Chapter 97: Dean
*There is something about losing a mother that is permanent and inexpressible – a wound that will never quite heal. – Susan Wiggs*
Dean sat on the couch in absolute shock. The whole room around her was completely silent. Or maybe she just couldn’t hear anything over the soft roar in her ears of her own pulse.
Looking up, she saw Helen in front of her. Her lips were moving, she couldn’t hear anything that the other woman was saying. Then a small tumbler was pressed into her hands. Dean looked at the amber liquid and then raised the glass to her lips.
The whiskey burned on the way down. Shaking her head, as the alcohol seemed to spread instantly through her, she handed the glass back to Helen. Dean began to cough, and that single action broke the dam that was holding back her tears.
JD sat down next to her, and he placed an arm around her shoulders, and she leaned into him. Grabbing his shirt, she gave into the sobs that began to rack her body.
Reese sat on the other side of her and rubbed her back. He didn’t know what to say. He had already shattered her world. Told her that her worst fears came true. The same fear that he so easily dismissed a few months ago.
Guilt over that conversation flooded him. At the time, he had felt the same as what he had said. He had experienced the same feelings himself when he had been deployed to various places. As he had sat in Iraq, bombs and mortars exploding, destroying the hard work he and the other Seabees had done, he was certain that he would never see his family again.
But here he was. In his home that he worked hard to own. Surrounded by those that he loved. Including the woman that was having his child.
Reese had fully expected that his sister would be home next month. There was nothing to show otherwise. Doctors Without Borders always took care of their staff. If the area became dangerous, they were moved for their own safety.
In thirty plus years, there had been less than a hundred deaths of their volunteers. And now, in a single incident, there were over a hundred with his sister being one of them.
JD held Dean close as he too cried for a woman that he had never met. And now never would. It surprised him when his mom handed over the shot of whiskey. But seeing that it had broken through the shock, he knew that she had expected it.
He didn’t know what to say to his grieving girlfriend. He simply held her close and offered her support. Occasionally, he brushed a kiss over her hair and murmured something. At this point, JD wasn’t even sure of what he was saying.
Watching her being told that her mother was dead, and she was now an orphan, he realized how lucky he was. He had a mother who loved him and siblings to support him.
Dean had neither. She had the memory of the love of a mother to carry her through the rest of her life and her extended family to support her.
The princesses and her uncle Owen were always ready to help and do anything that was needed. But at this point, did anyone know what was needed?
He looked over at Bunny who also had tears streaming down her cheeks. Not only was it a sad situation, but she had her hormones throwing everything out of whack and making it even harder on her. As a Doctor of Psychology, she knew what to do, what words to use, what actions to take. But as a friend hit with her own grief, she could think of nothing.
Watching the young woman, barely out of childhood, being thrust into adulthood, Bunny could do little more than grieve with her. She herself remembered how much it had hurt when she lost her own father at seventeen. The anguish and grief washed over her all over again. And she'd had time to prepare for his death. Dean had no warning.
In fact, they had been texting just a day ago. Mary had promised to try to call last night but only if her group were in a safe location with service. She had not called, but that was not uncommon. Depending on what was happening and where they were, she might not be able to call.
Without fail, everyday Mary always texted her daughter to tell her that she loved her. She had received a message late last night with the family code.
143
It had told Dean two things. Her mother loved her. And she was somewhere with bad service.
Now she also knew that at ten thirty last night local time, Mary was still alive.
Ty sat on the arm of the chair with Bunny and offered comfort to his wife. His own parents were still alive but refused to speak with him. Kissing Bunny on top of her head, he decided that he needed to reach out to them. They were the only parents that he had, and he wanted them in his life.
In the life of his child.
If nothing else, they should know that they would have a grandchild in a few months. If they still chose to ignore Ty and his family, that was on them, not him. But he remembered the pain of them kicking him out of their house and the family.
There was a chance of reconciliation for him. Dean did not have that hope. Her future dream of her mother walking her down the aisle when she got married was ripped away from her. Having her mother in the audience as she walked across the stage in a few years to get her diploma was gone. All her plans with her mother had been shattered.
He looked over at his partner who was comforting his sister and the other woman that had driven her over. Shelby accepted the comfort from the man that she had just met an hour or so ago. She herself was an orphan and knew exactly how much it hurt. But like Bunny, she’d had time to come to terms with their deaths. Her mother had died of leukemia and her father a few years later lost his battle with depression.
She sympathized with the teen and knew that the next few days would be hell for Dean. Although the pain would get easier to bear with time, it would never truly go away. There would always be a hole in her life. In her heart and soul.
Jaxon sat between his sister and Shelby with an arm around each. He himself thought about how his own father had always been distant. If he were to lose a parent, it would be the absentee asshole that Jaxon would choose. If he were to lose his mother, he didn’t know what he would do.
Helen was the backbone of their family and who held them together. When Jolene had been in the hospital, it had been Helen that had kept them sane. She had been the silent strength that supported the three of them.
Jolene thought about this too as she leaned into her brother’s side. Just like her brothers, her strength and courage came from their mother. She had stayed with Hank longer than she should have, but she knew that she had to leave, had made the decision that morning. He just confirmed that it was time.
If Helen had not been there for her, Jolene would not have had the strength to survive. She would have given into the darkness that she had been in and succumbed to the cold comfort of death. But her mother had been there, holding her hand, coaxing her back to life.
The teen in her younger brother’s arms would never again have the strength and courage of her own mother.
Reese held his arm out and Helen moved to him and sat on his leg. Leaning over, she hugged both Dean and JD. Helen had lost her mother at a very young age and no longer even remembered her. She remembered her stepmother and knew that was not the type of mother that she wanted to be.
She wanted to be supportive and encouraging. She wanted to keep her children under her wings until they were ready to fly on their own. Now, she wanted to give Dean the same support and encouragement.
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
