It was mid-afternoon when Becky woke up. Someone had placed her crutches against the bedside cupboard and left a glass of water sitting on a coaster. She sat up and took a drink. As she cupped the glass in both of her hands, Becky thought about what her next step should be.

The first thing was to talk to Mr. Jarvis to find out what was happening with her father. The second would be to get the house in order. Rob said the door wouldn't lock so she'd have to pay someone to fix it. Then, how to convince the authorities to let her and Linc live there until their father came home.

Becky thought about her father. Even though she said she hated him, she knew deep down it wasn't him she hated, but rather his addiction to drugs. When he was straight, he was okay. Not loving, but Becky knew he cared about them. He had proven it to her many times over the years.

The bedroom door opened a crack. Linc popped his head in. "She's awake." He pushed the door wide. "You look better." Linc crawled up beside her and put his arm over her lap. "This bed's comfy too."

"Yeah." Becky laughed and put the glass on the cupboard, and then slid down so she could face him. "Better than our crappy beds."

"My room's blue and Rob's is green. He's got a big T.V. on his wall and can watch Netflix. He's even got an X-box. We've been playing it while you've been sleeping. He's got this great game!" Linc sat up on his knees and started waving his hands. "You have to get your man to do all these challenges and the more you win the more powers you get." As he continued to explain, the bed moved under him with each revelation. "I've only got a magic sword and some potions so far but I'm gonna keep..."

"Linc." Becky laughed. "Stop bouncing the bed. You're gonna have me on the floor soon."

"Sorry." Linc grinned. "You gotta come watch me play."

"I will but I need the loo first and I'm pretty hungry." Becky swung her legs over the edge of the bed and groaned. "I have to get this leg moving." She pulled up the hem of her dress to look at her swollen, bruised thigh.

"Rob'll get it moving. He's good at that."

"What am I good at?"

Becky looked up to see Rob leaning casually against the doorframe with a big grin on his face.

"At getting legs moving." Linc smirked. "Becky needs to get her leg working." He pointed. "Look at it. Woo... now you got one fat leg and one skinny."

Rob chuckled and stepped forward. He could see the triangle of Becky's lacy underpants. He took hold of the hem of her dress and pulled it down. "Better not do that. Your slave might rebel." He grinned and kissed her. "Are you hungry? Mum's been waiting for hours to fatten you up."

"So... hungry." Becky put her arms around his neck. "But my slave has to carry me to the toilet first."

"Nope. Not going to happen. To get this leg moving you have to use it." He unclasped her hands, took a step back, and folded his arms across his chest. "So walk, girlfriend." Rob grinned.

"But you said you were my slave. Anything I wanted I just had to ask." Becky pretended to pout. "Now you are rebelling."

"I think you must have been dreaming, Becky. There's no way I would have said that." Rob laughed and held out his hand. "Come on. Get up."

"Oo... you are such a liar." Becky beamed and watched his eyes twinkle. She took hold of his hand. He pulled her slowly to her feet, kissed her, and then propped a crutch under each arm.

As she moved towards the door, Rob gave her a light tap on the bum. "Nice arse, Bridgestone."

"Ah... will you two be lovey dovey all the time, cause I think I'm gonna be sick." Linc put his fingers down his throat.

"Slave." Becky looked over her shoulder. "Can you punish that peasant please, and then remove him from my sight." She laughed as Rob picked Linc up and dropped him in the middle of the bed.

"Thanks. That was great, Mrs. Jarv... sorry, Sheila." Becky looked across the table where Sheila Jarvis sat drinking a cup of coffee. Toasted ham cheese and tomato sandwiches were one of her favourites.

Rob and Linc where munching on scones with jam and cream. Michael attempted to steal a half scone from Linc's plate but he whipped it away.

"No way, Mike. Not this time."

Michael laughed, and then rested his forearms on the table. "How are you feeling, Becky?"

"Better." She smiled and nodded. "Ah... Mr. Jarvis. Do you know what's happening with our father?" Becky looked from him to the others at the table, and then back. "I need to know so I can work out what to do. Rob says the house is a mess and the door won't lock. I'll have to get someone to fix it so we can go back."

"Becky." Rob shook his head. "We talked about this. You're staying here."

"Yes. I know." Becky frowned at him, and then gave him a grin. She didn't understand the reason for the tone in his voice. "Until our place is fixed up. I have the week off school so I'll tidy it."

"That's not what I meant. I won't let you go ba..."

"Rob." Michael held up his hand. "Let's take a few steps back." He smiled. "Now's probably a good time to talk about what you and I discussed this morning." He cocked his head at his wife. "What do you think, Sheila?"

"Yes." Sheila smiled and looked across at Becky, and then back at Michael. "You start."

Becky had no idea what was about to happen. She looked from one person to the other. Mr. Jarvis smiled at her.

"Your father has been put into the psychiatric ward at the hospital, Becky. He needs help."

"Yes. I understand." Becky looked at her hands, and then back up at Michael. "How long will he be there?"

"I'm not sure." Michael sighed. "Charges have been laid. Public nuisance." He watched Becky nod. "Then there's what he did to you. Grievous bodily harm. As a police officer I will need you to come to the station so we can get a statement from you and press those charges."

"No." Becky stared wide-eyed at him and shook her head. "I'm sorry but I'm not doing that. It was the drugs. He wouldn't have done it otherwise."

"Becky..?"

She looked across the table at Rob. "No, Rob. I can't do that. He'll go to gaol, and then they'll make Linc go into care and that's not happening." She shook her head. "We've been there before and I won't let it happen again." Becky felt her chest tighten. "Thank you all for your help but I can look after Linc. We'll be okay when he comes out of hospital."

Rob went to speak again but his father held up his hand. "It's okay, Rob. Becky has the right not to press charges." He focused on Becky. "Hun. We don't feel right about letting you go back to living in fear all the time, like you do. Never knowing when the next time will be. I'm sorry but you have to know that your father will probably never change. Addicts as far gone as he is, rarely get better. Most die because of their addition."

"I know. But they won't let me look after Linc until I'm eighteen. I need him around until then. I won't take the same risk like I did last night."

"We don't want you to be at risk at all, Becky." Sheila reached out and touched Becky's hand. She looked at Michael, and then back. "Mike and I would like to foster Linc on a more permanent basis." She smiled. "In fact we want to foster you both but after talking to Rob and because you're dating that's probably going to make it a bit harder for us. You're over the age of sixteen so you have the right to make your own choices. We would like you both to live with us. Linc as our foster child, and you as our guest and Rob's girlfriend. You all get to have your own rooms. We don't want to take over but take some of the pressure off your shoulders. That way you get to go to school, concentrate on your studies and apply to go to university, and then when the time comes Linc will stay with us."

She smiled. "Hopefully you'll trust us enough by then to know we want what's best for the both of you. Michael and I will never make any decisions concerning Linc without speaking with the both of you first. Rob and you can go off to Uni knowing Linc is safe. You can come home whenever you want and by the time you've finished your degree Linc will be sixteen or older. If he wants to go and live with you, he can but, if he wants to stay with us, he can do that too. What do you think?"

Becky stared at Sheila. She had no idea what to say. "I... we... can't... don't..." Becky looked at Linc.

He was staring back at her, a bemused smile on his face. He nodded. "I want to, Becky. I want to live here."

"Linc. We can't. What about Dad?" She took a breath and looked from Sheila to Michael. "We can't do that to you. We hardly know you. Rob and I... like... this isn't how it's supposed to be when you have a girlfriend. You're not supposed to have to sort out her life for her like this. It's too much." Becky grabbed her crutches and attempted to stand. She dropped one, tried to catch it but tears blurred her vision so she snatched at vacant air.

"Becky." Rob's chair scraped on the floor as he stood.

"No, Rob." She looked up at him. "It's not right. I'm breaking up with you."

"What? You can't."

"I just did." Becky wiped her hand down her face and peered at him. "I won't put that on you or your family so if breaking up with you is the only way to fix it then I've just done it. It's not your responsibility." She lifted her crutch and started to move.

"Becky stop!" Rob took a step toward her.

Michael stood between them. "Hey. Wait up. Calm down everyone." He smiled. "Becky. Please sit for a minute." He touched her face. "We didn't mean for this to happen. Maybe it was too soon. Please know our intentions are good. Sheila and I made this decision on our own. Rob had, and has, no say in this, so please don't think he's pushed us into this in any way."

Becky bit her lip, nodded and sat down. There wasn't much else she could do. Making a stormy exit was out of the question. She looked across the table at Rob's stress-filled face, and then over at Linc. She was surprised he hadn't yelled at her. He smiled gently, and then shrugged.

"I'm sorry, hun." Sheila patted Becky's hand. She would have liked to cuddle her but thought the girl would have felt smothered. "We didn't mean to push you away or cause you to break up with Rob. Michael isn't lying. He and I discussed this on our own before talking to Rob." She smiled as Becky looked up at her. "We've always wanted more than one child but it wasn't meant to be. We're not trying to take Linc away from you or your Dad and it's true that if you and Rob weren't dating we probably wouldn't be sitting here today talking about this but I look at it as fate. You and Linc need help. We're needing to help someone. Fate has put us together because we need each other."

Sheila smiled again. "How about we take each day as it comes. No pressure. Yes, your house needs to be sorted. Then there's your Dad and whatever needs to happen there so I say we all move through this one day at a time. Linc and Rob will go back to school tomorrow. You and I will go and look at the house if that's okay with the police." Sheila looked up at Michael. He nodded so she continued, "I'm sure Mike or Rob will be able to fix the lock and you and I will spend the week tidying it up. By then we should know what's happening with your dad. Then we can all talk about this some more. What do you think?" Sheila patted Becky's hand once more.

"Okay." Becky nodded. She did need more time to think. "Thank you."

"For now, Michael can take Linc to look at what's needed to fix the door, and then go to Bunnings. I'm going to start dinner. We're having roast." Sheila grinned. "And you and Rob need to go upstairs to have a chat and watch some Netflix."

Becky looked across at Rob. He still didn't look happy so she took a breath and stood up. If he didn't follow her, there wasn't much she could do about it, but she'd head upstairs anyway.

"Okay, Linc. The boss has spoken. Let's go." Michael grabbed his car keys.

Linc smiled up at Becky as she passed. He got off his chair. "I'll grab more stuff from home, Becky."

She smiled and nodded but didn't say anything as she moved towards the stairs. Becky grabbed the railing, put both crutches in one hand and concentrated on taking the first step. Rob scooped her up. She squealed and dropped the sticks. "What are you doing?"

He stared at her as he climbed the stairs. "You are not breaking up with me."

"Can if I want to." Becky smirked and put her arms around his neck.

"True." He grinned back. "But you don't want to. So end of story."

Copyright © 2017 by Donna Fieldhouse. All rights reserved.

Thank you all for reading Black Cat. 

 Please remember to vote, comment and follow.

I really appreciate it ♥♥♥