I'll Come Running

Chapter 34

The small party had been going on for hours, filled with lots of laughs, stories, and just overall a good time with the Pogues. Eventually the party moved from the pool over to the fire pit, with everyone crowded around it making s'mores.

"Be careful doll, hold the stick away from you. Take a step back." JJ suggested as he scooted his niece back a few inches to keep her from getting burned when trying to roast a marshmallow. "And whatever you do... do NOT eat the marshmallow right off the stick. Your uncle JJ has tried to do that too many times and it never ends well."

Charley just giggled in response. Rafe and Jessie were content sitting around the fire watching the Pogues take over watching the toddler. They were definitely more than enough company to keep her occupied and eventually tuckered out for the night.

When Charley started getting fussy is when Jessie decided it was time to say goodnight. She made sure Charley had given everyone hugs and kisses, last but certainly not least, her daddy. The goodbye from Rafe was the hardest for her, as she clung to her father with all her might.

"Charley, it's really time to go to bed. I mean it. Come on, honey." Jessie tried to sooth her daughter, but still with a tone that clearly meant business. It was hard for Rafe not to cling to Charley just as tight as she whined and pressed herself further into his chest. Despite the protests, Jessie scooped up the three year old bridal style and much to her dismay, brought her inside and upstairs to get her changed and tucked in.

"Man, she's really wrapped around your finger isn't she?" JJ asked Rafe as they all watched Jessie walk towards the house.

"Yeah, I'd say so... I don't know why... I definitely don't deserve it." Rafe replied almost appearing a little sunken from the reality that just hit him. He looked down at his beer and sloshed it around.

"Don't say that Rafe. You deserve love too." Sarah consoled.

"Yeah, but... I just think sometimes... if only she knew what her daddy has done." Rafe responded with dejection as he looked down at the ground. For a moment the pogues were let into a different side of Rafe, one that appeared to be remorseful over his past actions. One that they might say was forced to act not out of selfish ambition, but out of being a victim of circumstance, and now only Rafe was left to pick up the pieces shattered in his heart and make sense of the puzzle. Nobody could really do that for him, not even Charley. Ever since Jessie walked back into his life and Ward walked out Rafe had been forced to figure out why he's done the things he has. There was a hush over the fire.

"Yes, but, maybe she's exactly what you need. She thinks you hang the moon, Rafe. And now you have the chance to keep proving that to her for the rest of her life." Sarah said with a smile, feeling like for the first time in years there was truly some hope for her brother.

Rafe only nodded and smiled. If he wasn't around the pogues he probably would have gotten much more emotional. He didn't even feel like he was worth a redemption story, not from Charley, the pogues, and certainly not Jessie, but here they all were.

Once Jessie finally got Charley soothed and sleeping, she went over to the closet that housed the few belongings that she brought with her. She grabbed the photo albums she insisted on taking.

Jessie walked back outside to see everyone still around the fire, drinking and making casual conversation. Rafe seemed ironically in his element. Jessie had never seen Rafe this comfortable at any of the ragers they used to attend back in the day. Once his coke addiction got really bad, eventually those parties just turned into more opportunities for Rafe to fight someone or give Jessie a hard time for being such a "goodie two shoes" for simply not wanting Rafe to get violent. Jessie was by no means a rule follower, but compared to the road Rafe was headed down at the time, she was a saint. He always had a tendency to be volatile and unpredictable when he was drunk and high. But tonight, he was surprisingly subdued. Jessie figured maybe he was restraining his alcohol on purpose nowadays. She didn't mind.