One More Try

Birthday Preparations

This is coming late, I know, my WiFi at home broke Tuesday night and we're still waiting for a new router to be sent!

Jean went up to Ophelia's room. She knocked and opened the door. Ophelia was laying on the carpet, eyes closed and listened to the Rigoletto record. Jean sat down next to her and Ophelia opened her eyes.
"It is him." Ophelia said calmly. "Why didn't you tell me? Why did you lie?"
"I was scared, Darling. Mums get scared too, you know. One day, when you are older, you'll understand." She'd probably hate her then, but that was her fault. Ophelia accepted that answer and Jean helped her get ready for bed and tucked her in.
"Night night." She kissed her daughter's forehead.
"Don't let the bedbugs bite." Ophelia replied and closed her eyes. So much was happening. It was very exhausting for her young mind.

Now that she knew her dad would be coming, Ophelia couldn't wait for her birthday. Only a few more sleeps. At school she told Evelyn and her other friends what had happened the night before and they were very excited for her.
"Do you think your mum's going to marry him?" Jane asked curiously.
"I don't know. I'll meet him on Friday, he's coming to my birthday dinner."
"You have to tell us everything when we come to your party." Louise, who was a bit of a dreamer took Ophelia's hand.
"Just imagine, you're going to be like a princess now, with a pretty mum and a famous dad, you'll be an opera princess."
"I don't want to be a princess though, I think when I grow up I want to be an astronaut. Or a Ballet dancer." Ophelia had dreamed of this kind of fairytale ending but she still felt like Ophelia and not like a princess at all.
"I think you'd be a great dancer." Ophelia wanted to say something but in thatmoment her arch nemesis George and his friends ran past her, pulling faces. That was something the girls couldn't stand.
"Get them, I'll show him who's boss of pulling faces." And the two groups chased each other across the yard, the dad topic was forgotten for now.
Back at home, Jean was impatiently waitingfor Reg to arrive and take her to work. He was earlier than expected, so she didn't have to wait for too long.
"Traffic was fine for once, I hope it's not inconvenient." He explained with an almost shy smile on his face.
"It's great, I get to see you earlier than expected." Jean hugged him, which took Reg by surprise as he didn't remember her being a hugger, but he hugged her back.
"You've changed, dear, I don't remember you being so clingy." he remarked with a wink. He quite liked the "new" Jean Horton.
"I missed you for about 7 years. So yes, Im clingy, I mean if I could, I would be with you all the time. Unless it annoys you..." she hoped she wasn't coming on too strongly.
"Oh no, dont you worry, Darling. I like it. Because I missed being close to you too." Jean was relieved. She knew it wasn't like her to crave so much physical attention and touch, but for some reason, this was different. She had so many things to tell him.
"Reggie, I have been thinking a lot and I think one of the things that went wrong last time we tried being in a relationship was that I made the mistake of being distant and playing hard to get all the time and not treating you right. I should have been just me. Because I realized that you didn't just love the famous singer who's above everything, you love me for me." she sighed. It had taken Jean way too long to realise but now it had hit her like a ton of bricks.
"I do, yes. I love you." Reg simply said and pulled her closer. Honestly, hearing these things did make him feel a little better and also very hopeful that their future would be better than their past.
"I was very stupid for only realising that two days ago when I tried to talk to you and broke down in the corridor and you didn't leave despite having every reason to." She played with his hair. How was he so beautiful, inside and out, she didn't understand and she also didn't deserve such goodness. "And with everything else, I also noticed that I was so hard and cold because you are what makes me soft. And I want to be with you and I want to be soft and loving and just..." She sighed. "I promise I will never hurt your feelings again. That was just me being stupid and selfish." That was enough, because Reg didn't want her to feel so guilty anymore, he knew that he wasn't entirely innocent either.
"Jean. It's in the past. Now, give me a kiss and get your things for rehearsal." She gave him a kiss, relieved that he still seemed very much on board with trying again and gathered her things. Despite his early arrival, they were running late now.
"Everything prepared for the big day on Friday?" He asked, gently changing the topic to a happier one.
Oh yes. And for the party with her friends on Saturday. She is so excited." Reg smiled. He really had a daughter, a daughter who had birthday parties and friends.
"Speaking of Ophelia, I will need your bank details, love." He now took out a pen and his check book.
"What for?" Jean was visibly confused. What an odd request, what on earth did that have to do with Ophelia?
"I've taken the liberty to do some calculations last night, turns out I owe you about £60.000 in maintenance." the pen hovered over the empty page. "So?"
"Reg, please, don't be ridiculous, you never had the chance..." Jean protested, she didn't want his money, that was definitely not why she had spoken to him.
"It's Ophelia's money." Reg said calmly. "She's entitled to it. I wouldn't want her or you to go without. Please... I want to make things right."
"How about a trust fund for her education, but please don't feel like you owe me." They settled on that as a compromise that was acceptable for both of them. Reg helped Jean into his car and she had her hand on his leg for the entire drive, just so they didn't lose contact. He was focusing on the road and didn't speak much.
"Are you angry?" Jean asked anxiously.
"No. I just feel terrible that you didn't have any support. I could have known. I should have been civil. It's my fault that you felt like talking was not an option." He sighed. "Jean, I am so sorry."
"You were hurt." She said quietly.
"Still, some of my behaviour was childish, I should have handled things differently."
"So should I." Their eyes met in the mirror for a second and her heart started racing again. Here they were, trying again.
"Can you stop the car?" She asked. Reg drove to the side of and when it was safe she leaned over and kissed him, again and again. This really couldn't have waited.
"You really are a pretty thing." He whispered. "I love you so much, and I can't wait to show you just how much, whenever you are ready." She blushed. "I was ready at yourplace yesterday but we didn't have the time and I wasn't sure if you were." She confessed. Reg grinned. So had he.
"There's no rush, sweet. We have the rest of our lives. And I can still show you on Friday when I stay the night." That pacified her and he continued to drive to the theatre. When they arrived, he helped her out of the car and walked her to her dressing room.
"We're early, will you wait with me?" He wanted to reply when they heard someone call their names. It was Cissy.
"Hi! Wait for me!" She actually rushed to join them, one of the few times Jean had seen her run, it was quite funny because usually Cissy hated running with a passion. Reg held the door open for her.
"Jean, can we talk?" she was flustered and out of breath, whether from running or something else, Jean couldn't tell.
"Sure, is everything alright?" Ciccy shrugged and gave her a pointed look.
"Dunno." Jean understood.
"Reg, I'll see you at warm up." He kissed her goodbye and made himself scarce, looking for Wilf and Jean took Cissy into the dressing room with her.
"I think I probably ruined my relationship with Wilf." Now that this was out, she felt relieved, not better, but relieved.
"Oh Cissy, what happened?" Jean was very concerned, especially because her bets had been on Wilf messing up, not the other way round.
"Well, we had a lovely evening yesterday, one thing lead to another and afterwards..." Cissy blushed. "It could have been a number of things I said. I called him handsome."
"Yeah but he's incredibly vain, he usually likes that." Jean raised an eyebrow.
"Then it was probably asking if he wanted to go on holiday together. Because after that, he had to leave pretty quickly and I really don't know why."
"Oh sweetheart, I doubt that this ruined your relationship. Maybe he was feeling unwell?" Inside her head Jean cursed Wilf, who was apparently an even bigger commitment-phobe than she was.
"But he would have told me." Cissy didn't understand at all and seeing her so upset upset Jean.
"You can ask him after rehearsal."
"Not sure if I dare."
"Ciccy, do it for Pheli, she's looking forward to meeting your special friend."
"But..."
"No buts. Or should I talk to him?" She threatened. Cissy knew what that meant.
"Okay fine, I'll do it." she rolled her eyes.
"Have you had breakfast yet?" Jean changed the topic, she knew her friend tended to skip meals when she was upset. Cissy shook her head.
"You know I'm trying to lose..." she mumbled.
"Nonsense. I packed you fruit salad, it's your favourite." Jean gave her a bowl and a fork. "Eat, you're such a pretty girl, you need to look after yourself." Cissy didn't dare to say anything and just started eating.
Wilf was late for rehearsal and just slipped into the room before warm up started. He'd worked all night to prepare something for Cissy. Something she'd hopefully never forget. She looked a little sad and tired and then it hit him. Of course! When the idea for his surprise had struck him, he'd just left her. What a total dork he was. He gave a warm smile but she didn't smile back. Her mouth did, but her eyes didn't and she looked very worried. It really pained him to see her like that and the warm up seemed incredibly long that day. Afterwards they split into smaller groups for vocal work and he managed to catch up with her.
"Good morning, my love. Do you have 5 minutes? I want to explain." She shrugged but he pulled her away. "Smoke break!" He called to their pianist, who seemed very grateful. Wilf took Ciccy's hands. "Look, I am so sorry I just left last night, that must have confused you."
"It did. Did I do something wrong?"
"No. Nothing you do could ever be wrong." He stole a kiss from her lips, looking very pleased with himself. "Anyway, I left because you, mentioning a holiday, gave me an idea and I have arranged everything and we can go on Saturday, what do you say?" She looked at him, confused.
"I arranged a weekend getaway. We're leaving for the airport at 8, there's a private plane that's going to take us to Italy, Milan to be exact. I still have an apartment there from my last engagement at the Scala. We'll have a wonderful weekend and be back Monday morning for rehearsal, so?" He smiled, looking hopeful, almost like a puppy hoping for a treat. Cissy tried to make sense of his words.
"You're... you can't." She whispered.
"I can and more importantly, I want to."
"Let's do it." She said and He kissed her gently before looking at her tenderly.
"My Cissy." She glowed with pride. They walked back to their rehearsal room hand in hand. "By the way, great job last night." He whispered before they stepped into the room. Cissy blushed and giggled, which was exactly the effect Wilf had desired. How could he not love her. She was the most adorable person he knew. Despite Wilf being a little distracted, rehearsal went well, at least until lunch. Disaster struck after lunch, when they had a blocking run on the stage. It went absolutely miserable and Jean got very annoyed, so much in fact that she almost snapped at Cissy, but she could just about hold back. After they finished, she rushed out of the building without saying goodbye, she was already late for picking up Ophelia and she didn't feel like talking to anyone. She had to take the tube because Reg had driven her in the morning and made it to school just in time. Ophelia rushed into her arms and Jean tried to let go of her frustration. She didn't quite manage, but she managed to pretend for her daughter's sake, who was giddy and very excited for her birthday. In the evening, before bedtime, Ophelia pulled on Jean's sleeve. There was something important she wanted to ask.
"Can I call my dad and say goodnight?"
"Sure, my darling." Jean took a deep breath and dialled Reg's number. He would probably be weird about her aprupt departure but that was her own fault.
"Hello?" His voice sent her head into a spin.
"Hello Reg."
"Jean, how good to hear from you. Are you okay, you left rehearsal so quickly." He sounded concerned, not annoyed or angry at all.
"I was almost late for picking up Pheli." She explained, she didn't want to sound like the petty, irritable person she sometimes was. "Who by the way would like to talk to her dad."
"Then pass me on. And call me later tonight when you are going to bed, will you, my sweet?"
"I will." She passed the receiver to Ophelia who started chatting away to Reg, completely at ease, just telling him about her day. "So... Dad? Are you still coming Friday?"
"I sure am." he replied immediately.
"And are you happy it's my birthday and that I am here?" Jean bit her lip, of course Ophelia was insecure, but she hated that the root of all this was what she had done.
"Not just happy. Over the moon. You have turned my world upside down, little Lady, and I couldn't be happier about it."
"Okay. Well, good night, I'll see you Friday and I'll give you a big hug." Pheli was satisfied with the answer, she just wanted some reassurance.
"Good night, I love you." Reg said calmly.
"To the moon and back?"
"To the moon and all the stars." He promised and he meant it.
"Okay, to the moon and all the stars, good night, daddy." She gave Jean the phone and skipped upstairs. "She likes you." Jean remarked.
"I noticed." Reg sounded a little choked up. "Jean you have made me an incredible gift. Thank you. I love you so much."
"I love you too." She said nothing for a bit. Then she had an idea.
"Reg. Please come Thursday night. When she's in bed. You can be her birthday surprise and I don't want to be alone." Reg seemed delighted. "I'll do it, Love. I'll see you at work tomorrow."