Disclaimer: Not mine.
Summary: "What's the best kind of love grandma?" Ellena peered back through the door. She opened her eyes "The best kind of love? It's the kind that breaks you heart"
Author's Note: I dunno why I wrote this but I suddenly felt like it even though I have a hundred and one other things to write instead! It's a short and fluffy little one shot that I started ages ago.
WARNING: Character Death.
It was a nice day outside. Sun filtered through the blinds and bathed the old room in a soft glow, birds sang in the trees and cars drove past every once in a while but it was peaceful and she had no desire to stray from this room, even if she could she wouldn't have.
"Why don't you girls go see if grandma needs anything hmm?" the young man, her son, asked the twin six year olds as they got under his feet whilst he tried to wash the dishes.
She smiled, her eyes closed against the pillows she was propped against. There would have been a time in her life where she would have resented being pampered and cared for but now that time was here? She couldn't have felt happier.
"Daddy said to ask you if you wanted anything" the younger girl asked politely.
She opened her eyes "hello Ellena" she greeted quietly as the girl blinked at her through wide blue eyes, a tiny smile lighting up her face. Her sister had already scrambled onto the bed next to her and was currently sat cross-legged surveying the elderly woman through eyes that matched her sisters.
"Hello grandma" she grinned.
"Why don't you come on up here?" She pushed herself further upright and opened her arms for the two girls to settle either side of her, once they had she wrapped her arms loosely round them.
"Tell us a story grandma" Lydia grinned cheekily "one about a prince"
She smiled. She knew just the story.
"Well girls" she began "I did once know a prince"
"You did?" they asked in awe.
"I did" she smiled "he was the most handsome prince you would ever see. Brave too"
"What happened to him?" Lydia was a little loud and she winced "sorry grandma"
She smiled again "that's okay Lydia" she planted a kiss on her forehead before the girl settled down again "now this prince was a very brave man. Very brave and where he went to work –"
"That's silly grandma" Lydia whined a little "prince's don't work"
"This one did" she continued "he went to work every day and he helped people, he stopped the bad guys every single day"
"Did he have a gun?" Lydia was eager to know.
"He did"
"Did he shoot people with it?" Ellena asked quietly.
"Only the bad guys and only when he had too" she assured her grand daughter.
"You're stupid Elly" Lydia accused her sister "what else do you do with guns?"
"Shh" she scolded, then a moment later "now this prince… he saw a woman one day where he worked, she worked in a lab with her friends"
"What did she do?"
"She looked at bones and found out who they belonged too" fatigue sliding into her voice but she pushed it back, she would tell this story before she slept.
"Oh"
"She didn't like the prince very much at first because he was very sarcastic and challenged a lot of the things she said and did"
"What does sarcastic mean?"
Ellena answered "it means he said things he didn't mean"
She did not correct the child-like analysis of the word.
"So he came to her lab every day and spent a lot of time there. Her friends liked him and eventually she started to, too"
"Did she fall in love with him?"
"She did but she wouldn't tell him and he never asked her to go out with him either but they bickered a lot and they helped each other when they needed it"
"Like if she cried would he hug her?" Ellena settled more comfortably against her human pillow.
"He would, he would hug her a lot when she cried"
"Did she hug him if he cried?"
"She didn't know if he wanted her too"
Lydia looked like she was about to say something but was cut off as he grandmother continued.
"One day he saved her from getting really badly hurt by one of the people who had done bad things and they ended up kissing"
"Yay!" Lydia clapped enthusiastically.
"He gave her a very pretty ring and asked her to marry him"
"What was the ring like? Did she say yes?"
She grinned "the ring was gold with three precious stones in it; two rubies, one diamond and she did say yes"
"Did they have a baby?" Ellena asked.
"They did"
"I don't like babies" Lydia wrinkled her nose, "they cry a lot"
She smiled and patted her granddaughter's head of dark curls "they loved each other and their baby very much but one day something really bad happened" her voice stayed steady but inside she was trembling all over again, this part always had and always would make her cry.
"Oh no!" Ellena cried "what happened?"
"One of the bad guys hurt the prince really badly whilst he was at work"
"Where was the woman?"
"She was at home with their baby" don't cry, don't cry, don't cry. "And they called her on the phone and asked her to come to the hospital quickly" she fought the lump in her throat back down "when she got there they said that the prince was so badly hurt they couldn't help him"
Ellena and Lydia stayed silent, as there was a pause in their story.
"She went into the room where he was lying and sat next to him. He was very pale and the nurses and doctors had tried to stop him from bleeding but it wasn't working" not now, don't, not now. "She started crying and said that she loved him a lot and she didn't want him to die, he told her he loved her too and was very sorry"
"Then?" the prompted.
"Then he said that even though she didn't believe in heaven they would be together again some day but not any time soon" she could feel heat rising to her face as the tears forced themselves to her eyes but she would not cry in front of her granddaughters. She would not let them see the pain that was choking her and seizing at her chest.
"That's sad story" Ellena said when she realised it was the end but she was wrong, there was just one thing more.
She sniffed but tried to disguise it as that of an old woman than of tears "she looked after their baby and watched it grow up to be a very brave man"
"What job did he do?"
"He became what his daddy did Lydia. A man who helps people and stops the bad guys"
The girls failed to notice that the man in the kitchen, their father, did precisely that.
"The woman knows that some day she will see the prince again but until then she knows she has a wonderful son, daughter-in-law and two amazing granddaughter's to keep her company" she allowed her old and tired fingers to dance across both girls' stomach's for a moment before stopping.
"She sounds like you grandma" Ellena said, a twinkle in her eye told her that the little girl knew exactly what story she had just told.
"No she doesn't" Lydia exclaimed, sitting up and pulling away from her grandmother "grandma didn't love a prince!"
Ellena opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by their father calling from the kitchen "Girls! Come on, we've got to go get your mom from the airport!"
Lydia turned intense eyes on her grandma "did you?"
She gave a wry smile "run along Lydia, you need to go meet your mom. Don't want to be late do you?" she felt a swell of pride in her chest as both girls scrambled off the bed and out of the room.
She closed her eyes again, exhausted and worn out, both mentally and physically. Her body had, had enough now, it didn't have the energy left it needed.
"What's the best kind of love grandma?" Ellena peered back through the door, her coat and shoes hastily thrown on, her dark curls falling round her questioning face.
She opened her eyes "The best kind of love? It's the kind that breaks you heart" she whispered back, smiling using up more energy that it once had.
Ellena smiled back and closed the door once more leaving the elderly woman to run her thumb over the ring on her wedding finger one last time before with a smile on her lips and peace in her heart a final sleep claimed her. A gold ring with three precious stones in it; two rubies, one diamond.
It was early, very early but still light; the dawn of a new day bathed the cemetery with a life that was odd to see there. She was in the prom dress from the night before; mud smudged along the hem and her hair a wild array of un-brushed curls.
Ellena knelt before one particular stone, nothing fancy. Just a plain granite stone with simple words carved into it.
"Hey grandma" she whispered, smoothing a crease in her dress "I think I found it. The best love of all" she smiled wryly, ducked her head to hide the tears from everyone but herself even if no one else was physically there it seemed like the right thing to do. She bit her lip and looked up a moment later though "he broke my heart grandma. Does that make it the best?"
She looked back at her knees a moment before picking something up and laying it on the platform the stone that guarded the grave she knelt at was on.
Three roses, two of red, one of white.
She felt tears prick her eyes but she smiled through them, tracing the letters of the two names carved into it with a single finger.
Seeley Booth and Temperance Brennan. He said heaven. She said yes.
