Cradle Creek

Chapter 14, Me In Honey

Thirty minutes later, the phone rang again. Mother Superior was a different human before setting the phone down to go in search of Alice Jane Creighton.

"Alice Jane? There is a phone call for you. You can take it in my office. It's your father," She said crisply. AJ's eyes widened. She knew phone calls were for emergencies only and she had not heard her father's voice in months.

"Is everything okay? Is it Bitsy?" she asked after her younger sister.

Revealing nothing, Mother Superior gently touched her arm and said, "You can take the call in my office."

AJ tore down the hall, slightly bumping the door frame as she ran to the phone sitting on the desk. Sister Mary Justin stood to follow her but Mother Superior stopped her. Whispering the news to the younger nun, she said, "There's no protocol for this. She's going to need you. You're her closest friend. Prepare yourself before you go to her."

Sister Mary Justin closed her eyes, nodding to the older woman and walked directly to the chapel to light a candle for the boy she had never met.

Jack spoke slowly and steadily, being as much of a rock as he could from over the phone and miles away. Sister Mary Justin, Mother Superior, and the rest of the women in the convent heard her scream in agony through the walls when she heard the news of her fallen lover hit her. It profoundly shattered the silence of the convent.

There would be no more tomorrows for him. Her happy ending was gone. Sister Mary Justin left the chapel, opened the office door and found AJ on her knees, cradling her face in her hands, the phone receiver on the floor bedside her. Sister Mary Justin dropped down beside her, holding the woman in her arms, bringing her close to her chest. Sitting all the way down, she brought the pregnant woman closer as best she could, stroking her arm, and let her cry.

AJ formed a third scream, silent- her mouth open, teeth exposed, but no sound emerged. The nun stroked her curly brown hair, smoothing it down as she made shushing noises in her ear.

"You're with me," she said over and over. "Let it out."

Minutes passed, maybe hours, or days? AJ's world was as black as the robes she cried into, blinders on and she was lost in eternity. She pressed her face into the woman's chest, hitting the ground with her scarred fist. She wanted to physically hurt. This was not something she could ... this was not her life.

This is not how it was supposed to end. She had played her part— she was still playing her part. Her job was simple: check this box and get back to her life with Blaise. She can't be without him.

They had plans.

AJ was comatose in her grief. Lost and when all her tears were gone, she could no longer speak. Another nun came and helped her to her feet. The phone receiver remained on the floor until Mother Superior returned to her office. She picked it up.

"Jack?" She said.

"Yes," he replied quietly.

"You were there the entire time?"

"Where else could I go? That's my baby. I'm coming to get her."

"We have her, Jack, let us stay the course."

Since taking her first vows, Daddy Jack never used her birth name again, only referring to her as Sister, he knew the rules and adhered to them: never touching her, never being alone with her, and never calling her anything but the name she chose a lifetime before today.

"Ellie," he started and then stopped. He could not put words together in a formed thought.

"Jack," she said softly, "Get some rest. We have your baby. She is safe with us and you know I am right. Rest, my friend. We'll talk tomorrow," She said, returning the phone to the cradle.

"I love you," he said, hanging up.