Promises Not Kept

49

         When Johanna and Charlie awoke, their neighbor brought them downstairs to meet their baby sister. Leah was curled up on the sofa with the newborn in her arms.

"Oh, darling, I'm so sorry I missed your birthday." She kissed Johanna's forehead as she skipped over.

"It's okay, mummy." The little girl beamed and peered into the bundle of blankets. "Hello." She greeted her sister with a warm smile.

"This is your sister, Molly." Leah murmured softly.

Charlie walked over and sat on the arm of the couch. He recalled the birth of Johanna and how much it had rocked his world. The jealousy he felt for all the attention she was given. But this time around, he knew that Tommy and Leah had more than enough love to give no matter how many children they had. In fact, there were a lot more things that disrupted his world, bigger than having another sister. Although he was a bit disappointed that Leah hadn't had a boy. Oh well.

Johanna crawled up onto the couch and rested her cheek on Leah's shoulder, her eyes fixed on her baby sister. "She's little." She whispered.

"Very little." Leah agreed. "She whispered.

"Very little." Leah agreed.

Tommy walked into the room and Johanna sprang up to greet him. "Hi, daddy!" She jumped into his arms.

"Hello, love." He kissed her cheek. Despite the deep issues, it was nice to have his family back. Perhaps even for a few days, they could pretend everything was perfect, ignoring issues that were below the surface. Just a family with a newborn. A beautiful and loving family that paid no mind to the ugly world outside.

"Daddy, I've got a sister now," Johanna reported proudly.

"You have. You're an older sister now." He smiled and went to sit on the couch, placing his daughter on his lap. "What do you think, Charlie?"

His son shrugged. "She's got hair like me."

"That's right, got mum's hair, doesn't she?"

Charlie glanced briefly between Leah and Tommy. He wrinkled his nose as a memory from his childhood began to surface. The framed picture of a blonde woman that used to sit on his nightstand. Before it was moved back into his father's study. It wasn't of Leah, that much Charlie knew. For some reason, it was giving him a feeling of dread. He looked at his sisters in the arms of his mother and father. For whatever reason, he was feeling left out even though he was right by their side.

"You alright, Charlie?" Leah murmured softly. She noticed the faraway look in his eyes.

The boy blinked a few times and nodded. "Yeah, sorry."

Leah smiled. "That's okay, would you like to hold Molly?" She offered.

"Sure." Charlie sat on the couch between his mother and father. Leah gently set the newborn in his arms. He looked down at her pink face with round cheeks. He smiled slightly but there was still that doubt in the back of his mind. He didn't fit.

~~~~~~~~~~~'

"We're going for a walk if you'd like to come." Leah stood at the door with Molly in her arms and the pram by her side.

Both Johanna and Charlie were dressed for the brisk weather. Charlie had a ball tucked under his arm and Cyril's lead in hand, and Jo had a bag of bread crumbs.

Tommy cleared his throat and nodded. He stood up and donned his coat. He'd been in Boston for two weeks. Most of the time was spent tending after the children, helping Leah take care of them. The house was so busy, and most nights they were kept up by Molly's crying, there was no time to discuss the future. Not to mention tough emotions that neither of them had the courage to speak of yet.