Hello! It is Wednesday and I am back with a new chapter. This story was formed in quite a typical way for me when I was watching a movie and then all of a sudden, in the middle of the night I was inspired to write! It was really fun going back to revisiting a time in Justin's life that I used to focus on a lot. And although I think I've touched on it here and there, it was so nice to touch properly on some step mother/step son moments between Justin and Lynne. And of course, Jorgie is there too and it's never a dull moment with those two siblings! I hope you enjoy :)
Ages:
Justin: 18
Lynne: 30
James: 39
Disclaimer: I own the story and the OCs mentioned!
The sound of the new-born mewling softly did not bring me discomfort, quite the opposite in fact. With my head filled with a dreamlike state even though I was firmly in reality and with great warmth in the pit of my belly, when my eyes wandered towards the door, I assumed that everyone would have the same experience as me.
However, Lynne didn't suspect that. With her daughter clutched firmly yet tenderly to her chest, her own eyes wandered towards the doorway and then the corners decorating them creased gently. She spoke into the night and the person standing there, hoping to have not been a bother.
"Oh, did she wake you…?" Lynne asked, rocking motions being made with her arms as she clasped Jorgie to her, the infant child no longer making so many mewling noises, them being drowned out by gulping noises instead as she indulged in a late night need.
The wood of the doorframe felt the bony curve of a shoulder as the person lingered there. Although it was pretty clear that he was bending the truth from the way that his own door had opened and he appeared there when those quietly disturbing noises had sounded from his new little sister, he shook his head anyway.
The person forming a silhouette in the door of an early November light didn't head off for the night, a loose strand of hair cascading over his face.
"No, she's alright." Justin replied, his hands longing to disappear into pockets after they were occupied by freeing his eyesight from the long strand of his own hair but then just hanging there when the realisation came that there was none. Lynne nodded. I knew she didn't believe him either. "Where's Dad?"
His words came a good handful of seconds after the first ones. In fact, it had given me a chance to look back over at the new-born baby nuzzling the chest of her mother before over at her eldest brother again. It also gave Lynne a chance to cup her hand softly over the scalp of her daughter, feeling her tiny little heartbeat through skin that was so very new.
I wondered if in that moment she appreciated that Justin didn't say 'my dad'. He was just 'dad'. And he belonged to both he and Jorgie.
More than likely though, she was far too enamoured with her little bundle to think of these sorts of things. And silently overwhelmed with love at the bonding moment they were sharing.
"He's just gone to the shops very quickly." Lynne's reply could be heard another few seconds after Justin asked the question. While he nodded straight away, strands of hair managing to stay in their place tucked behind his ears that time, more words were added. "She needed more little diapers, bless her. She wasn't happy at all with the last ones. Too big."
Although the woman sat in the rocking chair in the corner of the room with the tiny baby clasped to her and feeding was saying words for Justin, her attention dropped down to that same bundle when she was only a few syllables into her sentences. She couldn't help herself. I understood.
I shouldn't have to say that I haven't experienced the joy of motherhood myself! But I feel as though I have been so closely connected to it and with the people who have been on that journey that on some level, I feel it with every beat of my heart too.
It was simply such an indescribable thing. More often than not, things in life were too poignant to actually be described with words. Motherhood really was no different. Fatherhood too, in truth. There was just something so peculiarly sweet that put an ache in one's heart yet an elevation at the same time when a new-born baby was in one's presence.
The noises that escaped from them. Tiny kicking feet. The smell. That lovely baby smell! In those moments, I was fully glad that my nostrils were so fully developed. I could enjoy it all the more. And bask in it.
Justin merely nodded again at Lynne's response, a far cry from everything that I was feeling! It caused me to break away from my daydream-like musings and focus on actuality, the corner of my mouth curving upwards as he continued to bob his head.
He understood why the nappies that had been bought for her birth caused her discomfort. She was such a tiny little thing. Granted, he didn't really anticipate what sort of size she was going to be when she 'popped out', so to speak. But he could tell she was pretty small.
One thing I could tell was that Lynne then found her eyes wandering away from her daughter and back over to the late teenaged boy who was still lingering in the doorway. Though his shoulders had begun to stiffen with hands not being able to seek refuge in pockets and the balls of his feet contained in his socks were about to be used to pad away when no conversation was being had, Lynne garnered his attention.
He was going to press his lips together in a polite manner before heading on his way but I'm still glad that he stuck around. And I enjoyed watching the corner of Lynne's nose crease towards Justin in a way that bared a resemblance to her focus towards her daughter yet was in a whole new way.
"You know…" Lynne's words came at first and Justin's eyes could be seen following the way her finger drew in circles over the back of Jorgie's head, weaving in and out of very sparse orange tufts. "I swear you get taller when I don't see you probably for a couple of days." A chuckle could be heard. And then an offering. "Would you like to join us?"
Justin's shoulders nearer to his ears for a different reason than previously, his dimple continued appearing out of unfiltered politeness before fading away, his lips focusing instead on pressing together while standing there. He thought about it.
It was true that Jorgie had disturbed him a little bit; he would go on to admit to me in the future. It wasn't because he was worried though, nor did he feel the slightest bit left out. That sound filling his home was just really unusual for him. And he knew it would take a little bit of getting used to.
Not that he was worried about that either. He just acted in the way that he acted. He appeared out of his room because he wanted to. He was going to shuffle off to the kitchen and fetch himself a glass of water and then probably watch a documentary or something before going to sleep for school.
Lynne had other ideas in her mind's eye and in her heart. She got it across next.
"Come here." She changed her tune but her tone did not alter. Her eyes met the silhouette of the eighteen year old young man and before she could read what his reply would go on to be, she tilted her head to the side.
Jorgie against her mother's chest did the puckering of the lips so she didn't have to. And even though he could not see this with his own eyes, Justin caught on what was being put across by Lynne. He couldn't reject her. Her couldn't reject a pregnant lady so he certainly couldn't do this with a new mother!
From the window sill and having the sparkle of a million stars watching over me, I watched Justin at last cross the threshold and come into Jorgie's little bubble, hovering near Lynne's side instead of the doorway. I thought he caught on to what was being hinted at from the moment that the words were spoken but it was shown to me that he did needed a minute to catch up.
Eventually, he leaned his toweringly slim frame downwards and Lynne was able to press a soft kiss to his cheek. When her lips stopped touching just near where his dimple would reside if he smiled against her, the tips of her fingertips moved there instead.
It was almost touching to see those same digits that had just been caressing the crown of her daughter to then be stroking the face of Justin. It put a sensation in my throat that was as though I had swallowed all of the stars that were out there decorating the night sky.
"She's a hungry girl, is she?" Justin broke the momentary silence, Lynne's fingertips moving against him as he spoke. Both of their eye line dropped back down to the little girl while her eldest brother was speaking of her for the first time. He added, me having a second to glance down at his toes dancing in his socks. "I suppose she needs to get bigger."
As if the orange wisped infant knew for a fact that she was being spoken about, she stopped concentrating on sucking so hard and she resumed making a couple of mewling noises against her mother.
However, before Lynne's touch could fall away from Justin and her neck could slant in a different manner, she latched herself back on nicely once more.
The woman feeding her new-born daughter was able to keep her hand on Justin's face while the whole of her arm tenderly smothered the small baby.
"Oh, I think her daddy would be perfectly happy if she stayed like this forever." Lynne answered, the corner of her mouth being tugged at before Justin stopped feeling the soft, cool sensation of fingers. Little Jorgie's head was covered momentarily by her mother bending over her and pressing a kiss to her wrinkled, flushed forehead. "Can you believe that you were once a little darling baby of this size?"
Wisps of Lynne's own much stronger and longer hair dropped enveloping the shape of her daughter like curtains and she looked back over to the young man hovering near them both, his hands nonchalantly but noticeably clenched together as he wondered whether he was supposed to take his own seat somewhere.
A more relaxed than smile widened his lips at that point and Justin ducked his head, strands of hair from near his parting plotting their escape. It was like he hadn't heard those sorts of comments before rather than being entirely used to them.
I listened for his answer as well, enjoying the contrast of the warmth in my belly from the atmosphere of a new life as well as the chill of the glass come autumn time.
"Mmm. Poor Mum." he replied, a look of seriousness in his slightly saucer-like eyes as his lips firmly pressed together for a brief moment in a telling way. I was inclined to agree!
I had known twins in a fair few families and I was continually in awe of the mothers who carried them and brought them into the world with little to no fuss. Well… Almost.
Lynne focused on other things. Her hand circling around her daughter's head in soothing motions when she resumed making concentrative mewling noises against her rather than just getting on with having yet another dinner, she couldn't stop her gaze from travelling over to Justin once more.
It was hard to know whether the light of love was in her eyes for her children or the children of all.
"You're still their little baby, do you know that?" she told him. Again, it wasn't like he hadn't heard this kind of thing before. It was often the first thing people said to him when they found out what he was up to in life and how he was almost finished with school to go on to do far greater things. His taller than six foot self was still a precious bundle in the eyes of his parents. "Especially your dad. He's so proud of you, Justin."
The look of having heard it all before faded away from the gaze of the long haired male and he started to have smaller eyes out of shyness, a combination of his lips pressing together and dimples appearing as he at last looked around for a seat that he was able to take as well.
When his bottom only just made contact with a foot stool in the opposite corner of the room that had been separated from the rest of the rocking chair, he made sure to answer Lynne properly. However, he did it without uttering a single word.
In the low lit, practically dark atmosphere of the room, his eyes were still able to be seen forming the shapes of rainbows and he forced his mouth to appear like sunshine. Forced was the operative word, really. It was clear that he was very purposefully choosing these actions. But they still were not exactly fake. They were not wholly put on. They were just being said in the place of words.
I didn't know that Justin was glad when Lynne went on to say even more words. At the time, I didn't know that he didn't feel like his parents should be very proud of him from the way that he had kept parts of himself from them.
"So tell me about what's going on with you, Justin." Lynne suddenly encouraged. It looked as though Jorgie was going to continue what she was doing for a little while longer and her little girl's father still had yet to appear. As well as this, she really meant her own words. What she said next only proved this, the top of her nose creasing again as he back sunk further against the chair behind her. "I feel like my world has been all leading to the same thing as of late."
I know now that Justin had a split second in his own mind where he was unsure what on earth he was going to talk about. Aside from the usual music related stuff he could open up about and another EP of his launching online and record labels having continual interest and in general longing to leave school and jet off everywhere and promote his work, there were heavier things on the tip of his tongue that didn't dare escape.
Those kids at school. Those darned kids at school who had made his life privately hellish. They were finally dealt with it seemed but the aftermath was real. Should he tell her what he had just told his parents and some close friends just days before his little sister was born? No. he wasn't ready for that.
He finally settled on something, his behind settled on the footstool and his hands clasping together in his lap. Another smile appeared on his face. Though this one was a lot less full of sunshine, it was no less purposeful and tactfully chosen.
"My own world has been leading up to the same things as of late too. I have my fingers crossed for bigger things to come for me." He told her. In hindsight, I can't help but feel impressed at how something was so calculatedly chosen appeared very honest as well. Justin's hands clasping together before relaxing outwards, the pads of his fingers touching against each other as they stretched out, he added. "I do have my eye on a new guitar though. A wicked one. Maybe that'll help me get there I need to go."
I turned my head away from facing in the direction of Justin and filled my vision with the being of Lynne instead. The cores of my eyes followed the way that although she didn't speak her own response like could often be the case with the young man there as well as his father too, her hand reached out and made contact with his shoulder.
He felt the soft and cool touch steadying him and almost uplifting him in some manners as well. His eyes offered her a smile even though his mouth did not. There was someone else out there believing in him. That felt good. No matter what other kinds of thoughts could be racing through his mind at any given time.
Justin looked between the silhouette of the orange haired woman opposite him as well as the little girl in her hold. I noticed that his eyes looked as though they were watching a tennis match when they tried to look down at Jorgie at first but then they relaxed. He leaned forward in his seat, the curve of his knee feeling pressure from his elbow as he cupped his chin in his hand.
He observed. And the more that he observed, the less that his eyes flickered so. Even if he couldn't see all what was going on, he definitely did notice when her little face scrunched up and her balled up hands grasping at air rather than anything in particular looked as though she was getting in a boxing match with an invisible opponent.
Justin did not react to this with a smile, instead the light bouncing off his eyes with curiosity that he couldn't quite hold back in that moment in time, though he would've usually tried with great success.
"Does it hurt? You or her…?" he wondered aloud, beginning to see both his little sister and his father's girlfriend at an angle and his fingers feeling his chin shifting in their clutch as well.
And no sooner had he wondered this, his own expression scrunched up and I couldn't help but notice at one the similarities between the three day old baby girl and the eighteen year old young man!
Justin cringed a bit, not wanting to come across as ignorant – or worse – probing.
Thankfully, though, Lynne gathered these words and the question for what it was meant as. Simply and innocently curious. And maybe a little bit concerned.
For this latter matter, she gave him a bit of a reassuring look before shaking her head, her touch circling around the back of her own daughter's one before tracing the perfect, pink curl of her ear. She spoke down into that little creation rather than over at Justin, yet these words were for him.
"She's not hurt at the moment, sweetheart. She's just telling me she's done with feeding." One quick glance over at him for extra reassurance and then knowing that her daughter was finished for another session, she set to prying her away and settling her into another position. I had never seen Justin look away from anything so quickly before. And then he was prompt to correct his reaction, not wanting to appear like he was uneasy. "She's all full and wondering where her daddy has got to."
I was given the extra chance to have another, lingering look at the sweet little baby when after a couple of moments of being fussed by her mother, she was momentarily placed down on her outstretched lap while Lynne had a moment to get herself into a comfier position, buttoning up her nightshirt and running a loose hand through her hair having finished feeding her daughter.
Enamoured immediately by the face of Jorgie I was as I peered down at her from the window sill. Such wide and round, almost haunting eyes. The most scrunched up yet well-formed face I had ever seen. Well, one of them. I was that odd creature who thought all babies were beautiful, even very pink ones and just fresh into the world.
I was taken aback when Justin shared the same focus as me. Though I felt that he wasn't having the same thoughts as me!
Lynne couldn't help but chuckle softly and even after those noises died down, her smiling disguised by a biting of the lip lingered when Justin leaned forward in his seat for a different reason that time. If Jorgie focused her eyes, she would be able to see her biggest brother at an upside down angle and peering down at her.
However, she didn't stare at him back at that moment. She did not have sleep in her eyes. She did not have those wide orbs of hers focusing on anywhere in particular, it seemed. Lynne thought she really was waiting for her daddy. Justin had other ideas.
"Do you think she remembers what it was like being…?" his sentence did not get finished. A brief cupping moment towards his very washboard stomach gave away what exactly he was referring to. Justin's hands then went back to his knees as he continued peering, intrigue continually getting the better of him. "She looks as though she knows more than one would be comfortable with."
Causing Lynne's curve of the lips to last even longer, there and then whether Jorgie had actually heard her big brother's words or not (I for one liked to believe that she had), all of a sudden the little infants forehead flushed pinker than usual and her face scrunched up even more than before. Her mouth became an 'o' shape, much like one of Justin's favourite breakfast cereals.
He was left recoiling slightly, his hands slipping away from his knees while Lynne immediately shook her head fondly and reached for her daughter.
"Oh, our angel, don't act like you don't love being spoken about." She humoured her crying daughter and it put another tickle in my throat far more than it did for Jorgie. And far more than it did for Justin. That time, he was disturbed by her crying! "Oh, there there, sweetheart. I think I left her on my lap for a second too long. She really likes being kept close."
When Lynne uttered the second part of these words, my head could not refrain from swivelling over to Justin, wondering whether the reassuring was more for him than it was for Jorgie. While he was doing well at keeping it not verbally communicated, it was clear that he had a private amount of remorse from potentially setting the little girl off – as well as concern for just how hard she was crying over something so small.
Thankfully, I had always known Lynne as a woman who took to things like how a swan would take to water. In no time at all, Jorgie still hadn't settled enough to stop crying but she was in the crook of her arm and being held close, the front material of her sleep suit being stroked in an act of compassion and comfort.
"You want cuddles, don't you?" she asked the little girl. The infant child took a momentary break from crying quite wholeheartedly for such a slight thing in order to draw breath and hiccup. Justin's eyes wandered over to Lynne, as round as lily pads in a pond. He may go on to regret making this sort of contact. "Maybe she would like a cuddle from her big brother?"
My vision was focused on Justin at the time so I was able to watch every part of his reaction. In spite of this, out of the corner of my eye I could still see Lynne as well and while she was speaking words that were clearly meant for the young man to hear, she was looking down at her daughter and attempting to fill her starfish hand with her finger to stop her from crying at least a little bit.
Lynne did not look directly at Justin. But she was not ignorant to the way that a part of his own body flushed in the same way that Jorgie's forehead had grown very hot and his glassy eyes contained the question, wondering how on earth he was going to get out of that one.
It was the woman holding her daughter's turn to press her lips together in a polite line, holding the sweet (but loud) infant even closer.
"Oh, we should have guessed that someone of your age doesn't do 'cuddles'." Lynne answered her own question, her head tilting as she leaned back against the comforting cushion of her rocking chair before focusing on soothing her child all by herself.
I don't know what Justin was going to flush more at. The fact that he really wasn't sure about holding his little sister more than once or twice. Or that Lynne thought there was any part of him that thought being nice was 'babyish' or worse – 'sissy-ish'.
Justin had never been that sort of person. He was one who always wanted to keep people on the right side of him. He very clearly showed that side of him when he almost fell out of his own seat trying to do the right thing himself.
"I do!" he suddenly insisted before realisation how that sounded, just one side of his face screwing up and his left eye squinting. He paused to gather his thoughts. It was hard for him to think anything while his little sister was still sounding like a siren. "I just… I just don't have that much practice with holding babies and stuff." He drew breath in a similar way to Jorgie had done before. "And I wouldn't want to upset her more."
Lynne had the oncoming crease of a smile when she heard the hurriedness of the last part of his words. Nonetheless, she didn't make the effort to move a muscle and hand the child over to her big brother. She merely held the orange wisp haired child continually close to her and rubbing the front material of her sleep suit, gradually beginning to rock her on her chair to soothe her.
It worked to some degree. But my theory as to why she didn't fully settle was proven when after a few minutes passed of Lynne doing this and Justin's lips pressing together in a manner that caused deep dips in his cheeks to appear, gingerly, he shuffled to the end of his seat again and held his hands outwards.
It was such a subtle movement that the mother holding her child didn't catch on at first. But thankfully for my sake and the enjoyment of viewing, she did eventually see what Justin was doing and pried her daughter away from her enough to be in the arms of her big brother instead.
Anyone could tell he had qualms about dropping her at first. The way his whole body stiffened, ready to make spontaneous actions if she somehow tumbled out of his hold showed this. It was as though he was holding the world's most explosive bomb and Jorgie did not take kindly to this at all. She roared and she roared and she roared some more! And Justin was eventually forced to hold her in a more relaxed manner even if that was the last thing that he was.
Rising from his seat while Lynne watched with the glint of mild curiosity then in her own eye, Justin decided it would be best that he moved around with her a little bit to perhaps offer comfort, even if it made him more likely to drop the poor little thing.
She remained in his hold, one hand stiffly cupping her head and the other one around her padded nappy and layers of sleep suit and bodysuit to keep the fall born baby warm. She quietened down just enough for Justin to be able to hear himself think as he slowly wandered just a few paces with her and then she quietened down enough for him to speak as she stretched herself out in his hold.
"Such a loud little thing. Instead of huffing and puffing a blowing a whole house down, she could do that by wailing and screaming." He spoke, his hushed words a great contrast to the child's previous siren sounds and also in a tone far quieter than the humour he was letting off.
I hadn't noticed that Lynne had been on edge per se, but I couldn't help but notice that her shoulders dropped even more downwards from her ears upon hearing the words from Justin as well as more silence from her daughter.
I took this opportunity to at last clamber away from the window sill and the stars. I said goodbye to them for another night. And hello to a room of my loved ones.
Despite the slight discomfort that she must have felt when I stepped on her belly briefly to reach her lap; Lynne pulled me close practically immediately. I didn't stop myself from nuzzling her when it became apparent that Jorgie wasn't the only one who liked closeness.
I enjoyed it myself as Lynne's eyes followed her daughter and her daughter's eldest brother, one hand submerged in my fur and the other tracing at her own chin with the pads of her fingertips.
"She has lungs like her wonderful big brother, it seems." Lynne said with a smile but not too much. In return, Justin had a half, unplanned smile but it vanished as quickly as it came, far too busy concentrating on not sending his little sister hurtling down towards the carpet.
His pacing grew wider and his motions grew bolder, but he still acted very carefully and held his little sister very close to his skinny frame. This thoughtfulness was met with a positive reaction from Jorgie. Yet at first, he didn't exactly think so!
Justin winced when he felt her little legs kicking against his chest and stomach and sending herself crawling further up his arm rather than as close to him as she had previously been. He looked at her with slight dismay but her eyes had fallen shut in her own concentration.
He was forced to look over at Lynne instead, two lines of a frown forming in between his brow.
"Look what she's doing to me! I don't think she likes my cuddles after all." He couldn't help but point out and within that tone; I couldn't help but see the flashes of their relationship together. Even if he didn't know himself all that well – or didn't share himself all that well – I knew her and I knew him.
And I knew what they would be like together. It would be memorable, that was for sure.
Lynne peered but her reaction in comparison to Justin's was vastly different. Once again, it felt natural for her to reassure him. Both hands delving into my fur that time and causing very wonderful sensations to shoot up my spine, her head craned closer to him as he was still pacing and she was still holding me.
"Trust me, she's telling that she likes it very much." She informed him. She was met with a look that couldn't be denied! He frowned and looked at her like she had two heads, but she persisted with a soft smile and even softer words. "Misty used to do that same exact thing. Oh how it takes me back. Jordan used to say they were like Politoad legs."
And upon hearing this, I was surprised for one of the first times that night when Justin scooted over to sit back down on the foot stool and though I suspected he was tempted to place the little girl on his outstretched lap like she had previously been positioned by her mother, he didn't have the guts in case she woke the dead all over again!
With light in his eyes bouncing off that was not stardust but was interest, he held Jorgie continually close to him, for a minute ignoring her legs kicking against him.
"Really?" he found himself asking to which he received a nod of the head as confirmation. Then he looked down again, his hand reaching out to catch his little sister's foot as it was mid-air in a kick towards his torso. Once again, his mouth did not do any smiling. Light bounced off his irises a little more. "Lungs like me and legs like Misty, eh…?" he pondered. A curve of the mouth joined the grooving of eyelashes. "What a proper little mix."
And with that, he let go of the little infant's foot and though he didn't stand up with her and walk with her once again, he engaged with her in a different way. He pretended to puff his lips together and furrow his brow at the way that she had resumed her kicking motions towards him.
I observed that he was seemingly less unsettled by the way that that little girl seemed to know all. And I wondered that if he truly believed that she knew all, then she believed that things were completely all right. And he actually believed her.
I was certain that things would be a little rockier for him from then on out and emotions from the past were not one hundred percent behind him. Yet at the same time, a new beginning was there. And even his teenage self couldn't not notice the blessing that was a new life and a little sister for the first time in his life.
While I nodded my head for a multitude of reasons – my own thoughts as well as the words that Justin said – I was surprised for a second time when slowly but surely, Lynne's head began to shake. I knew that I was not seeing things when after a second or two once Justin had momentarily glanced in her direction as well, it was clear that he saw it also.
Moreover, I focused on the way that Lynne started to abandon her touch on me and she leaned towards the edge of her own seat, craning closer to her little girl and Justin too. Before her fingertips even reached out to her little creation with James, it was clear what her sentiment was going to be.
"She's not just a mix, Justin. She's a miracle." She told him. Immediately, from the way that his head tilted and he furrowed his brow but not because his little sister was using her frog-like legs against him, Lynne didn't stop the words from tumbling out of her mouth and I was so glad she set them free. "We've waited so long for her it seems… She was wanted and even destined longed before she was even fully an idea."
With that, her touch reached out to where it needed to be. Brushing past Justin and not brushing him the wrong way either, the tips of her fingers went down to her daughter and traced down the tiny bridge of her nose for a split second before resting right on the end. Her eyes fluttered open at long last of being in the hold of her big brother.
I don't know whether it was this happening or the words from her brother but it caused Justin to get the urge to swallow. And while Lynne was far too occupied with not only the sight of her little creation but the textures of different parts of her - the snub of her nose, the softness of her cheek and the round of her little chin – Justin was focused on filling his vision with his socks on the floor and the rug below.
Although far more importantly, his mind was focused on a good many things. He allowed quiet to pass. He allowed mother and daughter to have a moment while he still held that little girl. And then he spoke prosaically albeit quietly, gaining confidence in himself enough to run a hand through his hair.
"I didn't realise that the two of you wanted her so much…" he began and for a second, I was the only one with the itching sensation that was the desire to frown. Fortunately I was alone. And the second part of Justin's words tumbled out at the same moment that Lynne simply looked away from her daughter and over at him instead. Even if his continuation was natural, he corrected with a shake of the head. "How silly of me. Just because things happened quickly for me outwards looking in, doesn't mean it was the same for you guys."
I think it broke Lynne's heart in the best way when Justin smiled over at her when he said these words. She didn't understand how someone so young could be so sincere. And someone who she had seen carrying so much weight on his shoulders in recent years, even if she did not like to pry.
Plain and simple, she was moved by everything she knew him to be, even if he feared that was not enough. She spoke of this in her reply.
A shake of the head came from her. But as she continued feeling the frame of her daughter beneath her fingertips, she would have liked to do the same to Justin as she spoke to him, too.
"Well… It wasn't exactly something that we felt would be right to discuss with you, other than in its most fundamental form." Lynne began and she didn't lose her smile from Justin and she received a nod from him too. She continued, her touch slowly swirling away from the cheek of her daughter and dropping down to the knee of he even if it did not twitch in response. "We wouldn't want to make you…"
But she trailed off. I would have liked to hear the word that she could have gone on to choose. However, the motion that her head made and the corner of her lip quirking upwards as well as her nose scrunching said everything that she needed to say.
It was Justin's turn to nod. After bringing his own lips together and then more into his mouth for a second, he then let them go again and responded. He felt no knot in his stomach when it came to discussing others and their relationships with others.
"I wouldn't never been upset or cross." He decided to reply in these words. The innocence of the ones he chose made it feel all the more palpable. His smile fading away from his face but his gravity far from disappearing, he added again with a bobbing motion of his shoulders. "I can't lie to you and say that I really wanted a little sister…"
Lynne had to nod that time. That time Lynne had to nod and her mouth formed the word 'sure' even if it could not be heard coming from her vocal chords. Sounds that could be heard coming from vocal chords were of course erupted from Jorgie.
That time after she made her presence known, she received the gesture of Justin wrapping his arms around her and pulling her closer. In that moment, it was second nature. While he pondered getting his sentiment across, he acted in ways that were unheard of when it came to him.
He continued more. He knew he needed to continue more. He wanted to.
"But now that Jorgie is here…?" he started again, his touch remaining fixed around her rather than touching her tenderly in any particular spot on her own innocent face. Lynne was fixated like he was going to go on to say the most powerful thing in the world. Justin shook his head instead of saying other things. And somehow, it put a lump in ones throat all the more than if he had worded it any other way. "Well… I guess I'll learn how it is to have a tiny sister."
And with that, Jorgie finally felt his touch moving elsewhere. He squeezed her leg in a bit of a brotherly, pinching way and needless to say, it caused her legs to rev up yet again and start bouncing off him! The light of their eyes bounced off each other as well. Even if their bond was shown by a smirk or a gesture or even an eye roll rather than a deep gaze, it was one that many enjoyed watching.
And of course, Lynne was no different. She appreciated how Justin chose to get himself across. He didn't even dare utter the words of that little girl somehow not being around. And in that moment, she never related to him more.
She wanted to do more than do what she did in response which was exhale to compose herself and her breath and to lean closer to them both, pressing a kiss to each of their foreheads. She wanted to do more other than just receive a wan, secretly rather secretive smile from Justin and for the time being, just eyes elevating to her face from Jorgie.
Lynne wanted to do far more. But she couldn't. Because James finally returned. Funnily enough, she wasn't quite ready for it to be those three again rather than the three of her, Justin and Jorgie.
Even so, his presence was not unwelcome and he too had the light of love bouncing of his eyes from the minute he poked his head around the door and with a bag full of baby supplies in hand.
"Was the sweet little thing a loud menace tonight? I simply cannot believe that." he uttered and he left the bag by the door and didn't hesitate to move on through, the touch of his hand brushing his son on the shoulder before he joined Lynne by her side, leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead.
Justin managed to resist rolling his eyes in his sockets and it was not for the kiss that happened between his father and his girlfriend. It was certainly not for the fact that he had been given no attention other than a lit pat either.
I moved back onto the window sill and couldn't help but watch as following James' lips pressing down onto Lynne's forehead, the two of their noses collided and nuzzled together and they shared a little moment. They shared words. I was none the wiser to what was spoken. Justin was in the same boat.
And I was left seeing how much they often shared one mind from the way that when James pulled away from his love in adore to gasp adoringly and go down onto his knees to say hello to his new baby girl, Lynne resisted melting on the spot too and shook her head for an answer, her hand languidly falling on her chest.
"Nothing we cannot handle, Jim Dear." She began, her hand rising and falling on her chest while Justin gave Jorgie a bit of a side eye look when she didn't get told off for knocking her feet against him, somehow getting praised for it instead. Lynne managed to hold back her giggles while letting go her words. "But I think it is time that the little baby gets tucked in."
While Justin was inwardly taken aback from the way that his father's hands went on his hips and he uttered the words 'you're right' before actually rising from the floor and separating himself from doting on his daughter, I gathered that this was because he was growing a little weary from holding the child.
A soft clicking noise being heard coming from his teeth, he prepared to hold his new little sister out to their father. He was left with his face just doing the talking by eyebrows shooting upwards and eyes becoming as wide as Jorgie's often were from the way that the child was handed like pass the parcel over to Lynne instead.
And then it very much dawned on him when, alternatively, his father tried to make a grab for him! He suddenly realised that he was actually the little menace in question, allegedly disturbing things.
"Oh, very funny." He uttered out in a level of voice that had no hint of amusement. He was the only one who felt this way. James chuckled at his reaction while Lynne continually had a hand over her heart and giggles escaping from her while her other arm was filled with her daughter. "Let me go! I could do the same to you if I really tried."
Justin tried to insist but the more that he wriggled and tried to not allow himself to be in the hold of his father, the more that he found himself in there. And the more that his lips stopped being able to purse together and started to grin instead – though he really tried to keep all that at bay!
Lynne couldn't keep her laughter at bay. She invited me onto her lap all over and held both me and Jorgie while she held that image in her mind's eye and her heart as well. She had always wanted a daughter with James. She didn't imagine that she would have whole parts of his other children as well, including that son of his.
That son of his felt his father's chin on his shoulder while he held him like a baby, cradled against him and his long legs dangling. He heard the voice of Lynne piping up.
"Didn't I tell you that you're his baby?" she offered, humour in her own voice though the slanting of the graceful neck and twinkling of the oceanic orbs spoke more volumes than words could've possibly done.
Then James piped up too. His lips puckered together, mimicking how his son's full lips had previously been. He bounced him in his hold but reaffirmed to him.
"You're still my baby." He told him and it actually caused Justin's puckering expression to return! He looked as though he might start wailing like his baby sister was capable of. But she had settled down and quietened at that point so he decided to follow suit.
Justin looked at his father through eyes like slits. But then with a loud sigh, he surrendered. One arm clasped around his neck, the other arm widened and his head leaned so reposefully back that his locks cascaded everywhere.
"Just for tonight." He told James. And with that, the lavender haired male actually carried his nearing adulthood young man off out of the room and didn't let him go like he didn't dream of doing when he was a little baby the same age of Jorgie. And clearly, like he still didn't dream of doing at that point.
And although Lynne didn't actually see him tucking his son into bed, she was certain that he did actually do it!
She let out a sigh as she watched them leave and she sunk back against the rocking chair but she had a great deal of contentment in her heart as she held me close and held Jorgie even closer. Those gestures of James with Justin only reassured her more, you see.
She knew that no matter how old their little cherub got, she had a father that would continually pick her up and dust her off and even tuck her into bed. No matter how big she got. And no matter what she went through. She had a lifetime of uplifting. And a lifetime of support.
That sweet little baby had been a long time coming for them. But for Justin too, really. No way would he have ever been himself without her. Not that he ever admitted it! But he certainly thought it. Once or twice…
Definitely at least once!
The End.
There you go! Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed :) It was interesting for me to portray Justin as a little awkward but also a touch more free than just weeks before because like it subtly says, he has started to come out to a handful of people. It was almost bitter-sweet to portray Lynne as so fond of Justin because we all know that they have a slight (solvable) rift after the romance of Justin and Katie. Times are still not simple here, but the new bond of siblings certainly gives an air of that :3 Thanks again for reading and I will be back again next Wednesday so see you then!
Amy signing out :P