Come With Me

Chapter 13

It had taken a long while for Grace to adjust after her mother had left, and obviously Jacob was struggling too, though he tried his best not to show it. Grace's Aunt visited when she could, but Jacob had stepped up as Grace's primary carer - he loved the young girl just as much as he loved Connie, and he couldn't do anything to lose them both. Four weeks had passed since the last visit from Grace's Aunt, who couldn't visit as often as she'd like as she didn't live locally. When she came, she sat with Grace and they played a board game together while Jacob did a bit of studying. He needed something to occupy his mind so he wasn't thinking about Connie, and also, he didn't want Grace to have to suffer just because her real parents weren't around - Connie gave extravagant gifts on birthdays and Christmas, while her father seemed to buy lots of smaller gifts but more frequently. Jacob wanted to prove that he could step up to that level, so he needed a stable source of income, which meant getting a promotion. Jacob couldn't bear to use the Audi that Connie had bought him, and so it sat in the garage, with her motorbike. He didn't want to take any more of Connie's things out of any of the rooms, and since Grace hadn't mentioned it, he didn't feel like he needed to bring it up with her.

"So how are you?" Grace's Aunt asked casually, moving her chess piece across the board.

"If you mean how am I coping without mum, then I'm fine," Grace replied. "Jacob takes very good care of me - he always has."

"I'm glad you've been able to move on, my dear," the woman replied, and Grace played her turn.

"I haven't moved on. She's my mum, and she always will be, but I understand what she did, and I respect why she did it." Grace's Aunt was astonished - Grace was so understanding and so mature. She didn't think that Grace would take it so easily. However, Jacob was so gentle with her during this past month, and had explained the situation in extreme depth, and so it only seemed natural that Grace would've accepted the situation for what it was. Their game of chess was finished a little less than an hour later, and Grace ran upstairs to go and do her homework. Grace's Aunt made her way over to Jacob, and pulled a chair up at the table next to him.

"I can never thank you enough for how you've looked after my niece," Grace's Aunt said. The woman - in her mid forties with short brown hair cut into a neat bob - was Sam's sister. "Though she tells me that she's heard you crying at night. Jacob, you need to open up to someone."

"I don't need anyone," was the only response she got, and the woman placed a hand over Jacob's shoulder affectionately.

"Even if you don't, do it for her. Don't let Grace go to sleep hearing you cry. She's got one unstable parent, she doesn't need another."

"Right, first of all," Jacob said, turning around quickly. "Connie is not unstable. She needs space, and we accept that. Secondly, I'm not Grace's dad. I'll never be good enough to be her father, so I don't know why I'm even trying!" He was speaking loudly, but not too loudly, and suddenly slammed his fists on the desk and buried his head in to his hands. "I don't know what I'm doing," he confessed quietly, his voice on the verge of breaking. "I can't carry on without Connie knowing she could be taken completely away from me any second now." Grace's Aunt smiled fondly, rubbing Jacob's back in an attempt to calm him.

"Jacob, let her go. She's already gone. You've got to get your head around that. She's not coming back." Jacob sobbed a little, and then wiped his eyes and nodded.

"You're right," he said, sighing. "I'm never going to see her again. She didn't even text on Grace's birthday. I need to let go. Do you think I should get rid of stuff in the house?" He asked, feeling a lot better now he had been able to release some of his emotions.

"I don't think there's any harm in a few memories, so long as you don't let the past override the present." Jacob was grateful for this support, and he was much better by the time it was time for Grace's Aunt to leave.