THIRTEEN - MUM?

I'm going to have Jack's in-laws arrive in a few chapters, but in the meantime, if anyone has any ideas or suggestions of what you'd like to happen before then, please comment & I'll see what I can come up with :) x

As always, thank you for the reviews & lovely comments x

Mid October 1920

Things were more or less normal in the Dawson household; Teddy and Eliza still worshiped one another, Teddy would still get Rose to read Peter Rabbit to him at every opportunity, Eliza was now 3 months old, almost a textbook baby, hitting every milestone when she should, she was a Daddy's girl, but clearly loved Rose too. Jack was still on paternity leave and with Rose around, he could spend more time on his art. Teddy had also managed to sleep in his own room most nights, too. The four of them would go on days out together and Maggie would have the children every so often so Jack and Rose could spend some time just the two of them, and they were still sleeping in separate bedrooms, not showing affection in front of Teddy too often.

Like most evenings, Jack and Rose were cuddled up on the sofa talking but Eliza began to cry "that's the 3rd time in an hour!" Jack groaned, pulling himself off the sofa "All she wants is to be held!" "She might be coming down with something… let's just go and sit with her, see if she settles with someone in the room" Jack nodded and the 2 of them went upstairs, closing the bedroom door so to not wake Teddy "listen, you" Jack touched Eliza's nose with his finger as he held her "you're going to wake your big brother up! and you're interrupting the only bit of peace me and your-" Jack stopped himself "-only bit of of peace me and Rose get!" He smirked, grateful he managed to stop himself from referring to Rose as her Mum. It wasn't that Jack didn't want her to be their mum figure - she more or less already was - but he didn't want to freak Rose out by saying it out loud. It was like Eliza knew she shouldn't be awake and giggled quietly, Rose laughed at her and Jack just smirked "that isn't going to sleep Eliza Dawson!" "She isn't going to sleep because you keep talking to her!" Rose laughed "true" he smiled and climbed on to the bed with her, holding her close as she held his finger in her hand, Rose stroking her cheek. Eliza and Rose both fell asleep, Jack put Eliza back in her crib, knowing that soon she would need to go in to her own room. He turned to see Rose asleep. He decided to lay with her for 5 minutes before he would wake her and carry her to her room, thinking he wouldn't fall asleep.

—

3am

"Rose? Rose?" Teddy whispered, nudging her. Rose woke up, confused as to why she was in Jack's room but sat up hearing Teddy "hey, you OK?" "I had a bad dream" he said quietly "come on" she got off the bed "I'll lay with you til you fall asleep" she held out her hand, he took it and they walked back to his bedroom. She pulled the covers back and helped him in to bed before laying with him.

"Rose?" He looked up at her "yes?" "Why were you in Daddy's bed?" She froze, hoping that he'd been too sleepy to really notice or think anything of it "are you my Mummy now?" She somehow froze more "no darling, your mummy is in heaven, remember?" Teddy nodded "yes… but mummy used to sleep in Daddy's bed with him… I wish you were my Mummy, all the other boys and girls have mummy's and I don't have one" he looked up at her, her heart broke for him but she didn't know what to say. She wanted more than anything to be his and Eliza's Mum, but couldn't say anything more without talking to Jack "come on, try and get some sleep" she whispered and stroked his hair, after a few minutes, they both fell asleep.

—

Jack woke up in the morning thanks to Eliza's cries, he was confused as to why he hadn't heard Teddy yet. Teddy always woke him up in some way. He was sure Rose fell asleep next to him too, so where was she?

"Come on you" he lifted Eliza up "let's go and check where your brother is" he said confused. He opened Teddy's bedroom door to find him and Rose asleep in his bed, Rose's arm over him protectively. He smiled to himself, confused as to how Rose had ended up there, but watching them so content made heart burst "let's go make them some breakfast" Jack kissed Eliza's head and crept downstairs with her, not wanting to wake Teddy or Rose.

The smell of strong coffee woke Rose up around 10 minutes later. Once again, she was confused about where she was, but once she saw the dressing gown hung up with 'Teddy' embroidered on it, it made sense. She looked to her left and saw Teddy still fast asleep. She got out of bed and went downstairs quietly.

"Morning" she smiled gently and kissed Jack as she walked in, "and good morning" she grinned at Eliza who was in her rocker, she stroked her cheek and watched as Eliza smiled up at her.

"Hi" Jack smiled and handed her a cup of coffee "thank you" she smiled and sat at the breakfast bar. "How did you end up in Teddy's bed last night?" "He came in to find you, he'd had a nightmare" she smiled slightly "I went to put him back in bed and ended up falling asleep too" she half laughed "thank you" he smiled. "Jack… he erm- he asked if I was his Mum now" "what? Why did he ask that?" Jack said confused, he wasn't surprised, but confused by what prompted the question "he asked because he saw us asleep on your bed together. He said that that's where Elizabeth slept, so put 2 and 2 together and got 5 I guess. He said everyone else has a mum and dad but he doesn't… it broke my heart" he blinked a few times then sat beside her "do you want to be their mum, Rose?" "What?" She frowned confused "would you like it if they called you mum?" "Well of course I would Jack, I love them more than anything, but they have a Mum, and I can't disrespect her like that" she half smiled. "They need a living Mum, Rose. Elizabeth will always be talked about, she will never be forgotten and they will always be reminded that they have 2 mums. I'm not pressuring you in to doing anything, and if you want to stay as being called Rose-"

"No" she cut him off "I want to be their mum… if they'll have me" she half laughed "they'd be lucky to" he smiled and kissed her head.

"We'll talk to Ted about it when he wakes up" he said and she nodded. A few minutes later Teddy woke up "Daddy!" He shouted. "Back in a minute" Jack laughed and went upstairs to get Teddy whilst Rose sat playing with Eliza.