After one year of leaving with their grandmother, their father finally paid them a visit, before now they only talked on phone. Clara and her brother were very happy to see their father after such a long time and they refused to let their father leave their sight. The day was getting darker and Mr Jones had to go back to where he came from but he wasn't going back with his children and he didn't know what to do to make them let him go.
After thinking for sometime, he asked them to follow him to the shop to get some snacks for them and they happily followed him. Mr Jones bought all that they wanted and told them to bear with him a little longer and still stay with their grandmother, I promise I will come back soon to take you guys with me, he told them. At this point, Clara knew her father had to go back without them and she then comforted her little brother and she then explained to him in a language he would understand and he did understand. They bid their dad farewell the second time but this time was much better because they were already getting used to living with their grandmother.
All these while, they never heard from their mother, not even once but Clara never cared because she was angry with her mom for leaving without any explanations given. She took it upon herself to always make sure her little brother Junior was happy and comfortable, so he won't miss his mother too much and little Clara did a really good job because Junior never for once felt the absence of his mother for too long, a little sorry works magic on him.
It's already six months since her father left the second time and Clara was now getting worried they were going to live all their lives with their grandmother in the village but to their greatest surprise, Mr Jones came the next day to take them with him. They were very happy that they started sharing the little things they had with their friends at the village. Mr Jones slept over this time and the next day, they all traveled back to the town. Mr Jones lived in a very small apartment because he was not getting a very good pay. Clara and her brother never mind, all they wanted was to be with their dad and live together as family although it was without their mother.
Mr Jones enrolled them into new school so they can continue their learning, the school was close to his work place so they can easily be conversant with the way to him. After five years of returning from the village, one afternoon while they were playing with their friends outside the house, they noticed two strange women walking into the compound but they never knew who they were so they continued with what they were doing even as one of their eyes were on the strange women.
Clara!!! Clara!!! Shouted one of her friends, what is it she replied with a doubtful look because she was wondering why her friend was calling her name that loudly. Those strange women are at your place, her friend said while panting very hard because of the race she ran. At this point, Clara quickly figured out it was her long awaited mother, she jumped up and ran to the house with Junior following her at her back up close. Seeing that the strange women were actually her mother and her aunt, she jumped on her mother to embrace her and so did little Junior too.
Clara came down from her mother's body and quickly opened the door to welcome her mother in. They sat down together but their mother never said anything, all she did was ask how they were and after that, she asked to take her leave. Clara was so sad her mother was leaving again but there was nothing she could do, she just escorted her mother and her aunt to the front of the house and they waved them goodbye. That evening when Mr Jones came back, Clara and her little brother explained all that happened while he was away to him. My Jones was not happy she left again but he was still helpless as well. He was the one that told Abigail, Clara's mother where they lived and he was actually expecting her to stay when she comes but she didn't.
One month has passed but Abigail still didn't come back to visit her children and this made Clara and her little Junior really sad. Mr Jones noticed that they were always moody so he became more worried and he pleaded with Abigail to come back but she was still very reluctant to do so, but why? Mr Jones asked but Abigail was not ready to say anything about why she left and somehow, everyone had to accept it that way just to avoid prying too much to Abigail's privacy. The only thing Abigail did for a change was to always check on her children to see how they were faring. All these while Mr Jones had so many setbacks but he always made sure his children were never in lack, he gave them all they that he knew they needed and that made them really happy.
Clara and her brother grew up without the love of their mother but they had all the love they could ever ask for from their father, he forgone so many things just to create more time for his children and this made his growth very slow at his work place but he never mind as long as his children were happy. Abigail also tried helping out once in a while but they were still not happy with her because she kept her disappearance a secret from them, she even sworn to take it to her grave because she was not willing to tell anyone why she left, all she wanted was not to be bounded by marriage, but the WHY was not known. .
Despite all these, Clara and Junior grew up to be really helpful to themselves and their father, they pursued different lines of career and they did really well at it and this made Mr Jones really proud of them. They never lived their lives like children who had to grow up without the love of their mother, if you weren't told you would never know, people never believed them when they told them they only lived with their dad because they were just so well behaved, the curse of being from a broken home never got to them.
This is the last part of my series story of THE BROKEN HOME for the Dreemport challenge in collaboration with the Scholars and scribes community. Here's the link to the BROKEN HOME 1 and BROKEN HOME 2
Here's my engagement bingo card, I went total black out.
