Chapter Fifteen

"Is Detective Inspector Jack Robinson available?"

"Yes, but he has… a visitor… so if you can wait, ma'am…"

Missis Chesterton easily determined Jack's visitor's identity by the constable's blushing and stammering over words. Intrigued beyond measure she stealthily moved to the slightly ajar door of Jack's office while the constable on duty turned away to answer the telephone. She peeked into the crack and instantly turned away blushing bright red. She was a twice married woman of forty, she could not be blushing after seeing someone locked in a passionate embrace. But it was so… powerful, lustful, as if they tried to consume each other.

"What are you doing here, Phryne?"

Rosie deemed it now safe to return to her… observations.

"I decided to bring you lunch. Mr. B complained to me that you are not eating properly."

"But in your condition-"

"Cec drove me here, he had a lot of practice with driving Alice around while she was pregnant. So he drove very slowly."

"Thank you for the food then."

"You better thank me for daring to leave house without any lipstick. It was a sacrifice I made to be able to kiss you at work without leaving any evidence. Smart, am I?"

"As always. But seriously, Phryne, you are due in mere weeks-"

"I missed you, cheri."

"I miss you too."

Rosie had to look away again not wanting to witness another passionate scene. What was going on? Was their marriage not one of convenience?

"I actually have a surprise for you, Phryne. I think, I have a perfect candidate for Mr. Butler's aid."

"Oh? Let us see. Seventeen, no family, arrested for a fight in front of the gambling den. Interesting… What was he doing there?"

"According to his words, he was trying to stop his friend from gambling away what little money he had."

"Loyal, dependable. I like him. I am going to run some errands and then we can visit the cells so Mr. Butler can access… Richard. Let us hope that he lives up to such powerful name."

"You understand that he will be released into my custody. If he to run, we will be in serious trouble with the authorities."

"He looks like a smart kid, it would be stupid to run, at least right away. What about his friend?"

"Stabbed in the fight. Did not make it."

"Poor boy. I will be back in a couple of hours. And… this piece of jewelry you catalogued as a brooch is actually a part of a tiara. According to the technique and design it is the work of Gilderoy and sons. They are all hush-hush about their clientele but I can… ask around, pretending I want a similar piece made."

Jack signed in defeat. There was no way the police officers could find out where the piece of jewelry came from. "I agree, but be very careful."

"Do not worry, Inspector, I was actually thinking to visit them anyway to order a present for Jane. Hopefully, they are not the perpetrators, I do not want for them to get out of business. Their craftsmanship is exquisite. Now eat your lunch, Jack, I will report to you in a couple of hours. Just like old times, hm?"

"But have Cecil with you at all times."

"Of course, cheri. Now before I do my make-up as any proper woman should…"

Rosie watched in mild shock as her straight laced husband allowed to be pulled by the tie in yet another kiss which fortunately for the accident spectator was not a long one. Rosie saw as the current Missis Robinson whispered something to Jack and his glance darted right at the door where Rosie was standing. She was clearly found out, but the expected reaction of shame or outrage did not follow. Instead Jack's lips formed a rather naughty smirk.

Phryne applied her trademark red lipstick and glided through the door giving no indication of knowing that Rosie was standing right to the side of it. At least she was spared that embarrassment. She knocked on the door unsure if that was the right cause of action, but good upbringing could not be forgotten even in such unusual moments.

"Come in."

"Good day, Jack."

"To you too, Rosie, have a seat. Is this a social call or you are here to report a crime?"

"I… wanted to visit you, but I did not know… how to reach you out of work."

"The traditional way, you could have telephoned or left your card for me to call you back. You know very well where I live."

"I most certainly do…"

"Want to share lunch? Phryne always makes the staff pack too much for one person."

"I do not want to intrude."

"You already did."

There it was… the scorn for watching him and his… wife. But it disappeared almost instantly replaced by a… mischievous impression. Rosie looked closely at the man sitting in front of her. He looked completely different from the time she saw him last and it was not the brown suit instead of a gray one or the brown tie with splashes of green; it was the relaxed shoulders, the posture of a… content man? And the smile, the constant smile of a happy person.

"You have never kissed me like that."

"You never asked, Rosie."

While Rosie contemplated any answer to the rather outrageous remark (how can a woman ask anything of the sort?), Jack helped himself to the lunch basket. He was talking out the food when Rosie noticed something even more out of ordinary than a new suit.

"Are you wearing a ring, Jack?!"

"Phryne does not like when women get confused about my marital status."

"So she put you on a leach. She, of all people…"

"She is wearing my ring and I am wearing hers, there is nothing more to it."

"I never stopped caring for you, Jack."

"Me too, Rosie. Part of my heart will always belong to you, but only part. Everything else belongs now to my new family."

"So you are happy?"

"Yes, Rosie, I am very happy."

"But how can you have happiness without love?"

"What do you want to say by that, Rosie?"

"She does not love you. She said as much herself."

"A lot changed since then. Phryne did admit that it was your words that made her realize that her complicated feelings in my regard were not so complicated at all. For that you have my gratitude. Are you happy in your marriage?"

"All things considered. I wonder… when is the baby due?"

"Three weeks."

"And she is driving around?!"

"That is Phryne for you. But everything will be alright. Despite her behavior she has a very rational mind and will not do anything to compromise her health."

"You really want this child, do you not, Jack?"

"Very much so."

"My husband and I… are thinking about adopting. A ten-year-old or older."

"Good for you. Is that what you wanted to talk about? I doubt you will have any problems with Welfare, you have a very stable environment in your house."

"I wanted to ask you… if you consider me to be a bad mother… after… you know."

"No, Rosie, I do not. I do regret that our marriage was ruined that way, but fear is a powerful enemy, the fiercest of them all. Neither me nor Phryne know how to be a parent to a small child, but we will try to our best abilities. And you should try to."

Upon leaving Rosie kept thinking that she really did not fight for Jack hard enough.

…..

The raid was brutal. The Irish mob, that decided to make a name for themselves on the new territory, had nothing to lose. Machine guns were repeatedly fired at the police and civilians, two of Jack's men were wounded. A lot of civilians hurt or dead. Jack dragged himself to the station, dreading the night or actually the day that would follow. The paperwork will take his last strength.

"Detective Inspector?"

"Yes, Constable." Jack shook his head at that young constable's shocked look. He must have looked a fright with dust and dry blood on his clothes.

"Your wife, sir…"

"Yes?"

"She called…"

"And?"

"The baby, sir…"

"What? What about the baby?!"

"It is… coming, sir!" the frightened constable blurted out.

"When was that?!"

"Three hours ago."

Jack turned on his heels and stormed to the exit against the crowd of mobsters brought to the cells. "Collins, you are in charge! Am I not available, even for the Commissioner!"

….

Phryne woke up to see a mop of dark brown hair at her bed. The owner of the hair and the fedora clutched in his hand was muttering something, words she had not heard in a long time.

"Jack? Jack, are you… praying?"

Jack was beside her in instant, the hat landing somewhere on the floor not that any of them cared. "Oh, cheri, how do you feel?"

"Still pregnant as you see. The contractions seized for the time being. So were you praying?"

"Yes, when a man cannot do anything to help, his only choice is to pray. I asked God to keep you and the child safe."

"We need to end this situation of me knowing nothing about you, Jack. I do not even know what church you go to!"

"I am not an avid churchgoer, but we would go to the same church."

"Does that mean we are going to christen the child in a Protestant church?"

"I suppose so, but then the Collinses cannot be godparents since they are Catholic. Have you chosen the names?"

"It will be rather difficult to find anybody else. Frankly, I do not trust anybody with my child besides Mac and my staff. But we can choose the godparents later, right?"

"Of course."

"And the names… Adele Katherine Robinson and William Jonathan Robinson. What do you think?"

"Katherine?"

"Oh stop smirking! I find it a very strong name for a woman, but we are not going to call her Kat!"

"By no means. But why Jonathan?"

"It is a very strong name, just like his father."

"Thank you, Phryne. …I never thought we would reach this point."

"Of course, we would. It is like it goes for everyone. First, you marry then you have kids… All very trivial."

"Trivial? You?"

"Yes, Jack, me. I do have the same feelings as everybody else. I asked Mac to allow me to watch women giving birth, to prepare myself mentally… And I am scared, cheri. Not of the pain, I can live through that. But things happen… I got my affairs in order-"

"Do not even think of such things, Phryne! We battled through too much for everything to end like this!"

"I know, Jack, and I hope that everything will be fine, but if… if I lose the baby… I told Rosie that I would neither leave nor divorce you, but what I did not tell her is that if I am fit to, I will try again and give you the child you so desperately want."

"Phryne, please… Do not say such things… And you do not have to-"

"Stop saying that I do not have to. I do everything because I want to do it. I do not want to fear, but I do. Please, Jack, tell me something that will make the fear go away."

"Hm… there have been talks about me getting a promotion if the today's raid ends in convictions."

"Oh, that is wonderful, Jack! This is long overdue! Ouch!"

"Lay down, cheri, you certainly should not move like that right now."

"But I want to congratulate you!"

"You can certainly do it later. There are several conditions to that promotion. The placement is in Stawell."

"Hm, never been there. So the final decision will be passed on after the trial? How long will it take? Your boss does understand that the newborn cannot be transported for several months."

"You… want us to move?"

"I am your wife, cheri. Do you think, I will protest you accepting a promotion that you righteously deserve?"

"But it is a provincial town, there is no high society there. You want to leave all your friends and Missis Collins?"

"I was going to let Dot go if she gets pregnant and that will be rather soon, I hope. I was planning to give her some work as a seamstress (she will need the extra money), and the distance will not be an obstacle to that. As for my friends… they can always come visit, and if they do not, then they are not my friends. Believe me, Jack, if there is no society in that town, I will create one."

"Of that I am certain. But it is a rather small town, it is doubtful there will be any intriguing crimes, moreover I will not be in the field much as a Superintendent."

"That means that you will be out of harm's way. That also means that you will be understaffed and can use my expertise."

"So you approve then?"

"Of course, but you did not need my approval."

"As you keep saying, you are my wife, any good husband knows that he needs his wife's agreement to big changes in their life."

"Um, cheri, be a good husband and call Mac. My water just broke."

Jack did go and called for Doctor Macmillan who rushed into the room with Missis Collins and Jane in tow. Prudence Stanley, despite everything happening in her house, decided to not participate and Jack knew why. She was too emotionally invested. He could imagine her sitting in her chambers, probably praying for safe delivery.

Jack sat down on a comfy coach in the next room to Phryne's, but it did not feel comfortable at all. He could not help but recall the last time he was waiting like that. Remembered Rosie's screams that reverberated in his heart. But Phryne was not Rosie. She must be cursing Heaven and Hell with the vilest words imaginable… and unimaginable. She is also much older than Rosie when she was in labor with their child. Jack swore to himself that if, God forbid, something did happen to Phryne, he would not give the child up. It would be a war with Welfare, but the war worth fighting.

Doctor Macmillan exited a room with an exasperated expression and Jack's heart sank which was clearly mirrored on his paled face.

"Do not worry, Inspector. Everything is going as it is supposed to be. No complications are expected. Phryne is just… let us say, getting on my nerves. We did not talk much out of the morgue, but I wanted to thank you for what you did for Phryne. She needed this. She needed you in her life. The year before the marriage she seemed to be on some self-destruction pattern and it was not just her usual 'going with the flow, not care where it takes me'. She was all over the place. Dot kept her anchored, but with her marriage to Collins, everything seemed to be falling apart. So thank you."

"Glad to be of service."

"Phryne told me of your tactical maneuvers. Never thought I would see Phryne Fisher as a jealous harpy. Not a particularly attractive sight, so do not provoke her in the future."

"I have no reason to."

Doctor Macmillan returned to her matron duties as if nothing if importance has been said, but Jack recognized the warning for what it was. His answer was truthful, with woman like Phryne in his life no man would wish to stray. Waking by her side every morning, hearing her whispers of love… It was Jack's personal Heaven.

But for the next six hours he had to descend into his personal Hell, listening to Phryne's curses and barks and roars, unable to ease her pain or help in any way. But after six hours he heard another cry, a strong cry of a newborn. The most beautiful sound Jack heard in his life.

There were sounds of shuffling of people, water splashing, women's whispering while Jack waited by the door with baited breath, thinking over and over again 'Phryne is fine. Phryne must be fine.'

The doors were finally opened by tired but beaming Jane. "You have a daughter."

Jack moved into the room as if in a trance. On a rational plane he did understand that the result of Phryne's giving birth was him becoming a father, a father to a girl as it turned out, but his emotions were still behind his brain. He was a father! What a glorious feeling! He turned to the right to see Doctor Macmillan expertly washing and wrapping the still crying infant. He moved towards the cries as if spellbound, but turned around on his heels, hearing the barest of whispers from the bed.

"Jack?"

"Cheri, how do you feel?"

"Returning to our previous conversation, not pregnant anymore," Phryne answered, attempting to sit up, but giving up on the idea because of the remnants of the pain.

"In good humor, I see," Jack remarked, squeezing her hand and placing a kiss on the back of it.

Jane and Dot decided to make themselves scarce, seeing as the conversation was taking an intimate nature.

"Want to meet the new member of the family?" Mac announced, taking Jack and Phryne out of the soul searching gaze.

"She looks exactly like you, Phryne."

"How can you possibly tell?!"

Phryne looked at the baby. She was indeed red, small and wrinkly, but she was the result of nine months of pregnancy and six hours of excruciating pain. The life experience that could be rivaled by length and physical and emotional pain only by her time as the nurse during the war. This baby that she created and brought into this world, the greatest miracle of life, miracle in her life.

"Welcome home, Adele Katherine Robinson."