Chapter 34

Niles just gives Daphne a look of confusion.

"Daphne, what's going on? Why do we need to talk?" Niles asks with an edge of concern in his voice.

Daphne just looks at Niles with tears in her eyes, the roses still clutched in her hand.

She realizes she can't tell him just yet, so she walks to the kitchen to get a vase for the flowers. Niles follows her in his wheelchair as he watches her grab a vase from out of the cabinet and fill it with water. As she puts the flowers in the vase, he asks her again.

"Daphne, what's going on? I want to know, please tell me!" Niles cries.

Daphne closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. Once she lets the breath out she turns and faces her husband and opens her eyes.

"Where are the children, Niles?" Daphne asks; avoiding Niles' question.

"David is in his room doing his homework, Emily is at Jordan's and Ashling is at dance class. David will be picking her up later."

Daphne nods as she heads to the living room and sits down on the sofa. She turns and looks at her husband.

"Niles darling, please join me over here. I think it's time we finally had that talk."

Niles wheels himself over to the couch and faces Daphne. She takes his hands in hers and looks Niles right in the eyes.

"Niles, I'm afraid I have some really bad news. This is so hard for me to say; as a matter of fact this is the hardest thing I have ever had to tell you."

Daphne takes a deep breath to keep herself from crying again.

"What is it, Daphne? Just please tell me." Niles begs.

Daphne squeezes Niles' hands tighter in hers.

"Niles, your father died this afternoon."

Niles gives Daphne a look of disbelief.

"I'm sorry darling, what did you say?" Niles asks.

"Your father died this afternoon. I found him lying in bed, he died in his sleep. I'm so sorry, darling."

Niles lets go of Daphne's hands and shakes his head pretending he didn't hear what Daphne just said.

"No, that's not true. I just talked to him yesterday, he was fine. He had to of been sleeping Daphne when you found him. He's not dead, he just can't be! My father isn't dead, do you hear me?!" Niles screams as he drops his head into his hands and cries.

Daphne just watches her husband for a few moments as she begins to cry again herself.

Bloody hell, will these tears ever stop? She thinks to herself.

She wipes her eyes and stands up as she looks at Niles one more time. He is still crying into his hands with his head down. She decides to leave him alone for a while.

"Niles, I'm going to go talk to David so you can be alone, okay?"

Niles only half acknowledges her as he nods, never looking up.

Daphne just shakes her head, her eyes still wet with tears. She turns on her heels and walks to David's room. She stands in front of his door, takes a deep breath and wipes her eyes and then knocks.

She doesn't get a response from her son so she knocks a bit harder.

"David, it's mum, may I come in?" she asks.

"Yes mum come on in, it's open."

Daphne turns the knob and pushes the door open; she steps in and closes the door behind her. She looks up and sees her son typing away on his computer. She smiles as she sits down on the edge of his bed. It gives her a few minutes to look around David's room. It has been awhile since she has been in here. Yeah she was in here a week ago to turn the TV off but it was late and it was dark, so she didn't really see much. As she looks around the room, she notices that David keeps his room pretty clean for a teenage boy, that is one trait that she is glad he inherited from his father. Her brothers are so disgusting and slovenly and it makes her sick to think about it. She's glad her son isn't like that. He even has posters of David Beckham on his walls. She smiles remembering when she used to watch him play for Manchester United and having a bit of a crush on him then but of course he married Victoria Addams from the pop group the Spice Girls. Man that was such a long time ago!

Daphne also notices architectural drawings of different various buildings as well as regular drawings that David has done over the years. She sees his bookshelf full of books; most of them are books that Niles bought him when he first started reading. Niles so wanted David to be interested in literature and do a lot of reading but unfortunately that didn't happen. Of course David didn't want to hurt his father's feelings so he took them to be nice. Daphne also spots all of the various trophies David has one for one sport or another, of which Martin was proud of and bragged about for weeks. That makes Daphne's breath catch in her throat as she works at keeping herself from crying again. She still can't believe Martin is gone; it still doesn't even seem real.

David gets his mother's attention by scooting his desk chair over to where she is sitting on the bed.

"So mum, what did you need?" David asks.

Daphne looks at her son and smiles before answering. He looks more and more like his father every day.

"David, I'm afraid I have some bad news. I don't know how to tell you this but I visited your grandfather this afternoon while Grammy Ronee went to run some errands."

David nods.

"Yes, and?"

"I'm sorry but your grandfather died." Daphne tells her son as the tears form in her eyes.

David looks away from his mother for a moment before speaking.

"So does Dad know? Have you told him?" David asks with tears in his eyes.

Daphne nods.

"Yes, your father knows. I told him first." Daphne sniffles.

David just nods as he looks down trying to hide his tears.

"David, you don't have to be afraid to cry. It's really okay to cry if you want to."

David swallows and looks up at his mother as a tear falls down his cheek. They look at each other for a few moments, not saying a word. Then suddenly Daphne grabs her son and wraps him in a hug. Then it's as if a dam bursts and they both break down and cry.

To be continued…