Hey all! Happy Monday! This update is a bit on the sad side of things, as it's never easy to go through losing a parent. As you can tell I am in a hurry to get chapters up and posted for you guys, because it's been such a long wait between updates.

Enjoy!

"I'm sorry." Zoe said, sitting next to her husband on the bed at Earl's place, gently rubbing her husband's back. She knows exactly what he is feeling, and what he's going through. Because she has gone through it all, and that pain doesn't leave you, it gets easier, but it stays with you; creeps up on you at any given moment.

Wade remained quiet not knowing what to say. He's never been good with things like that. It's hard enough to sort through his pain, he feels numb and wanting nothing more than to be left alone. Jesse may need people, and Zoe had needed him when she lost Harley, but he wants to be alone. He doesn't want to come off as a jerk to his wife by telling her to leave him alone, so here he sits, feeling numb over the loss of his father.

"I don't want to be a jerk," he said, closing his eyes.

"But you need time just you," Zoe guessed. Wade nodded. "It'll get easier in time, I promise," she whispered, pressing a kiss against his temple. "And remember that I am here for anything you need," she assured him, getting up from the bed, leaving her husband to it.

Zoe didn't go far. With losing Harley, she can understand the place he is coming from and respects what it is he needs from her. She'd do anything for him and giving him space to come to terms with whatever is going on in his mind, she'd do that. Looking at the living room she didn't know what she needed to do. It would be up to Jesse and Wade on what they were going to do with his stuff. Zoe felt for her husband and for her kids, Will and Aurora seeming to take the death of their grandpa in stride, taking comfort in each other over his death. The only person she worried about is her husband. With a sigh she headed to the kitchen to clean out his fridge, not wanting the food to spoil before anyone got back to it.

Wade sighed, looking around his father's bedroom, not even wanting to think about going through his father's things. Since moving to Bluebell, his father had collected quite the interesting sort of stuff. Closing his eyes to recall happier times in his life, to let the hurt he feels over his father's death, leave him, even for a moment.

Wade sat on his bed, his eyes red and puffy from crying, kicking his little feet. He didn't mean to hit Jerry, it just happened. A total accident. It wasn't over the stupid toy cars like his teacher said it was. They were playing a game, and he got a little close and accidentally hit Jerry when they were pretending to be kung fu masters. He would never set out to fight his friends. It would upset his friends and his mom would be mad at him, and he doesn't want to let his mom down.

"Your Ma told me what happened at school today," Earl said, entering his youngest son's room, to sit on the bed next to Wade.

"It was an accident, we were playing a game. I would never hit him, he's my friend," Wade pleaded with his father. He doesn't want to be in trouble for something he didn't set out to do on purpose.

"That may be true, but you gave him a bloody nose," Earl said, holding a stern look on his face.

"I apologized to not only Jerry but his parents and the teacher," Wade stressed, wanting his dad to believe that he's telling the truth. "Why won't anyone believe me when I say it was a stupid accident?" Wade asked on the verge of tears.

"Who said we don't believe you?" Earl asked, placing a comforting hand on his back. "You're not in trouble at school, and we're taking your word, that is nothing more than an accident. Can you promise that nothing like this will happen again?" Earl asked.

"I promise, I swear it, pinky promise," Wade eagerly said, not wanting to be in trouble.

"Okay, let's get some ice cream and find some pretty flowers to bring home for Ma, yeah?" He asked, standing up.

"I know just the flowers," Wade beamed, jumping up off his bed, rushing past his dad, to get his shoes on. Ready to lead his father to the place where they sell the best flowers in the city. Only the best for his Ma.

Over the years those flowers were the only flowers he ever got for his mom. When she had a bad day, when he got a bad grade in school, when she got sick. It was the flowers that brought a smile to her face and that's how he wanted to remember his ma by. After he lost her, he'd still bring her flowers for the days he would act out, for all the fights he'd get into. The arguments with his dad about the alcohol, and still for his bad grades. A lot of his money would be spent on flowers, the lady that owned the place giving him a bigger and bigger discount every day he was there. What little words were spoken at her grave always started the same.

"I'm sorry, mom," he'd say, replacing the flowers and jumping into why he was sorry. He'd make promises that he'd figure it all out one day and be the person she wanted him to be, it just wouldn't be today.

"You don't have to do that," Wade said, having left his dad's bedroom to see Zoe standing at the kitchen sink washing the dishes, cleaning up the mess she had made along with the mess his father left behind.

"I don't mind," she answered, rinsing some bowls out, she wants to help in any way that she can, having gone through this herself. And she misses Earl like something terrible, but she wants to comfort her husband and be useful. Her way of processing everything. "Anything I can do for you?" She asked, looking at him over her shoulder.

"No," he sighed, shaking his head. "Maybe," he said, feeling frustrated. His emotions getting the best of him. He wanted to be angry, he is sad and feels miserable over it all. Grief can be a funny thing.

"Take a deep breath and tell me what's going on in your mind. I am not going to judge you, but we all need someone, Wade," She shared, leaving the dishes be, to join her husband on the couch.

"I know," he sighed, pulling his wife into his lap. "I know it's silly to be this sad about losing my father," he started to say, tossing his head back. "He was getting old, and it was only going to be a matter of time, but I wasn't ready for him to go," he whispered, closing his eyes. A tear escaping, rolling down his cheek.

"Whether you're expecting it or not, losing a parent is never easy," Zoe softly said, wiping the tear from his cheek. Wade nodded, because he can remember what it was like to lose his mom when he was little and where that left him without a father for many years, he was just happy that before the end came for Earl, they were able to patch things up. To have a real loving father/son relationship, he's craved all his childhood.

They had a small funeral service for him at the church, giving everyone in town a chance to say their final goodbyes to the man that easily fit into the small town. They honored his life, and it touched Wade to hear people say pleasant, happy things about his dad. Showed him just how much his father had changed since moving to Bluebell. Jesse and Calla are taking care of the arrangements to get him to New York to be buried with their mother, and that's something he's not quite ready to go face yet, but he knows it needs to be done. To have a chat with his mother, that is long overdue. He'd start with an 'I'm sorry, Ma,' but it would turn into 'you'd be proud of me, I finally became the person you'd want me to be.'

"Is it silly to think that they can be happy now. That he's up there with my mom?" He asked, letting a smile grace his lips.

"It's not silly to think that at all," Zoe smiled. "And they are up there, reunited, and he's telling your mom all about the life you and Jesse have created," she assured him. "Nothing silly about that at all."

"He did make amends and I do want him to find peace in the afterlife," he said, not entirely believing in things like that. But if it were to be true, he wants his dad to have peace, to be reunited with the love of his life.

"He has it, Wade," she told him, rubbing her thumb along his cheek bone. "In time this will get easier, and it won't ever be the same, but that's okay," she told him, missing her own father. Wade kissed his wife's temple, wanting to give her as much comfort as she's giving him. Losing Earl doesn't only affect him, but it affects Zoe as well, with how close as they had grown over the years. It'd be tough but together they'll make it through.