Bad Wolf From Space

2. Jackie & Pete Tyler

Smiling eyes were the first thing I noticed when my gaze cleared.

Jackie Tyler held me in her arms, her fingertips caressing the small golden curls upon my head.

I'd sleep and wake to find another pair of eyes, these staring gobsmacked.

"I can't believe we made something so beautiful."

A small blanket swatted the man's head as Jackie spoke up,

"What was that Pete Tyler? Are you calling me ugly?"

I'd watch as my new parents had a small spat until my mother was dipped in a kiss, by my crib.

"Well I'll forgive you this time." A blush upon her cheeks as Jackie looked down, "After all you're right she's beautiful."

I had left only a sense of urgency at the forefront of my young mind. Too many memories, or thoughts would be too much for a developing infant. 

So to the joy of Pete and Jackie I said my first words at six months. I'd been making sounds, mimicking my parents for months. I didn't want to be deemed a genius.

"Ma ma"

Jackie's tired features dissolved as she heard my first coherent words. 

She'd been so worried lately about me. She would always call her best friends, especially Sarah Clark who just had a little one not that long before Jackie. 

"It's unusual for a baby to be so well behaved." 

I'd hear Sarah Clark reassuring my mother often, "All babies are different. My Fred was fussy whereas Bee was happy as a lamb to sleep and eat."

I wasn't used to the worried features of a mother having been raised by nannies in my other life.

So that October morning, I watched as Jackie's worries seemed to melt away. 

She lifted me out of my crib,"Say it again for me, my darling." 

I reached out to her with a smile upon my lips, "Ma ma." 

Her eyes crinkled at the sides as her face brightened with a big smile before I was overwhelmed by numerous sloppy kisses. 

The front door opened and Jackie sped to it, me in her arms.

"Pete, Pete, our Rose said her first words."

He had just placed down several of his inventions and concoctions by the door, his back cracking as he stood back up. 

"Didn't the book say she'd only be making sounds. It's too early Jackie, she was probably just copying something you said." 

"She called me 'mama'." 

"Jackie..." There was a tired look in his eyes but I still didn't like the way Jackie had deflated when he'd said her name with exasperation.

So I pointed at him and said, "P...Pe." The 't's weren't quite there yet, but it was enough to have Jackie sputter a laugh behind me. 

So I pointed at him again, "Pe" and then blew a raspberry. 

Jackie dissolved into giggles. Her arms shook around me. 

Pete on the other hand looked gobsmacked, it was a face I hadn't seen since my early infant months. "No, I'm dada. Call me dada, little Rose." 

I shook my head and said another word, "No." 

My mother had thrown her head back in laughter, soft little snorts came from her as she gave a belly laugh. 

Later that night, I felt a poke and woke to my father hovering over my crib like some sort of ghoul. 

A frown pulling down his lips. "You know I'm dada right?"

He pointed to himself. 

I let out a little sigh. 

He poked me again like a sibling rather than a father before holding me in his arms. He bounced me on his knee to keep me awake. 

"Come on, Rose." 

I turned my head away, he wasn't very good at apologies.

"Mama." I couldn't say full sentences, well I tried when I was by myself but my little mouth was still developing and words didn't work the way I wanted them too in my subconscious. But I still had enough memory where I knew I wanted him to be sorry.

"Your mama is fine. Now come on, little Rose, say my name." 

He was like a dog with a bone. 

"Pe" I stuck my tongue at him, and his shoulders slumped as he leaned back into the chair. 

"Yeah I guess I deserved that."

My young self seemed to recognize the emotion for what it was and so I at last gave him what he wanted. I sat up and grabbed onto his shirt, "Da da". 

His smile seemed to shine brighter than the sun. 

Pete Tyler tried harder to be there for his family but he still wasn't as present as Jackie would have liked. 

I had mixed feelings. I felt more detached from him than Jackie. Jackie was my mum, I knew this with every part of my little being. But Pete never was consistent.  

Then he was gone. 

Jackie tried to hand me off to someone at first as the sobs came but I clung to her giving her kisses on her cheek. When I was taken by Odessa and sat beside young Mickey, I couldn't help but always look for Jackie worried about her. 

The sadness of that day almost seemed to soak the air and ripple like a stone thrown in a pond. 

An emotion that turned into a promise to never let her feel the same sadness because of me started from that day on. 

The two Tyler ladies all on their own.