enchanted
chapter 39, eve moves in.

•❃°•°❀°•°❃•

Esme and Rory were sat with the kids at home waiting for John, Evelyn and Isaiah. Evelyn had taken Isaiah to get her stuff from her mum's house.

"What am I getting first?" the boy asked looking around at the clothes scattered everywhere and broken wood from her wardrobe and glass from the mirror and then turned his attention to the brunette girl who was looking down with her eyes closed trying to not to cry. He walked over to her, glass crunching under his shoes and silently pulled her into a hug, rubbing soothing circles on her back as she let the tears fall.

"I don't even know why I'm crying she's not worth my tears. She never really was there for me not like Esme and John are, Christ knows I spend my whole life either with them and Rory or Finn or Freya or Lottie," she said pulling away from the hug and cringed as she saw the tear marks on his shirt. "Sorry."

He looked confused and looked down. "Don't worry about, I've had worse," he dismissed her.

"What?" She asked confused picking up some clothes and throwing them into the boxes her mother had been so kind to leave her.

"Well, Rory's blood. Twice. Rory's tears. Three times. My own blood, told you you're fine," Isaiah listed off.

"That's uh-"

"Yeah so shall we get started on packing before your mum-"

"Maggie," Evelyn cut him off.

"Before Maggie gets back and kicks off" Isaiah finished and was thrown a pile of clothes. "Just put them in whichever box," she told him as she stared at the broken jewellery box on her floor.

The door slammed downstairs and Evelyn and Isaiah had managed to get three out of four boxes packed when Finn burst in.

"Why didn't you tell me she'd kicked you out?" he asked, doubled over slightly to catch his breath.

"Why didn't you tell me John and Arthur were blowing up a train?" Evelyn shot back.

He looked to Isaiah for help. "I'm not getting involved, sorry mate you're on your own," he told him, putting his hands up in mock surrender and going back to packing.

There was an uncomfortable, suffocating, awkward silence that fell upon the trio which would be broken by Rory.

"Evelyn? 'Siah? Finn?" she shouted from the stairs before walking up them and into Evelyn's bedroom sensing the tension and the staring competition between the couple so walked straight over to Isaiah. "What's wrong with them two?" she whispered.

He leaned down to whisper back in her ear, "Eve didn't tell Finn about her mum kicking her out and Finn didn't tell Eve about your dad and Arthur blowing up that train. Speaking of, is he back?"

"Yeah, he knows Eve's moving in and he's making room in my room for her," she replied.

•❃°•°❀°•°❃•

They all dropped a box each on the floor and Rory walked back downstairs to see her dad before she helped Evelyn.

"Are you okay?" she asked sitting next to him on the sofa as Esme was putting the rest of the kids to bed.

"Want an honest answer?" he asked as she sat next to him. "I killed 'em. It's my fucking fault they're dead. Innocent people, like you."

"Yes, they were innocent but so are Henry and Charlie," she replied looking towards Henry who was sleeping on his chest.

"They didn't need to die though," He sniffed.

"Dad, Henry and Charlie. Your son and nephew, could have died when they didn't need to," Rory told him.

He looked between Henry and Rory and silently cried more.

"You know, when you were Henry's age you would only sleep on my chest and used to cry if I even shifted you to stop you from falling off me," John told her while looking at her. "Oh and guess what," he said as he remembered what he was originally going to say to her.

Rory sat and thought staring at the wall in-front of her before shrugging, "I've got no idea, what?"

"I bought that house, kid. We're moving, you and Eve can share a room if you want or you can have your own rooms," John told her looking at her.

"What's going to happen to this house? We can't sell it, there's too many memories and stuff," Rory asked.

"We're not selling it don't worry," he chuckled, "That's the only thing you're bothered about selling the house?"

"Well, I also want to know how you bought it but I feel no I know you either stole the money or Tommy bought it," she replied smiling slightly. "Which house? The one by the ditch?"

"Yeah, that one and I stole cash from the vault and bought it the other day. No one's noticed yet so we're in the clear," he answered sitting up slightly. "I swore to you when you were a little girl that we would get out, that I would get you and your siblings away from this life and that's what I'm doing okay? We're moving into that new house, you can get a dog and you can still come see Dusty I won't take her away from you and none of you lot are leaving my sight until you're all at least 80-"

"What if we have kids? There won't be enough room," Rory cut him off.

"Uhm you're not having them, problem solved," he joked before sighing. "When you have kids, your own kids not Henry and Flo, you'll understand where I'm coming from."

Rory looked at him again. "I don't want my kids if I have them to experience anything I've been through, our last name or the things that come with it because it's not nice," she sniffed. "And it's not fair."

"I know and I'm sorry, you never deserved any of this life and I hate myself for it," he whispered.

Esme came down to take Henry to bed, "I'm going to put him in bed then I'm going to bed, Finn and Isaiah have put Eve's bed up, night love you both," she told them kissing both their foreheads.

"Night, tell the boys they can stay too," John told her as she cradled Henry.

Esme turned to Rory with a slight smirk and walked past her mouthing, "You're welcome." behind John's back before she walked up the stairs.

"Dad?" she asked breaking the silence they were sat in and he hummed.

"Do you ever wonder what our lives would be like if Lilian stayed? Like do you think you'd would have had Katie, Alice, James and George or even married Martha or even Esme?" she asked and he stared at the floor for a few moments.

"I reckon we'd have got out of this life ages ago, none of the stuff that happened to you would have happened and I reckon me and her would still be together, there would have been no Martha or Esme," John admitted.

"She saved me once you know, from Robert," Rory revealed.

"How long has she been back?" he asked.

She shrugged, "Don't know exactly but it was a few weeks after Tommy and Grace's wedding but apparently she kept coming back to check on me and stuff."

"I thought I was going mad when I saw her years ago, think you were about two maybe three years old and I saw her hair, first thing you saw before her face because it was so bright and I panicked because I didn't want her to see you not because I was being a prick but because I was scared her dad was back so I grabbed you and ran to the Garrison and we hid there for a few hours then when we were leaving I saw her face so I let her see you because you were asleep and you wouldn't remember it and I never told Pol, Tom or Arthur she came back," he told her watching as she smiled.

"Don't hate her because she left, she did it to save you and I owe her everything for keeping her pregnancy a secret and I'm glad she decided to leave you with me because I wouldn't be who I am today without you and I'm sorry that Martha kept you away from your siblings before she died," he told her, she shook her head.

"I don't hate her, I would have done the same but what if she leaves again? then I'm getting to know a woman who's going to leave all over again and I don't think I'll be able to handle anyone else leaving," she asked as tears welled in her eyes.

"I don't think she will if she's gone to all this trouble to come back I doubt she'll leave again," John pointed out and she hummed.

"Yeah I guess you're right."

"I'm always right," he replied with a smirk, putting his arm around her shoulder pulling her so her head was resting on his shoulder.

"I kissed Isaiah," she whispered and John froze.

"What?" he asked but Rory couldn't tell if he was mad or not.

"We kissed," she repeated nervously fiddling with her necklace. "Twice."

He smacked her hand away from her necklace. "You're going to break it. I'm not mad stop being so nervous but if I get any sense he hurts you in any way I will kill him, I don't care how close he is to Finn and Michael," he told her sternly then kissed the side of her head.

"I'm going to bed, get some sleep soon okay?" he told her and stood up making his way upstairs.

"Night," she smiled and heard the stairs creak as he went up them.

She had been staring at the fire that was nearly out and didn't hear the stairs creak again.

"What's up?" Esme's voice came from beside her.

"Nothing just thinking" she replied vaguely.

"About?" Esme asked again.

"How I never had a mum growing up, I was just dumped on Ada and Pol who I love don't get wrong but they weren't my mum. Martha didn't want to even look at me, Lilian left me," she replied quietly.

"Where's this come from?" she asked confused and intrigued.

Rory cast her eyes on her mum, "She's back and I've been seeing her and I know you told me not to speak to her but part of me needs to know her, needs to know if her intentions are genuine and if she's going to stay or leave again and I need to figure that out for myself before I got any of you lot involved. I need to know whether I'm going to let someone else in and they're just going to leave again."

"Okay... and what have you learnt about her so far?" she asked nodding at the information Rory had given her.

"That this necklace is hers, she left it to me along with my blanket and how she didn't want to leave and regretted leaving. I also learnt she came back to check on me after I was born and that she left to keep me safe," she told her.

"Right, and do you think her intentions are to leave you again?" the woman asked.

Rory laid her head on Esme's lap, "I don't know I can't read her but she has moved into an apartment so it looks like she's staying for a while, that's where I went last night before I went to 'Siah's."

"I won't get involved unless you want me too, this is something you need to do on your own," Esme told her smiling.

"You know I hated it when I was younger, not having a mum. I was always jealous of everyone else because they had one and I didn't but I always wanted one," she blurted.

"What?" Esme asked. "Where's this coming from? and why are you telling me now?" she asked even more intrigued as to what Rory would say next.

"Well because-" she inhaled a deep breath. "Because despite genetics, blood and all that shit, you're my mum. You didn't abandon me, you stayed, not like you had a choice but you showed me what it was like to have a mum and I love you."

"I knew about Lilian you know" Esme admitted looking at the girl who was looking up at her.

"What?" she asked.

"And you're wrong, I had a choice and I chose to stay I could have said I refused and ran but I didn't I stayed. I chose to not only fall in love with your dad not only because it was part of the deal but because I fell in love with the idea of being a mum, to you and the rest of your siblings," Esme told her.

"Thank you," Rory smiled before asking. "How did you know about Lilian?"

"Tommy told me and I wanted to show you what it was like to have a maternal figure other than Ada and Polly in your life. From the second I saw you stood next to Tommy I knew I wanted to stay and to love you and treat you like my own and that's what I did," she smiled.

"I'm glad it was you they chose to marry my dad I don't think I would have liked anyone else," she whispered.

"I'm glad too, now go to bed. I didn't get your dad to agree to let Isaiah and Finn stay for you to spend all night down here" Esme told her smiling at her, softly pushing the girl off her lap.

"Okay, okay I'm going, night," Rory told her and made her way upstairs.

Once she was upstairs Esme sat and watched the rest of the fire burn out thinking about how different her life would be without John, Rory, the rest of their kids and the Shelby name.

Rory had got ready for bed and walked into her bedroom to see Finn and Evelyn sleeping facing different directions and Isaiah was asleep sitting up. She shook him awake getting him to lay down before laying down next to him. As soon as she laid down he had an arm draped over her waist pulling her back into him while he slept.

John was stood by the door watching how gentle Isaiah was with her and it was then that he realised Isaiah was the one for her. Isaiah was the one she was always meant to be with. With a small smile on his face he looked over to Finn and Evelyn who were facing different directions his smile dropping hoping that his little brother didn't fuck his relationship up because of the train.