Remember Me.....

Adieu not Goodbye

"Oh my God. What HAPPENED?" Liz took one look at Tom's bruised knuckles and Eve's tearstained face as they walked into the kitchen and jumped to her feet.  John came in from upstairs as Eve sat down heavily at the table.

"Eve was amazing!" Tom beamed, ignoring the pain now surging through his hand.  Steven's jaw had been a great deal more solid than it looked!  "She tore them to pieces in front of everyone.  Not a word out of place, not an opportunity missed. They never saw it coming!" he walked over to where she sat, still shaking from the adrenaline and put his arms around her as he sat down next to her.

"I need a solicitor." She said quietly. "Im going to fight."

"Good girl.  Give them hell!"  Liz smiled and clapped her hands. "You go for the jugular.  In fact, cut off that twat Steven's balls lass!"

The three of them turned and gaped at her. It had never crossed their minds Liz would ever use language like that!  John laughed and hugged his wife.

"That's my girl!"

"I want to go home, Tom." Eve said quietly. She looked at him as if she'd come out of a long nightmare. Which, in fact, she had.

"Home love?" Tom was hopeful but a little scared of what she meant. She smiled.

"With you. Home with you. Please?"

Tom smiled and wrapped his arms around her. "Of course darling. When? Now? If that's what you want, I have absolutely no problem with that."

She nodded silently.  He kissed her cheek, "let me make a couple of calls and you get packed."  He stood up and walked through to the livingroom, dialling as he went.

"Hi, sorry, I know it's late.  We're coming home...." and the door closed behind him.

Liz and John sat down on either side of her and took a hand each.  She smiled and the tears fell. For all of them.

"You're not coming back are you love?" Liz said softly, gently.  Eve shook her head.  "I understand completely.  If I was you, I wouldn't either.  We will be here if ever you need us, especially in the fight to come.  Maybe we could come visit you though? When you're settled?"

Eve nodded, barely able to speak. "I'd - we'd - like that. Very much. " she took a ragged breath in. "I will miss you. Can - can I call you ? "

Liz took Eve's face in her hands as she had done when she was a little girl. "Darling Eve, you can call me every day and it wont be too much. I will miss you every day but I know you and Tom will be so happy.  That makes me - makes us - happy." She looked at John, who came and stood behind Eve, his hands on her shoulders

"Eve, you have always been special to us. I know you don't remember, but that doesn't mean you're not still special.  Whatever happens, you are always welcome here, even if that's at the end of a phone."  He squeezed her shoulders and walked away.  As he reached the door, he turned and smiled.

"You will always be our special girl. We love you.."

"Poppet." Eve said suddenly, looking up. "Im your Poppet." Her face broke into a beaming smile, and Liz burst into tears.

"You remember? Oh Eve, you remember!" She grabbed her and held her close. Eve nodded into her shoulder, and John came and hugged them both. 

Pulling back, Eve sat, holding Liz's hand.  "I remember coming home from school and sitting here.  You always had my favourite biscuits... fig rolls! You hate them, John!" She laughed as he nodded. "We talked, really talked.  Not like..." she trailed off for a minute. "And you were here the night I decided to say no to Bruce. You - you told me you would always be there." She started to cry again. "And here you are."

Liz and John held her and cried with her. Tears of joy for the return her memory and sadness at the way it had been remembered.

It was this scene that Tom walked in on.  For a second, he thought something awful was up, the three of them in tears.  They soon set him straight.

After yet another cup of tea, they seemed to run solely on the stuff these days, Liz and Eve packed her stuff. Tom and John waited in the kitchen.

Tom sat, fidling with his watch as he waited.  He wanted to get her away as soon as he could. Before the crew at the 'big house' as it was known, could recover their composure.  It would be that much harder to hurt her from 400 miles away.

He looked around the kitchen. Warm, cosy, wooden. Three words that summed up the room. It was homely and comforting. Filled with the ephemera of a house full of laughter and love. Of real life.  The window sill had plants and jars and odd little finds from the fields.  The fridge was covered in a multitude of magnets from far flung places and scribbled pictures of stick people, animals and views of very purple mountains and neon pink sheep.

The wooden table, scrubbed clean every day, had a fruit bowl on it filled with everything imaginable other than fruit. The stove had a pot, filled with homemade soup.  It was, he decided, perfectly imperfect.

"John?" He looked at the older man, who turned slowly. "Can I ask you something?"

"You can." He had an inkling what was coming.

"Just between us, man to man if you will, since Eve has no father..."

John held up his hand. "You don't need to say another word, son. The answer is emphatically no." For a second, he looked Tom in the eye, a hard glint to it. Tom swallowed, his insides churning. This was not...

Before he'd finished the thought, John continued. "You know we look on Eve as almost our own. Ok, truthfully, our own. Well, I want to tell you here and now, since you've asked, I will never allow her to become any man's wife." He paused, and Tom closed his eyes and tried to formulate the words to object. Before he could, John held up a hand.  "Unless that man is you, son."

Tom opened his eyes and grinned. "Really?"

"Yes, really.  Now don't you worry, there's no rush and no, I won't say a word. Especially not to Liz! In your own time Tom, in your own time." He winked and then grabbed Tom into a hug.

Liz and Eve walked back in with her bags to see Tom and John hugging.  The two women looked at them, then each other, and shrugged. Men!

The four of them stood at the car, each wanting to postpone the departure for a different reason. John because he'd found a son. Liz because she was about to miss her surrogate daughter. Eve because she knew she was about to start the fight of her life and Tom? Well, he was just plain nervous. Of their future, of what repercussions were about to hit, and of his ability to keep her safe.

Finally, with a yawn, Eve opened the car door and got in.  Settling into the passenger seat, she put on her seatbelt and closed the door. Tom climbed into the driver side and started the engine. For a second, they paused as Eve put the window down.

"Thank you, " she called out. "Thank you so much." They started to pull away when Liz shouted.

"WAIT! WAIT, I FORGOT SOMETHING!" and dashed into the house. Tom braked and reversed back.

"Dunno!" John shrugged, just as puzzled as them. Liz reappeared within a minure of two, clutching an envelope.

"Sorry.  With all the hugging and talking, I almost forgot.  Please dont open this until you're on your way. I want you to have space to think about what to do with it." She patted Eve's hand. "Now go. Live Poppet. Live and fight another day.  See you soon."

Tom pulled away again, and they all waved until they could see each other no more.

Settling back in the seat, Eve put the envelope aside. She would open it when she got home.  Now, she needed a little nap.  Reclining the seat slightly, she grabbed a fleecy jumper from the back of the seat and cuddled in. It smelt of oranges, spices, and musk.  It smelt of Tom. 

Tom turned to ask her if she was ok, but she was already asleep. Turning the radio to a late night - or was it early morning - program, smooth jazz tinkled away. A soothing lullaby.

"Sleep well, Little One" he whispered, "sleep so very well."