It's Thursday which means update day! Thank you as always to Hollie, number 1 reviewer extraordinaire!
The following three weeks had passed in a blur. Callum had finally worked up the courage to call Claire, to arrange a meeting with her and start trying to get to know her. He hoped that he wasn't too late, he hoped that she would still want to meet him too. He sat in the garden on the bench facing all the flowers Jess had planted as soon as they had moved in. The flower beds were bursting with a riot of colours and smells, and bumblebees lazily flew from flower to flower. The hot July sun shone down on him, and he juggled the phone from hand to hand.
"Are you actually going to ring her?" Jess said, a hint of a laugh in her voice. Callum turned round and saw her framed in the door leading into the garden from the kitchen. Callum smiled at her.
"You caught me." he replied. Jess walked into the garden, sitting next to him on the bench. "The flowers look beautiful, not quite as beautiful as you though."
"Don't change the subject by trying to flirt with me Callum Stone! Although yes, they do look good, thank you." Jess said, leaning her head on his shoulder. He placed an arm round her waist.
"How're you feeling? I heard you being sick again this morning." he said, concerned for her.
"I'm ok. Morning sickness, headaches, tiredness; I was hoping getting out of the first trimester would alleviate it a bit but apparently not." she said, "I'm going to go lie down for a bit...call her Callum. Please?"
Callum looked at Jess carefully, gently pressing his lips to her forehead, "I'll take you up to bed first, then I promise I'll call her."
"Ok, you better." Jess said with a smile, getting to her feet. She swayed, and landed on the bench with a thud, one hand out as if to steady herself, the other against her forehead.
"Jess, you ok? What's the matter?" Callum asked worriedly, coming to crouch in front of her.
Jess took a deep breath in, blowing it out slowly, "I'm ok, I'm fine. Just a head rush, that's all. I got up too quickly. I'll be fine in a minute."
"Is this normal?" Callum asked.
"Um, yeah, I had the same with Luke and the last baby. It happens to me even when I'm not pregnant too, to be fair. I just need to get to bed and drink some water." she said, trying hard to reassure him.
"If you're sure. Listen, I'll invite Claire over here. I don't want to leave you alone. Come on, let's get you upstairs." Callum said, offering his hand to her. She took it gratefully, and he semi supported her into the house and upstairs into bed. Once he had settled her, he placed the fan on the bedside table, keeping her cool. He poured her some water, kissed her, then shut the door to the bedroom quietly.
After the sixth ring, Claire picked up.
"Hello?" she said.
"Claire? It's Callum, Callum Stone." he said, then felt like an idiot. There was a pause at the other end of the line.
"Oh, hi. I didn't expect...I thought you didn't want anything to do with me, it's been a while since I posted the letter." Claire said carefully.
"Yeah, I'm sorry. Life has been really hectic lately, and I needed time to wrap my head around everything that's been going on. I read the letter, all of it." Callum said slowly.
"And?" Claire said, hopefully.
"I'd like to meet. I was angry, rude and stubborn when we first met and I apologise for that. I have issues trusting people and letting them in, and how you acted towards my wife didn't help. But like you said, you're family, and I want to get to know you. If you still want to, that is." he added as an afterthought.
"I'd like that, I'd like that a lot. Where do you want to meet? And when?" Claire asked happily.
"I was going to suggest a coffee house, but Jess isn't very well, so I thought you might like to come to the house this afternoon? If you haven't already got plans, that is." Callum suggested.
"That would be lovely. Is Jess ok with this? I don't want to intrude on you both if she's ill." Claire said tactfully.
"It's ok, she's very happy for you to come, for us to get to know each other. She's in bed sleeping though, she's completely out of it." Callum said.
"Well, I'll get ready then, and I'll be over as soon as possible." Claire said, a smile in her voice.
"Brilliant. I'll see you soon then." Callum said, about to put the phone down.
"Callum?" Claire said quickly.
"Yeah?" he answered.
"Thank you." she said.
Callum paced the living room anxiously. He had checked on Jess ten minutes ago; she was fine if a bit nauseous still. He'd taken her some icy water and snacks to try and help, and made sure she took some paracetamol for her headache. He'd returned downstairs and was tidying up a bit; he didn't know how he was supposed to act around Claire, whether he should refer to her as his sister, because even though she was family by blood, she was still a stranger. His pacing and internal discussions were cut short when the doorbell rang. He peered through the slatted wooden blinds in the living room; it was Claire. He hurried round to the hall, taking a deep breath before opening the door slowly.
"Hi Claire. Come in." he said, standing aside to let her pass.
"Thanks." she said, almost shyly. As soon as Callum had shut the door, she handed him some flowers. "Erm, these are for you and Jess."
"Oh, right, thank you, I'll just, um, put them in a jug, Jess can sort them later." Callum said, walking through to the kitchen, Claire behind him.
"How is she? Do you know what's wrong with her?" Claire asked, taking the seat that Callum offered.
"Yeah, it's pregnancy not agreeing with her." Callum said, forgetting that Claire didn't know about the baby.
"Jess is pregnant?" Claire asked, surprised.
"Oh, of course you didn't know. Sorry, I forgot. But yes she is, her due date is just after Christmas. She's four months now, but is still suffering with the nausea and tiredness and headaches. So she's in bed, sleeping and trying to keep cool. I just feel bad because there's nothing I can really do for her." Callum said, placing the flowers in a jug of water and placing it on the windowsill.
"The best you can do is just support her, make sure she's comfortable and feels safe. Hopefully after another few weeks she'll be feeling much better." Claire said knowledgeably.
"Have you got children?" Callum asked. He saw Claire's eyes close off. "Sorry, you don't have to answer that."
"No it's ok, if we're going to get to know each other I may as well tell you about a big part of my life." Claire began with a tight smile, "A few years ago, I was married to an amazing man, an American I met while overseas. I worked as a civilian in the army, mainly around logisitics. He was an army doctor, he'd been posted to Afghanistan, and when I met him he'd just returned home from his first tour. I was over there for a month, a group of us from work had been asked to go over on an exchange. We had a whirlwind romance and got married just before I came home. It was completely out of character for me, I was always sensible, but he showed me a different side to me, and a different way of living.
He came over after me a few weeks later, he'd managed to get posted near to where I lived at the time. We moved in together in a small house on base, and started our married life. We didn't really know each other well, but that was part of the fun, you know? Then, about five months after we'd been married, I found out I was pregnant. We were both ecstatic. I had never really seen myself as a mother before, but this was Brad's baby I was having, it was part of him. Everything was going so well, and we soon settled into our role of parents to be.
We painted the nursery a pale green; we didn't want to know the sex. We bought all the nursery furniture and Brad put it together. We bought the tiniest sleep suits in whites and creams, all neutral colours. And then our daughter was born. We called her Lindsay. My mum absolutely loved her, doted on her. But not long after her birth was when we got mum's diagnosis. I went a bit mental to put it lightly. I suffered from depression; the doctor said it developed rapidly because my hormones were still all over the place after having Lindsay.
I started to self harm, didn't want to be around Brad or the baby. Things changed. I changed. I couldn't cope with being a wife and a mother. Brad didn't want our daughter having a dangerous mum. So he left me, went back to America, and took my baby with him. He moved near to his parents so they could help him with Lindsay. He'd video call as often as I wanted, would send updates, keep me as involved as possible whilst keeping Lindsay safe. At the time I hated him for taking my daughter from me, but it needed to be done. Mum died three months after they left." There was silence in the kitchen so heavy it could have been cut with a knife.
"Where's Brad and Lindsay now?" Callum asked gently.
"America still. He sends me photos of her, and emails, and we still video call at least twice a week. He says that when I'm ready, I can go over there, we can be together again, I can be a mum to our baby. She's nearly one already, and she's so beautiful; my dark hair, Brad's curls, and my mum's bright eyes full of life. Absolutely beautiful." Claire sniffed, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. Callum handed her a tissue.
"Claire, I'm really sorry." Callum said, not knowing what else could be said.
"It's ok, it's not your fault. Sorry, that was a bit heavy for our first proper meeting wasn't it." Claire said apologetically, wiping her tears away with a nervous laugh.
"No it wasn't. We're getting to know each other, it's better to get all this stuff out at the beginning right?" Callum said.
"Yeah, I suppose so." Claire said with a nod, "So is this your first baby?"
Callum smiled, "Yes it is. Well, it's my first, but it's Jess' third."
"Third? She has two more children?" Claire asked, looking around the kitchen as if they were going to appear in front of her.
"Long story. When I met Jess, she was married to a lawyer at the station, they had a two year old son. Dan used to regularly beat Jess up, although she didn't admit to it for a long time. I coincidentally seemed to be the one to attend a lot of the calls when he'd attacked her. Luke, her son, was in an accident whilst in Dan's care and Jess was on shift; he was in a coma for a month. He was brain dead so Jess and Dan made the decision to turn his life support off. Luke's death was murky, it was possible he died due to Dan's negligence, but it's never been proved. Not long after Luke died, Jess found out she was pregnant again. Dan wanted her to have an abortion, he booked it for her without her knowledge. She refused to have it done. None of us knew about the baby. We were on a shout that night at a rowdy house party, she got thrown through a window. We were on our way to the hospital to get her seen, when she started bleeding. She had a miscarriage. Then her ex husband died, we started dating, got married and here we are. So yeah, her third baby."
"Wow. Looks like me and Jess have some stuff in common, huh?" Claire said, her hazel eyes, the spit of Callum's, wide.
"Looks like it. Do you want tea?" Callum asked politely. Claire laughed, and then Callum joined in.
"What true Brits we are, drinking tea in the face of tragedy. But yes, I would like a tea thank you." Claire said. The siblings looked at each other with smile's on their faces. This felt right, this felt good. This felt like they were getting somewhere, and wherever that was, it was brilliant.
Jess awoke a few hours later. She pushed the flimsy cover off of her body, turning the fan off as she swung her legs over the bed. She stood up slowly, not wanting to get a head rush again. She stumbled around the room sleepily, pulling her dressing gown over her silk nightie. Wiping sleep from her eyes, she examined herself in the mirror. Yep, definite bump popping out to say hello. She was showing a lot quicker than she did with Luke, which she had read was normal if you'd had babies before, and it was reassuring for her to see. She tugged a brush through her blonde hair and tied it up in a ponytail before leaving the room and walking into the hall, pausing as she heard laughter coming from the kitchen. Claire was here! Damn pregnancy brain making her forget things.
She descended the stairs, walking into the kitchen and smiled at the sight in front of her. Callum and Claire sat opposite each other, deep in conversation. They seemed to be having a good conversation and were relaxed in each other's company.
"Hey honey. Hi Claire." Jess said, kissing Callum as she walked past to get some water.
"How're you feeling?" Callum asked, coming to her side, and wrapping his arms around her, his hands resting on her stomach.
"Good, a lot more refreshed. How's it going?" she said in a whisper.
"Very good. We've been doing a lot of talking, getting to know each other more, and I like her Jess, really like her." Callum said happily.
"I'm glad. I'm gonna go and sit in the garden and enjoy the sun, give Sally a ring, and then I'll make us some dinner. Claire, do you want to stay for some food?" Jess asked, turning to look at her sister in law.
"Erm, only if it's not a problem." Claire said.
"No, it's fine. We're having stir fry with pork, is that ok?" Jess checked.
"That would be lovely, thank you Jess. And oh, congratulations on the baby." Claire added with a genuine smile.
"Thank you. Here, here's the first scan of your niece or nephew." Jess said with a smile, passing Claire the scan picture.
"Aw, look! He should be perfectly formed now, all that needs doing is for him to grow nice and strong." Claire said fondly.
"Well, there's five months left of incubation time, so I guess I better get eating, huh little one." Jess said to her stomach, a hand laid on it.
"Hello you, how's my niece or nephew?" Sally said as she answered the phone.
"Still making me sick every day, and apparently growing rapidly!" Jess said with a laugh.
"I know that's crap for you, but we want a nice chubby baby, no skinny chicken legged baby thank you so much." Sally joked.
"Absolutely! So guess what." Jess said.
"What?" Sally asked, and Jess could hear her bustling around cooking in the background.
"Callum's sister is here and she's staying for dinner. Callum has said it's all going well and she's really nice! So looks like I've got myself a sister in law which is great; she does seem much nicer than our first meeting, and Callum is so happy." Jess said with a smile, shutting her eyes and leaning back on the garden sofa, enjoying the sun warming her skin.
"That's great news! Especially after what you said about their first meeting! Guess what back at you?" Sally said.
"You and Nate are getting married?" Jess guessed, excitement in her voice.
"Not quite, not yet anyway! I've asked him to move in with me! The lease on his place is up, and he basically spends all his time here so I thought we may as well make it official. He's going to start moving stuff in tomorrow then will be on the lease as of next week." Sally said in a rush.
"Oh Sal that's so exciting! How do you feel about it? Did you only ask him out of convenience or do you actually want to live with him?" Jess asked, knowing that Sally's kindness sometimes got her in situations she didn't actually want to be in.
"No no, we had spoken about it before, it was what we both wanted. Ideally we'd like a house, but you know what house prices are like so we need to save. But yeah, I'm excited, it feels right Jess." Sally said, and Jess could hear the smile in her voice.
"Well if you're happy, I'm happy. I will say it's about time though," Jess laughed, "Anyway, I've got to go and get dinner started. I'll see you at work soon no doubt. Hope it all goes well with Nate moving all his crap in!"
"Thanks...I did offer him my help in decluttering all his stuff before he overwhelms my flat but funnily enough he said no! I'll text you tomorrow with an update! See you soon, bye!" Sally said cheerily.
"Bye Sal!" Jess hung up, slowly getting up and heading back inside to start dinner.
If you looked in through the kitchen window of the Stone's house, you would think they were the perfect family who had never experienced loss and tragedy. You would see the dark haired, handsome man, telling a story of one of the arrests he had made, one arm resting on the back of his wife's chair, the other resting on her thigh. You would see the blonde haired woman, his wife, her face alight with love and laughter. You would see the dark haired woman, so similar looking to the man, a look of genuine happiness, and almost disbelief on her face at finally having some semblance of a family back.
Claire Stone couldn't believe her luck. The bond she had developed with Callum today was already strong; she liked him a lot. And she had a great deal more respect for Jess, her sister in law, after what Callum had told her. This was what she had imagined in her head with what her relationship with Callum should be like. She was so glad that it had finally come together. Her life, which had recently been so fragmented, was coming together. Her brother and her sister in law were letting her into their lives, and soon, she could go back to Brad, back to Lindsay, and be the wife and mother she used to be. Things were looking up.