Shattered Dreams Ch. 05

"You haven't finished the counselling week so there is no running home to Mum and Dad!" Robby snapped.

"That is enough!" Adam commanded as he finally got over his shock and got to his feet to stand between Robby and Janey, "Your sister was smart and did what she had to to survive! Just because she did as she was told does not mean she did it willingly. And if she was lucky enough that some of the people she was with treated her half way decently then all the better for her! Your sister came back alive which is more then can be said for some victims of similar circumstances!" Adam snapped. He turned towards Janey and saw how she was standing at the door wanting to leave. "How about you come sit down? Robby was just about to leave and I can finish cooking the food," Adam said gently.

Janey didn't reply as she walked back to the lounge woodenly and sat down.

"I'll see you tomorrow afternoon," Adam said as he walked to the front door and opened it and looked from it to Robby pointedly. He thought that Robby might stay and try to argue but Robby looked at his sister, regret clear on his face, then he turned with a curse and headed out the door.

Adam shut the door after him and checked on the food before walking over to squat in front of Janey, "Are you okay?" he asked gently.

Janey nodded without looking at him. She moved back further on the lounge and pulled her legs up against her body, wrapped her arms around her up drawn legs and buried her face in her knees.

Adam quickly realised that Janey wasn't about to talk to him and left her alone while he went back to the stove to finish cooking their meal.

When the food was cooked he dished himself up some then dished a small amount for Janey and carried both plates over to the lounge.

"Come on, sit up properly. You have to eat this." Adam told her. He watched as Janey eased her legs down reluctantly and took the plate when he all but forced it into her hands.

"I'm not hungry," Janey said faintly.

"That's fair enough but you have to eat so your body can look after the baby. Robby was right when he said you were pregnant wasn't he?" Adam asked briskly.

"Yes," Janey said faintly as she sat staring at the plate in her hands.

"Well eat up and then we can have a little chat. Now I am not going to order you about like your brother was trying to do but I seriously think we need to have a serious conversation," Adam told her gently.

"I'm not hungry," Janey repeated.

Adam paused to look at her, "Okay, let me take that for you then, but on one condition: you have to drink the glass of chocolate milk I give you." He said as he took the plate, stood up and headed for the kitchenette. He returned shortly with a medium glass of flavoured milk and pressed it into her hands, "Try some of that."

Janey forced herself to take a sip of the milk; she was horribly aware of Adam beside her and was embarrassed as to what he must be thinking of her.

Adam glanced at Janey every few minutes as he ate. He couldn't help noticing that she barely drank any of the milk. "Come on, try to take a couple more sips," he urged gently.

By the time he had finished his meal he had coaxed Janey to drink half of the milk in the glass. Gently he reached out and took the glass from her unresisting fingers before getting to his feet and heading for the kitchenette. When he returned he carried a can of coke for himself and about an inch of chocolate milk in the glass for Janey.

"Drink it," He ordered as he shoved the glass into her hands and forcibly guided it up to her lips.

Obediently she swallowed the liquid in the glass as he tipped it up, her eyes flew open wide and she pushed the empty glass away and coughed for several moments, "What was in that?" She demanded as she looked at him.

"I put a nip of brandy in it. It won't hurt the baby. My sister sometimes had one tiny drink when she was pregnant, not often but on rare occasions, and it never harmed her baby," Adam said firmly before taking the glass back to the sink. When he returned to the lounge to sit down Janey was much more alert to his movements.

"You must think I'm horrible," Janey said softly as she looked away.

"No, I don't. I think you are an extremely brave person who did what she needed to survive and is trying to get on with her life." Adam said gently, "But I do have one question. When were you going to tell me about the baby?"

Janey glanced at him then looked down at her arms where they were hugging her stomach once again. She forced herself to release her hold and lift her chin, "I honestly don't know. I meant to, really I did, but I was too scared to tell you. I was worried you would think badly of me," She admitted as she glanced at his uneasily.

"Okay, so the worst has happened and I don't think badly of you. I understand the fact that you were forced to do things you really didn't want to but had to do to be able to endure what you went through," Adam told her evenly.

Janey gave a slight nod and for the briefest of seconds met his eyes before looking away.

"Okay, so how about we watch this movie?" Adam asked quietly.