3:8 Goodbye pt. II

Madison woke early morning. She hadn't thought she'd get any sleep, but must've been more tired than she'd thought. As she stretched, she noticed the pictures on her wall and was instantly reminded of everything that had happened the day before. She turned on her bed, and noticed the empty space on the other side. He had to get better, she couldn't wake up like this every morning. They were moving house tomorrow.

She got dressed and decided to skip breakfast. Taylor wasn't up yet, but she'd get Luis sorted before she went to work. Madison just needed to get to Geoffreys bedside.

It was probably the act of rushing that did it. Her waters broke before she'd left the house, and a strong contraction stopped her in her tracks. She held back a scream, and headed out the door before Taylor woke up. She'd be at the hospital anyway, but if Taylor knew she would stop her from seeing Geoffrey for what could be the last time. She had to see him.

_____

When she got home, nobody else was in. Taylor was at work, and she must've dropped Luis at his grandparents. She lay her new daughter in the crib and couldn't hold back the tears anymore. He was gone. She was alone. She had two children without a father. A son who would barely remember him for the great man he was, and a daughter who would never meet him. She felt useless, there was nothing she could do for him at that hospital. She'd sat by his bedside as much as she could, but it hadn't made any difference. He wasn't ever coming home. They were never going to live together. They were never going to get married.

Taylor came home as soon as she heard. One of her co-workers had been at the hospital and knew Taylors connection. She found her sister on Geoffreys side of the bed, gently rocking herself and crying. She noticed the new baby in the crib, and was relieved as she'd expected a baby as premature as she was to have to stay in the hospital. There was no way Madison could have handled that right now. She wondered if there was anything she could say, but instead decided to just sit on the bed and be there if she was needed.

She pulled her sister into a hug, wordlessly letting her know she was home, and wasn't going anywhere. She was going to support her through this. They sat on the bed in silence for at least half an hour, Taylor holding back her own tears so she could appear stronger to her heartbroken sister.
"He's gone, Tay..." Madison eventually whispered. She knew Taylor already knew, but she couldn't bear the silence anymore.

"I know, Madi. I'm here. I'll get you anything you want."
"I just want him back." Madison started sobbing again, and Taylor pulled her closer. They both knew there was nothing Taylor could do to get him back, as far as they knew, nobody could be bought back from the dead. When Madisons' sobbing subsided again, Taylor decided to try and take her mind off it a little.
"What's her name?" She asked, hoping to bring Madison round to the happier event of the day.
"Geoffrey wanted to call her Shaena if we had a girl." Madison sniffed, remembering she had two young children she had to be strong for. "You can hold her if you want."

Taylor kissed her sister on the forehead, and went to the crib. She held her new niece in her arms, and noticed how much she looked like her father. She hoped it wouldn't be too painful for Madison, having a mini-Geoffrey wandering around for the rest of her life.

_____

It was close to a week later. Moving day had long gone, and Madison hadn't been able to bear even thinking about the house she and her late fiance had picked out. Her little family was still living at Taylors for now. Taylor had said she didn't mind if they stayed forever, and wasn't sure if Madison would want to leave to raise her children alone anyway.

Luis started school soon, and had been sharing his mothers bed as there wasn't enough room in his aunts house. Taylor insisted that if they were staying, she'd have the house extended to suitibly house them all, but Madison han't made her mind up yet.

Luis was still new to the idea of being a big brother, he couldn't get his head around the babbling ball of baby that was his sister. She didn't seem to do anything except cry a lot, and occasionally smell. He wondered if he was like that when he was first born.

Taylor and Summer were messing around with the snow that had built up over the past few years. At first, people had struggled to get to and from work, as the snow on the roads was dangerous until the scientists had figured out that by sprinkling a mix of rock salt and grit on them, the snow melted enough for traffic to flow freely. The girls were building a snow-sim, and were deciding what to decorate him with. They hoped that a funny man made from snow would help cheer Madison up.

By the time Luis made it outside, they'd settled on a hockey player. Luis had no idea where the sports equipment had come from, neither girl played hockey.
"Oh, hey, Luis. How are you?" Summer asked the boy as he reached the bottom of the steps.
"I'm ok, thankyou." He answered with a smile. He wasn't lying. Although his father hadn't been dead long, he had few memories of him. The thing that hurt the most was seeing his mother like she was.

"So, I'm having a feast party today, in honour of my mothers passing. I was hoping you'd come, and bring Madi, Luis and Shaena if you can."
"Of course we'll be there. You came to Geoffs funeral, and we'll come to your mothers. She was like an aunt to us anyway."
"Ok, there's one small catch, though..." Summer grinned at her friend, Taylors face dropped, wondering what she had planned now.
"What?"
"You have to wear swimwear." Summer burst out laughing now.
"Summer! It's freezing out!"
"Yeah, exactly! I thought it was the perfect way to remember mums crazy side! Anyway, I've got to go set up, I'll see you around one?" Taylor nodded and said goodbye to her friend.

Taylor was surprised about how little it took to talk Madison into coming to the party. She assumed it must only be because it was for Mercedes that she was coming. The family took their swimwear to change into when they arrived, it was much too cold to wear it for the journey there, even though Taylors boss gave them a lift in a squad car.

Luis wasn't sure where to look. The party mainly consisted of young women in bikinis, and he felt like he was being rude looking at anyone. He stuck to trying to avoid eye contact and focussed on not staring.

Taylor was pretty shocked to see another fairy there. Especially one she recognised.
"Summer, who's that fairy?" Taylor was looking at her, and she was looking back.
"That's Jamie Jolina. Why?"
"Do you remember that time I snuck into that party when we were in high school?" Summer nodded, "She was there, playing guitar. I think she recognises me, she's looking at me."
"I dunno, Taylor." Summer shrugged. "Look, I'll be back in a moment, I don't feel so good..." Taylor looked shocked as her friend ran off to the bathroom.

Taylor moved to the outside of the door, and could hear her friend inside.
"Summer, are you ok?"
"I'll be fine, Taylor... I'm... I'll be fine." Taylor was pretty sure she knew what Summer had wanted to say, but they both knew a party wasn't the place to discuss these matters.

_____

Madison left the party early, leaving Luis and Shaena under Taylors care. She just needed to be near Geoffrey.

She crouched in the snow by his grave, which was already getting covered in snow.
"I don't know what to do, G. Do I move to the house, our house, and raise the kids alone? Or do I take Taylor up on her offer and stay with her. She can help me, and right now, that's what I need. But we picked out that house because it was the perfect house." She started crying again. "I wish you were still here. Everything would be fine if you were here. Now nothing can be perfect now, and I'm not strong enough to do this without you." She sat in the snow for an unknown amount of time until she started to get too cold. "I'm sorry, G. I didn't say I loved you enough, I didn't sit by your bed all night when I could've done. I'm sorry you had to work so hard to support me. I'm sorry I got myself knocked up so young, and we never got to do anything like go to prom and go out to dinner. I'm sorry we never made it to marriage. I'll always love you." She finally got up and started the long walk home, hoping to clear her head and stop crying before she got home.



Shaena is a name I competely invented from a typo. She was supposed to be called Shauna, but I liked the sound of it. It is pronounced 'Shay-na', and the closest definition I can find is for the unisex name Shae, which is Gaelic and means full of majesty. Shauna means gracious, and while on the subject, Luis is pronounced 'Loo-ees' and means famed warrior.

Luis spam! I couldn't fit this picture in, but he looks so cheeky I couldn't not share it.

 He is seriously adorable. I'd like to thank Geoffrey for his genes, and can't wait to see how Shaena turns out. RIP Geoffrey Lansing, I'll miss you, and I'm sorry for killing you :'(




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