As soon as Mel began to turn away, Michael shot her a question that caught her. She turned back to him sharply and her eyes watered. "What's...what's she like?" She said softly, not knowing what to say. There was so much she could say. "It's hard to describe. She's so...just...damnit," she said as she closed her eyes. She lifted Jack up from the sandbox and picked up her plastic shovel and pail. She walked back to the bench, Jack being toted along comfortably. She smacked her mother's shoulder gently because she wanted to go back to the sandbox.
She looked over at her mother and saw a tear fall down her face and that was the trigger. Jacqueline burst out into tears right as Mel reached the bench. She looked down at the girl and wiped her tears away before hugging her to her chest as she sat down. She moved the baby bag and cradled Jack close to her. Once she noted that Michael was within hearing distance of her, she said over Jack's cries, "She's only crying because I am. She's very emotionally intact, you know." She said this confidently into the top of Jack's hair as she brushed it down, looking down rather than looking at Michael. "She's a dream. I never thought I'd be a mother but I wouldn't take it back ever." She kissed the top of Jack's head and almost instantly, she stopped her wailing, and rubbed her face to dry her tears. Mel grabbed a tissue because she knew that Jacqueline was only going to smear them around her face.
"I don't mean to sound...strange. But there's something about holding a child in your arms and knowing that you'd lay down and die to stop them from crying." Mel bit her lip to stop herself from crying again. "I'm the only parent in her life and although she has other people around like Graham and James...it's just different, you know? Julian has you and Sarai and it's just Jack and I. She's only ever had to get used to seeing me everyday. The way that we've grown up together, even for the past year, was just me. When she cried, it was just me. When she was bored, it was just me. She's nearly my clone except, well. She reminds me of you a little." She didn't realize how long she had been rambling on for, but it was something she tended to do, especially when she was talking about Jack. The little girl wriggled from her mother's grip and stole her pail and shovel and ran off. Mel wanted to go and get her, but she was only a few feet away and she didn't need to worry about you.