"Hey" Henry smiled a little at Rose as she walked in to the living once she had arrived home, unsure what kind of mood she was going to be in, following the events from earlier that day.
"Hi" she smiled gently, clearly tired and slumped on to the sofa beside him "are you OK?" He asked, getting a nod in response. "I'm sorry about before… I just hate the thought of Emilia thinking we had forgotten her" she answered "I know… I'm sorry" he replied and smiled a little as she moved closer to him and rested in to his side. "How have the kids been?" She asked quietly. "Good as gold, none of them have woken up" he replied quietly. "Good" she said as she wrapped her arm over his stomach. "Why don't you head up to bed? I'll come with you if you'd like?" Henry offered, seeing just how tired Rose was.
She nodded a little and stood up before walking up to their room, she was surprised that Alfie hadn't woken up to be fed yet, but decided to go to sleep until he did. "Night… I love you" Henry said quietly. "I love you too" Rose replied at the same volume as she rested her head on his chest. Despite being exhausted, Rose couldn't sleep, her conversation with Jack going round and round in her head and thinking about how she was going to tell Henry all of this. But not wanting him to know something was wrong, she closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep.
—
25th May, 1920
9pm
Henry walked downstairs around 9pm after putting Charlie back to bed for the what felt like 20th time- he hated bedtime and would get out of bed several times each night, causing problems for Henry and Rose every night without fail.
Henry walked in to the living room where Rose was sat on the sofa playing with the sleeves of her jacket with a nervous look on her face. "Are you OK?" Henry frowned and sat beside her. "Yes…" Rose nodded. "No you're not. What's wrong?" He asked again.
Rose took a deep breath, avoiding eye contact with him. "Do you remember the man that brought Emmy home last night?" She asked. "Yes, her teacher?" He asked, getting a small nod in response "he didn't hurt her, did he?!" He said in an angry tone. "No… god no" she calmed him down quickly. "Then what?" Henry asked confused. "That was Jack" Rose replied, peircing her lips together. "What? Jack? Your ex Jack? Jack as in Emilia's father?" He said, nothing but shock in his voice. "Yes…" Rose replied quietly. "But he's dead?" Henry asked, his tone remaining the same. "He survived… we never knew the other was alive. He's just moved back here from New York…" Rose looked up at him, trying to figure out what he was thinking. "He doesn't want Emmy to know" she said firmly. "Know what?" He asked. Rose tried to hide her confusion "that he's her dad, he says she seems too happy with us to shock her like that" she went to continue but was interrupted by Emilia who had come downstairs quietly - clearly too quietly - to ask Henry and Rose to tell Charlie to go to sleep, seen as he had woken her up… again.
"Who's Jack?" Emilia asked confused. "He's my Dad?" She continued. "Oh my-" Rose said, trying to think of what to say, before being interupted by Charlie shouting from the top of the stairs. "I'll go and put him back to bed before he wakes Alfie" Henry said as he stood up and left the room, stroking the top of Emilia's head as he walked past her. "Who's Jack?" Emilia asked again as she sat on the sofa. "It doesn't matter Emmy…" "yes it does" Emilia replied, very matter of fact, which took Rose by surprise. "You told me my Dad was dead?" She looked at Rose confused. "I thought he was…" Rose sighed. "But he's not?" She asked. "No" Rose shook her head. "Who is he?" Emilia asked again, getting a sigh in response "he's erm- he just works at one of the stores in town. You've never met him" Rose lied, unaware Henry could hear her before he came back in to the room. "Tell her the truth Rose" Henry said surprised, gaining a glare from Rose in response. "Henry- stop it" she said through gritted teeth. "You don't think she deserves the truth?" He raised an eyebrow as he sat on the other side of Emilia. "What truth?!" Emilia asked, her patience wearing thin and Henry looked at Rose almost offering her opportunity to tell Emilia before he told her. Rose sighed and lifted up Emilia's hands, placing them in hers. "You know Mr Dawson?" Rose asked. "Yeah?" Emilia shrugged, no idea where this was going. "He's your Father…" Rose sighed. Her heart broke for Emilia, she knew that Jack wasn't ready to be her Dad yet, but that didn't mean Emilia wouldn't have high hopes. "What?" Emilia said with a frown and Rose could have sworn she was close to tears. "I'm sorry…" she said. "Can I see him?" Emilia asked and Rose sighed helplessly, unsure what to say. "Well, it's late now darling. How about you go back to bed and in the morning you can decide if you want to go to school, or if you want to stay home to get your head around all of this?" Henry said, looking at her. "OK…" Emilia said as she stood up, letting go of Rose's hands. "Do you want me to tuck you back in?" Henry offered, getting a nod in response. Rose went to offer, but Emilia had already rushed out the room.
—
Henry came back downstairs not long after Emilia had gone back to bed and Rose was still sat on the sofa. "Thanks for that" she glared at him. "What?" Henry frowned confused. "You gave me no choice but to tell her! Do you have any idea how unfair that is?!" She had to stop herself from shouting. "She deserves to know, Rose!" Henry snapped. "Yes, she did, but not yet! Jack isn't ready to be her Dad and now that poor girl is going to have expections and hopes about him, and that's thanks to you!" "Well maybe he needs to get a grip and get ready to be her Dad! It's not a part time job!" Henry snapped. "I took her on with no problems!" He continued. "Yes, but you knew about her way before you met her and stepped up! and now you're expecting a man, who if you remember correctly, I thought was dead, to step up and become a dad overnight!" She replied, her voice slightly raised. "Stop shouting, you'll wake the kids up" Henry said, a little calmer now. "You know what Rose? That little girl, our daughter, deserved to know the truth. That's what you've given her since the day she was born so to start lying now would just be insulting her intelligence" he nodded. "Oh don't stand there and call her 'our' daughter when you're clearly fed up of playing Dad to her. You've just turned her whole world upside down!" "How DARE you?!" Henry snapped. "She is my daughter! We not might be DNA but I love that kid just as much as I love Charlie and Alfie… and you know that! She's been my daughter since the day I met her! I know it's not Jack's fault he hasn't been here, but I've done more for that little girl than he ever has!" Henry snapped before taking a deep breath "I'll sleep in the spare room tonight. I suggest you think things through in your head before Emmy's fires more questions at you in the morning" Henry said as calmly as he could as he left the room.