Jack and Rose walked through the park, watching Tilly skip ahead.
"You're very quiet?" Rose said to Jack "sorry…" he replied "are you OK?" she raised an eyebrow "yeah, just thinking" he nodded "about?" "us…" he sighed "why?" "I've missed you so much, Rose, and you're actually here. I just want to be with you all the time. Morning, noon and night. What's happening between us? Is there hope? Or should I quit whilst I'm ahead?" he chuckled awkwardly. "I feel the same way, Jack, I really do. But I have to consider Tilly in all of this. She's just seen me leave her Father. Her little head is all over the place, even if she is trying to hide it. I don't want to confuse her even more, not until I know she's ready. I love you Jack, I've loved you since the night you stopped me from killing myself, and I want to be with you… more than anything. But it's not just about me, it's about Tilly and Sophia too" she said sadly and got a nod in response "I understand… and for now we could just spend time together? All of us… they can get to know me better so it's not too much of a shock if and when we do eventually get together?" he asked "I'd like that" she nodded "and when Sophia is a little older and Tilly is more settled here… and it's less likely that Cal will show up… we can start going out just the two of us every so often… I'm sure Lucy wouldn't mind having the girls every now and then" she smiled gently. "Wonderful" he said and kissed her cheek before being interrupted "mummy! I found a blackberry bush!" Tilly shouted from ahead "oh wow!" Rose grinned as she caught up with her. "Can I pick some?" She asked "of course you can, but remember, you don't eat them until we've washed them" "OK" Tilly nodded.
"When can we wash them?" She said immediately, making Rose laugh "when we get back to the inn later" she said as she stroked her cheek. "That's so long away" she groaned "I know, when we've finished our walk, we can go back to my house and bake a pie with them, how does that sound?" Jack smiled to her "I don't know how to bake…" Tilly said, almost scared "That's OK, I can teach you" he smiled at her "really? thank you" she smiled and hugged him "you're welcome" he hugged her back "can we go and bake it now?" She asked eagerly. Jack looked at Rose, unsure if she wanted to finish the walk "yes, go on then" she laughed "thank you!" Tilly grinned.
—
Jack taught Tilly all she needed to know about making pies, and Tilly had a blast learning. Rose watched on as she sat feeding Sophia, smiling to herself as she saw how good Jack was with her daughter. Maybe it wouldn't be so much of a hard transition for Tilly to see Jack and Rose together after all…
—
It was around 6pm and Jack made the 3 of them dinner before they had some of the pie for dessert "well Tilly, this is the best pie I have ever tasted!" Rose grinned "I have to agree" Jack nodded in response. "Thank you" Tilly smiled gently "mummy, I'm really tired" she yawned and rubbed her eyes "we'll go home after we've eaten sweetheart" Rose said as she ate "home? to Father and Grandmother?" Tilly said, looking terrified "what? no… no… sorry baby, just back to the inn" she nodded "oh… OK" her face relaxed a little. "I'm finished" Tilly said "I know, why don't you go and colour in the living room?" Jack said to Tilly, wanting to talk to Rose alone "OK" Tilly said as she left the room with the pencils and paper that Jack had passed her.
Jack took his seat back at the table opposite Rose once she had left "she really was terrified of him, huh?" Jack said, referring to Tilly and Cal "more than… he was never a Dad to her, Jack. He wanted a son and was disappointed he got a daughter. He didn't hold her when she was a baby, he's never spent more than 5 minutes with her at a time, he would only ever call her Matilda, and schold anyone who called her Tilly - including myself… her seeing me get hit by him was the final straw" Rose said sadly, wishing Tilly had gotten the Dad she deserved "did he ever hit her?" Jack asked cautiously "no… and he 'only' ever shouted at her twice, but it petrified her, I think that's when she became really scared of him. Before that, he was just some man that lived at home that she had to call Father, nothing more" she shrugged "what did he shout at her for? … sorry, we don't have to talk about this if you don't want to" he said feeling guilty "No, no it's fine. The first time was the Christmas before she turned 4. She accidentally walked in to the Christmas tree and a bauble fell off, it smashed. He was furious… I wouldn't mind, but it wasn't like it had any sentimental value to it" she rolled her eyes. "The second time was when he overheard her ask for me over her Nanny, he told her that I was her Mother and it wasn't my place to take care of her, which I'll never understand" she shrugged "thankfully, I was close by on both occasions and managed to step in quite quickly, but to her he just became 'the scary man'" she sighed.
"Do you think she worries about him coming back?" Jack asked "I don't think so, I don't think it's entered her head… she was just confused when we got here. I feel awful that she has to keep up with my lie" Rose said, a guilty look on her face "what lie?" He frowned "well, I knew no one would let us stay if they knew we were runaways… and if they knew who we were… so I had to lie… I told Mary my husband was dead and that our surname was Smith. I feel awful, because Mary and Lucy have never been anything but kind to me and the girls, and here I am… lying through my teeth and making Tilly go along with it" she sighed "you did what you had to do to protect yourself and the girls" Jack tried to reassure her, getting a slight nod in return "but as for Tilly worrying he'll come back, I don't think she is… that's just me" she chuckled awkwardly, trying to lighten the mood. "You think he'd come and look for you?" He asked "I honestly don't know… I don't know how he could explain to others where me and the girls went" she shrugged "but I guess there's no point in worrying about it until it happens" she forced a smile.
There was a few moments of silence before Jack spoke up "Rose, I think you should stay here" he said firmly "what?" She frowned "I know we can't be together yet, and that's fine, but I wont have him harm you if by some slim chance he does find you. You have no one to protect you and the girls at the inn… I have the room here, it's a pretty big house, and I get kinda lonely sometimes. Everything is better when you 3 are here. And I'm not always here, I work Monday to Friday so you'd have your space to do what you want, I just think you're safer here than at the inn, and I'd never forgive myself if something happened to any of you" he said "Jack… I can't… I don't have a job to pay rent or bills… I have no one to look after the girls if I did go and get a job, I'm so grateful for the offer, truly, but it's just not practical" she smiled weakly "I don't expect you to pay rent or contribute to bills, Rose?" He frowned, confused "not to blow my own trumpet, but I make a decent wage now…" he smirked and winked "I can afford to have you here" he nodded "and let's face it, the girls are the safest when they're with you, so you don't need to get a job… Please Rose, let me help you" he said as he placed his hand over hers "are you sure?" she asked awkwardly "more than…" he nodded "thank you…" she smiled gratefully.
"Mummy?" Tilly said, rubbing her eyes as she came back in to the kitchen "can we go back now? I want to go to sleep" she looked at Rose sadly. "We're going to stay here from now on baby" Rose bent down to Tilly's level, looking at her as she tried to figure out what Tilly was thinking "with Jack?" She asked "yes sweetheart… is that OK?" She got a small nod from Tilly in response.
"Good…" she said, standing up and looking at Jack "I need to go back to the inn to collect our stuff, Tilly doesn't have pyjamas with her here. Would you mind watching them for 10 minutes whilst I run back please?" She asked Jack "would you not like us to come with you?" He asked concerned "no, it's OK, I don't really want to drag them out, not when she's as tired as she is, and it's getting a little cold for Sophia too" she smiled gently "well, would you like me to go instead? I don't want you walking there by yourself" he replied "I'll be fine Jack, it's still light out and I won't be long, I promise… I can't stop going places on my own in fear of you know who" she said, not wanting to say Cal's name in front of Tilly "OK…" he sighed "besides, I know what men are like, you'll definitely forget something" she joked and bent down to Tilly's level "I'm going to go back to the inn to pick up our stuff, you're going to stay here with Jack for a while. I won't be long, I promise. Will you be OK?" She asked, really, she knew Tilly would be OK with Jack, she trusted him to take care of the girls, but still, she wanted to check that Tilly was happy "yes Mummy" she nodded "good girl" she said kissing her head and standing back up. She stroked Sophia's cheek who was sleeping in her pram before turning to Jack "thank you" she smiled gently and left.