Chapter 2
CHAPTER 2
W hoa! This was not what Jake expected to walk into after a long and busy day at the office.
He wasn’t sure exactly what all had happened, but he could tell it was catastrophic without asking.
He’d been tricked into thinking it was quiet and calm when he’d walked into the house and hadn’t been met by the usual chaos of children, cooking and mayhem. It had surprised him for a moment, but he was even more shocked when he detected the sound of quiet sobs and sniffles and followed it - and the small trail of blood drips - into the playroom.
The room wasn’t used as much as they’d expected since it was out of the line of sight from the lounge and kitchen, and Charlotte didn’t like not being able to see the children. Plus, Jacob was especially naughty, and it never paid to leave him to his own devices for too long.
Thinking one of the kids must have hurt themselves, the last thing Jake expected to see was his wife, huddled on the floor with all three of their little ones crying right along with her.
“Charlotte? Is everything alright?” he asked in alarm, all manner of scenarios galloping through his mind.
“I-I’m s-sorry,” she sniffed, wiping her eyes with an already soiled tissue and spreading a smear of blood across her cheek. “Dinner’s not s-started.”
“That’s not important,” he replied with a shake of his head. a frown tightening his features, Jake dropped to his knees in front of them and immediately felt something seep through the fabric of his suit trousers. That’s when he finally deciphered the rancid stench that hadn’t really been important before.
Charlotte’s mouth turned down even further, and fresh tears filled her eyes, spilling down her cheeks as she realised what had occurred. “S-sorry,” she whispered brokenly again. “Daniel needs changing. He and Jacob were fighting.”
“None of that matters,” Jake replied quickly, reading the situation, taking in his daughter’s scrunched-up face, the way she was sucking relentlessly on the pacifier and balling her fists, and recognising that she was gearing up to scream the place down.
“Come on out of here,” he said quickly, extracting the boys from where they both clung to their mother. “I’ll put Daniel in the bath, and you can feed Evie. I can order takeout while I’m cleaning him up.”
Charlotte followed his orders meekly but stayed right where she was, positioning Evie at the breast while he took the boys out of the room. He would have preferred if she’d moved to the lounge, but this didn’t seem to be the time to make such a suggestion. He could tell his wife was holding on by a thread.
He had a whole lot of questions. But they’d have to wait, too.
Jake guided his two boys out of the playroom and towards the bathroom, but not before casting one last worried look towards his wife. He could see her shoulders relax a bit as she settled into the familiar routine of feeding Evie. That would have to be enough for now.
One look - and smell - of Daniel was enough to tell him that his son needed a bath right away. The toddler had obviously suffered a severe poo-nami, which had left its mark all over his clothes and skin. “Don’t worry, champ,” he said, as he gingerly undressed the toddler. “We'll have you cleaned up in no time.”
Meanwhile, Jacob sat on the edge of the tub, blue eyes, just like his daddy’s, wide with concern. “Mummy cut herself,” he said, sniffing noisily. “It was my fault. I broke the lamp.” The sight of his mother’s blood had obviously frightened him, so Jake tried his best to reassure him as he filled the tub with warm water.
He reached across and wiped his oldest son’s nose, encouraging him to blow. “I’m sure it was an accident. But I’ll bathe you after Daniel, then we’ll check out Mummy’s finger,” he promised, though he knew it couldn’t have been too serious since there wasn’t enough blood. “But you do need to be careful. It might have been worse if it was Daniel or Evie.”
Jacob nodded seriously, and Jake hoped maybe one enduring lesson had been learned today amidst whatever else had gone down.
He’d been aware, of course, that Charlotte was struggling, but every time he brought it up, not only did she bite his head off, but she started accusing him of not respecting her or having no faith in her mothering abilities, whereas nothing could be further from the truth.
That attitude extended to his suggestion that they hire a nanny to take off some of the pressure. Since that very volatile argument, Charlotte appeared to do better, and although Jake suspected she’d just been putting on a brave face and hiding the truth, he’d never had any real proof of that, and he hadn’t wanted to undermine her by calling her a liar.
That stopped tonight.
With Daniel splashing happily in the bath and Jacob quiet for a change, Jake dug out his phone, thumbed through his contacts, and ordered dinner to be delivered from a local restaurant that catered for adults and children alike.
By the time Jake finished bathing Daniel and dressing him in clean clothes, Charlotte had fed Evie and joined them in his bedroom, looking infinitely more composed, if still worryingly frazzled and subdued.
She had a band aid wrapped around her thumb and Jake kissed the tip of it, but she still didn’t manage more than a watery smile.
“I’m sorry, Mama,” Jacob interrupted, his voice small and uncertain. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
And with that, Charlotte broke down once again, sobbing quietly into Evie's blanket. Jake could only watch helplessly as his wife cried, trying to soothe both her and Jacob, who looked distraught at his mother's renewed tears.
Jake bit his tongue. Berating her for not being honest about how much she was struggling wouldn’t help anyone right now. But he was putting his foot down. She might deny she needed help, but it was time she was overruled. For her own damn good.