Time Traveler: E215. Jessica’s Birthday

Jessica Crane’s birthday finally arrived. Robin and Ann would celebrate in private, with no guests except for Robin’s plumbots, Bethany, Five, and his new creation, Prototype 005. Ann lit the candle on the birthday cake, and Robin held Jessi in his arms to help her blow it out, while the three plumbots came over to cheer her on.  ‘Cheer’ is just a figure of speech, because Ann didn’t exactly feel cheerful. All along that day she had been worried about Robin’s distant and evasive attitude. He had been strangely quiet, as if his mind was somewhere else. That somewhere was the anguish of having to hurt Ann by asking for a divorce, and the knowledge that Jessi’s birthday party was the deadline, the realization that the moment of truth had arrived.

It was in this tense atmosphere that Jess blew out her birthday candle and became an infant, just as her older brother Rowan had done a few months earlier.

She certainly had a lot of Robin in her, but she was definitely the living image of Ann.

Before sitting down to enjoy the cake, Robin wanted to spend some more time with Jessi. He played with her and made sure to show her all his love.

Ann stood at a distance, as if she wasn’t really there, a mere spectator to that important moment between father and daughter.

Meanwhile, her concern grew. Something was happening to Robin, something he wasn’t telling her.

It was natural for Robin to want to spend all day playing and spoiling Jessica, she was his daughter and he adored her, as well as he adored Wanda and Carrie, but… Why did she not feel close to him like she used to? Why did she feel like he was excluding her when he was with their daughters? Was she being paranoid, or was something really wrong with him? Was their marriage in trouble and why?

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