Trading Yesterday

chapter 2

"Alice slow down!" JJ called after her four year old daughter as she ran down the hallway towards their new home.

"You're so slow mommy!" The young girl laughed as she stopped dead in her tracks. "Hurry Henry! I wanna see my room!" Alice cried, the small girl was not one for patience or silence for that matter. Every thought in her head blurted out of her mouth, it reminded JJ so much of Spencer all the time. JJ felt her son push past her before the two children continued to run down the hallway to apartment 11B.

JJ carried one of the boxes filled with her children's clothes down the hallway and into her new apartment. The land lord had left the door unlocked for them so the kids were already inside dancing around the empty. The living room/kitchen walls were painted an ugly off white that made JJ cringe. The carpet was a dull brown colour and there looked to be holes in the wall. Sighing JJ set the box down to explore the rest of her new home.

"Which one is my room mommy?" Henry asked taking his mother's hand as the three blondes walked down the hallway.

JJ lead her son to the first room on the left. "This is yours and Alice's room. You two are sharing remember? Just like when we lived with Grandma." Henry nodded his head in understanding but Alice wasn't having any of it.

"No! I don't want a stinky smelly boys room! I want stars in my room!" The four year old whined. "Henry doesn't like stars!"

The thing that reminded JJ about Spencer that Henry had was his shyness. Henry always hated being the centre of attention, he hated loud things and arguments which was one of the reasons that JJ had moved out of her mother's house. All the two women did was argue about; how to raise the twins, JJ choosing to finish high school, JJ choosing to go to college, JJ deciding to except the job from the FBI, JJ moving to Virginia...

There was no privacy in that town. After JJ's first prenatal appointment everyone knew that the fifteen year old was expecting a baby. It had been a rough year with Spencer leaving, then JJ's father fell sick with leukaemia... And died one month before the twins were born. And that's where JJ got the names Alice and Henry from. Henry was her fathers name and Alice was what JJ's father wanted to call JJ before her mother decided upon Jennifer. "Alice behave. After I work for a few years we can move into a nice big house! With your own rooms okay? But until then we have to make everything work with what we have so why don't we go get the rest of the boxes from the car?"

The kids agreed and walked out of the apartment. On their way back up from car Alice was carrying a small box which held her favourite stuffed animal. Just two feet away from the door when she tripped on her untied shoe lace. JJ was half way up the steps when she heard the 'thump' she ran up the rest of the stairs stopping to look back at Henry to make sure he was okay before turning to find Alice sitting in the hallway on the floor with a brunette man.

"Are you okay darlin'?" He asked as he moved the box away. "The floor tends to be uneven here." He confessed before looking up to find JJ watching him. "And you must be the little ladies mama?" He asked standing up and extending his arm.

JJ gave his hand a shake before crouching down next to her daughter. "Yes I am... I'm sorry if we were being loud-"

"No not at all I heard something or well someone fall so I took a look out my door to find her layin' on the ground." JJ scoped Alice up in her arms and pulled Henry who was behind her up. "I'm Will by the way. Are you just movin in?"

"Yeah!" Alice chirped up. "We moved from grammy's house in Pennsvillya!"

"Wow Pennsylvania, you've come a long way!"

Alice nodded her head excitedly. "Why do you talk funny?"

"Alice!" JJ scolded but Will just laughed.