Come, Josephine

Chapter 41

1928
Nick
When I awoke, Josie was still asleep. She lay almost completely still, her head still resting on my shoulder. Exhaustion was etched out on her face in the early morning light, and I was certain that she would sleep for several more hours.
I had to admit, I was also exhausted. The journey had been a long and difficult one, and had never made such a trip. I was glad that I had made the journey, of course, but I knew that I could easily sleep for several hours more. My head felt heavy with sleep, and I forced myself out of the warmth of the bed.
   I moved Josie's head carefully onto her pillow, and she was so tired that she did not even stir. I pulled the covers back over her shoulders, and edged carefully aware from the bed.
   I grabbed my shoes and jacket quickly and hurried to the window before Josie could wake. As I crossed the room, however, the floorboards gave me away. Before I could slip out of the window, Josie woke.
   "You're leaving?"
   "I have to go downstairs, remember?" I went back towards the bed where she sat up blearily.
   "Oh, I forgot... what time is it?"
   "It's just gone half-five," I whispered, "you should go back to sleep, you're exhausted."
   "No, I should really be getting up," she said, with her eyes half-shut, "really..." she yawned.
   I laughed, and kissed her forehead, "come on, Josie, go to sleep. I'll come back in a an hour or so, okay?"
   Sh murmured something which sounded like agreement and slipped out of the window. I drew the curtains once I was outside, and half-shut the window. As I put my foot down, I heard a voice below, "you're up early, son."
   I bit my lip, and didn't dare turn around, "good morning, Sir."
   I climbed down as quickly as I could, and thankfully avoided the rotten parts of the trellis. I jumped the last few feet, and landed with a heavy thud.
   I reached out a hand, "Mr Dawson, I-"
   He didn't take my hand, but he watched me like a hawk, "Nick, don't lie to me- what were you doing in my daughter's room?"
   "Sleeping." I answered a little too quickly, "we just talking and I must have fallen asleep, Sir. I swear, I- I mean we- didn't do anything that we shouldn't- and I-"
   "Alright," he raised his hands, "you were sleeping?"
   "Yes, Sir." 
   "That's all?"
   "It was cold last night, Sir, and I was really tired."
   He looked me up and down and smiled, "alright, I trust you."
   "You do?"
   His smile widened, "I see that look of fear in your eyes- you're too scared of the repercussions to do anything stupid."
   "Yes, Sir."
    "I think that I could try to enforce some rules, but I figure you and Josie will just go around them, right?"
   "Sir, I promise you, I wouldn't dare."
   He smile faded, "Nick, I think a great deal of you at present, and I wouldn't want you to ruin that."  
   "Yes, Sir."
   "But I want you to know that if you lay a hand on my daughter, I'll do unspeakable things. I might not be a young man anymore, but I'm not afraid to stand my ground. Got it?"
   "Yes, Sir."
   His smile returned, "good, I'm glad to hear it. I'm cooking pancakes for breakfast if you want any?"
   I nodded, and watched in awe as he turned and left. I felt a cool shiver run through me, and a vague sense of nausea. What did Jack think of me? He had been kind to me so far, and I already knew that I had ruined it. How could I do this? And to Josie- what if I had ruined her relationship with Jack?
   "Hey, Nick?"
   I looked up, and Josie was leaning out of her bedroom window, smiling down at me. I realised that I was grimacing, and forced a smile.
   She furrowed her eyebrows. She had seen the look on my face, and was no doubt confused. She lowered her voice, "I heard Jack's voice... is everything okay?"
   "I figure so, but can you come down here so we can talk?"
   "Got it," she started down the trellis and I watched her in horror.
   "Can't you use the stairs?"
   "It's more fun this way," Josie laughed. She scaled it in a matter of seconds- quicker than I could.
I realised that she was wearing her old brown dress; the one that she hardly ever took off, as it was comfortable and old enough that she didn't feel bad working in it. It suited her, with its frayed hem and faded fabric. She looked like home.
I followed her as she went around to the stables, and only forced myself to meet her eyes when she grabbed my arm. I forced myself to smile, if only to wipe the grimace off of my face.
"It's nothing really, he just caught me coming down from your room."
"I figured," she frowned, " what did he say?"
I chuckled, "that we shouldn't be doing anything that we shouldn't- well, you know what I mean- and that if I did anything out of line, he wouldn't hesitate to put me back in my place."
"Is that all."
"I'm pretty sure your father just threatened me, Josie."
She didn't say anything for a moment, and instead took my hand, "oh, Nick, don't look so serious. I'm sure Jack knows that you don't mean me any harm-"
"I think that's the problem," I pulled her closer.
"You mean you think that he's really that worried about me leaving home?"
I thought over my words carefully, "I think he missed out on a lot, and he doesn't want to loose you sooner than he has to."
She nodded, her face stern, before she let out a low laugh, "Or perhaps he's just worried about having two babies in the house."
I felt my chest tighten, "what?"
"Oh, Nick, I know you'd do the right thing and everything, I was only joking."
She turned to leave, but I tightened my grip on her arm, "two babies?"
Josie frowned, "oh, I forgot to tell you- I can't believe I forgot to tell you- mamma's pregnant, but they don't know that I know."
"Oh, Josie, that's great- why don't they want you to know?"
"I guess they figured that I was too young to keep a good secret, and Ruth's a bit stern about me, so imagine how she'd feel about a baby."
I nodded, but before I could agree, I heard a voice from around the front of the house, "Josie, Nick, breakfast is ready!"