Carey Carpenter-Rhodes was one of the few people who Alice’s unplanned pregnancy had not upset, which was surprising since it was Carey’s little brother who Alice had cheated on. But Carey has never behaved in an appropriate or expected way. Plus she couldn’t criticise someone in the same situation as herself. Carey’s pregnancy had also been unplanned, but not unwanted… by her or her baby’s father. However, at his wish she still would not reveal the identity of her son’s father.
Having had their babies within hours of each other, the young mum’s friendship had developed as they shared tips and baby development stories. Mostly they chatted via the phone as Alice didn’t want to bump into Jeb and create awkward situations or refresh the feelings of pain and guilt she’d last felt in his prescence. However, when Jeb started working full-time during the day, Carey invited Alice over to their place. Her family (i.e. Latonia’s three children, Lavar, Carey and Jeb, plus Carey’s son) had moved recently to a bigger house and Carey wanted to show it off. She also wanted to introduce Alice to her son now that he was a toddler.
The morning Alice had agreed to see Carey, when she was ready to leave, she went to Ellena’s crib to get her daughter dressed for their visit, but found her sleeping soundly. Not wanting to disturb her, Alice crept downstairs in search for her father.

Finding him in the living room, still in his pajamas, she waved good morning and then asked if he would mind watching Ellena while she went out.
John hadn’t been the same since Yana’s death and quite often found himself sitting doing nothing, with no motivation to move. Even getting out of bed was sometimes nearly impossible because he couldn’t see what the point was. Alice still hoped her father would snap out of it. And maybe a morning with his only granddaughter was exactly what he needed.

Alice: “It’s a lovely house Carey!… and it has a good size garden for little Shannon to play in when he is a bit older.”

Lavar: “It’s much better for star-gazing out here away from the lights in the centre of town too.” He remarked as he walked into one the three bathrooms their new home contained.

Lavar was the one who had bought his family the large farmhouse which sat in the far outskirts of town. His book on astronomy was astonishing physicists everywhere, as his theories and discoveries were read and substantiated… changing the shape of the universe as everyone had thought it. The money from his book along with an occasional lecture at the local university provided enough to buy and maintain their new house with ease.
The family had needed a bigger place since the birth of Carrie’s son, Shannon. (Nemm: “What is it with this family and ridiculous names?!”) Alice liked Shannon and thought him an adorable kid – he just loved being tickled. And she looked forward to bringing Ellena over at her next visit, so the two children could play together.

Imogen began her time as a young adult in a different way to her cousin. From the moment she’d blown out the candles on her birthday cake she knew what she needed to do with her life. And even arguments and cruel words she’d undoubtedly get from her dad when he found out, would not deter her.
She hated knowing what Lucas did for a living. However, she knew her grandfather (Hal) had been a policeman and she wanted to do something for the community… and protect it from people like her father.

Unfortunately when she walked into the Police Station to apply for a job on the force, she found out she couldn’t qualify due to the tough physical section of the enrolment test. She just wasn’t in good shape and therefore wouldn’t pass…

“Unless you have useful information which could help with any of our cases…” winked the lieutenant in charge, who knew who Imogen Newbrook’s father was and that they’d been trying to put him away for years, but didn’t have enough evidence.
Despite Lucas’ poor treatment of her and also despite her strong desire to stop him for hurting other people, Imogen wouldn’t rat him out, simply for her mother’s sake – it would break her heart. So the only position the lieutenant could offer her was that of a Snitch. She accepted and vowed to work her way up the ranks by improving her physical fitness and other skills. She wanted to be an International Super Spy someday and stop the criminal workings of people like her dad from hurting people.
When she left the police station Imogen went straight to work on her training by visiting the library.

She read the first two chapters of ‘Detective Work: The Logic Behind It’ and would come back the following afternoon to read ‘The Tragic Clown: A Logical Case’. For the time being these were the tools that would help her in her quest to stop crime.

The young Newbrook girls were quickly learning what it meant to be a grown-up. For Imogen it was hard work, paticence and a lot of detemination. For Alice it was the highs and lows of being a mother and her responsibilities within that role. One of which is choosing babysitters cautiously… this she learnt the hard way when she arrived home after her visit to her friend’s house.
It was hard to accept, but her father was not the man he was before her mother died. And now he could barely look after himself, let alone a small child. Hence Ellena stood in her crib after waking from her nap and screamed and cried for someone’s attention. John had gone into one of his trances half hour before and wandered out the front door forgetting all responsibility of watching his granddaughter.
It may or may not be considered a good thing that Lucas was at home that day, sleeping after a busy night’s work. Irritatingly disturbed by Ellena’s cries, he got out of bed and followed the sound to Alice and Ellena’s bedroom.

Ellena wasn’t easily frightened by anything, even scarey old Uncle Lucas and just wanted to get out of her crib so she could play with her toys. So even with Lucas starring down at her telling her to be quiet as he was trying to sleep, Ellena continued to cry as loudly as she could.
VERY reluctantly Lucas picked her up and carried her downstairs to the living room. After putting her down on the floor, not only did Ellena stop crying but also Lucas heard the front door open and seconds later his wife walked in – back from her trip to the grocery store. Incredibly annoyed by this point, Lucas looked at his wife sternly and pointed his finger accusingly at Ellena, who was playing happily. Then he stomped back upstairs to bed.
This is why Alice came home to suffer a massive row with her uncle later that day after he’d woken up again to get ready for work. Unsurprisingly, Lucas accused her of being an un-fit mother who should have gotten rid of her baby before it was born because she was not married and couldn’t even hold down a job.

Alice struggled to stand up to Lucas. She was still filled with guilt over her actions which had created her daughter. But she wasn’t sorry she’d had Ellena, so she wasn’t going to allow suggestions that she shouldn’t have had her – one day Ellena would be old enough to understand these kind of words and she didn’t want her thinking her mum hadn’t wanted her because she’d been an accident. She promised to ensure Ellena did not wake him ever again, then promptly turned and picked up her daughter and took her upstairs to bed.

As she was getting into bed that night, Alice paused for a moment and looked down at her precious little girl asleep in the crib. Until then she had not stopped to think about the responsibilities that came with being a mother and what needed to be sacrificed for Ellena to grow up well.

Every decision made no longer impacted just on her own life but Ellena’s too. Alice had thought about going back to work so she would be able to buy nice clothes and toys for her daughter, instead of relying on her cousin’s generosity – Imogen gave Alice part of her wages every week so she could get whatever Ellena needed. But now she realised that, for a little while at least, Ellena needed her mum’s full attention to teach her life skills and be there everytime she was upset, hungry, lonely, tired etc.
Ellena had been born into an unconventional situation, which Alice didn’t want to effect her (in a bad way) as she got older. Although Donovan was a good man and no one could ask for a more doting father, he wasn’t there all the time and he was getting on in his years, so Alice couldn’t help but worry about Ellena’s emotional development under these circumstances.

The only fourth generation Newbrook appeared quite content however. There wasn’t much that could unnerve her. And although she had the same unsteady legs condition as her (late) grandmother when it came to learning to walk, she wasn’t otherwise disadvantaged.


Next: Time Will Not Pause