Even the Sun Sets in Paradise

On the first Monday of March, I was getting ready for my first day back at school. I had only had two weeks off, but I felt fine, and I didn’t want to get too behind on my schoolwork as that would only stress me out more. Auntie Julie arranged to go into work late so that she could drop me and Brooklyn to Mel’s house. Mel’s mum was a babysitter and offered to look after Brooklyn free of charge. That saved us a huge amount of money so it meant a lot that she was willing to do that. I felt nervous about leaving Brooklyn. I had only left her a couple of times before and for very short periods, but it scared me to think I was leaving her with someone she didn’t know for the whole day.
“I love you so much,” I told her, planting a kiss on her forehead as I placed her car seat down. “Ring me if there are any problems, okay? I’ll keep my mobile on all day, but if you can’t get hold of me, then ring the school, and I’ve also written down Julie, Dave, Ellis and Layton’s number aswell, just in case.”
“Jenz, you worry too much,” Mel smirked.
“It’s fine, I understand,” Mel’s mum smiled, “I promise I’ll call you if there are any problems at all.”
“Thank you. Thank you so much,” I grinned, giving her a hug. I crouched down and gave Brooklyn one last kiss before picking up my school bag and walking to school with Mel.

I couldn’t decide if the first day back went well or not. I guess it did go well. So many people were asking how I was and wanting to see pictures and gushing about how cute she was. Even the teachers were asking. Miss Jonas arranged for me to switch all my P.E. lessons to sessions in the study centre. That wasn’t technically allowed, but the school staff agreed it was best given my current situation. It allowed me time to catch up on work I had missed and get homework and coursework done, so that I could focus purely on work and the baby outside of school. That made things a lot easier, although I still couldn’t stop worrying about George. Despite knowing Brooklyn was in safe hands with Mel’s mum, I had a niggling feeling. Maybe I was just being paranoid or maybe it was something more. I just couldn’t relax the whole day. I hoped it would get better in time.

A few days later, I was slightly more comfortable with being separated from Brooklyn. It was still difficult, but I had so much to focus on, there was hardly any time to worry. On Thursday evening, I decided to go out for some dinner with Cyrus and Rowan as I hadn’t seen them in forever. I brought Brooklyn with me of course, since I hated leaving her for longer than was absolutely necessary.
“Guys, I need your advice,” I told them as we took a seat in my favourite Italian restaurant.
“You’re asking us for advice?” Cyrus smirked, shaking his head.
“Believe it or not I am. I must be desperate, huh?” I laughed, “Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about Layton.”
“What about him?” Rowan asked calmly.
“He text me today, asking if Brooklyn could stay round his place for the night.”
“Do you feel comfortable with that?” Rowan asked.
“Not really. Layton’s an amazing dad. You’d have to be an idiot not to see how much he cares about Brooklyn, but it’s the drugs, you know. Since he’s been with Alice, I haven’t really seen him as much so I don’t know how bad it is nowadays, but I just thought you guys might know.” Rowan and Cyrus exchanged worried glances.
“I’m not gonna lie to you Jenna,” Cyrus begun, “He’s no better than he was before. I don’t know if you’d call him an addict, but from what I’ve seen, he takes stuff two or three times a week.” I felt my heart sink. Even though I knew that would be the answer, I really hoped it wouldn’t be. I hoped he might have changed his mind and cleared himself up a bit, but apparently not.
“I really don’t want Brooklyn seeing him like that,” I sighed.
“I know,” Rowan nodded, “And Layton knows that too. Even though you guys aren’t together anymore, he still cares about you, so if you explain to him how you’re feeling, I’m sure he’ll listen.”
“But I’ve tried so many times.”
“I know, but even if he doesn’t stop completely, I’m sure he’ll respect that you don’t want him taking anything when the kid’s around,” Cyrus explained.
“I hope so.”
“Trust me,” Rowan reassured, “He’s not unreasonable; he’ll understand.”
“Yeah, I swear, I’ll fucking punch him if he does anything when Brooklyn’s there, and I’m pretty sure Ellis will do a lot worse to him.” I smirked when I remembered how much Ellis beat up Layton before. It wasn’t so good at the time, but looking back, I could see the funny side.
“That’s true,” I agreed, “Maybe just one night then.” I still wasn’t completely comfortable, but at the end of the day, she was Layton’s child as much as she was mine.

When we had finished dinner, Cyrus drove me home so I could pack an overnight bag for Brooklyn, and then we drove to Layton’s. I suddenly felt apprehensive as I knocked on the door.
“Hey, look who it is,” Layton grinned when he saw Brooklyn in her car seat. He crouched down, taking her out the car seat and holding her in his arms. Cyrus nudged me gently, signalling for me to talk to Layton.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?” I asked nervously.
“Yeah, of course…err…” Layton paused for a moment, glancing over his shoulder quickly, “Alice is here, I hope you don’t mind.”
“No that’s fine,” I told him, forcing a smile to my face. Layton led Cyrus and I into the house. I put Brooklyn’s things down on the table and then collapsed across the sofa.
“Some things never change,” Layton smirked, shoving my legs back so he could sit down too. “What do you want to talk to me about then madam? I’m not in trouble am I?” I giggled.
“Nope, I just…” I was cut off by the sound of footsteps in the hall.
“We’re in here Alice,” Layton called out, and suddenly I felt overwhelmed with nerves. I knew I was being completely unreasonable, but I really didn’t want to meet Alice just yet. I didn’t trust myself to be nice.