Chapter 25- Youth
Author's note: Thanks for reading! Please review if you can!
This will be a mostly introspective chapter. We're one away from the end, and Bay and Ty are both getting up there in years, so they'll be thinking of their friends and family more.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Five years later- Mid-October 2065
Bay's skin prickles in the stiflingly dry heat of the Kansas City autumn. She never remembered things being so hot in October, and yet here she stood, sweat dripping down her forehead and into her eyes.
She refuses to wear a visor though. They were 'tacky and hideous' as she so often vented at Ty when he wore his.
"Thanks for waiting, Auntie Bay," Miguel says softly.
Bay startles. He was the spitting image of his father, down to the strawberry blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He was Toby's only child and had been his pride and joy his entire life, along with Miguel's husband Alan and their daughters Leah and Zipporah.
Her heart aches at the thought of her brother. He'd had a heart attack and died before he'd gotten to hospital. Both J&K had died of heart attacks, and so it was inevitable that the same thing would happen to Toby. She just didn't expect it to happen so soon.
Nodding, she laces her fingers through Ty's and they slowly make their way to the front of the church that Bay had spent every Sunday at as a child.
The pastor talks about endings and beginnings and the end of beginnings and the beginnings of the end, and Bay wonders if this person knew her brother at all.
Toby, her lively and sarcastic brother who had so very profoundly shaped her sense of humour. She could remember being very small and being taught how to make a sarcastic remark, the first of which was directed at her father. It was one of the few times she can remember her dad genuinely having a bellyaching laugh.
For a long time Toby had been the only person in her life to stick with her through thick and thin, standing supportively by her side in whatever manner she needed him to be. Through the heartache of having their partners cheat with each other, and through the ups and downs of their family; Angelo's sudden death, Daphne's penchant for abusive relationships, Regina's alcoholism and constant abandonment, John's rages, and Kathryn's midlife crisis. Toby had been through it all with her.
He had never remarried after his brief marriage to Nikki. She knows that after Miguel had been born that they had tried to make it work but had quickly learnt that the age-old adage of staying together for the kids was best suited as a terrible relic of the past.
With Nikki's job frequently taking her to various locations around the world, Toby had retained primary custody of their son after he turned two. He would spend the entire school year with his father, and then would set off to spend parts of his winter, spring, and summer holidays with his mother.
Bay couldn't imagine handling a situation like that. Not with as much grace as Toby had. She knew that it had hurt him to be away from his only child, but he loved Nikki as the mother of his child and so he had let Miguel spend time with her, even if it was deep in the Congolese jungle or on the high flats of the Andean mountains of Argentina.
She truly admires her brother for that. She hates that she never told him and hopes that he knew just how deeply that ran.
Toby had lived a simple life and he put on no airs about it. He had been content to own and manage Kennish Carwashes, and dated casually while raising Miguel and teaching him how to sing and play the piano and guitar.
She could almost hear his music now...
Ty nudges her gently, nodding in the direction of the lectern.
She doesn't know what to say. She has too much to say.
With a shaky voice, she talks about how much she loves her brother and how much she admires him. She recounts mischievous childhood memories, how he was there for the birth of her three youngest children, and that time after the switch was discovered that he reminded her that she would always be his pesky little sister, different genes be damned.
The chapel is quiet as she steps away, wiping her face.
Daphne meets her halfway and hugs her so tightly, Bay swears that she feels her ribs crack.
"I love you," they both sign.
Ty wraps an arm around her shoulders and holds her as they listen to Daphne recount happy memories of finding out that she had the biological brother she'd always dreamed of having and how Toby would take her for midnight swims in the pool and how he snuck her rum and whisky out of their Dad's cabinet. She talks about how he had been the first person that she had bonded with from her new family and how he'd told her that even though they'd been raised by different people and in different circumstances, she would always be his sister too.
Daphne then steps away, her voice fracturing from raw pain. They'd been close; just as close as he'd been to Bay. He'd really taken a shine to being a big brother. Now that was gone.
Bay is terrified of death. Not just of dying, but of her family dying too. She doesn't want to even think of the day that she might have to spread Ty's ashes.
He's a few years older than her and this was the first time that it was starting to bother her. She has constant dread that now that he is 74, it could happen at any time. It is far too painful to think of.
Life was just too short for her and she didn't want it to end. Any of it- good or bad.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Six years later- Late December 2071
She hasn't stopped crying in days.
She had received the call late at night from a crying Bradley and she knew immediately that it had something to do with her sister.
Daphne had had a heart attack and died while in surgery. The kids had been too broken up to call her and so he'd promised to do it for them. He still loved his ex-wife, he'd said. Never stopped.
Bay had learnt something that Daphne had never told her- that she and Bradley had talked about getting back together just in the last couple of months. Neither of them had remarried, although they'd both had their fair share of relationships.
Her ex-brother-in-law had breathlessly babbled about how they'd divorced not because of a lack of love, but because they'd never managed to right the ship after they'd struggled. He went on about how Daphne had wanted to go to counselling -telling him how it had worked wonders for Bay and Ty's family- and how he'd refused, not wanting a stranger to know that he was having marital problems. Many of their problems had come from his own old-fashioned views of what a relationship should be like.
Then he'd started crying and crying, and Bay just hadn't known what to do or say. She was in disbelief. Surely she and Daphne had just been planning their annual family Christmas dinner the night before. She'd been fine, aside from being tired and having an achy back and left shoulder. A side effect of being someone who'd worked on their feet all the time, she'd told a suspicious Bay.
She had hung up the phone and wept into her pillow, curling into a ball and staying that way until Ty had woke and coaxed the news from her. He too had sat there in disbelief.
Not her sister. Not another sudden death. Not another heart attack in the family.
Daphne had been so healthy! Bay constantly moaned about having to go to the gym, meanwhile Daphne was always enthusiastic about it. She would often workout with Ty before their early morning shifts. It was unnatural Bay had always told them to loud groans.
Now that was all gone. There would be no more happy moments, no more ritual birthday calls. No more new memories or sisterly love.
The days had passed in a blur. Her sister had only planned for a quiet cremation, requesting that there not be a funeral.
This devastation had shook their family at its very core. They'd been lucky for so long; the last death of a family member or friend had been Toby over six years ago.
The ancient oak table is quiet. Bay was never this silent, but she couldn't bring herself to form the words. She wants to recount happy memories and to celebrate her sister's life; to banish the pain through joy and love.
She can't and no one else at the table does either. Their pain echoes and reverberates across every soul.
But then Ty does something that Bay doesn't expect: he starts talking about the happy memories of his childhood with Daphne at Maui Kansas, and how she'd always tagged along to keep him out of trouble. How often that didn't work and how it was him trying to keep her out of trouble.
It is clearly unplanned and unprompted, if the look of awkwardness on his graceful face is any indicator. He always hates public speaking, even if it is in front of family.
Bay had heard those stories before, and couldn't help laughing at them every time. She squeezes her husband's hand in appreciation. She really needed that.
She then tells her own stories about Daphne. Ty gives her a particularly wry grin at the mention of their multiple haircut catastrophes. He'd been there for a few of them, including her brief foray into dying her hair that Kennish shade of strawberry-blonde.
Trembling slightly, she describes the rarely talked about switch and how she's glad that it happened because if it hadn't, she never would have gained a sister and all the happy memories that came with it.
Soon the others regale the table with their own stories. Bay is particularly touched when her nephews Charlie and Freddie describe how they'd gotten so close to their mother after struggling for so long.
She'll never forget the advice that she gave her sister and is grateful that it worked out so well. Family is worth it all. Daphne might have had regrets about their childhood, but she died without regrets about how that relationship continued into adulthood. Others weren't so lucky.
The once silent table is now filled with laughter and excited chattering. Bay smiles and relaxes as she looks at her family. Things were hard, but they could get through it together.
0o0o0
Feeling warm and content, Bay drags Ty out of the guest room of Bradley's small beach front bungalow and down the well-worn path towards the ocean and onto the soft white sand.
Digging her toes in, she tilts her head back and looks up at the stars where one twinkles brightly. Her sister was up there, and Bay swears that she has just said hello.
Smiling, she turns to Ty.
"Thank you for earlier, you have no idea what that means to me."
Ty shakes his head, dragging his hand through the white strands.
"I had to say something. I could see everyone was waiting for someone else to say something so they could figure out what to say too."
Bay grins a little wryly. "Since when did you get so wise?"
He bends down and kisses her, long and slow.
"Since I fell in love with you," he says softly.
She can feel heat rushing to her cheeks. "I guess I am pretty great," she says as she tucks short strands of hair behind her ears.
"You are, and Daphne always told me that too," Ty says as he eases himself to sit on the sand.
For a moment, Bay's heart stops.
"She really did?"
Ty pats the spot next to him and says, "Yes, she really did. Always reminded me of how lucky I was to end up with someone amazing like you and how lucky she was to have you for a sister."
She leans against his shoulder and brushes back newly flowing tears.
"I miss her."
"So do I," he sighs.
"I'm glad that our last conversation was about Christmas and that I told her that I love her. I didn't get that chance with Toby or Regina or Angelo. It fucking sucks. I really regret how things ended with Regina and Angelo."
Her voice is too choked up to say anything else and she drops her face to her hands, ashamed at how much she has been crying lately.
She feels Ty's hand work its way under her shirt, pressing against her bare back. Even in the lingering heat, his hand felt warm against her skin. His steady presence begins to calm her and she lifts her head, tilting it back to stare at the sky and leaning against Ty's side.
"I wish that I'd told her that more." He pauses, shifting uncomfortably before saying, "I don't tell that to people enough. I really should do it more, but it's just so... embarrassing."
"It's the vulnerability," Bay tells him. "You had such a difficult time growing up, so it's no wonder that you don't like saying it. But Ty, you know that I'm not going anywhere, right? I'll always be here."
He smiles at her a little sadly. "It can be hard to remember," he admits, "I worry a lot, especially back when you were pregnant, that something is going to happen and then you'll be gone and you'll never know just how fucking amazing and important you are to me."
Bay can't help but guffaw at the foul language. At Ty's affronted look she says, "Time has gone by so quickly and I feel like we're still these young 20 year olds, but then I look at you or I look in the mirror, and I see these elderly people and it's so strange to me to see hear them swearing."
He shakes his head a little, saying nothing.
"And honey? You never have to say how important I am to you. You show me every single day and I always know." Ty wells up, and Bay pulls his head against her chest, running her fingers soothingly through his hair. "I'll always know and I'm not going anywhere," she repeats firmly. "You're stuck with me."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
7 Years Later- Early November 2078
Bay's back aches, her shoulders ache, her knees and hips and wrists and eyes and head ache. Being 83 is unglamorous and she doesn't understand how people live much longer than this. Yet Ty was 87 and still goes for his early morning walks and bike rides.
Bay truly doesn't understand how he or her daughters do it. She'd much rather sit at home and paint. At least Theo-Dougie understands and is equally perplexed by his active early morning family members as she is.
Speaking of painting, Bay has just finished her latest piece. It is yet again inspired by Frida Kahlo's 'What the Water Gave Me' which is her all-time favourite.
She has come to love taking long hot baths in her and Ty's jetted tub which helps soothe the aches in her tired old body. The water is also a place in which she has come up with countless moments of inspiration, as far back as her conception of what Liam Angelo would have looked like.
Water has given her many things: her children who grew safe in the water inside her and two of whom were born into it, it reunited her with the love of her life and built the beginnings of their family, brings her peace, and displays constant beauty that make the concluding moments of her life more pleasurable.
Setting her completed piece to dry, she stretches, groaning in pain as she does. The wooden stool does a number on her back but she is reluctant to use anything else because she never did quite as well anywhere else.
She glances over at her son and smiles at the look of concentration on his face. It was the second Sunday of the month and he and the rest of the kids and many of the grand and great-grandkids were over for their traditional family dinner. Usually it was just her, Theo-Dougie, and a couple of her many grand and great-grandchildren who stayed in the house while creating art.
Her son is the only other painter though; their family artists were primarily made up of sculptors. For the life of her, Bay can't fathom where those talents came from. It was the one medium that she had just never got the hang of, and neither had Theo-Dougie.
Bay's talents primarily encompass surrealism and modern art, with a small amount of abstract landscaping and portraits thrown in. Her son was the opposite- he thrives on realism, especially when it comes to mountain landscapes. He usually spends the spring holidays there with his children and grandbabies, catching the last of the ski and snowboard season, and the thick snow that inspires him so much.
She was never particularly skilled at traditional landscaping and portrait work, even after her university education, so it amazes her to see her son thrive and create such beautiful things.
"That's beautiful sweetie," Bay says once she sees her youngest child put down his brush and nod firmly.
He smiles widely at her, the corners of his eyes crinkling just like his father's.
"Thanks, Mom," he says warmly, stepping forward to wrap her in a tight hug, his chin resting on the top of her head.
"You might tower over me," she says mock grumpily, "but you'll always be my baby."
"Moooommmmm!"
Bay grins. "It's true!"
"You're just saying that because I never understand your surrealist paintings," he says sarcastically.
She laughs. He sounds just like her, so much so that it often catches her off guard. Callie and Addy take after Ty, Theo-Dougie after her, and Trix was a perfect mix of them both. Family is weird that way.
"Let me make the dinner, Ma," Theo-Dougie says when he sees her eying the kitchen.
She shakes her head. "No, no, you're my guest and I'll cook for you!"
He looks at her in almost mock horror.
"Remember the last time you tried to cook?"
She tries not to, but she did. She'd undercooked the chicken and overcooked the broccoli. The house had stank for days and poor Alexander, Callie's oldest child and a father to four girls, had gotten sick as a dog.
Bay had sworn to never cook anything but dessert after that. But maybe this time would be different...
"Ma, I love you, but you're a terrible cook."
Bay frowns. She sees her son match it.
"Your skills just aren't in this area," he says awkwardly, "plus you already made a cheesecake and it looks so good that I'm thinking of eating it all myself."
She smiles. Placing her hands on her hips she says, "Theodore-Douglas Jude, don't you dare eat this whole cake! Share it with the rest of us."
"Uh oh, middle name," he says with twinkling eyes.
"Ma? You worked hard on that cake, go and relax in the pool or something."
Bay stretches to kiss him on the cheek and does just that.
Easing her way down the steps into their large pool, Bay sighs contently as the cool water flows over her shoulders. It has been way too hot for November and her curly hair has turned into a sweaty and frizzy mess.
She inhales sharply at the pressure in her head. It has been recurring almost daily for the last couple of weeks, and usually happened around the same time of day. She will have to call her doctor and get an MRI done to check to see if the tumour is back. She'd had a brief scare a couple of years ago, but the headaches then were from high blood pressure.
She'd brushed off all her headaches since, especially since they'd dissipated with careful consumption of a handful of medications. But these had lasted too long for her to ignore.
Closing her eyes, she lounges back briefly before bolting upwards. That had never made her dizzy before. She makes a mental note to call the office as soon as she wakes up tomorrow.
Climbing out of the pool, Bay looks through the window and sees her family ambling about the table, laughing and joking. Dinner is ready.
Bracing herself against the noise that makes the pounding in her head worse, Bay strides inside, dripping wet.
"Gamma!" her youngest great-grandchild squeals, launching herself into Bay's arms. Staggering from the pain, she ignores it and squeezes the cheerful child.
"Hazel!" a stern voices says loudly and the tiny child in her arms sags.
Bay presses a kiss to her freckled forehead. "Love you sweets," she tells Hazel.
"Love you Gamma!" Hazel chimes, looking up at Bay with the same brown eyes that she had.
Seated around the table, Bay feels complete happiness despite the pain of her headache. Life could not get any better and she has to hold onto every last moment.
0o0o0
After the meal has been eaten and everyone has gone home, Bay and Ty methodically do the dishes and tidy up the living and dining room, their favourite music playing in the background.
Contented moments like these were some of Bay's favourites. Before Ty, she'd never had someone in her life who she never felt the need to have to talk to in order to fill the silences between them. The silences between her and her husband spoke of everything good; they spoke of the true love and understanding between them that never needed to be filled because it was already full enough.
"I'm tired," Ty admits with a yawn. "Those kids can sure take a lot out of me."
"Me too," Bay says, "How do you feel about turning in early?"
Ty staggers off the couch and grabs her hand, guiding her into the bedroom.
They're lost in each other's gentle touches. Even now, even as exhausted as she was, Bay still can't get enough of him. Each time they were together was like the first and it was always new and exciting and pleasurable.
Breathless, Bay tosses Ty his hastily pulled off boxers which had landed on her lamp, and pulls on her softest pair of pyjamas. Her headache has returned. Swallowing two Advil's, Bay snuggles against Ty's side.
She shifts several times, not wanting to leave his arms. Something deep inside of her was compelling her to hold onto to him tightly.
When Ty's breathing has steadied and his grip slackens, Bay turns on her other side and faces the window.
Gazing at the reflection of the moon on the surface of the pool, Bay focuses on the distant sound of the ocean.
She feels at peace. Closing her eyes, she embraces the darkness that approaches.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
End of Chapter 25
Please review!
Author's note:
We're one away from this story being complete! Thanks for being here while I got to write about Bay and Ty's journey to find each other and grow as people!
This was definitely one of the sadder ones I've written for this story. Despite that, I hope that you still enjoyed it and the exploration of Bay's relationships with her brother and sister respectively.
The ending of this chapter is quite important and will be explained in the next one. That chapter picks up right after this one ends and only experience one small time jump of a few months. It will be posted within a week!