Author's Note
Again, this took me longer than expected. Sorry. I am enjoying the story as I write, but I've got way too many things happening on the side, so I don't get the writing time I want or need. Just to keep everyone in the loop – chapters 6 and 7 are in the writing stage, and 8 and 9 are in the planning stage. After that, we'll see.
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continued from Chapter 4
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Greg sat on the back porch enjoying the afternoon. This had been his refuge ever since Mary died. It was her favorite spot in the world. She would come out here nearly day, even in bad weather. She claimed that the view from the back yard could calm her regardless of what was going on in their lives.
One of his favorite memories was a winter day in February, a year ago. They had a snow day. In fact, they were on their second of four snow days. The snow just kept falling. By the time it stopped they would have 22 inches. A normal snowfall would be 6-8.
The kids (and the adults) were starting to get a little stir crazy. Greg had just gone up to the kids' rooms to break up another little squabble over nothing. He wandered back down to the kitchen, wondering where Mary had gone, when he noticed her on the back porch. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, and took a quick photo of her. It's now an 11 x 17 mounted on the wall in his bedroom. It's his favorite shot of his wife. She was sitting on the deck in about 12 inches of snow. The continuing blizzard had dumped another couple of inches on top of her. She was slightly buried by the heavy white flakes, but he could see the peacefulness on her face.
The memory brought a tear to Greg's eye. "Damn it! Why does it have to be so hard?"
Greg wiped away the tears, and abruptly got up. He knew Breanna would be there soon, and he wanted to be ready. He wrote a quick note, and left it stuck in the front door. He left it unlocked so she could come straight in the house. He then slipped out the back to take a quick walk around the back yard. He loved his wife, and he really missed her and the kids.
He stopped in his tracks. He didn't know why he hadn't thought about it before. Last Friday, the day his life changed, was Mary's due date. If none of this had happened, he would be holding and taking care of a newborn this very minute. He collapsed to his knees, and the tears flowed freely.
He didn't know how long he had been kneeling there, but he suddenly felt arms wrapped around him, and a soothing voice calming him, "It's okay, darling. I'm here. Everything is going to be alright. I love you, and I'm here for you. It's okay. Let it out."
It took him a couple of minutes, but his mind finally cleared and he realized it was Allison holding him. "Allison?"
"Yes, darling?"
"Don't get me wrong, I love you, and I love when you comfort me, but why are you here? Isn't Breanna supposed to be here?"
"First, she is here. I saw you out here in the yard obviously upset, so I asked her to wait up at the house for a few minutes."
"Okay."
"Second, I'm here tonight because she asked me to be here. She's really nervous and felt she needed the extra support. She also told me that I had to be here for one particular part of the night, but she wouldn't tell me what it was about. I explain more of this later."
"Uh huh, keeping going."
"Well, third, I keep telling you, I love you, and I'm going to be here for you every step of the way."
"Oh, God, Allison, I love you so much!" Tears started flowing freely again.
"It's okay, darling. Tell me what's going on. Something's obviously upset you."
Greg, in between tears, told her what he realized that afternoon. He poured out his broken heart about the child he would never meet. He would never get to hold him or her. He would never get to love them.
"I can't imagine how much you're hurting right now. Just remember, we're here for you. I'm here for you. We love you so much. We'll help you get stronger. Love us. Let us love you."
"I don't know if I can. Every time I feel better, something causes the memories to come flooding back. It's still happening every day. You girls are reminding me that I'm loved, and that's important, but the pain is still pretty deep."
"Well, we knew that was going to be the case. And I will be here to hold you through all of it."
"I don't know what to say, so I'll just say I love you."
"Good answer. Now, what do you say we go check on Bree? She's probably freaking out right now. She's pretty nervous as it is, and with you not feeling well, I think she's probably worried sick about you."
They barely reached the deck when the door slid open and Breanna came flying out into Greg's arms.
He looked down at the petite redhead attached to his chest. Breanna was by far the smallest of the group. He really couldn't describe her as small, she was tiny. He guessed she was only about 4 foot 10 and couldn't weigh more than 90 pounds. Her beautiful red hair was pulled back into a classic braided ponytail that reached her waist. Her body looked much younger than her actual age. She had developed into a woman, but just barely. She really only had a hint of breasts, a waist, and hips. He knew she was 19, but she easily looked 15. He looked into her green eyes. Greg thought they were her best feature. You could see her deep, reflective soul in those eyes.
He hadn't said anything yet, but he heard her quiet whisper, "Greg, I love you."
He leaned down and kissed her on top of her head. "I love you, too, Breanna. My heart has always pulled in your direction."
She smiled. He always made her feel good.
"What do you say, we get dinner together? There's something I've wanted to do for a couple of days. The storm messed me up a couple of days ago, but tonight looks like a beautiful night for a picnic."
Both girls' faces brightened up. "Sounds perfect."
They went into the kitchen. Greg grabbed a picnic basket and put it on the counter. He then went to grab a bottle of wine. Allison and Breanna started to dig into the refrigerator for food. They found meat and cheese. Allison started searching for crackers while Breanna looked for fruit.
"I think we're good. Follow me. There's a spot in the woods on the corner of the property that I think you'll both love."
He led them to the back of the yard toward the tree line. As they got closer they noticed a path leading between the trees. They didn't go very far before the trees opened into a little clearing. A small creek ran along the edge, and on into the woods. It clearly was a wonderful little sanctuary. The trees were open enough to let in plenty of light, but thick enough to give a high level of privacy.
Allison was the first to speak. "You've been holding out on us. We need to spend a lot more time back here."