Teaser: Missing Mommy

"Deborah Ann Scott was an amazing wife, a loving mother and a caring friend…" said Father Thomas in a soft tone as he stood in front of the rows of men, women and children that came to mourn the passing of their mother.

Lucas and Nathan sat side by side with their hands tightly clinging to the other's as they listened to a man they barely even knew talk about their Mom. Their father, Dan was seated next to Nathan where their grandparents Mea and Royal were trying to console him. The boys had never seen their father so broken and so distraught in their entire lives and it scared them, however they understood. Their Mom was gone forever, sleeping with the angels as their father would say and now they would never get the chance to bake cookies with her like she promised at the hospital three long months ago.

The eight and six year old boys could remember exactly how the woman looked that day. She wore a red sweater, black pants and a red scarf around her head to hide her balding head, a side effect of her illness she had told them once. She said that the drug that was supposed to help her get better and come back home had destroyed her long golden locks. But Lucas and Nathan didn't care about that. They loved their Mommy no matter what and just wanted her to come home like she promised.

Unfortunately that never happened.

Their Mommy just kept getting sicker and sicker and then their Daddy wouldn't let them see her any more. He said that she was sleeping a lot in a place called a coma and that she wouldn't want them to see her that way.

This confused the young boys.

They remembered being able to jump into bed with their Mommy and Daddy all the time and would stay there even when their Mommy and Daddy fell asleep on them but somehow this kind of sleep was different. They didn't understand that then, but they did now.

Their Daddy called the evil cancer. He sat them down one day and told them that cancer was the sickness responsible for putting their Mommy through so much pain and it was also the reason why she always appeared to look so pale and throwing up a lot. They didn't know what this cancer thing was but they knew that they didn't like it and that it was evil and they hated it for hurting their Mommy.

Little Lucas cried hard as he thought about this and seeing his brother so upset made Nathan cry harder too.

Taking notice of this Dan moved over to his boys, pulling Nathan onto his lap and wrapping his free arm tightly around Lucas and allowing the boy to bury his face in his chest.

Later on that afternoon Lucas and Nathan sat alone, in their bed room looking at pictures of their family when their Mommy was still ok, before the evil cancer came in and took her away forever.

Together they talked about how silly their parents would act on their birthdays and Christmas and it made them laugh for a little while, until they realized that those times would never happen again. Their Mom was gone and she was never coming back again. They wouldn't hear her laugh any more, they wouldn't play tickle monster with her ever again or bake cookies or go to Grandma and Grandpa Lee's house with her any more. She was at some far away place that they couldn't see, write to or call. She was never coming home for a visit and they weren't going to be able to visit her and it wasn't fair.

Nathan looked at Lucas who just stared at the book for a while before throwing it across the room.

"Lucas no! Don't do that!" said little six year old Nathan as he ran and retrieved the book, holding it tightly to his chest.

"Be quiet Nathan! It's just a stupid book with dumb pictures"

"It's not just a stupid book Lucas! Mommy's in there"

Lucas folded his arms across his chest and frowned.

"No she's not. She's in the ground at the cemetery where she's going to stay forever"

Nathan shook his head from side to side as tears dampened his red cheeks.

"That's not true Luke. We'll see her again. Daddy said so"

"That's because Daddy wants to believe it but that's not true. Cancer took her away and it's not going to give her back to us so just forget about her Nathan. Mommy's not real any more"

The younger boy placed the book on the ground before charging over to his brother and jumping on him.

"You take that back! Mommy is too real you jerk!!!" the boy yelled hitting his brother in the face as Lucas tried to fend him off without hurting him.

When his efforts failed Lucas drew back his hand and punched Nathan in the nose.

"Ahh!" the boy screamed before crying hysterically and placing his hands over his nose.

"What going on in here?" questioned Dan as he entered the room.

"Lucas hit me"

"Yeah after he jumped on me!"

"Well that's because he said Mommy's not real any more but I know she is Daddy. Tell Lucas he's wrong" the boy spoke through tears.

Dan hugged both his sons firmly, not trusting himself to speak at the moment as Mea watched from the door.

She had heard everything and wanted nothing more then to take her grandson's pain away. She knew Lucas didn't mean what he said. The boy was simply talking out of pain and angry over something his young mind simply didn't have the capacity to understand.

When the father finally gained the courage to talk he sat on the bed, bringing the young siblings along with him.

"Listen to me boys. I know that you're sad but fighting with each other isn't going to help. Now I know you don't really understand what's going on here and honestly boys, I don't understand it either myself" he said giving a slight smile, trying to remain strong for his children who were hurting way too much for children their age.

"I understand" Lucas said in a voice that was mixed with anger and pain "The cancer took Mommy away and now she's not real and she's never coming home, or taking me and Nathan to the park or go with you out to do grown up things"

Dan looked down at the young blond boy who was the spitting image of his wife and sighed. His little boy was in so much pain and it hurt like hell to know that there was nothing that he could say or do to stop it. There was no instant cure for what he and his baby brother were going through. Time, yes only the passing of time would be able to help them now, and this included himself as well.

The boy's eyes were filled with unleashed tears as he bit his lip and fought hard to bury what he was feeling.

However Dan wouldn't allow that to happen. He knew nothing good would come of it.

"It's okay to be angry son. I know you miss your Mom because I do to but you have to realize that this wasn't her fault. She loved you and Nathan very much and she fought so hard to be with you but she just couldn't stay. Her body was just too tired"

Dan could see a stray tear roll down his son's cheek and brushed it away with his thumb.

"But I do know one thing"

"What's that Daddy?" questioned a red eyed Nathan as Lucas cried silently.

"That your Mommy loved you both very much and so do I" he said giving both boys a kiss on the forehead before disappearing off to the privacy of his own bedroom where he could grieve in peace without burdening his children with his own emotions.

A few hours later Mea read Lucas and Nathan a bedtime story about a beautiful angel named Deborah, which both boys loved hearing, before heading off down the hall to check on her son.

In the darkness of night the two Scott brothers lay in their beds, tired yet unable to sleep.

"Lucas" whispered Nathan as he left his bed and climbed into his brother's.

"Yeah Nate" replied the blond as the boy made himself comfortable next to him.

"I miss Mommy" the boy sobbed, burying his face in his brother's shoulder "Please don't be mad at me. I know you said that she's not real any more but I miss her and I think that she's still real"

"It's okay Nathan" the older sibling said as his eyes became glazed over "I miss her too" he sighed finally letting his tears fall "I miss her too"