Chapter 25

Years went on, and soon Emma, Manny, Sean, and Craig had moved out of the small little houses that were built outside the Nelson/Simpson home before. Emma and Sean now lived in California, where there was sunshine all year round and Manny and Craig lived on the opposite side of the map, in Florida. As Craig had predicted years earlier, his and Manny's family was quite large. It now consisted of Jessica (11), Stephanie (10), Adam (10), Michael (7), and Chelsea (4). Emma and Sean had two more children, bringing their total up to six kids in the family. There was Juliana (9), Ashley (9), Brandon (9), Garrett (9), Logan (6), and Melanie (3).

One particular day, Sean arose from his sleep, only to find his wife sleeping peacefully next to him. He sighed, got up, and recovered her with the blanket on the bed. He would let her sleep a little longer. Dealing with six children so early in the morning could be tough on someone. But since Sean was away almost all day, he figured the least he could do was get the kids ready for school everyday. He was an architect, and made money by building houses. His designs that had been mocked over the previous years had just been starting points for a well-paying job. He stretched his arms as he walked down the long hallway to the kids' rooms.

"Ashley, Juliana, Garret, Logan, Melanie, and Brandon, time to get up!" he announced, knocking lightly on each of their bedroom doors. Despite the protests of the shades being pulled up, revealing a bright yellow sun, the kids managed to make it downstairs dressed and ready for breakfast in less than fifteen minutes, a record for the Cameron household.

As the six children sat around the kitchen table expectantly, Sean finished popping some fruit flavored Pop-Tarts and pouring five cups and one sippy cup of milk. He passed the plates around the table, and when the five eldest children began chomping down, Sean leaned down and grinned at his youngest, Melanie, who was sitting on the middle of the kitchen floor. He picked her up and placed her on the remaining chair with a booster seat on it. After making five lunches, he sent the kids on their way to school, and woke up his wife, feeling bad for dumping their youngest child on her. Then he began to get ready for work.

"See you later sweetheart," he told her. Emma smiled and nodded. "Will you be home for dinner?" she asked. He nodded. "I only work until five today," he reminded her. "All right," Emma agreed, kissing her husband on the lips and receiving an "EEEWWWW!" from Melanie, who was giggling and had just seen the whole thing. "I love you!" Sean told her, giving Emma one last hug. Emma nodded. "I love you too," she commented as she watched him leave through the front door.

Emma sat down at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee. Although she'd just slept for a good seven hours or so, she still felt completely worn out and exhausted. "Mommy's just tired," Emma said, turning to face her youngest child. "How about the two of us take a nap?" she asked hopefully. Melanie shook her head, bouncing up and down with excitement. "No!" she insisted. "I wanna play! Come on, Mommy!" Emma laughed slightly at her daughter's behavior.

The two of them began putting together a puzzle with the letters of the alphabet with pictures of animals. As Emma looked up at the clock to see if it was lunchtime yet, she felt her head get heavy and everything around her began to spin. She put her hand up to her forehead to try and make it stop. Glimpsing at Melanie, Emma let out an odd sigh and then sank backwards to the floor.

Ashley and the other children walked through the door at three thirty in the afternoon. She called through the house, "We're home, Mom!" Melanie came toddling into the room. "Be quiet!" she ordered softly. "Mommy is sleeping!" A confusing look came over Ashley's face as she took her younger sister's hand and motioned for the others to follow her.

Ashley was the first to find her mother lying in the playroom. She went over, gently shaking her. "Mom?" she asked; her voice cracking with worry. "We're home." When there was no visible response from her mother, she dashed into the living room to call her father. "Dad?" she questioned. "We need some help. "Mom's…she fell asleep…and …she's not waking up!" Sean, on the other line, became anxious. "Stay with your brothers and sisters," he instructed. "I'll be right there."

Ashley hung up the phone. She walked over to Melanie and got down to her level. "Mel, did you have lunch today?" she asked. The three-year old shook her head no. Juliana went and got out some graham crackers and apple juice. She set things on the table, and they began to have their snack. "Maybe she's just really tired," Logan said hopefully. Brandon shook his head. "Mommy's sick," he reminded his little brother. "Something could've happened."

Sean came rushing through the front door. "Where is she? I called the paramedics on the way here," he told them, clearly out of breath. Garrett pointed his finger towards the playroom. "She was playing in there with Melanie this morning," he told him. Sean gave a slightly nervous nod before entering the room cluttered with toys. There she was, plain as day. He reached out to touch her hand. It was ice cold. His heart sank as he blinked back tears. All at once he knew what happened. He began sobbing loudly, not caring if the children could hear him or not.

The eldest ones entered the room, holding the hands of the younger ones. "Is she…?" Brandon stuttered, unable to make his mind process the words. Sean looked up, with tears flooding down his face. Sean nodded. "I'm sorry kids," he said, his voice sounding all broken up. "Your Mommy was too sick…she's gone now," he replied, watching six faces fall and tears starting to form in their honey-colored eyes, the same shade as their mother's.

Just then, the paramedics arrived at the door. "There's no need," Sean told the men. "My wife…she's gone now…" he paused to blow his nose. "There's nothing that can be done for her now. We're just going to have to go through with a funeral and then start piecing our lives back together again." He could've killed himself for saying that. He hated pretending that nothing was ever wrong, that he could just brush things aside and start something new. But he knew that deep down in his heart, his beloved wife Emma; had died. The cancer had gotten the better of her. The love he felt for her though, never would pass on.

Chapter 26

Emma's funeral was over the next proceeding days. Many familiar faces from Degrassi Community School showed up. Manny and Craig came in from Florida to pay their respects, as many others had. There was a wake, a service, and then a burial, all in one day. Many tears were shed, and lots of warm embraces were welcomed. Even Alex and Jay came with their children to say good bye to Degrassi's best fighter. Ellie, Sean found out, had married another man, who seemed nice enough for her, named Keith. Surrounding them were four children of their own.

The long day was over hours later, and Sean and the six children returned to their home. Then it hit Sean. He slapped his hand up to his forehead. He was a single father of six. He had a job that lasted all day, and no one would be there to watch the kids the hour or so he wasn't home. The quadruplets didn't seem quite ready to be watching each other, being only nine years old. He got it! He had to hire a babysitter. Sure, he would have to take more out of his already dwindling salary, but it was worth it for him to know that his children were safe.

He sat down after having put the kids to bed, in the old familiar armchair that had been proclaimed "his" the day they had moved in, seven years earlier. He sighed unhappily and sifted through the phone book, looking up old familiar friends' last names, and his eyes fell upon one. "Ackerman." Today, Sean had learned that Ellie had married that man, Keith, and he believed that his last name had been Ackerman, if he had heard correctly when Ellie was introducing them. Taking a deep breath, Sean picked up the receiver and began to dial.

"Uh…hello, is Ellie there?" he asked hesitantly when Keith had picked up on the other end of the line. "Yeah, hold on just a sec," came the reply, and then the shout of Ellie's name. She sounded rushed as she picked up the phone. "Hello?" she questioned, out of breath. "El, it's Sean," he told her, and then proceeded to explain his problem.

"Well, I'm a stay at home mother, so I suppose if you tell the kids to walk over to my house after school; that would be fine." Ellie told him. She felt as though it was her duty to do this for her old friend. Here he was, he'd just lost his wife, and on the day of her funeral, he was already calling and looking for sitters. Sean was pretty smart, and it seemed as though he had a firm head placed upon his shoulders. "Thank you so much," Sean said, very happy that his old high school ex-girlfriend was being so generous. And it wouldn't be far for the children to walk, either. Ellie only lived three blocks away, past the school. He would show them the route tomorrow.

Just then, Logan came down the stairs timidly. He went over and cuddled next to Sean on the big armchair. "Hey buddy, what's bugging you?" he asked, fully knowing of the answer. "I miss Mommy!" he exclaimed, before tears started to creep down his small little face. Sean wrapped his six-year old son in a hug. He always wished he could be the type of father who could be home by three in the afternoon, toss around a baseball with his boys, that sort of thing. Now, with one less parent around, the wish seemed more and more impossible. "Daddy?" asked the little boy, looking up at his father. "Yeah?" Sean asked absentmindedly, stroking his son's blond locks the way he did Emma's. "That woman at the funeral…is she going to be our new mommy?" he asked. Sean looked over at his son, his face full of seriousness. "No, she's just going to watch you after school while I work," he replied. "No one, and I repeat, no one is ever going to take your mother's place." The little boy nodded, and kissed his father's cheek.

Boy; was Sean ever wrong about that!