Since starting his career as an Agent for the FBI, Donald Ressler had never taken more than a weekend at the most off. Now, however, he was coming to the end of a three week leave of absence to mourn the death of his girlfriend and recover from the injuries sustained in his own home whilst under the influence of alcohol. After a lengthy phone conversation and yet another follow up visit from the good doctor, Ressler was finally given the all clear to return to work the following Monday and that was exactly what he was going to do.
It was currently the Sunday before he was due to return to the Post Office. All the work suits he owned had been taken then picked up from the dry cleaners and hung in his closet ready for the week ahead. The many, many now completed case files that Liz had brought round sat in a large, neat pile on the small table by the front door ready for him to just pick up and take in with him the next day. They had definitely helped him keep a sane mind over the past couple of weeks. The was one more task he had to complete before he was able to return to work – sort through Audrey's things with her mom. Andrea Bidwell was due round his apartment in just over an hour and he was dreading it. There wasn't many things Donald Ressler felt he was unable to do – and meeting the mother of his deceased girlfriend was one of them.
Since arranging for Mrs Bidwell to come over, Ressler had spent the best part of the past week organising his apartment and having an initial go through of Audrey's things, putting very few pieces away for himself and making sure there was nothing relating to the fact that she had been pregnant. The pregnancy test that Liz had placed in the small front pocket of her suitcase was now safely placed in a box in the bottom draw of his dresser. He'd already placed her clothes and shoes in boxes to go to good will, but he'd let her mom go through them first to make sure there was nothing in particular she wanted to keep. His main concern was all the personal bits she had; jewelry, photos and ornaments he wasn't sure what to do with. When she ended their engagement, she'd given him back the ring and there was a necklace loaned to her by his mother that he'd already placed aside but most of the others he had no clue what to do with. Same with the mountain of books she had collected and placed in various areas of the apartment; he hadn't looked through them, just placed them in a pile in the living room for her mom to go through.
He busied himself with putting away his laundry and having a general tidy round when the doorbell went at five past twelve. He walked slowly to the door, inhaled deeply before turning the doorknob, pulling open the door and revealing the moderately short figure of Audrey's mom.
"Hello, Donald. It's good to see you again." She gave him a small, nervous smile but was perfectly polite. He returned her smile and moved back to let her in the apartment. He closed the door behind her and they stood in the hall, both unsure what to say or do. They remained there in awkward silence for several more moments before he cleared his throat.
"Would you like something to drink? I can make us some lunch or something."
"No, no I'm fine thank you." She removed her coat and scarf which Ressler hung on the hooks beside him. "I'm afraid I don't have long, Ross will be picking me up in an hour or so; he's not entirely happy about me coming today, but he understands that it's something I have to do."
He nods but stays silent as he led her through his apartment. They stopped when they reached the living room; he'd piled all Audrey's un-boxed things on to the couch and the small table in the middle of the room. Even though she had only just moved back in with him, almost all of her belongings were accumulated in his moderately sized apartment. He'd had last night and that morning to get used to seeing all her things in one place, her mom, however, had not. He heard her breath falter beside him and when he looked, a hand had covered her mouth and tears streamed down her face. If he thought the last few weeks had been difficult for him, he couldn't even begin to imagine what it had been like for her. Ressler engulfed her in a one-armed side hung as she tried to compose herself.
"Sorry, I'm sorry." She stuttered as she wiped her nose with a tissue from her pocket.
"It's fine. Don't be." He patted her shoulder sympathetically, unsure what else he was supposed to do.
"It's been almost a month since she's been gone, but it's still as hard as the day we were told she'd been killed. There's barely anything of hers at home so seeing all this is quite... overwhelming."
"That's understandable. I've already packed some boxes but you'll need to go over them to be sure the things inside are going to the right places. I have more flat-packed boxes, labels and tape for the rest if you're okay to start?"
She nodded and took a deep breath before moving over to a small pile of odds and ends Ressler hadn't known what to do with. He started to tape a few of the smaller boxes together and packed whatever she passed to him. They had been working in silence for about half an hour when Ressler heard chuckling behind him.
"Did you know she'd made these?" Andrea held up six or seven hard backed books. He didn't remember moving them earlier, then again, he'd just collected all the books together without actually seeing what they were.
"No." He put the packing tape down and moved over to the older woman. "What are they?"
"Have a see for yourself."
She handed him one of the thicker books. As soon as he took it, his eyes found the thick, golden lettering, 'Family'. He recognised the neatly slanted writing as Audrey's. Ressler turned the cover and wasn't sure why he was surprised to find that it was a perfectly laid out photo album. Every photo was properly labelled with a description of who was in it and when and where it was taken. He went through each page and noted how she'd laid the album out to resemble something like a family tree; there were photos of her grandparents, parents, her sister and nephews and other members of her family that Ressler couldn't place.
"I never knew she had made these. I know that at one point she made sure she printed all her photos out but I guess I didn't asked what she did with them. This one was started after she ended our engagement and a lot of the people in here I've never even met. These are something you should take back with you; they'll have more meaning to you than me."
There were fresh tears pooling in her eyes as she flicked through a couple of the other albums. "Thank you. Most of these I doubt I would ever be able to get copies of." She placed the albums on top of one of the sealed boxes so they didn't get damaged being placed in one of their own.
They went back to working in silence for another twenty five minutes. By the time a full hour had past since she stepped through the door, they had managed to sort through and pack all of Audrey's things in to boxes, most of which her mom would be taking with her. A few boxes were staying behind for Ressler to drop off to the nearest good will and most of the boxes she was taking back with her were being taken to her local Church. There were very few boxes which contained things she would be keeping, but the items inside were what Audrey cherished the most. They were left staring at the packed living room an the multiple labelled boxes when Andreas phone started ringing loudly in her pocket.
"Hello... yes, yes we've just finished... Are you? Good, I'll start bringing the boxes down now. Bye, love, bye."
She gave him a sweet smile as she placed her phone back in her pocket. "Ross' parked out front. Do you mind giving me a hand getting all these downstairs?"
"Sure. I'll take the heavier boxes." He wasn't entirely convinced that his presence would be welcome but he was willing to help her. He grabbed one of the larger boxes and headed downstairs, leaving her in his apartment collecting a few of the other bits. The trip in the elevator took less than twenty seconds and he exited his building to find Mr Bidwell leaning against the open trunk of his car. Resslers steps faltered slightly but he willed himself to keep walking forward and towards the man that clearly hated him. Audreys dad caught sight of him, glared in his direction before sitting himself back in the drivers seat, slamming the door after him. Ressler couldn't blame him, he had every right to be angry and he wasn't going to push him in to making conversation. Ressler walked back in to his building just as Andrea was walking out. He jogged over to take some of the items she was trying not to drop as she tried to see where her husband was.
"I can bring the rest down if you want to stay in the car?" She nodded as they both placed the things in the trunk. She staying arranging the boxes round to make room for the others and Ressler went back upstairs. Five or six trips back up to his apartment later and everything Audreys parents were taking back home with them were in the trunk of their car. Lloyd Bidwell chose to stay in the car when his wife came back over to Ressler, who was now standing on the sidewalk, to say goodbye.
"Keep in touch, Donald, she would have wanted you to. Goodbye." She gave him a quick hug and a peck on the cheek before getting in to the car, which started to moved as soon as the door was closed. He waved and waited until the car turned the corner then took the stairs back up to his apartment. He stood staring at the few boxes he would be taking to the nearest thrift store during his lunch hour tomorrow. It saddened him to think that all her belongings would be gone but he knew it was better than keeping them forever.
He checked his watch, noting that he would have time for a good, long run before dinner. When he entered his bedroom, however, all thoughts of running was forced out of his mind by one of the black photo albums laying on his pillow with a handwritten note placed on top. He picked up the note and scanned through it before sitting on his bed, over come with emotion.
Donald, I've left this album for you. I think you'll benefit more from keeping it than I. You'll always have memories of Audrey, but over time you may find that they'll start to fade. She made this so that wouldn't happen. Keep her alive in your heart with these. All the best, Andrea.
Slowly, he turned turned to the thick book still laying on his pillow. Carefully, he picked it up and held it in both hands, staring at the front cover. There, in the same neatly slanted hand writing, the gold lettering read 'Donnie'. His hands shook slightly as he dared to open it and look through the many, many pages of images of them both together. There were photos of every vacation they had taken, every event they'd been to. Photos of the two of them laughing, smiling and even a fair few of just him going about every day life. His face lit up looking through images of the times when they were together and happy. He spent a hour there, sitting on his bed reading the captions of every image and remembering the reasoning for every smile. He was thankful for her mom for leaving it behind, he would have to send her a thank you of some kind.
He chose not to go for a run that night. Instead, he sat on his couch with the album in front of him and dialed the number of the one person who he knew he could share this with. Liz.
Sorry this took so long! I kept changing everything but I finally settled with this. Please please let me know what you think. I don't get as many reviews as I would like but hey, your choice. It would really help me out though, knowing what you guys really think!