Beyond The Lamppost

He Missed his Father

Edmund was a fairly happy child. Sure, he fought with his siblings sometimes, he wasn't always the best brother, but he did love them nonetheless. He tried his hardest in school, but it didn't come as easily for him as it did for his siblings. He had been doing quite well recently though. His father helped him a lot and he had grown extremely close to him. Everything was great. Edmund was happy. Until that day....

The Pevensies were having dinner at the table that night, just like any other night.
"How did your math test go Edmund?" Mr. Pevensie asked.
"Great!" Edmund replied.
"I got an A!"
"Wonderful job son. I'm proud of you." His father said with a smile.
Edmund smiled back at him, happy that his Father was proud.

There were a few moments of silence before Mr. Pevensie looked over to his wife, who nodded.
He sighed before he began speaking.
"I got a letter today kids." He started.
"What kind of letter?" Lucy asked.
"A very important letter, sweetie. It's from the military"
Peter and Susan looked sadly at each other, as they realized what their Father was getting at.
"W-what did it say?" Edmund asked worriedly.
Mr. Pevensie looked sadly into his youngest sons eyes.
"They want me to help fight in the War son."
Edmunds eyes filled with tears as his father said this.
"But doesn't that mean you won't be home anymore?!" Lucy asked as her eyes also filled with tears.
"I'm afraid so Lucy." Mr. Pevensie replied.
"I'll have to leave home for a bit while I fight in the war."
"Why can't you just tell them no?!" Edmund near enough shouted.
"Edmund you can't tell the Military no, you could get into all sorts of trouble."

"So that's it then?" Edmund asked.
"Just like that you leave home and go off to fight in the War?!"
"I'm afraid so."
"When do you leave?" Peter asked.
"The day after tomorrow."
Edmunds eyes went wide as he ran out of the room, crying uncontrollably.
"Ed!" His father shouted.
"Edmund!"
But Edmund ignored him. He just ran to his room, laid on his bed, and cried.

A few minutes later he heard a knock at the door.
"Go away." He shouted.
"Five minutes." He heard his father say from the other side of the door.
"Give me five minutes Ed."
Edmund considered this for a moment before eventually shouting
"Fine!" And rolling over in the bed.

Mr. Pevensie entered room and sat down next to Edmund, as he frantically wiped away his tears.
"It's okay to cry Ed."
"No it's not." Edmund said.
"Only babies cry."
"Now that's not true at all."

Edmund looked up at his Father.
"Everyone cries. No matter how old you are, you're never too old to cry. Because you're never too old to feel sad. Sometimes we even cry when we're mad. Everyone has emotions, and sometimes they just get to hard for us to handle, so we have no choice but to let them out by crying. And that's okay."

Edmund managed to give his Dad a small smile.
"I don't want you to go to War Dad." Edmund said sadly.
"I know son. I would rather stay home too , so I can spend time with you, and your siblings, and your mother.
But sometimes we have to do things we don't want to do, so we can help other people."
"But what if something happens to you?" Edmund asked worriedly as his eyes filled with tears again.

"Ed, I can't promise that nothing will happen to me. But I can promise that I'm going to fight my hardest to stay alive. And I'm going to fight hard for my Country. And the reason I will fight, is for you."
"Me?" Edmund asked.
"Yes, you. For you, and Peter, and Susan, and Lucy. And for your Mum. I will fight for you guys until the very end. Because I love all of you so much!"
"I love you too, Dad. Edmund said as he hugged his Father.

♕♕♕

About an hour later Peter walked into the room and smiled at what he saw.
His Dad was sitting in the bed, his back against the pillows. Edmund's head was laying on his chest and his arms were wrapped around his waist, as he slept.

Peter sat on the edge of the bed.
"How is he?" He asked his Father. "Better." Mr. Pevensie replied.
Peter nodded.

"How are you?" Mr. Pevensie asked.
"Okay." Peter said plainly.
"Pete." His Father said, a bit annoyed.
Peter sighed. "Alright. I'm a little scared, but I know this is what you have to do, and it will be okay. It's gonna be different, probably even hard, without you, but I know we will make it. We have each other."

"I'm glad to hear that, Peter." Mr. Pevensie replied.
"But remember, you're going to be the man of the house now. Take care of your Mother. Look after your Sisters, protect them. Don't let Susan go out with anyone less than perfect. Please make sure she doesn't grow up too quickly."
"I will." Peter chocked out."

"Keep Lucy happy. She is a ray of sunshine, and deserves to stay that way. Let her cherish every second of her childhood, but when she is ready, make sure she knows that she is a beautiful, strong Woman, who can do anything she sets her mind to."

Peter nodded. "I'll make sure she knows."

"Please, Peter. Keep a close eye on Edmund." Mr. Pevensie said as he looked down at his sleeping son.

"He needs someone to ask him how his day was. Someone to help him with his homework. He needs someone to be proud of him when he gets a good grade on a test. He needs someone to tell him they love him. He needs to know he matters, he has value and a purpose.
Just, please make sure he knows that."

Mr. Pevensie had tears in his eyes now, as did Peter.

"I will." Peter said in a choked voice.

   ♕♕♕

Peter tried his hardest with Edmund, he really did. It worked, for a while anyway.
But it all became to much for Edmund to handle. He shut everyone out. He never told them how sad he was and how much he missed his Dad. He hardly spoke a word some nights. And when he did, it was usually mean.

So, when Peter asked how his day went, Edmund either gave him a rude, sarcastic reply, or ignored him all together. He treated his siblings and his Mother very badly.
His grades in school were awful once again, but he didn't care. Why did it matter?
Why should anything matter without his Dad?

Oh, how he missed life before his Father fought in the War. Now he just went to his room and stared sadly out the window, wondering if his Father was even alive.
His heart skipped a beat each time someone came to the door, praying it wasn't a man in a suit telling him his Dad had been shot. He missed when his Dad let him stay up all night reading. He missed the smile his Dad gave him whenever he got a good grade. He missed being happy.
Edmund missed a lot of things. But most of all, he missed his Father.

A/N: Hey guys Abby here!!! As you can probably see I've decided to write a fanfic of Narnia one shots. I hope you enjoyed this first one!! I've got a few ideas but I could definitely use more so if y'all have any ideas or requests I would LOVE to hear them. You can send me a word a character a relationship pretty much anything and I will try to write a fic about it ☺️ I'll try to update once a week but I'm not sure if I'll always be able to cuz of school 😩 anyway much love
XOXO
Abby😘🥰💗