World War One

Explanations

EIGHT - EXPLANATIONS

Jack and Rose had woken up early and were downstairs in the kitchen, Rose reading a book, Jack reading the paper as they both drank their coffees. They suddenly heard small footsteps on the landing "one of the twins?" Rose looked up at Jack "I'll go see"

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Jack walked upstairs to find the twins stood on the landing, clearly not sure where to be, or wondering if they'd get in trouble if they went downstairs. "Hey you two" Jack said quietly, not wanting to wake Grace and smiled at them. "You coming downstairs?" He asked them and they nodded in response, Jack looked at what direction the twins had come from, and it was obvious they had come from Grace's room. Jack opened his arms for them and they came running over "where did you two sleep last night?" He asked "in Grace's room..." Harry said worriedly "are we in trouble?" Poppy asked frightened "Of course not? Why would you be?" Poppy just shrugged, clearly not telling Jack something but he didn't want to ask to many questions. Jack carried them downstairs into the kitchen. "Good morning!" Rose said smiling at them "did you sleep good?" They nodded as Jack put them down "what would you both like for breakfast?" "Can I have toast please?" Harry asked politely "please can I too?" Rose smiled at them gently, it was the first time she told them what they wanted without a terrified look on their face "of course you can" she stroked both their cheeks.

They sat at the table as the twins ate breakfast. "Would you like to go to the park?" Jack asked them "yes please!" They said in unison "with Grace?" Harry looked at Jack "Grace is asleep right now so she can meet us there when she wakes up with Rose" Harry nodded slowly "okay..." Rose was eager to get the twins out the house before Grace woke up, so she couldn't use them as a distraction, and so the two of them got them ready quickly. "Poppy, let me tie up your hair before you go with Jack" Rose said holding a brush, but Poppy shook her head quickly, looking terrified, "no I like it down" Rose was confused, she'd seen Grace tie her hair up the night before but the bobble had clearly fallen out since then "okay... well at least let me brush it" "can I brush it myself?" Poppy looked up at Rose still worried "if you'd like" Rose said, passing Poppy the brush and watched as she brushed it quickly "right, let's go" Jack smiler to them and held out his hands. They took them and they left for the park.

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Grace woke up a while later. She noticed the twins weren't in bed with her and assumed they had gone downstairs already, as they did yesterday. She went to the bathroom and brushed her teeth before going downstairs. She noted the silence and saw Rose in the living room as she went past "morning" Rose smiled "where's Poppy and Harry?" Grace said, not even acknowledging Rose's greeting "Jacks taken them to the park... I wanted to talk to you" "about what?" She replied confused, and sat in the opposite end of the sofa to Rose, she began to play with the fabric on her pyjamas, as though she was nervous.

"Grace, I need to know... why do you never eat? What is it about the you and the twins not letting me or Jack look after you and be there for you?" "There isn't a reason" Grace shrugged "see, I don't believe you when you say that because there obviously is Grace... you look after Harry and Poppy every minute of the day but you don't look after yourself... and you won't let us help you either" "I don't need help" Grace shrugged again "you're 13, Grace. It shouldn't be on you to look after them all the time... fair enough here and there but not every second of the day" Rose said "I've done it since I was 10... since my dad went off to war, so there's no difference doing it here" Grace looked at Rose nervously "you've been taking care of Harry and Poppy for three years...? What about your mother? Where was she?" Rose frowned, confused "can we talk about something else please?" Grace said, still playing with the sleeve of her pyjamas and staring at the ground "No" Rose said firmly, she felt bad for pushing Grace but she needed to know what was going on, and what's causing her behaviour "Grace, where was your mother?" Rose repeated to which she sighed "she was there" "then why did you have to take care of the twins?" "Because she didn't want to... and I didn't want her to either, she was a terrible parent, Rose" she said finally looking up at Rose. "She doesn't care about us, she doesn't love us. She terrifies the twins, always shouting and throwing stuff when she's angry... that's why the twins were so scared when I dropped the glass the other day... She scared them every single day... so they began to rely on me, it's okay though, I am there big sister after all" she looked at Rose, biting her lip "Grace... did she ever physically hurt any of you..?" "She never hit the twins or anything... she'd grabbed me a few times but that's not that bad. It was the shouting more than anything. She'd go a bit easier on me if I did housework" she saw the horror in Rose's eyes "is that why you insisted on washing your plate?" Rose asked, thinking back to the plate incident before the glass smashed. Grace nodded in response and continued "our dad used to look after us before he got drafted, he never hurt us, he was planning to run away with us, but life had other plans for us I guess" she forced a small smile "oh Grace" Rose looked up at her sympathetically. "We only want to help you all... we care about you" she said as she reached over and held her hand "please let us" Grace didn't say anything, she just looked up at Rose, it was clear Rose was being genuine.

They sat in silence for a few moments. "Grace... your dad... is he-" "yeah" Grace replied quickly, knowing what Rose was a about to ask "he died last year, I'm sure you can imagine how nice it was for the twins to hear from our ever so empathetic mother" Grace joked, but no emotion on her face "I'm so sorry darl-" Rose stopped herself from calling Grace darling again "you can call me that" she laughed a little "I didn't want you to because I didn't know if I liked you... but i do now" Rose also laughed a little "glad to hear it" they sat in silence again before rose spoke up, "what about your eating? Why do you never eat?" "Mom said we didn't have enough food for the three of us to eat... so i always gave Harry and Poppy mine... there was enough food in the cupboards... she just didn't like me enough to let me eat it" she chuckled, trying to make light of the situation "that's why you don't eat? So Poppy and Harry get more food?" Grace nodded "please never worry about that Grace. Jack and I will always make sure the three of you eat, do you understand?" she said, emphasising the 'always' Grace nodded slowly, not convinced, Rose saw the look on her face "I promise" she tried to reassure her "thank you..." Grace said, the tiniest smile on her face.

"Grace i went to tie Poppy's hair up this morning, but she wouldn't let me... do you know why?" "Yeah, our mom used to smack the top of her head with the hairbrush if she squirmed as she did her hair, she thought it would get her to keep still, so now she won't let anyone other than me do it" "oh sweetheart... I don't know what to say" "there's nothing you can say" Grace shrugs "I can try and tell her that you won't hurt her with the hairbrush, but I don't know if she'll listen" Grace shrugged again and Rose nodded "yes please..." "now can we talk about something else, please?" Grace looked at Rose, clearly drained "only if you promise me something" "okay?" "You come to me or Jack if you're struggling, and please let me and Jack help you and the twins. Be their big sister, Grace. You're not their mother anymore" Grace didn't say anything, just throw her arms around Rose clearly reassured. Rose was surprised but hugged her back "it'll be alright, I promise" "thank you..." Grace smiled slightly and Rose nodded.

Grace sat up, wiping her eyes "would you like to see Harry and Poppy at the park?" Rose asked "will they be okay with Jack?" Grace asked "more than okay" she smiled and nodded "can i stay here then please?" "Of course, do you want anything to eat?" "Are you sure there's enough? Will Harry and Poppy be able to eat later?" Grace asked concerned "there's enough don't worry" "could i have some eggs please?" "i'll make them now" Rose smiled and got up off the sofa and went into the kitchen.