Happy Endings
Lawrence, Kansas, 16 years ago.
Mary and John sat curled up on the couch watching Baseball (much to her disapproval), whilst Dean slept peacefully in his father's arms. John had been trying desperately not to move in fear of awaking his son and that had caused a rather painful ache in his arms. He twitched uncomfortably and tried to shift his son's body weight slightly. Seeing his awkward discomfort, Mary sighed and chuckled to herself; offering to take Dean.
"I'm just going to put Dean to bed, I'll be back down in a couple of minutes." Mary said as she gathered her son in her arms and started to head for the stairs.
"Yeah, sure." He smiled as his wife carefully climbed each step, making sure not to wake Dean. You'd have thought they were creating a fuss over making sure he stayed asleep, but he was one hell of a moody baby whenever he got rudely awoken. John waited until she had disappeared upstairs before turning his attention back to the game on TV. It was not long before he was hearing the familiar lullaby coming from Dean's room.
Dean lay motionless with every breath flowing silently from his lungs and out into the warm air surrounding him. His mother's thumb rested gently on his cheek as 'Hey Jude' rang out across the room. That was the song she had always sang to her son at night, ever since the first night back from the hospital. It was her favourite Beatles song and nothing else had ever seemed to be right. She had tried a few times to sing normal nursery rhymes but Dean would just wriggle and cry until she gave in.
Mary sat watching her son in wonder, what exactly went through his mind? She had always wanted to know. Movement downstairs broke her trail of thought and she concentrated on the pitter-patter of John's footsteps. She smiled; it wasn't exactly what you would call 'pitter-patter'.
Dean's dreams took him far and wide; although he was still young and his imagination- simple, his mind reached and searched for every piece of information it had gathered so far. Most of this was solely based around his parents. Images of his mother's laugh and his father's little wink swirled before him. Every now and then his lips would curl into an innocent smile which always made his mother beam.
She waited quietly so that she would be able to hear the small thud of John's feet as he climbed the stairs. But the steps never came. There was an agonising silence before Mary heard another rustling sound- this time a little louder. She frowned, he better not be at the pie again. She took one last look at Dean and went to investigate. As she crossed the landing and stepped towards the top of the stairs, she heard John's voice. She couldn't tell what he was saying as he was whispering.
Furrowing her brow in confusion she sped up her pace as she reached the bottom. "John." Her steps were cautious now, nervously awaiting his voice in reply. When nothing came, Mary stepped around the corner and into the kitchen just in time to see John's face fade. She took a faltered breath and fell to her knees.
