8th June, 1915
"Mummy" Emilia whispered as she prodded Rose, making her groan "hey" Rose smiled as she opened her eyes. "Hungry" Emilia replied. "OK…" Rose sighed quietly, forcing herself out of bed, wincing as she did. She didn't realise that sleeping with someone again would cause pain, but it made sense seen as it had been over 2 years since Jack.
"Let's go and get some breakfast" she said as she held her hand out for Emilia, who took it and pulled her to the stairs, making her chuckle.
—
"What do you want to do today baby?" Rose asked as she placed some toast in front of Emilia. "Park please" Emilia requested, making Rose chuckle. "I don't know why I ask" she laughed. "OK… we'll go later" she leant down and kissed Emilia's head before sitting at the table to eat her own breakfast, but was interrupted by a knock at the door. She stood up and went to answer it, praying it wasn't Henry, seen as she wasn't ready and had told him to come round when Emilia was napping, so was relieved to see it was Marie.
"Hey" Rose said as she let her in "hi, sorry, I just popped by to give you this. It's one of Emilia's teddy, I have no idea how it ended up in my bag but I thought I best run it round just in case" she smiled. "Thank you" Rose smiled as took it. "You seem very cheery?" Marie knitted her eyebrows together, eyeing Rose "who's made you smile so much?" She continued "no one…" Rose lied "are you sure? Not even someone called Henry?" Marie raised her eyebrow. "How do you know?!" Rose's eyes widened in shock. "My Dad… he said it seemed like a little more than acting yesterday" she replied, making Rose sigh which confused Marie. "How about you ask to see him outside of work? I can watch Emilia if you need me to" she offered. "He's coming round later on, during Emmy's nap time… but thank you" Rose smiled awkwardly. "When did you arrange that?" Marie asked, starting to put the puzzle pieces together. "Last night…" Rose replied "he was here last night?" Marie smirked "you slept with him, didn't you?!" She asked "yes…" Rose sighed "but please don't tell anyone" she pleaded "of course I won't!" Marie replied with a smile. "I'm pleased for you! It'll be nice to see you with someone! and Henry is a nice guy!" Marie grinned. "Wowww, don't get ahead of yourself. I have Emmy to think about, she will always come first. I'm just going to take things slow with Henry, it might not even work out" Rose shrugged. "I wouldn't say sleeping with someone on the same day you met them is 'taking it slow'" Marie joked, raising her eyebrows. "Are you just going to tease me until he arrives?" Rose asked "no" Marie laughed "I best be heading off, I've told my sister we'll go for brunch" she continued. "Well enjoy" Rose smiled "you too" Marie smirked, making Rose roll her eyes "Bye" she chuckled as she closed the door before heading in to the kitchen to join Emilia again.
—
1.15pm
"Hey" Rose smiled as she let Henry inside the house. "Hi" he smiled and leant down to kiss her gently "did Emilia go down OK?" He continued, getting a nod in response "yes, thank you" she smiled back and lead him through to the living room.
"So… last night?" Henry asked carefully "was great" Rose finished his sentence with a smile, getting a smile in response "I agree" he nodded. "So, should we give us a go?" He asked. Rose sat quietly for a moment, once again thinking of Jack, before she nodded. "Yes" she smiled softly. "But Emilia will always come first for me… I hope you understand?" Rose asked. "Of course I understand!" He nodded "thank you…" she smiled softly "how do you think she'll react to us?" Henry asked. "Oh, she's too young to understand that we're in a relationship, so I'll just introduce you as my friend, if that's OK? Eventually she'll pick up on it and have questions, but I don't want to confuse her right now" Rose replied, getting a nod back.
—
3pm
Rose and Henry had spent the last few hours chatting, mainly about their personal lives but with a little bit of work thrown in there when they were interupted by Emilia shouting from upstairs.
"Mummy!" She called. "I best go and get her" Rose said as she stood up. "Would you like me to leave?" Henry offered "not unless you want to, you're more than welcome to stay. We'll just have a third wheeler" she smirked as she left the room, hoping Henry would be there when she returned.
"Hello little lady!" Rose smiled as she lifted Emilia from her bed, moving the messy hair from her face. "Did you have a good sleep?" She asked, getting a nod in response "park now?" Emilia asked, remembering that Rose had promised to take her at some point today. "We'll go a little later on, OK? Let's go downstairs for a while. I think my friend is down there" she said before kissing Emilia's head and smiling to herself as she rested her head on her shoulder before they headed downstairs.
—
Rose smiled as she walked in to the living room, pleased to find Henry still there, sat on the couch.
"Emilia, this is Henry" Rose said as she gestured to Henry whilst sitting down on the couch, keeping Emilia on her knee, who buried the side of her head in Rose's chest, anxious to be around someone new. "Can you say hello?" Rose asked her, but Emilia didn't respond. "Hi Emilia" Henry smiled at her. "I like your teddy bear!" He continued and gestured to the bear that she had a tight grip on. "What's he called?" He asked. "Bear" Emilia replied quietly "oh that's a fantastic name!" Henry smiled, getting a small smile from Emilia in response.
"I said I'd take her to the park, would you like to come? I won't be offended if you say no, don't worry" Rose said awkwardly, not wanting to put Henry in a position where he had to spend time with her and Emilia. "I'd love to, thank you" Henry smiled. "Should we go to the park darling?" Rose looked down at Emilia, getting a small nod back. "Let's get your coat" she said as she lifted her off her knee and placed her on the sofa as she left the room to get it, leaving Emilia and Henry alone. "What's your favourite thing at the park?" Henry asked. "Swings" Emilia replied quietly "I love the swings too!" He grinned at her. Rose could hear the conversation from outside the room and chuckled to herself hearing Henry, being grateful he was making an effort with Emilia.
—
The 3 of them arrived at the park around 20 minutes later and Emilia instantly ran over to the swings, making Henry chuckle "she told me they were her favourite" "oh she would spend all day, everyday here to play on those swings if I'd let her, trust me" Rose chuckled back as she and Henry caught up with Emilia and Rose lifted her in to the swing before beginning to push her, smiling at Henry as she caught his eye.
—
5.30pm
They had been at the park around an hour and a half, unable to persuade Emilia to agree to leave yet, until…
"Mummy, I'm hungry" she said. "Come on, let's head home and I'll make you something to eat" Rose smiled at her as she moved Emilia's now messy hair from her face. "I don't mind taking you both out to eat, if you'd like?" Henry offered. "Oh, erm, are you sure?" Rose replied awkwardly. "Of course" he smiled back as he watched Rose lift Emilia from the swing. "Well then yes, we'd love that, thank you" Rose smiled at him as she placed Emilia on the ground and took her hand to begin leaving the park, taken by surprise when Emilia lifted up her spare hand to hold Henry's. Henry looked at Rose equally surprised, but then smiled down at Emilia, squeezing her hand gently.
—
"That was lovely, thank you" Rose smiled at Henry as they finished up their food and chuckled as Emilia let out a yawn whilst rubbing her eyes. "Come on, let's get you home" she smiled gently as her, her eyes closing in defeat as Emilia held her arms up. "Can you try walking darling? My arms ache after all that pushing you on the swings!" Rose asked, but Emilia just looked back at her with sad and tired eyes. "Here" Henry offered his arms to Emilia. "You don't have to carry her if you don't want to. I'll manage" Rose replied. "It's OK, I don't mind" he smiled back as he lifted her up and held the door open to let Rose out the restaurant "thank you" Rose smiled at him. Within a matter of minutes, Emilia had fallen asleep with her head resting on Henry's shoulder. "She's asleep" Rose said as she put her hand on Henry's back as they walked, arriving back at the house not long after.
"Would you like to come in?" Rose offered as she unlocked the door. "Are you sure?" Henry replied. "Of course" she nodded and held her arms out for Emilia. "I'll just put her in to bed then I'll be back" Rose smiled as she walked up the stairs holding Emilia.