Ronnie's point of view
Jake's birthday soon came around, and I knew how stressed Jade was about it, but as much as I tried to help her she just didn't want me to. She was independant to say the least. I knew she would probably kill me if she knew what I had got him for his birthday, but at the end of the day I knew it would make him happy, and I could always say it was from both of us.
"Ronnie?" I was snapped from thinking by Jacky peering his head around the door of my bunk (Jade and Jake were out doing something together). "Time to go and pick up Jake's present." I smiled.
"Awesome! And thanks for coming with me." Jacky just nodded as we left the bus with Charlie and headed for the local pound.
I had already checked with the people who worked there to see if the dog I wanted for Jake was trained and it was, and I had been allowed to take Charlie in a few times to see if they got along. The dog was only a four month old husky named Jingo,and he was adorable. I had seen him before and wanted him for myself, but I knew that Jake would love him... And I knew that Jade would love him too since she told me she had always wanted a husky.
After picking up the dog and taking him back to the bus, I sat in my bunk with Charlie and Jingo. We were just basically lying around on my bed when I heard the front door, and heard the birthday boy's excited little voice. I picked up Jingo and held him in my hands behind my back before heading out to the main part of the bus.
"Hey guys!" They both looked at me and Jade raised an eyebrow. "Hey Jake, I think your momma and I got you the best birthday present." His face lit up and Jade just looked at me.
"Ronnie!" I looked up at Jade since I was now crouched at Jake's level. "You better not have got him too much! I told you!" I just smiled... She was going to kill me.
"Just... Both of you close your eyes." They did and I moved my hands to my front and held the dog at my chest. "Right, now open them." Jake looked first and then practically squealed, then Jade opened hers and rolled her eyes.
"Ronnie! That's too much!" She paused for a second. "Wait is that a husky?! Aww it's so cute." I rolled my eyes.
The rest of the night was spent getting Jade and Jake aquainted with Jingo. Jake loved him, and for the first time in a long time I felt like I was actually doing something right.
***
I suddenly woke up in the middle of the night to hear Jake crying. Upon instinct I got up straight away and simply left Jade to sleep, before going to the bunk where Jake usually slept, right opposite Jacky, who had practically became his older brother.
I pulled back the bunk curtain to see that Jake was cuddling into Jingo, Charlie, and his zebra teddy. He was crying quite a lot, and looked like he had been for a while. He looked up at me, before looking away and cuddling further into the dogs and his teddy.
I simply looked at him, and then climbed into his bunk and pulled him onto my lap. He looked up at me again, before cuddling right into me, and crying into my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle pj's. After about ten minutes of me trying to calm him, he stopped crying and looked up at me.
"Care to tell me why you were crying?" He looked at me before nodding.
"I had a bad dream... You had been just using my momma, and hitting her, and then left." He paused. "You said you never liked us, then left us, took Charlie and Jingo, and we never saw you again." He looked down.
"Well Jakey," he looked back up at me. "I would never ever do that. It would break my heart to think I had ever done something like that to you or your momma... I love you both too much." Jake smiled.
We both spent around half an hour talking, before I realised that Jake had fallen asleep, so I simply tucked him into bed, kissed him on the cheek, and then shut the bunk curtain, before heading back to my own bed, cuddling into Jade, and falling asleep again.
***
"RONNIE WAKE UP!" I woke up to the sound of Jake screaming in my bunk. Man that kid was loud. "MOMMA ISN'T HERE! NO ONE HAS SEEN HER! RONNIE WHERE IS MY MOMMA?!"
I looked at Jake and suddenly realised that he was right, Jade was no where to be seen. I suddenly noticed there was a note on the side table, but I knew I couldn't read it when Jake was in the room.
"Jake, go and talk to Jacky about it while I get ready, and then we can go out and look for her, okay?" He nodded and left.
As soon as the door shut, I locked it and picked the note up. I didn't want to open it, if not for me but for Jake... But I knew I had to... After much consideration, I unfolded it amd slowly began to read it.
Ronnie, I know that you're no doubt worried about where I am but trust me, I'll be OK. You have to promise me that you wont come to find me? I know you can give Jake a better upbringing than I ever could and it's killing me. I thought everything would work out, but it turns out that it was just too much. You just have to look after Jake for me, do everything you can for him, and never ever let him find me again, it would hurt him too much. Just know that I did love you, and I love Jake more than anything, but it's all just too much... Please understand? Jade x
I dropped the note and felt my heart sink. I had to find her, whether she liked it or not. I knew what it was like to grow up without a mother, and it was no way to grow up. I don't see how she thought I could do better than her, she was amazing with kids, especially Jake.
Before I knew it I ran off the bus and called myself a taxi back to where Jade lived. As soon as I got there I found myself repeatedly battering the door, before just deciding to try to open it - it opened, meaning she was there. I found her sat on the floor of her front room, crying her eyes out.
"Jade?" She looked up at me and I saw panic in her eyes. "Why on earth did you run away?" I tried my best to stay calm - I knew that if I raised my voice she would run away again.
"I just - I don't know. I think I panicked. You could give Jakey a way better life than I ever could." In that moment I felt myself want to scream at her but knew I couldn't.
"Jade, trust me, he will have no life without his mother. I grew up resenting my mother but I was still damn lucky to have one. You need to come back." She sighed and looked at the floor before looking at me.
"Okay, I'll come back. But you have to promise not to tell him that I wanted to leave." I nodded and we both left hers and got a taxi back to where the bus was parked up.
