too much Mrs Faldren." Jay mumbled examining her icey blue eyes.
"Not as much as I love you." Ruth slurred forcing her lips onto his so violently that he was taken aback for a second. He smiled as she pulled back grinning cheekily.
He lent down and captured her lips in a more gently kiss running his fingers up her back gently before she grabbed the front of his shirt pulling him towards the bed where hey tumbled down in a tangle of arms and legs.