EIGHT - EXPLANATIONS
Jack and Rose had woken up early and were downstairs in the kitchen, Rose reading a book, Jack reading the paper as they both drank their coffee's. They suddenly heard the sound of small footsteps on the landing "one of the twins?" Rose looked up at Jack "I'll go see"
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Jack walked upstairs to find the twins stood on the landing, clearly not sure where they should be or wondering if they'd get in to trouble if they were to go downstairs "hey you two" Jack said quietly, not wanting to wake Grace and he smiled at them. "You coming downstairs?" He asked them and they nodded in response, Jack looked at which direction the twins had come from, and it was obvious they'd come from Grace's room. "OK" he smiled again and held out his arms. They walked over to him, timidly, but they laughed as he lifted them in to his arms and carried them downstairs "where did you two sleep last night?" He asked "in Grace's room…" Harry said worriedly "are we in trouble?" Poppy asked frightened "what? No? Of course you're not" Jack shook his head and carried them in to the kitchen to Rose "look who's awake!" "Good morning!" She smiled at the twins "did you sleep good?" They nodded as Jack put them both down "what would you like for breakfast?" "Can I have toast please?" Harry asked politely "please can I too?" Rose smiled at them gently, it was the first time they'd told her what they'd like to eat without a terrified look on her face "of course you can" she stroked both their cheeks.
They sat at the table as the twins ate breakfast "would you like to go to the park today?" Jack asked them "yes please" they said in unison "with Grace?" Harry looked at Jack "well, Grace is still asleep. So what do you say we go, and then when Grace has woken up, her and Rose can come and meet us?" Harry nodded slowly "OK…" Rose was eager to get the twins out of the house before Grace woke up, so she couldn't use them as a distraction, and so the two of them got them ready quickly. "Poppy, let me tie your hair up before you go with Jack" Rose said, holding a brush, but Poppy shook her quickly, looking terrified "no, I like it down…" Rose was confused, she'd seen Grace tie her hair up the night before but the bobble had clearly fallen out since then "OK… well let me brush it" "can I brush it myself?" She looked up at Rose, obviously still worried "if you'd like" she passed her the brush and watched as Poppy brushed it quickly "right, let's go" Jack smiled to them and held out his hands. They took them and left for the park.
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Grace woke up a while later. She noticed the twins weren't beside her but assumed they'd gone downstairs already, as they did yesterday. She went to the bathroom and brushed her teeth before going downstairs. She noted the silence and saw Rose in the living room as she went past "morning" Rose smiled "where's Poppy and Harry?" Grace said, not even acknowledging Rose's greeting "Jack's taken them to the park… I wanted to talk to you" "about what?" She replied confused "sit down" "OK…" she said confused, and sat on the opposite end of the sofa to Rose, she began to twist the fabric of her pyjamas, as though she was nervous.
"Grace, I need to know… why do you never eat? What is it about the twins and you that you won't let me or Jack look after you and be there for the 3 of you?" "There isn't a reason" she shrugged "see, I don't believe you… you look after Harry and Poppy every minute of everyday but you don't look after yourself… and you won't let us help either" "I don't need help" Grace shrugged again "you're 13, Grace. It shouldn't be on you to look after them constantly" Rose said "I've done it since I was 10… since my Dad went off to the war, so it's no different doing it here" Grace looked at Rose nervously "you've been taking care of Harry and Poppy for 3 years… what about your Mum? Where was she?" Rose frowned, confused "can we talk about something else please?" Grace said, still playing with the sleeve of her pyjamas "no" Rose said firmly, she felt bad for pressing Grace, but she needed to know what was going on and what was causing her behaviour "where was your Mum, Grace?" Rose repeated to which she sighed "she was there" "then why were you taking care of the twins?" "Because she didn't want to… and I didn't want her to either" she finally looked up at Rose "but why?" Rose said, still clearly confused "she's an awful Mum, Rose. She doesn't care about us, she doesn't love us. She absolutely terrifies the twins, always shouting and throwing stuff when she's angry… that's why the twins were so scared when I dropped the glass the other day… She scared them every single day… so they began to rely on me, which is OK, I'm their big sister after all" she looked at Rose, biting her lip "Grace… did she ever hurt you? Physically?" "She never hit the twins or anything… she grabbed me a few times, but it wasn't that bad. It was the shouting more than anything. She'd go a tiny bit easier on me if I did house work" she saw the horror in Rose's eyes "that's why you insisted on washing your plate the other day?" Rose asked, thinking back to the plate incident right before the glass smashed. Grace nodded in response and continued "Dad used to look after us, he never hurt us. Before he was called to the war, he was planning to run away with us, but life had other ideas I guess" she forced a small smile "oh Grace" Rose looked at her sympathetically. "We only want to help you… all of you… we care about you" she said as she reached over and rubbed her hand "please let us" Grace didn't say anything, she just looked up at Rose, it was clear Rose was being genuine.
They sat in silence for a few moments. "Grace, your Dad? Is he-" "yeah" Grace replied quickly, knowing what Rose was about to ask "he died last year. I'm sure you can imagine what it was like for the twins to hear that from our ever so sympathetic mother" Grace joked, but no emotion on her face "I'm so sorry darl-" Rose stopped herself from calling Grace darling again "you can call me that" she laughed ever so slightly "I didn't want you too because I didn't know if I liked you… but I do now" Rose also laughed a little "glad to hear it" they sat in silence again before Rose spoke up, it was her turn to be nervous "what about your eating? Why do you never eat?" "Mum used to say we didn't have enough food for the 3 of us to eat… so I always just gave Poppy and Harry mine… there was enough foods in the cupboards… she just didn't like me enough to let me eat" she chuckled, trying to make light of the situation "that's why you don't eat? So Poppy and Harry get more food?" She nodded "please, please, never worry about that Grace. Me and Jack will ALWAYS make sure the 3 of you eat, do you understand?" She said, emphasising the 'always' Grace nodded slowly, not convinced, Rose saw the look on her face "I promise" she tried to reassure her "thank you…" Grace said, the tiniest smile on her face.
"Grace, I went to tie Poppy's hair up this morning, but she wouldn't let me… do you know why?" "Yeah, Mum used to smack the top of her head with the hairbrush if she squirmed as she did her hair, she thought it would get her to keep still, so now she won't let anyone other than me do it" "oh sweetheart… I don't know what to say" "there's nothing you can say… I'll try and tell her that you won't hurt her with the brush, but I don't know if she'll listen" Grace shrugged and Rose nodded "yes please…" "now can we talk about something else, please?" Grace looked at her, clearly drained "only if you promise me something…" "OK?" "You come to me if you're struggling, or if you want to talk and you let me and Jack help you, and let us help with the twins. Be their big sister, Grace. You don't need to be their parent anymore" Grace didn't say anything, just threw her arms around Rose, clearly reassured. Rose was surprised but hugged her back "it'll be alright, I promise" Rose nodded.
Grace sat up, wiping her eyes "now, would you like to go and see Harry and Poppy at the park?" Rose asked "will they be OK with Jack?" Grace asked "more than OK" she smiled and nodded "then no, can I stay here please?" "Course, please let me make you something to eat though, anything at all…" Rose almost begged "are you sure there's enough? Will Harry and Poppy still be able to eat later?" Grace asked concerned "I promise" she nodded "could I have some eggs then please?" "Yes" Rose smiled and rubbed Grace's hand, standing up. "Can I come and talk to you whilst you make them?" Grace asked, watching as Rose headed for the door "I'd love that…" Grace smiled gently and followed Rose to the kitchen.