A Future for Sparkhouse

Chapter 14

Here the story concludes. I discovered through writing this, my first (and quite possibly only!) fanfic that it's a strange way to write as you never know if anyone is actually reading. However I mainly wrote this for myself because I found the original ending of Sparkhouse so frustrating and wished for a sequel.  Of course in particular I wished for a sequel that worked everything out smoothly for John! Sadly I'm not sure life with Carol could ever be that smooth...

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Carol woke alone on the sofa as the dawn was breaking. She hadn't found the courage to go up to the empty bed, preferring to stay downstairs where she could hear if the door opened and John came back in. Sadly no door opened and no John returned that night. Carol shifted herself awkwardly on the sofa, trying to fathom what had woken her when a strange kind of tightening around her stomach made her gasp. After a few minutes to get her breath back she got to her feet only to stumble back onto the sofa as the tightening struck again. She couldn't work out what was going on but knew she desparately needed the bathroom so would have to try again to stand. Steadily she got up and edged her way to the downstairs bathroom. A few minutes later she was back out in the kitchen and headed for the sink to make a drink. Out of the blue another of the tightening pains hit her and she grabbed the edge of the sink, breathless. This time she felt it in her back too and gasped out loud. For what felt like an age she couldn't move then gradually the pains subsided and she was able to slowly straighten up again. Eventually she was able to pad back to the sofa. When the pains rolled back a fourth time she felt panic rise. What could be going on? Carol wished John would come back, or that Lisa would come down. Eventually when the pains returned once more Carol recognised them for what they were... contractions! Her labour had started! And here she was, alone in the lounge having scared John away and rendered Lisa so angry that she had stormed off. So many times in her life Carol had felt alone but somehow this was worse. She had now had a taste of family, a flavour of how things can be when you're part of a team... and she'd blown it. What a time to mess it up, just when she needed support. But where could John be now? He had promised her he wouldn't leave her. He had promised, and now he was gone.

As the waves of pain and tightening came and went Carol paced the room, stopping to grab hold of furniture when she needed it and trying to remember to breathe as Sally had taught them in her class. She thought of the others from the class and wished she could call Kate or Ellen to come and be with her. Finally she heard sounds of movement from upstairs - at last Lisa was up and about. It wouldn't be long before she came down and perhaps she would have calmed down by now. Overcome by another wave of pain Carol leant over the back of the sofa and buried her face in the fabric. Lisa's footsteps rang out on the stairs and she burst into the room. In a flash she took in the sight of Carol bent over in pain, breathing heavily, and the anger that had stayed with her through the night instantly dissipated.

"Carol!" she screamed, "What's going on?"

As the latest pains subsided Carol looked up at Lisa. "It's the baby, Lisa love. The baby's coming."

Lisa ran to her and out her arms around her. "What can I do? What do you need? Should I call someone? John??! How can we find him? We need him to come back!"

At this Carol broke into sobs. "I don't think he ever will Lisa. I've pushed him away. How could I have been so stupid?"

"You were stupid," Lisa agreed, "Bloody stupid. But John loves you."

Carol looked up at her sadly. "I've blown it though." she whispered.

"Look I'll find him. He'll come back honest. I know he will. I'll go look for him."

"No!" Carol shouted. "You can't leave me. Not now. Not like this!" And with that another roll of pain hit her. Lisa grabbed her hand and held on tight. Carol gripped her hand back and breathed her way through the contraction. Just as it started to fade away again and the two girls let go of each other's hands a deep voice broke through the silence.

"What the hell is happening here?" Neither of them had heard the back door open or John walk in the house. They'd not seen him freeze in horror as Carol gasped in pain and Lisa held her. They both turned to him, open - mouthed. In a flash the penny dropped and John understood what was going on. He knew the baby was coming and ran towards them. Falling to his knees before Carol he pulled her towards him. "Carol, I'm so sorry. I should have been here." Rocking her in his arms he buried his face in her hair.

"John I'm so sorry too. It was all my fault," sobbed Carol as she clung on to him. With that another contraction washed over her and John held her til it passed. "How often are they coming? How long are they lasting?" he asked, thinking back to their classes. Both girls looked at each other blankly. They had no idea.

"Right, we need to be writing this down. Lisa go get a pen and paper. We need to time it all and write it down." John was back and he was taking charge! Finally letting go of control Carol leant into John. So very relieved he had come back she held on to him. "Thank you," she mumbled. "Thank you for coming back. I really thought you'd gone for good."

"I couldn't, Carol. I thought I could. I got in the car and drove for miles but as soon as I stopped I knew I needed to come back to you. I know you don't love me Carol but I love you and I WILL support you. And maybe one day you will feel something for me too." His voice was tainted with sadness but he gave her a weak smile.

"John!" exclaimed Carol. "Don't talk like that! I don't want you to think like that any more!"

Puzzled he looked into her eyes. "What do you mean?" He hardly dared hope...

"I do love you John. I do. I didn't realise it til you went. Last night when I thought you'd gone for good I understood. I realised what it means to love someone. It means you need them with you. And you will do anything to make them happy. All I could think of once you'd gone was that I love you and I just want to be the one who makes you happy."

John couldn't believe his ears. They clung together in a new sense of hope til Lisa returned with the pen and paper, reminding them with an unsubtle cough that she was there, and then another contraction hit and they were back in the baby business again.

And so time passed, Carol being carried through her labour by John and Lisa until the time came to take her to the hospital. The idea of Lisa going in to school was raised and dropped again just as quickly. There was no way she was going to miss out on the birth of her sibling and sit through double maths. To be truthful there was no way either that John and Carol would have let her miss such a family milestone. So they all arrived together at the maternity ward.

Richard John Standring was born later that day, relatively smoothly and weighing a healthy eight pounds six. As John stood back to admire his son he took in the picture of his wife, his baby and his step daughter and knew that he finally had all that he had dreamt of. With a spring in his step he ran down to the public telephone to call Ellen and Steve, and Kate and Mike. They'd be waiting to hear the good news.

The next day the new, slightly larger Standring family headed home to get used to their new arrival. Over the next couple of days their friends from the antenatal class came with gifts, flowers and cards. Within the month each of their babies had also arrived and the Standrings took their turn at visiting other new parents with their newborns bearing gifts and cards.

This is how, with love and patience, John Standring helped to lay the ghosts of the past that had cast a long shadow over the life of Carol. And how Carol Standring helped wipe away the loneliness and isolation of John. Deep down Lisa Boulton liked to believe that she played a decent sized part in making her parents happy, although even she had to admit she shared that role with her siblings. Siblings in the plural because of course baby Richard wasn't the last. He was followed at almost precisely two year intervals by another boy, Alexander Frederick Standring, named for John's beloved grandad, and eventually a little daughter, Catherine Joy, named for John's mum and for the main feeling this little baby brought to her family.