The knight nursery

The morning after

Tw mentions of dv

After an uneasy night of sleep from not being able to get comfortable and the events of last night playing through my mind. I got up and headed downstairs to the kitchen to find Gareth and the girls Layla was the first to see me coming through the door "morning mamma" I smiled at her and replied "morning lay how did you sleep princess" "it was ok mamma sissy kept crying out in her sleep and it woke me sometimes I went over and held her hand and she didn't cry anymore" Layla responded "that was so sweet of you looking out for your baby sister like that lay" at this point I could see Gareth looking at us both and I could see the turmoil in his eyes he knew what he had done was affecting the girls "has daddy already done your breakfast girls?" I asked and this seemed to pull him back into the present moment "yeah they've eaten" he said sounding rough "ok then girls if you have eaten it's time to go and get ready for school and nursery, please" "ok mamma, come on sissy, I'll help you" Layla responded I couldn't help but be proud of Layla in that moment as I watched her guide her baby sister upstairs. After I had seen the girls go up the stairs and down the landing I headed back into the kitchen and closed the door behind me I was the first speak "I don't want to hear it now. You're going to take the girls as normal and then we will talk when you get back I've messaged Marjorie and told her I won't be in today due to a family emergency so if she asks that's why" Gareth nodded not being able to look at me I could see the guilt washing over his face "I will do the same and phone my boss, char I'm sorry" he didn't look as he walked past me to leave the kitchen " girls are you ready it's nearly time to go" he shouted up to them "nearly daddy just helping sissy with her shoes" I heard Layla shout down I listened for the tiny steps coming down the stairs as I could hear both of the girls reach the bottom of the stairs I came out of the kitchen "have a good day girls and how about today mamma comes to get you both?" "Please mamma" both girls shouted in unison with smiles on their faces, it wasn't that often I was able to collect the girls from school and nursery so it would make a change for me to collect them and it also me gave me something to look forward to given the stress I was going to have to deal with when Gareth got back.  I stood at the door and waved the girls off it was now I was truly alone that I could relax and let everything out.

After an hour I heard the key turning in the lock Gareth was home I watched from the living room as he stood in the entrance hall, he had flowers and chocolates in his hands, knowing we needed to address what happened last night and have some distance between us in case of another altercation.  I got up and headed into the kitchen to sit at the dining room table I knew that would put enough distance between us due to it being a long length I sat at the head of the table "please sit at that end for now while we talk' I said to Gareth signaling that I wanted him to sit at the foot of the table.  As Gareth sat, he began to cry "char I'm so, so sorry I don't know what came over me something in me just snapped and I, I, I lost control of myself I don't know what happened" he looked at my hands I had covered my wrist with a long sleave top "how is your arm and your back?" he asked "it's fine I can hide the bruising" that remark made Gareth sob harder "char I'm sorry I never meant to hurt you it won't happen again I promise" I made the first move towards him I was anxious but I slowly walked around the table to him "Gareth we will get through this but last night cant happen again, especially round the girls, I hated you last night for allowing any arguments and what you did to happen around them" Gareth looked up at me his eyes red and bloodshot from crying "I know I hate myself more for it, and I'm sorry you felt that you needed to lock me out of our bedroom but I know why you did" "well for now till I know I can trust you again, we act normal around the girls but your still sleeping in the spare room" I responded not knowing if I could trust him fully "er these are for you I really am sorry" Gareth spoke quietly realizing the gravity of the situation. As the rest of the day went by, we just sat at the dining table and talked I was trying to understand what changed in Gareth.  As 2:30pm arrived it was time for me to go and get Layla from school her face lit up as she saw me stood waiting for her in the playground "mamma" Layla shouted as she came running up to me "hi my precious did you have a good day?" at that moment I looked over and Layla's teacher was coming over to me "hi er I'm sorry to bother you could I have a word with you please?"  I had a funny feeling I knew what this was about "yeah sure is everything ok?" I asked as I followed Layla's teacher into the classroom "Layla why don't you go over to the book corner and read while I talk to mummy" I watched as Layla happily took herself over to the book corner and began reading happily by herself, Layla's teacher directed me towards her desk and gestured for me to take a seat opposite "so the matter I wanted to talk to you about is a little sensitive but due to safe guarding reasons I have to ask, is everything ok at home, Layla was quite upset today after her father dropped her off and all she could tell me was mummy and daddy shouted at each other and mummy got hurt" I hadn't realized how much Layla had taken in, quickly thinking "oh yeah everything is fine me and my husband had an argument last night and I lost my footing and fell into the dining table" it took a while for the teacher to respond but my story seemed believable "oh thank you for clearing things up I'll let you get home but if you do need anything please don't hesitate to ask" I thanked the teacher and left the classroom knowing she had already documented what Layla had told her I mean at the end of the day I work in childcare I knew the safeguarding protocol.   As we left the school playground I spoke to Layla "how about me and you go and get some ice cream? precious, just you and me, don't tell Sophie" Layla's face lit up "yes please mamma" I took Layla's had as we walked to my car, we departed to the local ice cream parlor and got our ice creams before heading over to the park I messaged Gareth while we waited for our ice creams  "took lay for ice cream before we get soph, she told the school about last night just so you know" we found a bench to sit and eat our ice creams before I took the opportunity to talk to Layla 1 on 1 "lay you know mamma and daddy love you and soph a lot don't you?" Layla was taking a lick at her ice cream before you responded, "yeah mamma" "mummy's and daddy's shout at each other sometimes a little like you and Sophie, you two shout at each other over toys sometimes, what happened between me and daddy last night was just like that" "so how did you hurt your arm and back mamma?" Layla asked me "well mamma was coming to play with you and soph when I tripped over my own foot and lost balance mamma banged her back on the table and I landed on top of my arm" "ok mamma but you always tell me and sissy to pick our feet up did you forget to do the same mamma?" with a gentle chuckle I replied to her "yeah precious mamma forgot, silly mamma" Layla came and gave me a long cuddle "love you mamma" she said "love you to precious, right you have 30 minutes till we have to go for soph, go play mamma will stay right here where you can see me" "yay thank you mamma" she shouted as she was running to the gate to get into the park. I took the time to call Marjorie and check on Sophie,

"Hello the knight nursery" Marjorie answered

"Hey Marjorie, its charlotte just wanted to check on Sophie, she was rather unsettled last night, how has she been today?"

"Oh hello char, yeah sophies been fine a little grumpy but she's been her normal self otherwise, char is everything ok?"

"Oh yeah everything is fine Marjorie"

"Did you manage to sort the family emergency out?" 

"Oh yeah that, that's ok it was my dad he took ill last night, and I needed to be with my mum today to make sure she was ok and had everything she needed"

"Oh ok char as long as everything is ok"

I hated lying to Marjorie, but nobody could know what happened last night, ending the conversation on the phone "yeah, yeah it's all good Marjorie, I will see you just after 5 I'm coming for Sophie"

"Ok my love see you soon"

With that I hung up the phone let out the breath I was holding in I thought to myself thank God Sophie is too young to fully understand.  As the time come for collecting Sophie I just wanted to get in and out of the nursery luckily Marjorie had already left for the day it was a quick and easy process.

When the three of us arrived at home Gareth had already made the girls their meal and did their bedtime routine, I waited for him to come back downstairs, "I still stand by what I said this morning for now we act normal around the girls and to the outside world but when it comes to the sleeping arrangements you're in the spare room for now, I will not let this affect the girls, but you and me have a lot to work through" Gareth nodded in response he knew he had done wrong and that he needed to work on things.

Over the next few weeks things were as if we were dating again and starting fresh in our relationship.