It had taken a long while for Grace to adjust after her mother had left, and obviously Jacob was struggling too, though he tried his best not to show it. Grace's Aunt visited when she could, but Jacob had stepped up as Grace's primary carer - he loved the young girl just as much as he loved Connie, and he couldn't do anything to lose them both. Four weeks had passed since the last visit from Grace's Aunt, who couldn't visit as often as she'd like as she didn't live locally. When she came, she sat with Grace and they played a board game together while Jacob did a bit of studying. He needed something to occupy his mind so he wasn't thinking about Connie, and also, he didn't want Grace to have to suffer just because her real parents weren't around - Connie gave extravagant gifts on birthdays and Christmas, while her father seemed to buy lots of smaller gifts but more frequently. Jacob wanted to prove that he could step up to that level, so he needed a stable source of income, which meant getting a promotion. Jacob couldn't bear to use the Audi that Connie had bought him, and so it sat in the garage, with her motorbike. He didn't want to take any more of Connie's things out of any of the rooms, and since Grace hadn't mentioned it, he didn't feel like he needed to bring it up with her.
"So how are you?" Grace's Aunt asked casually, moving her chess piece across the board.
"If you mean how am I coping without mum, then I'm fine," Grace replied. "Jacob takes very good care of me - he always has."
"I'm glad you've been able to move on, my dear," the woman replied, and Grace played her turn.
"I haven't moved on. She's my mum, and she always will be, but I understand what she did, and I respect why she did it." Grace's Aunt was astonished - Grace was so understanding and so mature. She didn't think that Grace would take it so easily. However, Jacob was so gentle with her during this past month, and had explained the situation in extreme depth, and so it only seemed natural that Grace would've accepted the situation for what it was. Their game of chess was finished a little less than an hour later, and Grace ran upstairs to go and do her homework. Grace's Aunt made her way over to Jacob, and pulled a chair up at the table next to him.
"I can never thank you enough for how you've looked after my niece," Grace's Aunt said. The woman - in her mid forties with short brown hair cut into a neat bob - was Sam's sister. "Though she tells me that she's heard you crying at night. Jacob, you need to open up to someone."
"I don't need anyone," was the only response she got, and the woman placed a hand over Jacob's shoulder affectionately.
"Even if you don't, do it for her. Don't let Grace go to sleep hearing you cry. She's got one unstable parent, she doesn't need another."
"Right, first of all," Jacob said, turning around quickly. "Connie is not unstable. She needs space, and we accept that. Secondly, I'm not Grace's dad. I'll never be good enough to be her father, so I don't know why I'm even trying!" He was speaking loudly, but not too loudly, and suddenly slammed his fists on the desk and buried his head in to his hands. "I don't know what I'm doing," he confessed quietly, his voice on the verge of breaking. "I can't carry on without Connie knowing she could be taken completely away from me any second now." Grace's Aunt smiled fondly, rubbing Jacob's back in an attempt to calm him.
"Jacob, let her go. She's already gone. You've got to get your head around that. She's not coming back." Jacob sobbed a little, and then wiped his eyes and nodded.
"You're right," he said, sighing. "I'm never going to see her again. She didn't even text on Grace's birthday. I need to let go. Do you think I should get rid of stuff in the house?" He asked, feeling a lot better now he had been able to release some of his emotions.
"I don't think there's any harm in a few memories, so long as you don't let the past override the present." Jacob was grateful for this support, and he was much better by the time it was time for Grace's Aunt to leave.
"Grace, your Auntie's leaving honey!" Jacob called, much more cheerfully than he could have done ten minutes ago. Grace came bounding down the stairs and kissed her Aunt goodbye, and they both waved her off before they shut the door, and Grace turned back to Jacob. "What's wrong?" Jacob asked when Grace looked up at him strangely.
"You seem a lot happier," Grace said. "Did my Auntie talk to you?"
"She most certainly did," Jacob replied, smiling. "She's helped me to move on a little bit, that's all."
"She told me that moving on is nothing like forgetting - moving on is more like doing something to help you remember, but remember in a happy way."
"That's exactly what it is," Jacob agreed, smiling. "Now how about you go and change in to your pyjamas?" He suggested, and though she insisted it was only 5pm, he said that he was going to go out and grab some KFC for tea, so that they could curl up and watch a film on television. They did exactly that, and for the first night since Connie had gone, both Grace and Jacob were happy with their situation, and they felt they could truly relax. Jacob knew that this was the first step in the pair of them moving on with their lives, and that made him truly appreciate what Connie had given up for them.
Meanwhile, back in LA, Connie was working at a local hospital and she too was finally beginning to move on with her life. In all honesty, she didn't have time to think about anything other than work during the day, and that was extremely good for her at the moment. The nights had been difficult. She had taken the liberty of taking one of Jacob's jumpers before she left, and she had put it over one of her spare pillows, so she could cuddle into it each night, and have his manly scent accompany her through each night's rest. Many times she had cried herself to sleep, regretting ever moving away, but other times, she remembered why she did it, and this was what kept her going. As she had had zero contact with any of her friends or family in the UK, she didn't feel as though it would be fair to pass any sort of message on to Grace for her birthday, and so Connie just sat in her apartment on that day, spending most of her time crying uncontrollably. But with each bad day, there were some good days, and these were the ones that kept her fighting. However, she could tell that her cancer was getting worse - she had been having a few unusual side effects, such as frequent vomiting, high fever, as well as the traditional symptoms of fatigue and nausea. She'd spoken to a specialist and obviously they had told her to stay off work and just to look after herself. But no, Connie Beauchamp (or Connie Masters as she was preferably known over here - she still liked to hold part of the dream with her) was determined to stand her ground, and that's exactly what she did... Until one dreadful Thursday afternoon.
Connie was in the shops, and was scouring the aisles for groceries as she had a low supply. She had almost a full trolley, and was thankful that her wage had gone through to her bank account, as it was due to be a costly shop, on top of the expensive rent of her apartment. As she made her way down her penultimate aisle, smiling at a few of the people she knew, she gripped on to the edge of the trolley and felt herself go extremely dizzy. After regaining her balance, she proceeded down the aisle, but the spinning started again. Deciding that she needed to get out as soon as possible, she put all of her items through self-serve, and made her way out of the store. The fresh air hit her like a wall of daggers, and she only just managed to make it to the car (which she had organised to be shipped over from the car park where she left it a couple of days after her arrival). Knowing she couldn't drive in this state, Connie pulled out her phone to dial a taxi, only to be greeted with a whole new type of pain coming from her stomach. She stood up, and ran back inside the store as quickly as her feet would allow her, and went straight to the pharmacy. She knew exactly what she was looking for and she swore several times under her breath as she came to the shocking realisation that her unusual symptoms that she was suffering from were probably being caused by something completely different.
"Can I help you?" A woman asked, and Connie turned around to face her. She was an elderly woman, and looked a little frail, though had a very sweet and genuine smile. "My, love, you look as white as a sheet!" The woman exclaimed.
"Can you tell me where the, where the.." Connie began, but she couldn't quite get the words out. "Could you please tell me where the pregnancy tests are?"
"Why of course, love." The woman smiled, and moved along, before pulling a couple off the shelf. Connie got herself another one, and then bought them, before going back out to the car. Rather than calling a taxi, she decided to drive home herself - it wasn't too far away, and if she took it slowly she should be fine. As she predicted, she was, and she pulled up outside her apartment a little while later. Taking her shopping inside, Connie silently unpacked the bags and restocked the fridge, purposely leaving the pregnancy tests out of her eyesight. She decided to go to bed, and the three tests were still in exactly the same place when she curled up beneath the quilt and turned out the light. She wished that she'd never have come to this conclusion. She didn't want to know the result.