World War One

Tell All

TWENTY NINE - TELL ALL

Grace walked downstairs in her pyjamas and wrapped in the dressing gown she had left here before she went back to New York.

She went in to the living room where Rose was sat on the sofa, Jack followed closely behind her "here" he smiled at her and handed her a mug of hot chocolate "thank you" she smiled weakly and sat near Rose "so, how've you been? What happened when you got back to New York?" Jack asked, making Grace shrug "the same as always... nothing had changed, nothing got better but nothing got worse either at first. Poppy mastered staying still whilst her hair was being brushed after she was hit with it a few times. I got used to everything again pretty quickly, but then Mum got a boyfriend... who was-... horrible to say the least... he would shout at the 3 of us all the time, but he never hit us, until the other night, when he went to hit Poppy because she woke him up" "WHAT?!" Jack said loudly, his face turning red with anger "I'll kill him!" "no, no, it's OK, he didn't... I stood in front of her, he didn't hit either of us, he just went back to bed" Grace said "if he didn't hit you, how did you get that bruise round your eye, Grace?" Rose asked "oh, that was Mum. I came back from the shop with the wrong milk. She wasn't happy to say the least" she rolled her eyes "but when Sam went to hit Poppy, I knew I had to get us out. Even if I just got the twins here then I went back, I couldn't keep them in New York... I'm sorry for bringing them here, but I didn't know what to do" she said apologetically. "Do not apologise. This is your home, we want you here- all of you. There's no way you're going back to New York, Grace" Jack said "but what if mum or Sam come here, surely they can just take us if they want to" Rose bit her lip, thinking "unless-" she said "unless what?" Grace asked "unless you report your eye to the police" "what?" Grace looked confused "if you report your eye and the other abuse to the police, it's highly unlikely that you'll have to go back with your Mum, even if she did find you" "what? Really?" "Yes" Rose nodded "but you'd have to do it before the bruise fades, it's horrible I know, but it's evidence" Jack said "I'll do it" she nodded "are you sure?" Jack asked to which she nodded "yes" Jack smiled a little, trying to reassure her "I'll take you to the police station first thing tomorrow" he kissed her head "thank you..."

—

The 3 of them sat talking for a while before they heard Harry shouting from upstairs "Grace! Grace!" Grace sighed a little "oh yeah, they're back to waking up in the night" she nodded and stood up "why?" Rose asked "because they're used to someone else being there when they're asleep. They've slept in my bed ever since we went back to New York" Grace said as she walked towards the living room door "I'll go" Jack said, also standing up "oh... thank you" Grace smiled gratefully

—

Grace sat back down on the sofa beside Rose who kissed her head and wrapped her arm around her. "You're going to be OK, alright?" She said to which Grace nodded "thank you" she whispered.

—

Jack walked up the stairs and found Harry outside his and Poppy's bedroom door holding Pancake "hey, you OK?" He asked, Harry held his arms up so Jack would pick him up "what's the matter?" He said, lifting him off the ground "I had a nightmare, it woke Poppy up and now we can't sleep" Harry said, a guilty look on his face "that's OK... come on" he said, walking in to the bedroom, finding Poppy sat on her bed, her knees to her chest holding Flopsy tight "you're OK sweetheart" Jack smiled at her as he put Harry back in to his bed "I'll stay with you until you both fall back to sleep" he said and sat between the 2 single beds, stroking their heads "close your eyes" he whispered.

—

Rose and Grace sat downstairs talking over little things that had happened with Jack and Rose since the kids had gone away. It made Grace happy that Jack and Rose had done stuff to make themselves happy and distracted, but also made her sad that she and the twins had missed out on joining in with that stuff. Grace looked at the clock and noticed the time "Jack has been up there over an hour?" She frowned confused "has he?" Rose looked at the clock, also confused "are you tired?" She continued and Grace nodded "come on, let's head up to bed, and see where he is in the meantime" she laughed and Grace got up, following Rose up the stairs.

Rose checked her room but Jack wasn't there, her and Grace checked the twins room, opening the door it creeked a little. They found Jack slumped against the wall between the twins beds, and laughed quietly. His hands were by the twins heads, it was obvious he had been stroking their hair as he fell asleep. "At least the twins went back to sleep I guess" Grace chuckled "I best wake him, or he'll have one very sore neck in the morning" Rose smirked and walked over to him quietly "Jack, Jack" she shook him gently "you need to get up" she laughed gently and helped him up "what happened?" He asked as he got on to the landing "you fell asleep when you put Harry back to bed" Grace laughed, Jack and Rose joining in. "I'll wake you up in the morning and we'll go to the police station, OK?" He asked and Grace nodded "yeah... night" she smiled at Jack and Rose, both of them hugged her "it's good to have you back kiddo" Jack smiled gently at her. Grace smiled and walked off, going in to her bedroom and falling asleep quickly, it had been a very long day...