A Twist In Time

I Think I Might Love You

You know when time passes by and you stumble your way through weeks and before you know it a whole month had gone by.

With my nursing training, finishing my schooling, caring for Thomas-J and the Shelby children and helping Newt with his research, I'd managed to make my way through most of April without writing to Tommy.

"I've written to him on your behalf," Ada said as I walked into the kitchen to find her serving breakfast to the children and Thomas-J was dressed and asleep in his pram.

"Something's wrong," I said, pausing to look at the children all neatly dressed and digging into the porridge. "Ada, you're up before nine." I gasped at her in mock shock before going over to Thomas-J and leaning down and pressing a kiss to his tiny fingers.

"Yes, well Polly had me up because she needed to head into town and couldn't keep an eye on the children. When we arrived, Thomas was crying and you were dead asleep. You're working yourself too hard, Rom." I couldn't believe I slept through his cries. "Don't worry, he was only crying because he heard Finn."

That made me feel so much better. Can you hear the sarcasm?

"Haven't you gotta be at work?" Ada asked, causing me to freeze as I realised she was right.

"Fuck, it's Saturday, isn't it?" I mumbled, rising from the table and grabbing a slice of toast from Ada's plate. "Come on, up and at them, I promised the soldiers you'd be joining me today. Finn. have you got your chessboard?"

"Yeah, just like you asked," he grumbled, rising from the table and snatching the chessboard from the side. "Come on, you lot."

Matthew and Mary rose, each grabbing a toy to show off and I collected Edward, placing him and his bear in the pram with Thomas, making sure he didn't squash the baby.

"See you later, Ada," I called out, wheeling the pushchair out the door and rushing down the street like a lunatic with four children at my feet.

Two hours later, I was treating a soldier whose face had been burned by some explosion. Finn was in one corner playing chess or learning in his case, while Katie was chatting away to a young man that lost his leg. She was teaching him how to draw and shouting at him when he used the wrong colour.

Mary was playing tea with two other men, demanding that she was the Queen and they must always refer to her as Queen Mary. They laughed along with her demands and it was nice to see them smiling. Not in all cases, but in these soldiers, children could help take their minds from the horrors they'd seen.

Edward was sitting on the bed beside me, cuddling his teddy as he looked at the man holding baby Tom with a frown.

"You must keep busy," Trevor said, nodding between Thomas-J and Edward.

"I love a big family," I told him, dabbing carefully at his scaring, making sure the ointment was carefully placed across his face. I wasn't going to mention it to anyone, but I had slipped a bit of numbing potion on the cloth when no one was looking. "Children bring such imaginations with them, they brighten up a room."

"They're not afraid of us," he muttered, adjusting Thomas so he was sitting up with his help.

"Why would they be?" I asked, frowning as I glanced down at Thomas-J. "The only reason children have to be scared is because of the way they were raised. If they see their parents fearing something, then they will too."

"You have a weird way of seeing things," he said, running his hand over Thomas-J's head before peering up at me. "You got a fella out there?"

What was I supposed to say to that? No, I didn't, but I could consider Tommy as a fella. There was something brewing there, at least I thought there was on my end. He sent his last letter with the words, 'Love, Tommy' surely that meant something right?