FOURTY TWO - ABANDONED
Jack woke up first the following morning, hoping it had all been a bad dream and that Rose would be beside him, but she wasn't. It was Teddy next to him, he'd been tossing and turning all night, clearly upset about Rose, so Jack left him to sleep whilst he picked up Eliza who was lay in her cot babbling away to herself "morning sweetheart" he whispered as he lifted her up. Eliza just grinned at him and tried to grab his face "hey, don't do that" he chuckled lightly "mamama?" Eliza looked at Jack, more or less asking where Rose was- it was clear she had also picked up on Rose's absence. Jack sighed, he should be over the moon, Eliza had just said her first word, but it was 'mama', she was asking for Rose, except he didn't know where Rose was… "mama should be back soon darling" Jack sighed and kissed her forehead, Eliza just nestled her head on to Jack's chest and rested it under her chin. "Where are you Rose?" Jack sighed and whispered to himself. Sitting there in silence for a while as Eliza dozed on his chest as he ran his hand through her dark hair and Teddy lay beside him, still fast asleep.
—
Half an hour passed and Teddy began to wake up "morning pal" Jack said and moved the hair out of Teddy's eyes "morning daddy" he rubbed his eyes "is mummy back?" he asked hopefully "no darling, I'm sorry" Teddy sighed and dropped the subject "morning Liza" he looked at Eliza, who was now awake and sat on Jack's knee, but he didn't smile- he was too sad. That didn't stop Eliza from squealing with excitement and grinning at Teddy, trying to get to him. Jack put Eliza down on the bed, in between him and Teddy. She moved to Teddy quickly and grabbed his face "No Liza!" He shouted and pushed her off him to which Eliza began to cry. Jack sighed, he didn't have the energy for this. He picked up Eliza "no Eliza, you can't grab Teddy, it's not nice!" Jack said, he knew she wouldn't understand, but he wanted to show Teddy that he would treat them the same. "Look Ted, I know you're sad and miss Mummy, but please don't push your sister, she could have fallen off the bed" "she shouldn't have hurt me then" Teddy replied, clearly frustrated. Jack could see his point, but still, he couldn't let him push her and not say something to him. Jack dropped it, not wanting the situation to escalate.
"What do you want to do today?" Jack asked "I want to go home" "it's not time to go home yet darling. We can't use our train ticket until Friday" Teddy shrugged "don't know then" "would you like to go on the bikes again?" "Don't mind" "the fair ground?" "Don't mind" every suggestion Jack put forward, Teddy would just reply with "Don't mind", so he gave up asking. "Come on, let's get you both ready then go for a walk" Jack said and lifted Eliza off the bed, Teddy following.
—
After they'd gotten ready, they went down to the dining room for breakfast. They ate mostly in silence, neither Jack nor Teddy felt like talking. Once they'd finished eating, they headed out for a walk. Jack was pushing the pram as they walked down the sea front "my legs hurt" Teddy complained to which Jack sighed "would you like to go back to the hotel?" Jack asked, but Teddy just shrugged, so they carried on walking. Around 20 minutes later, Teddy spoke up again "my head hurts" Jack realised that Teddy was complaining about everything he could, he was assuming it was because he missed Rose. "Right, let's go back to the hotel, you can play with some of your birthday presents" Jack sighed and turned the pram round so they were walking in the direction of the hotel.
—
They arrived back at the hotel and Jack got Eliza out of her pram as Teddy sat on his bed with his arms folded "why don't you play with some of your birthday presents" "I don't like my birthday presents" Teddy said "well you did the other day" Jack sighed and rolled his eyes "Teddy, please just stop being rude". Teddy had reached his limit "I WANT MY MUMMY!" He shouted "WELL SHES NOT HERE! SHES GONE! SO STOP BEING RUDE TO ME!" Jack shouted back, immediately regretting it. Teddy looked as though he was going to cry- partly because of Rose, and partly because Jack had shouted. He stood up, not saying anything and went in to the bathroom and locked the door. The shouting had made Eliza jump, so she was also crying. Jack put his head in his hands, also close to crying but picked Eliza up and held her close "I'm sorry darling" he kissed her head then walked over to the bathroom, knocking on the door "Ted, open the door please" Jack said in a calm tone "no! Go away!" Teddy replied "Teddy, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it… please open the door" "no!" Teddy snapped through the door. Jack just sighed, there was no use in arguing with him "OK, well me and Eliza will be out here when you decide to come out"
Jack sat Eliza on the floor as passed her a doll. She played with it as he sat on the end of the bed just watching her. A few moments later the bathroom door opened. Jack looked up to see Teddy stood there, bright red eyes, it was obvious he'd been crying. Jack just held open his arms "come here" Teddy walked over to Jack and leaned in to his chest as Jack lifted him on to his knee "has mummy gone to heaven, daddy?" He asked "What?! No darling!" Jack said, surprised "but when other mummy left, it was because she had gone to heaven" it was then Jack realised, if Rose didn't come back, Teddy would have lost 2 mum's in the space of less than a year. His heart broke for Teddy "oh Teddy" he held him close and kissed his head and cursed himself, 'I should never have let him call her mum' he thought to himself. "I'm so sorry" Jack said "why?" Teddy looked up at him "did she go away because I was mean to Eliza the other day?" "No darling. It was nothing you did… you're perfect. Mummy didn't leave because of you, do you understand?" Jack said in a firm tone, wanting Teddy to know that Rose's actions had nothing to do with him "hey, you just said Eliza's name properly!" Jack smiled as Teddy to which he nodded.
"How many days til we go home?" Teddy asked "2 more sleeps, we go home early Friday morning" Jack gave him a soft smile "do you think Mummy went home? Maybe she will be there when we get home?" "Yeah… maybe… but don't get your hopes up, OK? I don't want you to be disappointed" to which Teddy nodded "it's tea time, should we go and get some food?" "Yes please" Teddy said and jumped off the bed "I'm sorry for being naughty, Daddy" he looked up at Jack, a guilty look on his face "you weren't naughty, you were sad, which is OK… I'm sorry for shouting" Jack kissed his head before they headed out for dinner before returning and doing their bedtime routine.