Hello everyone! I'm back with a new story for you. It's a two-parter. Been working on this for a while now, and I think I've got it where I want it. So, I really hope that you enjoy this, I worked pretty hard on it.
So yeah, here you go!
Grace Baxter hangs up her cell phone and sets it down on the dining room table, her eyes glazed over as she sits down in one of the dining room chairs, letting the information she just received really sink in. She doesn't want to believe that it actually happened.
"Grace! I'm home!" she looks up from the floor to see her husband, Nelson, walk through the front door. She looks back down at the floor, sadness in her eyes, as Nelson walks further into the house and sees Grace sitting in the chair.
When he gets to her, he drops to his knees in front of her, and lifts her head so he can get a better look at her. He sees the tears in her eyes and grows more concerned. "What's wrong?" he asks her.
Grace swallows hard and then bursts into tears, leaping into Nelson's arms. He manages to catch her and just hold her, letting her cry on his shoulder.
"They're dead," she manages to get out through her sobs.
"Who's dead?" he asks confused.
"Zander and Stevie."
He sharply pulls back and looks at her, "What do you mean they're dead?"
"I mean they're dead. Gone. As in gone forever. Never coming back."
"How did you find out?"
"Someone called. I guess their car was being trailed by some paparazzi and they were trying to avoid them. They lost control of the car and ran off the road into a ditch. They died before they even made it to the hospital."
"Does anyone else know yet?"
"I don't know. The guy said he called me first."
"Why?"
"I think he said that I was the last number dialed in Stevie's phone. She called me last night so we could go over some things for Dani's party." She pauses and does a sharp intake of breath, "Oh my gosh! I didn't even think about Dani. She's only 3, almost 4, what's going to happen to her?"
Nelson puts his hands on Grace's shoulders, "Relax Grace. Things will be fine. Now did the guy say anything else? Anything we need to know?"
"Um, I think he said something about a will reading tomorrow afternoon. Around 3 o'clock, I think. At the courthouse."
"Alright. So we'll go to the courthouse tomorrow and figure out what is going on. Then we'll go from there. Okay?"
Grace nods her head, "Okay." Nelson hugs her one last time and then helps her to stand up. They both go into the living room and sit down on the couch to just relax and be together.
*The next day, 2:50 pm*
Grace and Nelson walk the corridors of the courthouse, making their way to the correct door that they need. As they approach the door, they see many people sitting outside the door, waiting. Zander's and Stevie's parents, Stevie's brothers, Zander's sister, Kevin, and Kacey.
"Hey guys," Nelson says, with a sad tone in his voice.
"Hi Nelson," Kacey says, standing up to give him a hug. They all stand up, exchanging hugs and greetings all around. A moment after they all greet each other, the door opens and an older looking man steps out into the hallway. He lets the group settle for a moment before clearing his throat, causing them to all look over at him.
"Hello," he begins, "My name is Charles Whitmore. I am Zander and Stevie's lawyer. Please, come in," he motions for them all to enter his office. They all file into the room and he follows in after them, approaching his desk. "Please, have a seat," he gestures to the empty set of chairs in front of his desk. They all take a seat and wait impatiently for him to begin. He silently opens the folder in front of him. "Before me, I have the last Will and Testament for Zander and Stevie Robbins. To Zander's parents, we leave them a paper copy of every song Zander ever wrote, both complete and incomplete. To Stevie's parents, we leave them all of Stevie's journals, in hopes that they will read them and know all the things she never told them. To Stevie's oldest brother Chris, we leave him Stevie's collection of guitar picks, hoping that he will treasure them like she is still there with him. To Nathan, we leave him Stevie's signed foul baseball when he took her to the first game of the season. To Sam, we leave him Stevie's stuffed owl doll that he got for her when she was five. To Ethan, we leave him Stevie's collection of vintage musician trading cards. To Zander's sister Melanie, we leave her Zander's laptop. To Kevin Reed, we leave him Zander's untouched signed copy of the first Furious Pigeons game from the game creator. To Kacey Reed, we leave her Stevie's untouched collection of designer handbags she received after the promotion she did. To Nelson Baxter, we leave him Stevie's friendship bracelet that he made her in the first grade. To Grace Baxter, we leave her the framed photograph from the first concert that she managed for us. To our beloved daughter Danielle, we leave her our bass guitar, regular guitar, and ukulele, in hopes that she will acquire our love for music and learn to play the instruments to the best of her ability. And finally, in the unfortunate event that anything shall happen to us before Dani is of the legal age, we leave her in the care of her Godparents, Nelson and Grace Baxter, in hopes that they will take her in as a member of their family and treat her well, while still keeping our memory alive for her. As for our money, we wish that all of our life savings be donated anonymously to any charity of our friends and families choosing."
Everyone just sits speechless in their seats, none of them not quite knowing what to say just yet. It's still hard for any of them to believe that she is gone, and being there at the reading of their will, made it that much more real for all of them.
Charles stands up from his desk, "I'll leave you all to yourselves. When you're ready, we can start filling out all the necessary paperwork. He moves around from his desk and exits the room, allowing them all to be there by themselves for the time being.
"I still can't believe they're gone," Stevie's oldest brother, Chris, says.
"I know," Kacey says, "I don't want to believe it. Any of it."
"What I can't believe," Zander's mother, Martha, says, "is why Dani is going to be living with Grace and Nelson, instead of with either of her grandparents."
"We're her godparents," Nelson says.
"And Zander and Stevie chose us, in their will, to look after her if anything bad happened to them," Grace adds.
"I don't care about a will," Martha says again, "she's my granddaughter, and I want her to be living with her family."
"I'm her family too," Stevie's mother, Cindy, speaks up, "who's to say she has to live with you and not me?"
"Oh please," Martha scoffs.
"She's as much my granddaughter as she is yours," Cindy replies, "she's my family too." Everyone else in the room begins to then throw in their comments regarding the subject, causing a full on argument to break out.
"Stop it!" Mel yells, standing from her chair, causing everyone to stop arguing and look at her, "Can we please not do this? My only brother, and his wife, who was like a sister to me, were both just killed in a car wreck." She looks at both sets of parents, "Your children," she looks to Stevie's brothers, "Your sister," she finally looks at the others, "and your best friends." she addresses the entire group, "I really don't think that arguing about who Dani is going to live with, is really the best thing to do right now. If Stevie and Zander want Dani to live with Grace and Nelson, it's obviously for a good reason. They are her family too, even if not by blood. They love her like family. And it's not like they are never going to let you see her."
"She's right," Grace says, "Just because she'll be living with us, that doesn't mean that you won't be able to see her. You can see her any time you want. We aren't going to be keeping your granddaughter from you."
"Yeah," Nelson says, "the last thing we would want to do is to keep her from her family."
Cindy speaks up, "It's just, she's all we have left of them. Even at a young age, she looks so much like that both of them."
"She's all we have left of them too," Nelson says gently, "we just want what's best for Dani, and I know that you do too."
Both women sigh, and look at each other with sad eyes. They turn back, and Martha speaks up, "Fine. She can stay with you. But we want to see her whenever we can."
Grace smiles, "Absolutely."
"Great," Mel says, "Now that that is all settled, why don't we call the nice lawyer man back in here, and get all the necessary paperwork filled out."
Everyone nods their heads in agreement, sitting back down in their chairs as Nelson goes back out into the hallway to retrieve the lawyer and then enters the room again, Charles following behind him. Nelson sits down in his chair next to Grace, and Charles goes behind his desk, pulling out all of the necessary paperwork needed. The group spends the next hour or so filling out paperwork and making arrangements for everything to be taken care of.
Grace and Nelson approach the front door of their house, Dani and a suitcase full of some of her things in tow. Nelson grabs the correct key on his keychain and unlocks the door, letting both girls inside.
"When is mommy and daddy coming to pick up tomorrow?" Dani asks innocently, causing Grace and Nelson to both stop in their tracks and turn around to look at her.
Grace kneels down so that she is at eye level with Dani and puts her hands on her shoulders, "Sweetie, we already went over this. Mommy and daddy aren't coming to get you. They're not coming back."
Dani shakes her head, "No. This just sleepover. Mommy coming to pick up tomorrow."
Grace looks at her sadly, "I'm sorry baby girl. But she isn't."
Dani's eyes begin to water, "NO!" she screams and drops her small backpack, letting it fall to the floor. "I want mommy and daddy!" she yells and then races towards the stairs to the room she usually uses when she has sleepovers there.
Grace and Nelson stand at the bottom of the stairs, "Well that went better than I expected." Nelson states.
Grace gives him a look, "Really?"
"What? At least she ran upstairs instead of throwing her fit down here."
Grace sighs, "I guess so," she moves into the living room and sits down on the couch, "I just can't imagine how she feels. Losing her parents so young and not being able to grasp the fact very well."
"Yeah," Nelson says, sitting down next to her, "but all we can do is be there for her when she needs us, and love her like she was our own child."
"And we both know that won't be hard to do." Grace smiles.
Nelson smiles back and holds his arms out, "Come here," he pulls Grace into his embrace and hugs her close to her body. She hugs him back tightly and buries her face in his shirt.
"Grace? Nelson?" they both look up to see Dani standing in the entryway to the living room.
"Yes Dani?" Grace says.
"I sorry for yelling."
Grace smiles sadly, "It's okay sweetie. We know that you're just upset. Do you want a snuggle hug?" Dani nods her head.
"Okay. Come on over," Grace pats the space in between her and Nelson. Dani hurries over and climbs up onto the couch space between her godparents. Grace and Nelson look at each other and then smile, "SNUGGLE HUG!" they both exclaim, leaning forward to squish Dani between the two of them. Dani squeals in laughter and hugs them both the best she can. And that night when they fall asleep, all three of them in the big bed upstairs, it's like it's just another sleepover, and nothing tragic had happened. If only that were true.
*1 year later*
"Dani! Hurry up baby!" Grace yells from the bottom of the stairs as she heads back into the kitchen to finish packing Dani's lunch. As she stands at the counter, she pauses from pouring goldfish crackers into a plastic bag to look out the window and up at the sky, "I wish you guys were here to see this day," she whispers to the heavens. She stares out the window for another moment until a small voice breaks her from her reverie.
"Grace?"
She turns to see Dani standing in the entryway to the kitchen. "Hey."
"You okay?"
Grace uses the back of her hand to wipe at her eyes, feeling the tears building up, "Yeah. I'm fine. Just fine." She smiles at her, "Now let me get a good look at you."
Dani smiles brightly and spins around in a circle, allowing Grace to get a good look at her outfit. She's wearing a colorful, scoop neck, short sleeved shirt, with a ruffle neckline with flower detailing. It is a baby doll fit, with an elastic waist; along with light blue leggings. On her feet, she is wearing a pair of glittery, silver, slip-on flats, with elastic crisscross bands on it. On her back, she has her blue, monkey backpack.
"What you think?" Dani asks when she is facing Grace again.
Grace smiles, "You look great sweetie. But who did your hair?"
"I did." Grace looks up to see Nelson walk into the room, a proud smile on his face.
"Well, you did okay. Come here Dani." Dani walks over to her and Grace pulls out the messy ponytail and brushes it out with her fingers, then quickly puts it into a braid. "There you go," she says as Dani turns around to face her once more.
"Thanks!" Dani says with a smile.
"No problem," she smiles back and then turns back to the counter, finishing Dani's lunch and putting it in her lunch bag that matches her backpack, and hands it to her. "Here's your lunch."
Dani takes it from her, "Thank you!"
"Okay, now up against the wall, let me get your picture." Grace pulls out her phone, opening up the camera as Dani moves against the wall. Dani throws her a big smile and Grace snaps the photo, making a mental note to send it to both sets of Dani's grandparents.
"Alright kindergartener!" Grace exclaims, "Are you ready for your first day of school?" Dani nods her head excitedly. "Okay then, let's get you to the bus stop. Grace holds her hand out and Dani takes it, the two girls heading to the door.
"Wait!" Dani says, stopping and turning around, "Nelson! You come too!" she holds her tiny hand out to him. He smiles, taking her hand in his and then all three of them head out the door to the bus stop.
"Why can't you ride the bus with me?" Dani says to Grace as they stand at the bus stop.
"Because you need to learn how to be a big girl, and ride the bus all by yourself."
Dani shakes her head, "Don't wanna."
Grace sighs and squats down in front of Dani, "I can't ride the bus with you baby. I'm not allowed to. But believe me, I would if I could." She smiles.
Dani lets out a dramatic sigh, "But I don't have any friends on the bus."
"You'll make some," Grace replies.
"She's right Dani," Nelson responds, "You're a very fun girl. You're going to make tons of friends."
"And we're gonna be right here when the bus brings you home after school," Grace smiles.
"Promise?"
"Promise."
"Okay," Dani reluctantly agrees.
"Bus is here," Nelson states. Grace stands up and Dani turns around to see a yellow school bus approaching them. When it stops, all the kids line up in front of the doors, waiting for them to open. The doors open, and one by one, the kids file onto the bus, finding a seat somewhere on the bus. "Have fun," Nelson says to Dani as she steps onto the bus. "We love you."
"Love you too," Dani responds with a small wave and then walks up the bus steps. She sits down next to a window and looks out, smiling at Grace and Nelson as they wave to her.
The bus pull away and Grace and Nelson stare off after it, "There she goes," Grace says.
"Yep, away to school."
"I just wish Zander and Stevie were here to see this." She says sadly.
Nelson wraps his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close to him, "I know you do. I do too. But you know what, they're probably looking down on her right now, so happy that she has two people caring for her that love her so much."
"Two, soon to be three," Grace replies, placing her hand on her slightly protruding stomach.
"And she is going to love this baby too. Because that's just who she is."
"She gets that from Zander, loving everybody instantly and seeing the best in them."
"Yeah, she does. Now come on, let's go home." He grabs her hand in his and begins walking towards their house.
So? Did you enjoy this? Let me know your thoughts in a review below. Thanks!
There's one more part after this and I hope you will enjoy that as well.
Until next time,
Jellybean96 out!