RESPONSIBILITIES
Chapter 4: Fixing broken relations
When the boat docked at the Port, it was fairly late at night, and Rick and Evelyn were not all that surprised to find that they would be taking the cab home. They had not said much on the trip to their house. Evelyn felt guilty for actually trusting her brother to stay sober enough to take care of Alex, and when she told Rick how she felt, he just held her in his arms. Now they rode in the cab in more silence. When they arrived at the Manor, Rick tipped the driver then got their bags and they went inside. It was quiet which was a good thing, that usually meant that Alex was asleep, as he should be. They walked down the passage, and when they walked into the parlor, they found Elaina reading a book.
The young girl looked up and smiled.
"Where is Jonathan?" Rick asked highly annoyed now.
"He felt it best if he went ahead and left. Alex won't talk to him, or respond to him. Truthfully he hasn't said much to me either," admitted Elaina. She stood and Rick got her bags.
"I won't be long," He said to Evelyn giving her a hug and kiss.
After he was gone, Evelyn went upstairs and walked down the hall leading to their rooms. She went into Alex's room first, and not finding him there she went down the hall to she and Rick's room. In the middle of the bed was Alex, laying on his back, with his broken arm over his chest. She went to him, leaned in, and kissed his nose.
Alex opened his eyes then. "You came back," he said.
He sat up, and she sat on the side of the bed, gently taking him into her arms. "Of coarse I came home. I love you Alex." she said, kissing the top of his head
"Uncle John left, and I think he's mad at me cause I wasn't nice," he told her.
"Baby, his leaving has nothing to do with whether or not your nice to him, or if he loves you." She gently held him away so she could see into his eyes. "Uncle John did some things he should not have, and he's afraid."
Alex looked at her surprised "My Uncle John is afraid?" She nodded. "Is he afraid because daddy will be really mad at him?"
Evelyn smiled and gently hugged him to her again. "Maybe a part of him is, but you got hurt because he wasn't there for you, and I think that's why he is afraid." Alex nodded yawning. Evelyn stood to take him to his room, and Alex protested.
"Please let me sleep with you and daddy," he said.
Generally she would not allow that, but given all that had gone on she made this one exception. She put him back on her bed, and pulled the covers over him. That's when Rick walked in.
His face lightened when he saw his son, then when he saw his arm, he had to bite his tongue not to say what he wanted to say about Jonathan.
"Mum said I can sleep with you tonight," informed Alex.
Rick came over to the bed and gave his little boy a gentle hug and a kiss. Then he and Evelyn got into their night cloths and climbed into bed, one on each side of Alex.
"Dad?" asked Alex.
"Yes Alex." Rick said, rolling on his side, to face his son.
"Are you mad at Uncle John?"
Rick was totally ready to kill his brother-in-law, but right now was not the time to say that, not in front of Alex. "I'm not happy that he wasn't there when you needed him." Rick said gently brushing a strand of hair out of Alex's face
"I'm never going to talk to him again," Alex said, and added, "I won't let him be with me or hug me or talk to me anymore. I was afraid because I had a bad dream, and he wasn't there." Alex didn't cry this time, but it was evident in his voice, and the expression he wore on his face, that he was hurting.
Evelyn pulled him close to her, and Alex closed his eyes as she did, leaving Rick to think.
When he arrived home he was ready to come in and knock some sense into his brother- in - law. Now since he had talked to Alex, he was of a different mind. Not having Alex's respect, must be worse than any harm Rick could inflict on Jonathan, and though Rick was angry with him, he knew he and Evelyn needed to help Alex get beyond his anger and hurt. He and Jonathan needed one another, and with that in mind Rick drifted into sleep. Tomorrow was a new day, and tomorrow he would go the the Casino and find Jonathan and fix things between he and Alex.
The next morning after breakfast, Rick left to find Jonathan. The Resort Casino was on the other side of London, out of London in the countryside, much like their house was. During the drive, Rick tried to figure out what he wanted to say to Jonathan, but he couldn't really think. A part of him was still angry that Jonathan had let this happen, but then again no one was perfect, and that included him.
When he arrived at the resort, he went straight into the bar guessing that is where he would find Jonathan. He looked around for a while, but had no luck of finding him, so he went to the front desk and asked if Jonathan Carnahan had a room here. The receptionist told him the room number, and Rick took the elevator up to the 4th floor, finding his brother- in- laws room, and knocked on the door. He heard a muffled "Go away."
"Open up Jonathan," Rick said patiently. He heard shuffling, then the door lock clicked and opened.
Jonathan looked like hell to say the very least, but wasn't drunk which was good. Rick walked in, and
Jonathan shut the door. "So I guess you've come to kick my ass. Feel free to do so in any manor you want too." Jonathan said closing his eyes.
Rick sat down on one of the couches in the room. "I'm not going to kick your ass. I think not having Alex's trust in you, is more than anything I could ever do."
Jonathan opened his eyes and sat on a couch across from Rick For a moment there was awkward silence, then Rick talked.
"Evelyn and I didn't expect you to move out," Rick said.
"Yeah but Alex doesn't want me there."
"Jonathan, Alex is four years old, and he's mad and confused right now. Its going to take him time to trust you again, but you running away like this isn't going to solve his anger or your hurt," said Rick as he stood.
"So what do I do to get him to talk to me again?" Jonathan asked.
"Listen to me, and trust me on this. When he's ready he will tell you all about how he feels." Rick talked from experience, and Jonathan looked up interested. "One time, I think he was two, but it was right before we left Cairo to move here. I took him to the market with me, and got to looking at some nice jewelry I wanted to get Evie. He wondered off, and when I looked up, and he wasn't there I totally flipped out. I ran up and down the streets yelling for him, and I'm sure everyone there thought I was nuts. Finally I found him, in a little place that had carvings, and he was crying. I wanted to shake him and tell him never to run off from me again, but I just held him letting both of us calm down. He was mad at me for letting him get lost, and it took him two days I think before he would say anything to me, but he did forgive me," Rick said as he finished helping Jonathan get his things together.
"Did you ever tell Evie?" Rick nodded.
"Her wrath was far greater than anything Alex could dish out. I think that night anyway I ended up sleeping alone."
Both of them laughed. Once Jonathan got checked out, the two of them headed back to the Manor.
It was past lunch when they arrived and quiet. In the parlor, they found Alex and Evelyn making buildings out of his blocks. When Alex looked up, and saw Uncle Jonathan, he stood pursed his lips and ran up stairs. Evelyn stood up and hugged her brother.
"That went well," Jonathan said smugly.
While she and Jonathan sat to talk, Rick went upstairs to talk to Alex. In his room, he found his son on his bed trying to rip the pages out of the Peter Pan book that had been a gift from Uncle John.
"Don't you dare do that," Rick said sternly.
Alex put the book down still mad. "Why did you go get Uncle John?" Alex asked in a hateful tone.
"Alex thats enough. I know your not happy, but your uncle lives here too, and he loves you." Rick took a seat next to his little boy, and Alex crawled into his lap.
"Can I hate him?" asked Alex , softly.
Rick kissed the top of his head. "Think about that for a minute. Do you really want to hate him, which means you don't love him at all?" Alex shook his head.
"Do you think you could tell him how he made you feel that night, and how your feeling now? You might be surprised to find that it will make you feel allot better."
"Can I say anything I want to say to him?" Alex asked turning in Rick's arms, so he could see his fathers face.
"You have to use nice words," Rick said.
This Alex agreed too, and after a hug and Kiss, Rick went downstairs to get Jonathan. While his dad was gone, Alex picked up his Peter Pan book and put it away on the Bookshelf. Then he went over to his bed and as he climbed on Jonathan came in.
"Hi partner." Jonathan came and started to sit on the bed, but Alex stopped him.
"You have to sit on the chair." Alex said.
Jonathan did that.
"Daddy says I should tell you how I feel, and your not aloud to talk." Jonathan nodded and Alex began. "I had a bad dream when you had those girls over to play, and it was really scary when you were not where you should be. I guess you like your girls better than me, because you go to that place alot. You do stuff with me, but this was our time, and you let them come and drink stuff, and dad didn't want you to do that. I'm really mad at you." Alex stopped and Jonathan sat in silence.After a moment Alex looked at his uncle.
"You can talk now if you want too."
Jonathan took in a deep breath. "Alex I love you more than anything in the world. I was really stupid to let my girl friends come to the house. Your more important to me than they are, or drinking or anything else, and I promise you that I won't ever let you down again. When its our time its just us."
That put a smile on Alex's face. He got off his bed and ran over to his Uncle and gave him a big hug.
"I love you too Uncle John. Will you take me to the park?" Jonathan stood holding Alex in his arms
"I most certainly will," Jonathan said back. After getting Alex into his jacket, Jonathan carried him downstairs where Rick and Evelyn were playing chess. They looked up happy to see that Alex and Jonathan were friends again. They gave him permission to take Alex out for the day, watching as the two kids in their lives raced for the door. Life in the O'Connell house was back the way it should be, and that was just fine with Rick and Evelyn.
The End