Chatper 43: In Which Anne and Jonah Reunite!

  

**Okay, so the formatting is behaving really weirdly, and I can't get it to behave. I'm so sorry, especially to Bruna, who's work is being published in this chapter** Hey everyone!! Long time no see! We're back with the first chapter in quite a while....and this one is brought to you by Bruna, a lovely and very talented reader from Brazil! Isn't that amazing? BRAZIL!! <b>   Here it is ... enjoy! 

"Surprise!" Just then the front door swung open and Aunt Angela pushed her way in. "Look who I've found!" She said, and Anne's four-year-old son peeked out from behind Aunt Angela's long skirt. "I've brought Jonah for a visit with his mum!" "Get him out of here!" Katie's mother hurried toward the door. "You can't bring him here. Anne isn't ready. Jonah isn't ready."   Katie could see her sister trembling, and she went to Anne. "Anne? What do you want?" 

Katie held her breath and waited for her sister’s reaction.  As the seconds passed by she felt like the moment had slowed down in time.  There were a million things going through her mind, and she couldn’t even start to understand what was going on inside Anne’s head. She wondered how long it would take Anne to fully comprehend that she could actually hold her baby again. She wondered if Jonah would even recognize her after all that time. Katie was pretty sure Jason didn’t exactly make a point of helping him remember his mother. 

Although very loud, their mother’s voice was faded to the background and filled up the empty house as if, repeated over and over again, “Get him out of here!” was the perfect soundtrack for the moment. Everybody could feel the tension building up, but no one dare to be the first one to make a move.  

Right when Katie thought she could wait no longer, all hell broke loose. Nothing she did could possibly make things easier, so she stared silently as both Anne and Jonah started frantically crying. It broke her heart to hear the despair at her nephew’s sobs as he called for his mamma, but even worse was watching the indecision and doubts in her sister’s eyes. 

Thankfully that didn’t last long, as all the questions disappeared as soon as Jonah took his first tentative steps towards his mother. At this point, they weren’t the only ones crying. For the first time in a long time, when Anne’s arms firmly closed around her son, Katie knew that everything was going to be okay. 

***  

It looked as if the reunion was going to take a while, so Katie decided it was time to rescue Eoin from the car – she could definitely use some wine. Just the sight of him was enough to make her a little less tense.  

“Hey there, how did it go? Are you okay?” When he hugged her, life felt a little less harsh and she wondered why they couldn’t just stay like that forever. There was no need to go back and face all those ghosts, was it?  

“Katie?! Are you okay?!” Eoin asked again.  

“Yes, yes, I’m okay.” Katie gave him a tired smile. “Jonah is there with Anne. Do you want to come in?”

Eoin gave her a quick kiss. “I saw your Aunt arrive with him earlier. Are you sure now is the best time to introduce me to Anne? How is she doing, anyway?”  

Katie took a long breath and tried to make sense of her thoughts. No, it was probably not the best time to bring someone new to the picture, but still, she could really use the support. 

“Anne won’t stop crying, but at least Jonah recognized her. It could have been a lot worse. I can’t imagine how hard it is for her right now, but I believe that being with him will help her recovery. I wish I could wait for a better moment to make proper introductions, but I really need you there with me. Will you come?” 

He held Katie a little tighter and rested his chin at the top of her head. “Off course I’ll go in… I’ve told you more than once before that I would be here for whatever you needed – I meant every single word of it.”  Relief washed through her with his words, but she knew it was only temporary. Taking advantage of the moment, she painfully let go of him and turned towards the squat. “Pass me one of those cans of wine before we go in, will you?!” 

*** 

When they got back Anne was no longer sobbing, but you could still see where the tears had stained the sleeves of her almost-fancy red dress. She was sitting in the corner, rocking Jonah gently on her lap and singing an old favorite lullaby. He couldn’t have been sleeping for long, since his little hand still held firmly to his mother’s long hair.  

Katie knew they needed to talk. Deep down she knew they had to figure out a way to stop Jason, to make things go back to the way they were before. But she simply couldn’t force herself to disrupt the moment, it was too quiet and peaceful. She held Eoin’s hand, rested again his chest, and just took a few seconds to watch her sister.  

As soon as Anne looked up and caught her staring, all the peacefulness was gone. The pain, the fear, the panic, it could all be seen in her eyes and once more Katie was left at a complete loss. She had absolutely no idea of how to make things better, how to make them easier.   

She could side-step it all and just introduce Eion. She was aware of how cowardly an escape it was, but she just didn’t know what else to say. Katie was about to start talking when they were surprised by a loud knock on the door.  

You decide… Who is it? 

1. Jason mad because Aunt Angela took Jonah to a squat

Or

2. One of Anne’s roommates coming back early (and possibly drunk).