Where I Found You

Chapter 45 - Jack.

Chapter 45 - Jack.

Dad is in a mood, one I've never seen him in before until he found out the news.

Ever since I told him I got Alyssa pregnant, he can get set off like electrics in water at one moment but is being all gentle and quiet and sighing right now. I don't know how to behave around him, so for that reason I don't speak to him much.

All I can think about is Alyssa and . . . Our child. How weird is that? How crazy is that? There's a living, tiny little person inside of her, something which I have half of and she has half of. If I think about it too deeply I start hallucinating and going weird so I try to just think about Alyssa.

"What are you going to call it if it's a girl?" Stella already has down a full list of girl names and boy names, in her notepad, which Jess has also helped her with. They're all weird names that I've never heard of before.

"I think you should discuss it with Alyssa," I tell her with a laugh, avoiding my father's eye as he looks on. We're all sitting in front of the TV and we can hear the storm outside.

"Ooh! I like Dahlia," Stella says excitedly, then scribbles it down in her list of twenty or so. "Gosh, my head is just full of amazing ideas . . ."

That's when the bell goes and we all look up confusedly. Jess walks over to the window, probably to peek out. But I pull her back in case it's a lunatic and then walk out to the hallway and check through the spy hole.

As soon as I see her I fumble for my keys and then swing the door open, allowing her to fall into my arms and bring the storm in with her. She looks so distressed and rain is dripping from every part of her, so I gently help her to peel her coat off.

"They- they sent me," she whispers as she wraps her arms around my waist, short of breath and trembling. I keep my arms wrapped around her tightly, my heart slowly sinking like the heaviest weight in the world. I close my eyes and stroke her wet hair from her face.

"Oh, baby." I sigh and rock her gently, as she cries silently into my chest. "It will be alright. You're fine here. You're safe here."

"What's going on?" Dan's voice comes from the landing above and I hear his feet on the stairs. Alyssa pulls back from me to look up at him with bloodshot eyes, and he slows as he observes her bag on the ground and the tears on her face.

"Go back upstairs." I stand between him and Alyssa so that I'm blocking her from his view, then I take her cheeks in my hands and she closes her eyes, trying to control her breathing.

Dad appears soon enough and gets the whole story. Stella and Jess are in the kitchen, most probably listening closely.

"Do you want a drink or anything, love? Anything to eat?" My dad asks, gently caressing her hair in a fatherly way.

"No thanks." Alyssa shakes her head and wipes her nose discreetly. "I just . . . I think I just need to sleep."

I take Alyssa upstairs to my room and sit her down on the bed, as her wet hair begins to dry. We sit in silence for quite some time, hand in hand, side by side.

"They don't love me," she whispers eventually. Her green eyes roll upwards to meet mine. "They don't. Only Phillip does."

I have no idea what to say to that. Why would anyone in their right mind even throw their own daughter out? Who would do that? I can feel myself getting angry just thinking about it.

Idiots.

"I love you, Alyssa," I tell her earnestly. "And so does our baby." I lie her down on my bed, then climb on top of her as she stares up at me with tears in her eyes. "I love you," I whisper to her, as I rest my forehead against hers, then kiss her gently.