come back...be here {George Smith}

part 8 - alternative

The years flew by and little Jade grew and so did the New Hope Club fan base. By the time Jade was 7, they'd had their second and third children, twin boys, Matthew and Harry who were currently 3 years old as well as a six month old baby girl, Sasha. New Hope Club had released four albums and done two of their very own head line tours. She was so proud of her Smiffy but it was really hard to keep the big family together, especially when George was always away, either on tour or in the studio working on a fifth album with the band. She didn't see as much of him as she'd like to have. He'd leave early in the morning and come home late at night. Often when he'd come home late, he'd unintentionally bring hoards of paparazzi and their yelling and flashing cameras would wake the children up and then often, it would take ages to get them back into bed again.

One day, George had come home (and the paparazzi), the children had woken up, Sasha had started crying which set off a chain reaction so Matthew and Harry started crying too and Jade had come out of bed to see what the excitement was all about. It took a good hour to calm all the children down and send them back to bed and get them to sleep. She gave a frustrated sigh.

"I can't keep doing this!" she said, almost in tears.

"Babe, I'm really sorry, I promise I'll be home earlier from now on," said George, going over to her and putting his arms around her where exhaustion and tiredness finally got the better of her and she cried.

"That's what you said last night, the night before, last week, last month, last year and for the last seven years!"

"Babe, believe me, I'm so, so sorry. If I could leave earlier, I would," he said soothingly.

"I really can't keep doing this, George. Don't get me wrong, I love you but it's really hard to have that unconditional love for you when I barely see you," she said tearfully.

"Hey, hey, baby, we can work it out," he said pulling her in closer.

"I think you should leave," she said very quietly.

George wasn't sure if he had heard correctly. "What?"

"I said I think you should leave," she said, firmer.

"Babe, no, are you hearing yourself?" he asked desperately.

"You keep coming home later and later which is affecting the children's growth and sleep pattern and them going to bed late means that I have to wake them up early for school the next day which means that they're in a bad mood with me and they're fighting with me and plus I have a baby who is dependent on me for everything and you're not there in the morning to help out and it's just really hard and I can't do it all by myself," she explained, her tears threatening to spill again.

She felt something wet on the top of her head and looked up to see that George had tears spilling from his eyes.

"We can work it out, we can work it out," he kept repeating to himself quietly.

"That's my point! You've been saying that for the past seven years! I don't want our children to grow up with a dad who's not around!" she said frustratedly.

"So that's your solution? To kick me out so that they grow up without a dad at all?!" snapped George.

"They may as well have no dad because of the amount of time that they see you!" she snapped. "Sasha doesn't even recognize you! You know you've fucked up when your own child doesn't recognize you!"

George stood up abruptly from the couch and stormed off to their bedroom.

"Fine! Walk away because that's what you always do!" she snapped standing up and glaring in his direction.

She sat down firmly and glared at nothing in particular.

"Mummy?" came a small voice.

She gasped with surprise. "Jade?"

Jade timidly walked over and sat next to her.

"Do you still love daddy?" Jade asked in a small voice.

"I-," her voice caught in her throat. Jade must have heard them arguing. "I, yes of course I do."

"Then why were you fighting with him?"

"Because he's never around for you and we all miss him and it hurts," she explained.

She nodded in agreement.

"Why do those men with the cameras always come and why can't you make them stop?"

"I don't know, Jade, I don't know. They have no respect for other human beings and no respect of privacy."

Jade nodded again then gave her a kiss then left her and went back to bed.

She sighed and retreated to her bedroom to find George sobbing.

"Hey, baby, I'm really sorry. You're right, we can work it out, I'm so sorry, I'm just really tired and-," she started, blurting words.

"You don't think I haven't noticed?" he croaked.

"Huh?"

"You honestly really don't think I haven't noticed that my own baby doesn't recognize me? You honestly really don't think it's been killing me on the inside?" he asked, turning around to face her so she could see his puffy, red eyes.

"George, love, I'm so sor-," she began but he cut her off.

"No, you have nothing to be sorry for. It's all me, I've been getting my priorities wrong for seven long years. This conversation we had this evening made me certain of one thing; from now on, it's going to be all about you, Jade, Matthew, Harry and Sasha," he said seriously.

Her brow furrowed with confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm quitting the band."

I FINALLY updated!! Yay! Three cheers for me! lol

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love dee