Chapter 51 - In need of more than one shoulder to cry on
Cesca was still sobbing into Jonah’s shoulder, he lifted his hand towards her head treasuring it close before allowing her to pull away, her face drenched, eyes blood shot looked up towards him, he used his thumb to carefully wipe the tears that were beginning to make their way towards her cheeks, she smiled then looking down at his shoulder to see a massive wet patch from all her tears, “Sorry”, she said as she attempted to sort of brush it down. “Ces, why are you sorry?”, “Everything is such a mess, everything is my fault”, “Ces, it’s going to be alright, it always is. Since when was this all your fault, you haven’t done anything, she is just a spineless cow who will never be happy until she sees everyone so miserable”, Cesca wiped the tear that began to grace her cheek before placing her hand on Jonah’s thigh and turning towards him. “Why didn’t you tell me?” Cesca wanted to know, they needed to talk about these things. “Because I didn’t want you worrying, she had been out of my life for so long, I didn’t think she would ever be in the picture again”, “J, my life has been pretty messed up, nothing was going to shock me. I just don’t understand why you didn’t tell me, I could have helped”, “How Ces, this was never going to be something that could be fixed, I don’t want it to be fixed. All that matters is you, Mia and our twins”, She rubbed his thigh before planting a delicate kiss on his lips just as Marcus walked up towards them, “You wanting to catch a cold?”, Cesca pulled away looking up at Marcus, her face was red, tear stained and her eyes blood shot, there was no way they could keep what happened a mere few minutes ago from him, he needed to know the truth. “Cesca are you okay?” Cesca couldn’t help but sob as everything came flooding back to her, Hannah’s looks her words, they all cut into her, leaving deep scars. Jonah held her tight, protected her as always, “Dad, I think we should go in, I have something to tell you”, Marcus instantly thought that it was something to do with the twins, why else would Cesca be so distraught, he couldn’t even begin to think about anything else, what else could make someone so unhappy other than the loss of a child, when they had nothing else to lose. Marcus waited for Jonah to help Cesca up, he placed his arm around her waist as per usual, her hand placed on her tummy as they walked up the steps, pushing the front door which hadn’t properly closed. Marcus followed them in as they all sat in the sitting room, Ruth was already in there, and she also looked a little shaken. Marcus scanned their faces, Jonah was being supportive but he wasn’t upset, he seemed more aggressive than anything else. Ruth looked shaken, confused unsettled, Marcus was just as confused except it was for the pure fact he had no clue as to what was going on Jonah began to put him out of his misery, his hand clasping Cesca’s. “Dad...” This made Marcus’s heart race, it just added to the worry and sheer dread of what he was to say. “Mum was here”, “She WHAT!”, Marcus was shocked but relieved, thank god the twins were okay, thank god that Jonah and Cesca weren’t having to face anything so horrific, they always seemed to pull the short straw, so much bad luck had flown their way. “She came round, Ruth was here with Mia and she asked me to come over and Cesca insisted on coming to and as usual”, “She threw her wait around”, “You got it dad”, “I’m not letting her get to my family again”, Cesca was quiet, she didn’t want to get sucked into anymore of the trouble, she was content in Jonah’s arms, as long she had him, everything else was irrelevant. Marcus marched up from his seat “Wait ...Dad”, “Jonah, stay here with Cesca, she needs you”, “Don’t do anything stupid” he called after him as Cesca’s tears stopped, she enjoyed more of a cuddle now then just a reassuring arm. Their lips met one another as a hug turned into a passion filled kiss, “I love you Jonah and I realise why you didn’t tell me, this must be hard for you, I should be the one being there for you, your always there for me... always”, “I won’t ever leave your side, I love you so much. You don’t have to be strong knowing that you love me is enough”. Cesca smiled, they had all calmed down, the TV went on and Ruth joined them they needed some cheering up and a way of passing the time, waiting for Marcus to return.
Marcus jumped in his land rover, his green coat still on; he didn’t have a chance to properly settle down at home before being given the news of his ex wife’s return to Rochdale. Every thought of her made his skin crawl, his head boil and fists clench. His head turned side to side, looking at the pavements as he passed them. Hoping to catch sight of her, he needed to tell her who was boss; he needed to warn her not to return, to not ever bother coming back. He was mad, really mad! He wasn’t thinking straight his head was all over the place as he stormed the streets of Rochdale in search of one vile woman. But then it hit him that she wouldn’t have jetted off, it wasn’t her style, she would much rather stay and watch to see how her mess panned out. He headed for the local pub; she always did like her drink. He indicated right, into the pub car park before zooming into a space without properly lining up. The door of the car swung open as Marcus got out slamming it shut, he had one thing to do and one thing only. He was defiantly in the type of mood you didn’t want to cross and he didn’t plan on crossing with anyone except Hannah and she deserved all the anger that had been building up inside of him, after all it was all because of her. He stormed towards the pub door catching sight of her beige coat and fur rimmed collar, he knew exactly who that was. He sat beside her, not wanting to make a big scene, their whole conversation took place staring forwards no eye contact was required. “Stay away”, “Marcus, nice of you to join me”, “No one cares about you, you’re going to leave Rochdale or I’ll throw you out”, “Oo bit hasty, but then you always were quick to come make a decision”, “Jonah told me about what you said to Cesca”, “Oh the cow has a name”, “Watch it, she is loveliest lady you’ll ever meet, she loves him, why can’t you just be happy for your own son, your flesh and blood”, “Our flesh and blood”. Hannah turned to face Marcus at this point, “Look I’m sorry, I was angry and upset, it just came out. She does seem to make him happy and that is all I can ask, I messed everything up, the kids ... us”, Hannah still loved Marcus, she had been so messed up, her head had been all over the place the day they left everything the day the pair of them walked out on everything. Marcus gave her a reassuring hug; he still had feelings for her to but he also had so much anger for the woman, she broke his heart. “Hannah, stop looking back on the past, it’s the future that matters, that’s definitely something Jonah has taught me over the years”, “It’s about time you were the one learning something”, they both laughed, they were now in a more romantic embrace, it felt right, there wasn’t any awkwardness, “I’m not the only person he’s taught a thing to”. “Oh really”, “He’s a teacher now at waterloo road, Chemistry and general science. He has made so much of his life, he achieved everything he wanted on top of having a family, he always was special”, “He was”, Hannah placed her head onto Marcus’s chest he stroked her hair as they shared a much needed hug.
Back at home, tiny footsteps plodded down the stairs, they all ignored them as they were too faint to hear, Flopsy was under her arm, her hand on the banister so she wouldn’t fall, learning from her many mistakes. She reached the door way of the lounge and poked her head round, Jonah could see her out of the corner of his eye and turned to look, “Hello baby”, Mia walked in further, Cesca sat up so that Mia could join them. She was shy after everything that had happened, Cesca’s feet were curled up and Jonah’s back was leant into the corner, he sat up a little lifting Mia into sit with them. Cesca smiled, giving her little girl a kiss, “you should be in bed missy” Cesca said, Mia didn’t giggle or smirk like she usually did, her face turned to worry. What was so wrong with Mia? “Baby are you okay?” Mia cuddled into Cesca and Jonah, Cesca put a hand to her head, “she isn’t hot”, “I think I can explain”, Ruth said apprehensively, “I was watching Orphan and she had fallen asleep on my lap and I jumped which woke her up and what was on the screen gave her a fright”, “A fright, more like harmed her”, Jonah burst out with how he felt with it, “Okay Jonah, calm down”, “No Ces. You think it’s okay for our 3 year old to be sat watching horror movies while she is being baby sat”, “No I don’t, but I don’t think we should be screaming about it either”, “I can’t believe you could be so stupid, why didn’t you take her to bed?”, Mia began to get all nervous, whimpers fled from her mouth, “Mummy she is going to get me”, The words sunk to the bottom of Cesca’s heart, she pulled Mia on to her lap so that she could give her a hug. “Baby, nobody’s going to get you okay”, She gave her a kiss, though now she was fuming, this had really shaken Mia up, “She is now petrified, what are we supposed to do, she thinks someone going to get her for crying out loud”, Cesca couldn’t contain her anger any longer, “We’re going”, Jonah said, Cesca lifting Mia up to be carried as she had no shoes, Cesca went out first picking Mia’s shoes up and her tiny spotty bag that had all her clothes and toys in it. “I tried to help you Ruth, guess you just threw that back in my face”, “Wait... it was a mistake, I didn’t think she was going to wake up, I thought...”, “Well maybe you thought wrong”, they left the house, clambering into the car, Jonah settling Mia with Flopsy in the back, she was still whimpering and teary but there was no screaming. Jonah drove them home; Cesca had her hand to her head this night really couldn’t have gone any worse. She just wanted to be home now more than anything, she wanted to just sleep at least then she wouldn’t have to face the thoughts and reality of that nights events.
Ruth was annoyed and upset with herself, they were both right how could she have been so stupid. Of course she was going to wake up, she was young, and had fallen asleep on her, so she wasn’t all tucked up in her bed how she would have liked to have been, she kept blaming herself for everything that happened that night, she decided it was best to just go to bed sleep on it and hope that they would all come round. Meanwhile back at the pub, Marcus and Hannah had moved onto a long passionate kiss, “Fancy sorting this all out”, Marcus said, Hannah bit her lip knowing exactly what he was thinking, and allowed him to lead the way to his car, her hand intertwined with his. Smiles permanently plastered all over their faces. They reached the car, Marcus was once again driving fast, but this time it was because he had better things to be doing, like sleeping with his ex-wife. They jumped out of the car, the pair of them were like a pair of giggling 3 year olds, Marcus tried to get the keys into the door whilst Hannah planted kisses all over his lips, he opened up the door finally, shutting it behind him as he pulled Hannah close, placing his hands on the lower of her back as their coats fell to the floor. Marcus reached for her hand as he led her up the stairs; this seemed like such a good idea at this moment in time but was that the truth? Did this not class as something stupid in Jonah’s eyes?
Marcus jumped in his land rover, his green coat still on; he didn’t have a chance to properly settle down at home before being given the news of his ex wife’s return to Rochdale. Every thought of her made his skin crawl, his head boil and fists clench. His head turned side to side, looking at the pavements as he passed them. Hoping to catch sight of her, he needed to tell her who was boss; he needed to warn her not to return, to not ever bother coming back. He was mad, really mad! He wasn’t thinking straight his head was all over the place as he stormed the streets of Rochdale in search of one vile woman. But then it hit him that she wouldn’t have jetted off, it wasn’t her style, she would much rather stay and watch to see how her mess panned out. He headed for the local pub; she always did like her drink. He indicated right, into the pub car park before zooming into a space without properly lining up. The door of the car swung open as Marcus got out slamming it shut, he had one thing to do and one thing only. He was defiantly in the type of mood you didn’t want to cross and he didn’t plan on crossing with anyone except Hannah and she deserved all the anger that had been building up inside of him, after all it was all because of her. He stormed towards the pub door catching sight of her beige coat and fur rimmed collar, he knew exactly who that was. He sat beside her, not wanting to make a big scene, their whole conversation took place staring forwards no eye contact was required. “Stay away”, “Marcus, nice of you to join me”, “No one cares about you, you’re going to leave Rochdale or I’ll throw you out”, “Oo bit hasty, but then you always were quick to come make a decision”, “Jonah told me about what you said to Cesca”, “Oh the cow has a name”, “Watch it, she is loveliest lady you’ll ever meet, she loves him, why can’t you just be happy for your own son, your flesh and blood”, “Our flesh and blood”. Hannah turned to face Marcus at this point, “Look I’m sorry, I was angry and upset, it just came out. She does seem to make him happy and that is all I can ask, I messed everything up, the kids ... us”, Hannah still loved Marcus, she had been so messed up, her head had been all over the place the day they left everything the day the pair of them walked out on everything. Marcus gave her a reassuring hug; he still had feelings for her to but he also had so much anger for the woman, she broke his heart. “Hannah, stop looking back on the past, it’s the future that matters, that’s definitely something Jonah has taught me over the years”, “It’s about time you were the one learning something”, they both laughed, they were now in a more romantic embrace, it felt right, there wasn’t any awkwardness, “I’m not the only person he’s taught a thing to”. “Oh really”, “He’s a teacher now at waterloo road, Chemistry and general science. He has made so much of his life, he achieved everything he wanted on top of having a family, he always was special”, “He was”, Hannah placed her head onto Marcus’s chest he stroked her hair as they shared a much needed hug.
Back at home, tiny footsteps plodded down the stairs, they all ignored them as they were too faint to hear, Flopsy was under her arm, her hand on the banister so she wouldn’t fall, learning from her many mistakes. She reached the door way of the lounge and poked her head round, Jonah could see her out of the corner of his eye and turned to look, “Hello baby”, Mia walked in further, Cesca sat up so that Mia could join them. She was shy after everything that had happened, Cesca’s feet were curled up and Jonah’s back was leant into the corner, he sat up a little lifting Mia into sit with them. Cesca smiled, giving her little girl a kiss, “you should be in bed missy” Cesca said, Mia didn’t giggle or smirk like she usually did, her face turned to worry. What was so wrong with Mia? “Baby are you okay?” Mia cuddled into Cesca and Jonah, Cesca put a hand to her head, “she isn’t hot”, “I think I can explain”, Ruth said apprehensively, “I was watching Orphan and she had fallen asleep on my lap and I jumped which woke her up and what was on the screen gave her a fright”, “A fright, more like harmed her”, Jonah burst out with how he felt with it, “Okay Jonah, calm down”, “No Ces. You think it’s okay for our 3 year old to be sat watching horror movies while she is being baby sat”, “No I don’t, but I don’t think we should be screaming about it either”, “I can’t believe you could be so stupid, why didn’t you take her to bed?”, Mia began to get all nervous, whimpers fled from her mouth, “Mummy she is going to get me”, The words sunk to the bottom of Cesca’s heart, she pulled Mia on to her lap so that she could give her a hug. “Baby, nobody’s going to get you okay”, She gave her a kiss, though now she was fuming, this had really shaken Mia up, “She is now petrified, what are we supposed to do, she thinks someone going to get her for crying out loud”, Cesca couldn’t contain her anger any longer, “We’re going”, Jonah said, Cesca lifting Mia up to be carried as she had no shoes, Cesca went out first picking Mia’s shoes up and her tiny spotty bag that had all her clothes and toys in it. “I tried to help you Ruth, guess you just threw that back in my face”, “Wait... it was a mistake, I didn’t think she was going to wake up, I thought...”, “Well maybe you thought wrong”, they left the house, clambering into the car, Jonah settling Mia with Flopsy in the back, she was still whimpering and teary but there was no screaming. Jonah drove them home; Cesca had her hand to her head this night really couldn’t have gone any worse. She just wanted to be home now more than anything, she wanted to just sleep at least then she wouldn’t have to face the thoughts and reality of that nights events.
Ruth was annoyed and upset with herself, they were both right how could she have been so stupid. Of course she was going to wake up, she was young, and had fallen asleep on her, so she wasn’t all tucked up in her bed how she would have liked to have been, she kept blaming herself for everything that happened that night, she decided it was best to just go to bed sleep on it and hope that they would all come round. Meanwhile back at the pub, Marcus and Hannah had moved onto a long passionate kiss, “Fancy sorting this all out”, Marcus said, Hannah bit her lip knowing exactly what he was thinking, and allowed him to lead the way to his car, her hand intertwined with his. Smiles permanently plastered all over their faces. They reached the car, Marcus was once again driving fast, but this time it was because he had better things to be doing, like sleeping with his ex-wife. They jumped out of the car, the pair of them were like a pair of giggling 3 year olds, Marcus tried to get the keys into the door whilst Hannah planted kisses all over his lips, he opened up the door finally, shutting it behind him as he pulled Hannah close, placing his hands on the lower of her back as their coats fell to the floor. Marcus reached for her hand as he led her up the stairs; this seemed like such a good idea at this moment in time but was that the truth? Did this not class as something stupid in Jonah’s eyes?
