Forget Me Not

Chapter Six

Aurora went to bed with difficulty and Victoria almost gave up as she burst into tears after she had put Rora to bed for the fifth time. Jude took over then and Aurora finally fell asleep around ten. By this point, Sienna, Victoria and Jude sat down at the kitchen table over a pot of tea.

"What's going to happen now?" Jude asked.

"Lillian and Timothy want to take him home and take care of him there. As for Vicky... I don't know."

"I don't know," Victoria whispered. Jude frowned.

"Victoria. You are an amazing woman. You are confident and strong and beautiful. We have raised you well. But this, this selfish pity needs to stop. For you, for your husband, for your children. You HAVE to be strong. You are not just a Carter. You are a Murphy. Murphys made the family name by working hard, by being so ambitious and achieving more than anyone could possibly have believed. You are a Murphy. You always will be. We will help you, we will help you as much as we can but... Murphys help themselves too. And you can do it. You know you can. Take the rest of this day to cry and pray but tomorrow morning, you start to be ambitious and to achieve more than anyone has ever imagined."

Jude and Sienna took Nathan and Victoria's bed much to their protest but Victoria insisted and took the sofa. In the morning, they left promising they were only a phone call away. Victoria took Aurora to nursery with her head held high. She met Nancy there and Nancy invited her back to the Miller house but Victoria said no. She was making a game plan and wanted to be alone.

She had a bath, cleaned the house, doing the washing, polishing items, hoovering and ironing. A knock on the door made her jump and she answered it to see Arthur with Aurora.

"Aurora? What time is it?" Victoria panicked, imagining leaving her daughter at nursery for hours on end.

"Don't panic, it's only three." An hour over the time she was supposed to pick up Aurora.

"Oh, God... Did they call you?"

"No, Nancy picked her up with Daisy at two. We took Aurora for an hour, thinking you might have wanted some time to yourself."

"Thank you." Victoria took Aurora and kissed her cheek.

"Can I come in?" Arthur asked. Victoria took a deep breath and nodded.

"Sure."

Victoria made tea for her and Arthur while Aurora watched cartoons in the living room with a snack of baby breadsticks. Victoria sat with Arthur at the breakfast bar, opposite each other.

"Aren't you with him?" Victoria finally asked.

"No. He got discharged today." Victoria inhaled deeply.

"He's gone to live with his parents." It was not a question. It was so obvious. Arthur nodded.

"Yes."

"Well, what do I do now?"

 "You get him back, Vick. It won't be easy. Hell, it might not even work. But isn't it worth a shot?" A smile was spreading across Arthur's face, a smile that said that he was going to be taking more time off work for this one.