Hey babes! So, this is one that I've been sitting on for a while, since May, I think. I found this prompt: One of them being diagnosed with a terminal illness au and my muse went into overdrive. I wrote this one pretty quickly but I've been sitting on it for months, trying to figure out the best time to post it. Then I realized there's never really a good time to post something. So I decided to upload it today for you all.
Fair warning, there may be tears. I myself came very, very close to tears while just writing it. So you have been warned.
And now, on with the story.
"Well, I have all of the results back from the last few tests you've undergone. And I'm afraid they all came back positive. It's just as we thought, a brain tumor. I am very sorry."
Grant and Skye just stare at the doctor sitting on the other side of the large wooden desk, their hands clasped together and tears brimming their eyes.
"How long does she have?" Grant asks, swallowing the lump forming in his throat.
"It's hard to say. It all depends on what type of tumor it is, where it's located, and how fatal it actually is. Hopefully it'll be easy to take care of through a simple surgery and she'll have her whole life left to live," he gives them what he hopes to be an encouraging smile.
"And if it's not that easy to take care of?" Grant asks.
The doctor sighs sadly, "If not, then there are other options, but it'll be much more difficult. And uh, I don't want to worry you too much, but you should know, there is always a possibility that things won't go right and she won't make it through."
Skye chokes on a sob, one of her hands coming up to cover her mouth. Grant fights back his own tears, "But you'll try your hardest to take care of the tumor?" He chokes on the last word.
"We always do," the doctor gives a soft smile and a nod of his head.
Grant swallows, "Is that all, then?"
The doctor nods his head, "Yes."
Grant stands up from his chair, pulling Skye up as well and wrapping an arm around her waist, "Thank you, Doctor Johnson, for everything."
"Of course," he stands up as well, extending his hand out to Grant. "And again, I'm very, very sorry. These things are never easy."
Grant nods his head. "What do you recommend we do from here on out?"
"Take each day as it comes. Relax, be together. We'll be in touch soon to discuss what's going to happen next, as well as run a few more tests to determine what exactly we'll be dealing with."
"Okay, thank you." Grant gives a final nod of his head to the doctor before turning and leading Skye out of the office and back into the main part of the building.
"Are you ready to go home?" Grant asks Skye, looking down at her with concern in his eyes.
She nods her head. "Yeah," she says quietly.
"Alright, come on," he keeps an arm wrapped around her and leads her out of the building and to their car in the hospital parking lot.
...
"I think we should call your parents," Grant says in the car after most of the drive home had been spent in complete silence.
"What?" Skye asks, turning her head to look at him instead of continuing to stare out the window.
"I said I think we should tell your parents. Let them know what's going on."
She nods her head, "Yeah, okay. And I should probably tell my boss, and my coworkers, and all of our friends, and the ladies I work out at the gym with, and—" Skye cuts herself off, swallowing the tears she feels building up.
"Skye," Grant reaches out and places his hand on top of hers, "relax. Don't worry about everyone else right now. Let's just focus on telling those who really matter to us; your parents and our friends. We'll worry about telling anyone else further down the road if we absolutely need to."
Skye nods her head silently.
Grant squeezes her hand reassuringly and the rest of the drive is spent in silence again.
...
"Skye," her mom smiles brightly on the screen of their video chat, "it's so good to see you again."
"Hey mom," Skye smiles weakly. "It's really good to see you too. Um, is dad with you?"
"One second." Her mom leans out of the frame, "Phil! Get in here! Skye is on FaceTime!" She leans back in, "He'll be down in a minute."
Grant takes the next moment to lean into the video, "Hi Melinda," he waves at her.
"Oh, Grant. Hello," she smiles at him. "How have you been? How's everything at work?"
"Work's good. Nothing new there."
Melinda smiles and nods her head. "That's good to hear."
"What did you say about Skye?" Skye hears her dad ask.
"She's on FaceTime," Melinda tells her husband, looking up at him.
Then she sees her dad's smiling face enter the screen, "Hey there, sweetheart."
"Hi daddy," she replies.
"Daddy?" he furrows his brow. "You don't call me that unless you want something or something is wrong. What's wrong?"
"Why do you automatically assume something is wrong? Maybe I just want something."
"You're my baby girl, Skye. I know you. Now what's wrong?"
Skye swallows, internally debating on how best to tell them. She feels Grant's hand on her own and looks up to see him giving her a concerned look.
"Do you want me to tell them?" he asks her.
She shakes her head, "No, I can tell them."
"Tell us what?" her mother asks. "Skye, what's wrong?"
Skye closes her eyes to try and hold back her tears, "I have a brain tumor."
Silence fills the room all around them.
After a moment, she opens her eyes to see her parents staring back at her, unreadable expressions on both of their faces.
"Skye," her father speaks up, "if this is you trying to be funny—"
"It's not, I swear."
"You have a brain tumor?" Melinda asks.
Skye nods her head. She swallows, "Grant and I were at the doctor's office today and he told us. I haven't been feeling too well lately; lightheaded, nauseous, really tired. We were hoping it was because I was—" she shakes her head, "well, that doesn't matter now. What does matter is that I have a brain tumor and I don't know if I'm going to survive this."
"How long do you have?" Phil asks.
"The doctor doesn't know," Skye tells him. "He said it all depends on what type of tumor it is, where it's at, and how fatal it is."
"What are your plans?"
Skye shrugs, "I don't know. Just take each day as it comes, I guess. The doctor said he's going to call us and let us know what's going to happen next."
"Well your mother and I would like to see you in person soon, then."
"You will, I promise. I really miss you guys."
"We really miss you too, angel eyes."
Skye closes her eyes and smiles sadly at the nickname from when she was little.
"Has the doctor said what's going to come next?" Melinda asks.
"Not really," Skye replies. "Just that there's going to be some more tests and stuff."
There's more silence.
"Skye."
"Yeah dad?"
"We love you so much."
"I know. And I love you guys too."
He gives her a teary smile. Then he takes a deep breath, "Well, we're going to let you two go now, alright?"
"Yeah, okay."
"We'll see you soon, sweetie."
"Yeah. See you soon, dad. Bye."
"Bye."
Skye ends the FaceTime call on the tablet and then buries her face in her hands. She feels Grant's hand rub reassuringly up and down her back. It calms her down only slightly.
"That was way more difficult than I thought it was going to be," she tells him as she lifts her face out of her hands to look at him.
"I'm sure it was. So, what do you want to do now?"
"I think I just want to go to sleep. I know it's still pretty early, but I'm really tired."
"Okay, you go and get ready for bed. I'll clean up from dinner and put the tablet away and then Buddy and I'll be in to join you in a few minutes."
"Don't you have some work stuff to finish up for tomorrow?"
He shrugs, "That can wait. My wife is way more important."
She smiles up at him, "I love you."
"I love you too."
The doorbell ringing through the house pulls Grant's attention away from the conversation. "I'll get that. Should our last guests arriving." He stands up from his chair and makes his way into the house towards the front door.
Pulling it open, he finds the last of their guests standing on the front porch. "Lance, Bobbi, hey," he smiles at the pair.
"Hey," Lance smiles. "Sorry if we're late. Sammy was being a bit difficult earlier," he gestures to the little blonde girl sitting on his wife's hip. "I hope you don't mind we brought her. The sitter cancelled on us last minute."
"It's fine," Grant waves them off. "I'm sure Skye will love to see her. Come on in," he opens the door wider. "Everyone is out back."
"Awesome," Bobbi says as she hikes the two year old little girl higher up on her hip and steps into the house. "Sammy, do you want to go see Aunt Skye?"
"Aunt Kye!" Sammy exclaims excitedly, kicking her legs happily against her mom's side, a wide smile on her face.
Bobbi laughs, "Alright. She's outside." She sets the toddler down on the carpet and points to the back door at the other end of the house, "Go get her."
Sammy smiles up at her mom and then happily toddles towards the back door.
Lance, Bobbi, and Grant all watch as Sammy makes her way to the back door and then through it. "Aunt Kye!" They hear her exclaim.
"Sammy!" They hear Skye squeal.
"Well," Grant chuckles, "let's get out there and join the party."
"Yes," Lance says as he sets Sammy's diaper bag down on the couch. "Let's go join the party. Come on, love," he grabs Bobbi's hand in his and pulls her through the house.
Grant follows behind them, stopping in the doorway to the backyard and leaning against the frame. He watches as Skye interacts with their friends, talking and laughing. He smiles to himself as he watches her hold Sammy in her arms, whispering to the little girl and pressing kisses to her face and the top of her blonde hair, making the little girl giggle.
Taking a deep breath, he steps out the door and moves over to where Skye is. He smiles at her as he sits down next to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.
Sammy immediately crawls into his lap, smiling at him as she starts talking a mile a minute to him. He just smiles back at the girl and gives her his undivided attention.
...
"Be careful please, peanut," Lance calls out to his daughter as she runs around the backyard with Grant and Skye's dog.
"She really loves that dog," Bobbi comments, watching her daughter giggle as the chocolate lab jumps up and puts his front legs on her stomach.
"Yeah," Skye smiles. "Maybe you guys should consider getting a dog for Sammy."
"Oh, I've been down this path before, Skye," Lance says, "and there is no way Bobbi is going to let us get a dog."
"Why do we need a dog when I have you?"
Everyone around them laughs at the insult, while Lance grumbles to himself and sits back in his chair, lifting his beer bottle to his lips.
"Alright Skye," Tripp speaks up as he sets his drink down on the table beside him. He leans forward and rests his elbows on his knees, "time to fess up."
"What?" Skye looks over at Tripp, her brows furrowing.
"Girl, you don't throw parties just to throw parties. What's the reason for this one?"
She shrugs, trying to keep her face as normal as possible, "Why does there have to be a reason?"
"There's always a reason," Fitz speaks up.
"Yeah," Kara pipes up. "You throw parties for the most random occasions."
"I don't know about anyone else," Tripp speaks up again, "but I've been trying to figure out the reason behind this party all afternoon. It's no one's birthday, no wedding anniversaries, no official calendar holidays, I'm stumped. I have absolutely no clue as to what this party is for."
"Well," Skye says a bit slowly, "there is a reason for this get together."
"What is it?" Raina prods. "We all want to know."
"Um, Grant and I found something out today, and it's kind of life-changing…"
"Are you pregnant?" Fitz asks.
Skye shakes her head, "No, I'm not. And it's possible I might never be." She fights back her tears.
"Skye," Bobbi speaks slowly, "what's going on? What aren't you telling us?"
"I have a brain tumor."
Everyone goes still, no one saying a word.
"Are you being serious?" Jemma speaks up. "You have a brain tumor?"
Skye silently nods her head, looking over at her best friend.
Jemma is up and out of her seat in a flash, immediately wrapping Skye in a tight hug, "Oh, sweetheart. I am so sorry. If you need anything at all, don't hesitate to call me or Fitz. We'll gladly drop everything to help you if you need us."
"Thanks, Jem," Skye says.
After a minute, Jemma pulls away but sits down next to Skye, holding her hand tightly in her own. Skye gives Jemma a grateful smile and then turns to face the rest of her friends.
Fitz is sitting in his and Jemma's spot, a forlorn look on his face. Lance is sitting with a blank look on his face, though hints of sadness can be seen in his eyes. He has one arm wrapped around Bobbi's waist, holding her close, while she has tears quickly building up in her eyes.
Kara is looking at Skye and Grant with a sad look on her face and tears in her eyes.
Tripp sits back in his seat and runs a hand across his face, breathing in heavily. He wraps an arm around Raina and holds her close. Raina looks at Grant and Skye with a sympathetic look, allowing Tripp to hold onto her.
Everyone remains silent, none of them knowing what to say.
"Aunt Kye!" Sammy exclaims as she makes her way back over to the group, Buddy trailing behind her.
Skye looks over at the little girl and smiles weakly, "Hey sweetie."
Sammy walks over to Skye and holds her arms out to her. "Up please," she says simply. Skye happily lifts the two year old into her arms, settling her on her lap.
Sammy looks up at her aunt, her head tilted slightly in confusion. Then she reaches up with her chubby hands and wipes away the tears from Skye's face. "No sad," Sammy says and then leans back against Skye's chest contently, giving her parents a smile.
Skye lets out a quiet, strangled cry at the innocent gesture from the little girl, wrapping her arms tighter around the girl and hugging her close. She drops a kiss to the top of Sammy's head and rests her cheek there, closing her eyes tightly.
Reaching up, Grant knocks on the door, pulling Skye closer as they wait for the door to open. She leans into his hold.
A minute later, the door swings open and Skye's mom is standing on the other side. "Skye," she says and steps out the door to pull her daughter into a hug.
"Mom," Skye says back, returning her mom's hug, burying her face in the crook of her neck.
After a long minute, Melinda pulls back and looks Skye directly in the eyes, "How are you feeling?"
Skye shrugs, "Alright. Just tired mostly. And a little weaker than usual."
"Do you want to come in and lie down for a little while?"
Skye shakes her head, "No, thanks. I slept a lot in the car. Plus, I'm always tired lately, so it's nothing new."
"Okay," Melinda gives her daughter a smile. She looks up at her son-in-law, "Hello, Grant."
"Hi, Melinda," Grant smiles back.
"Why don't you both come in and get settled," Melinda steps back into the house, opening the door a bit wider to allow Grant and Skye to step through. "Grant, you can put the suitcases up in Skye's old room. Do you remember where it's at?"
He nods his head, "Yeah." He looks at Skye and leans down to press a kiss to her cheek, "I'll be right back."
"Kay," Skye gives him a small smile as he heads up the stairs. "Where's dad?" Skye asks her mom as they make their way to the living room, Melinda helping to support Skye as they walk.
"I'm not sure. He's around here somewhere, though."
"Okay," Skye says, falling down onto the couch, kicking her shoes off and pulling her legs up underneath of her, leaning back into the cushions.
Melinda sits down next to her daughter, turning slightly to face her, "So, how are things going back home?"
Skye shrugs, "Alright. Grant and I told all of our friends already."
"How did they all take it?"
"As well as you can expect. Fitz thought I was going to say I was pregnant, but uh," she swallows thickly, "that's obviously not happening anytime soon."
Melinda reaches out a hand to rest on Skye's leg, giving her a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. I know how badly you wanted a family. Ever since you were little, you were always very motherly towards the other kids on the street."
Skye smiles, "Yeah."
"But there's a possibility you still could, right? When you make it through this?"
"If," Skye says. "If I make it through this."
"When," Melinda replies. "As your mother it's my job to remain optimistic."
Skye sighs, "Fine."
"I'm back," Grant says as he walks down the stairs and into the living room.
"What took you so long?" Skye asks him as he walks towards the couch. Skye sits up slightly, allowing him to squeeze in behind her. She leans back into him.
"Took a pit stop at the bathroom," he tells her as he wraps his arms around her and drops a kiss to the top of her head.
"Mel, when are Skye and Grant getting here?"
"About five minutes ago," Skye replies, smiling up at her dad as he enters the room. "Hey, daddy."
"Hey, baby girl," he smiles back, walking up to her and kissing her forehead. "How are you feeling?"
Skye sighs, "Like hell."
"I wish there was something we could do," Phil says as he sits down next to Melinda.
Skye smiles softly at her parents, "I know you do, dad. I do too. But all we can do right now is take each day as it comes and just hope for the best."
"Babe, I'm home," Grant calls into the house as he enters through the back door of the house. No response. "Skye?"
"Living room," she calls back.
Toeing off his shoes and placing his keys on the hook by the door, he makes his way through the house and into the living room.
When he enters the room, he sees Skye lying on the couch, her tablet propped up against her knees, a few containers and bags of food surrounding her.
"Hey," he says when he sees her.
"Hi," she replies, not looking away from her tablet.
"Have you been lying here all day?" he asks her when he takes in her attire. It's the same thing she had worn to bed, a pair of dark grey leggings and one of his college sweatshirts from UCLA; her hair pulled back into a messy bun.
She shrugs her shoulders, "I don't know. What times is it?"
"Well, I'm home from work now, so it's about 4:30."
"Oh, maybe I have been here all day then."
"Alright, well I'm going to get started on dinner," he turns to make his way back into the kitchen. "What do you want me to make?"
"Not hungry," comes her reply.
"You need to eat something," he tells her.
"Been eating all day," she gestures to the food around her.
He sighs, "Something substantial. That stuff isn't the best for you to be eating."
"It's not like it even matters," she mumbles, but he still manages to hear what she said.
"Skye," he says a bit firmly, actually drawing her attention to him. "What was that quip about it not even mattering?"
She shrugs again.
"No, Skye," he makes his way towards her and sits on the edge of the couch by her feet, turning slightly to face her, "you're not doing this again. You need to talk about this."
"There's not exactly anything to talk about," she stands up from the couch, setting her tablet on the coffee table, and walks over to the window, leaning forward against the windowsill. "I just want to be alone."
"Well that's not going to happen. Not while I'm here. So please, talk to me."
"I don't want to," she repeats. "Just go make dinner and do whatever you have to do for work."
"I'm not leaving until we talk."
"Then you're going to be sitting there forever. Unlike me."
"Okay, enough of that. I'm tired of you making comments like that all the time. It's been two months, Skye. Two months. And all you've done over the past month is make cracks about how you barely have any time left, shut people out, and refuse to leave the house. It's frustrating. You can't keep living like this."
"Well then it's a good thing I won't have to," she says harshly as she turns around quickly to face him. "I guess it's a good thing it's so frustrating for you, because pretty soon you most likely won't have to listen to any of it or live like this."
"Skye…"
"I'm dying, Grant!" she shouts. "I have a brain tumor and I might be dying!"
"But you might not be," he tells her. "You might get through this. Then we'll go on to live our lives just the way we wanted to."
"And what if I don't?" she asks him. "What if something goes wrong in the surgery and I don't make it out? I might die and there's nothing either of us can do about it!"
"You think I don't know that?!" he shouts, standing up from the couch. "You don't think this is hard for me too?! You're my wife, Skye! And I love you more than anything in this entire world. This is hurting me just as much as it's hurting you."
"But I don't want it to hurt, Grant! I don't want the pain! I hate it! I hate all of it! I hate knowing that one day really soon all of this could just be gone for me. I might not have any of it anymore."
"I hate it too."
Skye's quiet for a minute. "You know," she turns to face the window again, "I had this whole life planned out for myself. I was going to grow up, go to the college of my dreams, meet the guy of my dreams, get married, get my dream job, have a family, grow old together, and then, eventually, die after having done everything I wanted to do in life."
"I know. You've told me all of that before. It's a great plan," he smiles slightly.
"Yeah, it is. But now I probably won't get to have a family or my dream job or grow old with you."
"You still could," he tells her. "We just have to make it through this."
"You mean I have to make it through this," she spins quickly to face him. "But what if I don't make it through this? I won't have any of that. We won't have any of that. Not the kids, not the dream job, not the growing old together. Because I might die! And I don't want to, Grant! I don't want to die. Not yet."
"Why don't you want to?" he asks her.
"Is that even a real question? No one ever wants to die, Grant."
"There has to be a reason," he says, stepping towards her. "Other than the simple fact of wanting to live your life."
"Well there isn't," she tells him.
He shakes his head, "No. Don't do this. Don't shut me out again. I know there's a reason why you don't want to die yet. And I want to know what that reason is. I want to be able to—"
"I'm scared!"
Grant stops and just looks down at her, watching as her large brown eyes slowly start to fill with tears.
"I'm scared, okay? I'm scared that if I die, once I'm gone, everyone is just going to forget about me, that my life here will have meant absolutely nothing to anyone I've met." The tears slowly start to crawl down her cheeks. "I'm terrified," her voice shakes, "that when I'm gone, I'll have left without making any kind of impact on the world or the people around me. That's why I've been in this house every day, not doing anything. Because I figure, if I haven't made any kind of impact or impression on people or the world, then there's no sense in trying now. And the worst part about all of this is I don't know if I'm going to die. I know it could happen at any point, because people rarely survive this, but not knowing when is the worst part of all of this. I'm just, I'm so scared, Grant. I don't want to do this anymore. I can't do this anymore. I just can't," she lets all of her tears fall, collapsing into her husband's arms.
Grant holds her in his arms, one hand wrapped around her middle, the other cradling the back of her head as she buries her face in his shirt.
"Shh," he says into her hair as she cries. "It's okay, I'm right here. And I'm not going anywhere."
"Buddy," Grant speaks to the chocolate lab from his place at the kitchen counter. Buddy lifts his head from where he'd been resting in his bed. "Go wake up mom. It's time for lunch."
Buddy obediently rises from his bed, stretching out his body before leaving the kitchen, his tail wagging behind him.
A few minutes later, he hears Buddy's barking coming from down the hallway in the direction of the bedroom.
Furrowing his brow, he wipes his hands on his pants and makes his way down towards the room.
"Buddy," he says as he gets closer, "what's going on? Why are you—" He stops in the doorway.
Buddy is laying on the bed, right up against Skye's body, his head lying on her side. Skye is curled up on top of the covers.
"Skye," he says when he breaks himself from his trance. No response. "Skye, babe," he says a bit louder.
Still no response.
He steps further into the room and moves quickly towards the bed. He kneels down by the side of the bed where her face is; her eyes are closed and her lips are parted slightly.
He reaches a tentative hand up and grabs her shoulder, shaking her gently, despite Buddy getting upset at the disturbance. "Skye," he says and he can feel his voice start to waver. "No," he whispers to himself. He drops his head to the bed, his forehead resting on the edge of the comforter. "Not now," he says to himself as he reaches into his back pocket to pull out his phone. Unlocking his phone, he dials 9-1-1, holding the phone to his ear.
"9-1-1, what's your emergency?"
"Hi," he drags a hand over his face as he breathes in, "um, my wife. She's uh, she's…I need an ambulance."
"Okay, sir, what happened?"
"She has a brain tumor and we knew this was a possibility, but we didn't know when it could happen. She's supposed to go into surgery tomorrow, but now she's…" he swallows thickly, "I just, I need an ambulance."
"Alright, what's your address?"
"2301 Sepulveda Boulevard."
"Okay, an ambulance will be there shortly. Would you like me to stay on the line with you until they get there?"
"Um, no. Thank you, though."
"Okay. The ambulance has just left and should be there very soon."
"Alright. Thanks."
"Of course."
Grant ends the call and then takes a deep breath to try and calm his nerves. It doesn't help.
He lets out a scream as he slides down the bedroom wall crying. He leans his head back against the wall and cries, not caring about anything else.
"Skye Qiaolian Ward lived a good life," the man at the front of the room says. "She was a good daughter, a loving wife, and a caring friend. She had such an incredible impact on all those who were around her; it's hard to imagine life without her. Though her life ended far too soon, we will not dwell on the life she could have had, but rather, celebrate the life she did have." He pauses. "At this time, Skye's family would like to say a few words, and then we'll open up the floor to anyone else who would like to speak." The man looks behind him and gives a nod to Skye's parents.
Phil and Melinda stand from their seats and make their way to the microphone; Melinda is tucked into Phil's side with his arm wrapped protectively around her.
Phil clears his throat, "Skye is—was, our only child, our only daughter. And she was the light of our lives. From the moment she came into this world kicking and screaming we knew she was going to be a handful. And that's exactly what she was. But we loved her all the more for it. She brought so much happiness and joy and craziness into our lives. She was our baby girl." He swallows thickly. "As a parent, you never want to think about what life will be like without your child in it. Which is why when Skye first told us about her tumor, we didn't know what to think. Although, I think we were in denial for the majority of the time. Neither of us wanted to think about our only child being taken away from us so soon, before she really got to experience life. And even though she's gone now, we just want to thank everyone who was in her life in some way. Thank you for being a part of her life and for being her friends." He looks over at the picture of Skye on display, "We miss you so much, Skye. Now you really do have angel eyes."
Stepping away from the mic, Phil lets a few tears fall down his cheeks as he and Melinda make their way back to their seats.
As they walk back to their seats, Grant stands from his chair and passes by them. Phil gives him a tight lipped smile and a clap on the back. Grant gives him a silent nod of his head as he walks up to the microphone. He glances over at the picture of Skye, smiling sadly at the sight of Buddy curled up next to the large photo.
Grant steps up to the mic and clears his throat, "I thought a lot about what to say here today, about how to describe Skye. But then I realized there isn't one single word that can describe Skye. She never fit into any mold, or category, or label. That just wasn't who she was. From the first moment I laid eyes on her in our English class freshman year of college I knew I was in for a wild ride. And I was right. I was never really the outgoing type growing up, but when we were in college, Skye made sure to change that. And near the end of our sophomore year I became a different man, a better man. And Skye gladly took credit for the change I'd undergone. I just don't think she expected to fall for me somewhere along the way." He gives a small smile.
"From then on out, we were the power couple on campus. I still, to this day, do not know why we were considered that. But everyone in the school knew who we were and I think Skye made sure of that. The time I spent with Skye was the best time of my life." He can feel the tears building in his eyes and he looks up briefly, trying to keep the tears back. He looks back down, "Skye was the best girlfriend, and wife, a guy could ask for. We were great together, and we loved each other so much. In her last month and a half, we spent it together. It seemed weird at first, because we'd been together for so long. But we just stayed home, relaxed, and spent time together just the two of us. No distractions, no work, no friends, no family. Just us. And it was," he swallows thickly, "it was the best month and a half of my life. Even though she was pretty sick, I'd never seen her happier than she was in that month of us just sitting around doing absolutely nothing. Most of the time we just sat and talked, like we'd done so many times before in school. We had dreamed up a whole life together, a life we could make for ourselves, the perfect life." He chokes on a sob, "And now we won't have that. Any of it. Because she's gone," he lets the tears fall as he drops his head to his chest. Feeling a hand on his arm, he looks up to see Fitz standing next to him, a sympathetic look on his face.
Without a word, Grant pulls Fitz in for a hug and cries into his shoulder, letting all of the pain and hurt he feels escape with each tear that falls.
"I miss her so much," he says after a while, holding tightly to Fitz.
"I know you do," Fitz says somewhat quietly. "I do too. We all do."
Grant presses on through the grass as the crisp autumn air bites at his face. The wind howls in his ear and the leaves crunch beneath the soles of his shoes. He clutches the bouquet of daises in his hand as he makes his way through the cemetery. He walks down the many rows, keeping his eyes peeled for the one specific headstone.
When he finally spots it, he makes his way over to it and takes a deep breath before kneeling down in front of the stone. Reaching forward, he removes the wilted daises lying at the foot of the stone, replacing them with the fresh bouquet in his other hand. Then he brushes off the dead leaves on top of the stone.
"Hey," he says to the stone. "I uh, I know it's been a while since I've been here. I'm sorry; I should have come by sooner.
"It's been three years now since you left. I still miss you like crazy, and I'm pretty sure I always will. You were my first real love," he smiles weakly.
"Sammy's five now," he begins, "and in kindergarten. She's just as crazy as Lance and Bobbi," he lets out a quiet laugh. "She uh, she asked me about you yesterday. I was over at their house for dinner, because it'd been a while, and Lance decided to pull out the album Bobbi put together from when we were in college and took that trip to the Cayman Islands for Spring Break during our Senior Year. Sammy saw one of the pictures of you and me on the beach and she pointed at you, looked right up at me and said, 'Uncle Grant. That's Aunt Skye. Where's Aunt Skye? I wanna see Aunt Skye. I miss her.' It took everything in me not to break down in tears. I thought I was done crying over you, but I guess I'm not. Lance and Bobbi had to explain to her that you're gone now. She understood, I think, but she wasn't too happy about it. I didn't even think she still remembered you because she was so young when you died. I guess she's a lot smarter than she seems. I think I'll bring her here sometime soon so she can say bye properly to you." He swallows.
"She's also a big sister now, too. Another girl, Joanna Olivia. She's a very sweet baby. I think she'll be a year old in a couple of months. Sammy absolutely loves being a big sister.
"Jemma and Fitz had their baby, too, about four months ago. A little girl named Ana Skylar. I just about started crying when I heard her middle name. Jemma told me that she and Fitz talked a lot about her first name, but they knew they wanted to use your name for her middle name. They also made me her Godfather, which I wasn't expecting. Ana is a very cute baby, you'd love her, but she's also pretty tiny for her age. She was born a few weeks earlier than she was supposed to be. But she's okay; she'll probably just always be smaller than the other kids her age. Which is better than anything else that could have happened. Jemma and Fitz are always bringing her by the house, and Buddy loves having another baby to sniff at," he chuckles.
"Oh, I'm moving out of the house. I'm moving in with my girlfriend. Do you remember the girl I told you about before, the one I met at a work party? It was about a month or so after your service. I didn't want to go, but Fitz convinced me to, told me I needed to get back out into the world. So I went and I met this really amazing girl. Turns out she got hired to the company right after I took that time off to spend it with you. I guess she was pretty eager to meet me because she'd heard everyone in the office talking about me and all the projects I worked on.
He shakes his head, "Anyways, she and I hit it off pretty quickly. We have a lot of stuff in common and we became really fast friends. We started dating after a few months, but I told her I didn't want to move too fast. And I apologized in advance for if I ever got depressed or broke down over you. And this is the most amazing thing, she didn't walk away. And she was there for me the few times I did break down. She's really great; I think you two would have gotten along really well.
"But uh, a couple weeks ago I asked her to move in with me. Well, it's actually me moving into her place. I thought about having her move in with me, but the thought of another woman staying where you used to, I just couldn't wrap my head around it. And of course she understood, like always." He gives a small smile.
"I'm selling the house. I put all of your stuff in storage, like you're actually coming back. I know you aren't but I just can't bring myself to get rid of any of it right now; but maybe someday I will. I gave some of your things to your parents though, like your yearbooks and some of your more personal things. I'm just about moved out of the house. It's kind of bittersweet. You and I made a lot of good memories in that house.
"Buddy isn't particularly happy about leaving the house. I've slowly been getting him used to the other place. But I don't—"
"Buddy! Stop!"
Looking up behind him, Grant sees the chocolate lab running full speed towards him. "Hey Bud," he smiles at the dog. Buddy stops right next to him, allowing Grant to pet him.
"I'm so sorry, I tried to stop him." Grant looks up to see his girlfriend approaching. "I know you wanted some time alone."
He smiles up at the raven haired woman, "It's okay." He looks back down to see Buddy now lying in front of Skye's headstone, his body sitting right up against the cold gray stone. His nose keeps nudging the stone and a small whimper can be heard coming from the dog.
"He really misses his mom," Grant states, watching his dog. "She was always his favorite."
"From all the stories I've heard, that makes perfect sense. Plus you both had him since he was a puppy." She kneels down next to him, wrapping one arm around his waist and resting her cheek on his shoulder. They're quiet for a moment before she speaks up again, "Well, aren't you going to introduce me?"
Grant chuckles, "Of course. Where are my manners?" He turns to the headstone, "Skye, this is my girlfriend Vanessa. Vanessa, this is Skye."
Vanessa smiles at the headstone, "It's nice to finally meet you, Skye. I wish I could have met you before, I'm sure I would have really liked you. But I promise you I'll treat your boys well."
Grant smiles at his girlfriend and presses a kiss to the top of her head, "We should probably get going now."
"Yeah?" she looks up at him.
He nods his head, "Yeah. We're having dinner with everyone tonight."
"Oh, right." She stands up, "I'll let you say bye." She presses a kiss to his cheek and then walks back towards the car.
Grant turns to the stone, "As you can see, I'm happy. And I didn't think I'd ever find that again. But even though I'm with Vanessa now, I'm never going to forget you. You took a piece of my heart the day we met, and you never gave it back."
Leaning forward slightly, he runs his fingers along the carved letters on the headstone. He smiles sadly to himself and he stands up from the ground.
"Come on Buddy," he says to his dog, gesturing with his head towards the car. The dog doesn't budge.
Grant sighs and kneels back down, running his hand over the dog's head, "I miss her too, Bud. I promise I'll bring you back soon. Now's let's go home."
With that, he stands up again, the bouquet of wilted daisies in his hand. Buddy gets up with him and the two make their way through the grass towards Vanessa and the car, until the next time they return.
Skye Qiaolian Ward
July 2, 1988 – October 15, 2020
Loving daughter, wife, and friend
Don't hate me! Let me know your thoughts in a review down below. I'd love to know what you think of this one.
And yes, Sepulveda is a real street in Cali. They used it in Stitchers. Don't know about the house number though, I just made one up.
Also, anyone who's interested in having their twitter handle featured in my story Luck of the Draw, let me know. I just need a couple more for a quickly approaching chapter. Thanks. :)
Until next time,
Jellybean96 out!