(See the first chapter for disclaimer, notes, spoiler, etc.)

Chapter Two: "Just Have One More"

January 27, 2017

Allie

She leaned against the kitchen counter, watching the quiet scene. Dad was sitting up on the island, a half-eaten banana in his hand. But, he stopped eating it. Maybe he'd forgotten he even started it. Instead, he was gazing vacantly into the corner at a patch of sunlight staining the tile floor.

Mom sat at the table, scrolling through her tablet and exuding the occasional irritated sigh. She watched her sigh and stretch her arms high overhead as she rolled her neck. Before Poppop died, she had been exhausted. She had been working ridiculous hours at the bakery, working hard to transition everything to Layla before they moved to California in a few months. But, after Dad left for Italy to get Nana, Mom came out here to be with Harrison and Nicola.

The rest of the family was scattered around the house, isolated into lonely pockets. The calm before tomorrow's storm. Poppop's funeral.

A shudder went through her and she gripped her coffee mug tighter, willing its warmth to spread to her. Harrison and Nicola were the quietest she'd ever seen them. She narrowed her eyes, glancing up at the photos stuck with magnets to the fridge. One picture of the two of them with Poppop on the boat jumped out at her. Her throat tightened as she thought about how close the three of them became the last few months. She felt bad now for teasing Harrison for how many pictures of him and Poppop on the golf course he sent her through Snap. It was stupid to admit she was jealous of her younger brother and sister. They got to know Poppop these last few months in a way she didn't.

"You know, he didn't even flinch."

Dad's voice echoed in the kitchen and her head whipped around to him. He was still holding the uneaten banana, but he was looking down at Mom. Slowly, she walked around the island as Mom turned around in her chair. "Who didn't flinch?" she heard Mom ask.

"Gregory." Dad's face was wrinkled in thought as he glanced between them. She cocked her head as she stood next to Mom. "When I called him and Olivia to tell him we were going to move back to Sunset Beach." It was something Dad started thinking about after they spent their first Christmas with Poppop and his family. In a way, she wasn't really surprised. It was Dad's hometown. It was where he grew up. After Grandma died, he never went back to Sunset Beach. But, since learning the truth about who his father was, everything changed. Suddenly, Sunset Beach was a place he wanted to be again.

Mom smiled sadly and reached out, her hand brushing against his knee. "Why would he flinch? You said he was happy to hear the news."

Dad shook his head, tossing the banana aside. "Not then. When Olivia said it was ridiculous to waste our money on a rental house while ours was being built. When she told us we should stay here…Gregory didn't even flinch. He- he agreed with her."

Allie glanced down at her feet as a heavy silence stretched between them. She had a meltdown last spring when Dad and Mom announced they were all going to move to California. She didn't want to leave Islamorada and miss senior year with her friends. Her whole life had been leading up to senior year! A moment later, she felt her cheeks blush in shame as she remembered the way she screamed at Dad and told him he was ruining her life. The way his face fell and his blue eyes dulled over before he looked away.

"Of course, he agreed, honey. He loved you. He loved the kids."

So, Dad, Harrison, and Nicola moved to California in July. She and Mom stayed behind in Islamorada so she could finish senior year at her school. Mom said they needed to sell the house and turn over her bakery to the new owner. But, really, their family was separated because of her. She closed her eyes, remembering the way Dad hugged her to him after he and Mom announced their decision. I don't want to ruin your life, Allie. I want you to have everything.

She nodded, blinking back tears. It wasn't fair. Poppop was dead and just when Dad was getting to know him. Just when they were all getting to know him. It. Wasn't. FAIR. This was what a ruined life felt like – losing your father barely one year after you knew who he was. Not graduating high school with her friends was nothing compared to how sad Dad was. Slowly, she reached out and wrapped her arms around his torso as she leaned against him. A moment later, she felt his arms around her, squeezing tight.


Caitlin

"Is it good, Mom?"

She looked up and gently closed the folder. Greg stood next to the bed, watching her with a serious expression. He looked like Daddy. She stifled a sob as she nodded, blinking back tears. Her teenage son's face transformed from pensive uncertainty to bashful pride. He grinned, something he didn't often do since getting braces six months ago. "You did a wonderful job, sweetie," she said softly as he took the folder back.

He nodded, tucking the folder beneath his arm. "Mom, do you think- do you think Poppop would have liked it?"

Would have liked it.

Every ounce of her screamed internally, a horrified wail that consumed every one of her senses. Her brain just couldn't make sense – couldn't accept – that Daddy was now referred to in the past tense. Like something that already happened. Something that was over. Something that would never come back. She nodded as she turned her face into her right shoulder, gulping back a sob.

"Greg," she heard her husband say as she wiped her face and sucked air into her aching throat, "Poppop would be so proud of you."

"Thanks, Dad."

"Why don't you go check on your brother and sister? I think Mom needs to rest."

A moment later, she heard the bedroom door close and she felt Charlie's hand on her thigh. "Cait," he sighed as she leaned into him, his arms tight around her.

She turned her face into his neck, hot tears burning down her face. "I can't do this," she sobbed. She looked up abruptly, shaking her head as she sniffled. "I'm a mess! I'm falling apart in front of our children."

"Hey, hey. You're not a mess." She signed as he smoothed down her hair. "Greg's old enough to understand why you're upset."

She shook her head, feeling warmth and strength exuding from his palms as he cupped her face. "I'm not ready for tomorrow," she confessed, blinking her swollen eyes.

He sighed deeply and watched her for a long moment. "I know."

"I-" she gasped, "I don't think any of us are." Charlie only nodded a second time, his fingers brushing against her right lobe. She sighed, her breath shaky as she reached for his hands. As their fingers threaded together, she leaned back into the pillows. The entwined hands rested on her pregnant stomach as she forced her unsteady breathing to even out. She was almost the same age Mom was when she was pregnant with Evy. However, her own pregnancy was far more perilous than her mother's last one had been.

Mom.

She closed her eyes, feeling her fourth child move within her as she thought of her mother. The Italian doctor had sent her mother home with a bottle of painkillers that left her in a near catatonic state. And, the sound of her breathing. She flinched, remembering the underlying wheeze which came with every breath she took.

"She's fine, Cait."

She opened her eyes, watching him carefully. Of course, he knew what she was thinking. Of course, he could read every thought that blossomed on her face. Slowly, she shook her head even as she felt the firm squeeze of his hands. "I want this to be a nightmare," she whispered, feeling her eyes well again. "I want to wake up." Her husband nodded, but said nothing. She sighed, feeling her throat tighten. His stoic expression and strength were things she had relied upon frequently these last few weeks. "I want Daddy to be alive. I want Mom to be healed."

"I know."

But, it didn't matter.

Wishing couldn't make it so. Nothing could.


Bette

She gently placed the teacup on the saucer and set it on the nightstand. The sound of Olivia's raspy breathing filled the silence and she reached out, smoothing the quilt over her sleeping friend. She barely moved though. Thank the drugs for that, she thought to herself as she gently plumped the pillows. She sighed deeply, her eyes moving over the cuts and bruises on the right side of Olivia's face. "Aye aye aye," she said softly as she sat back down in the chair.

Casey was in a near panic when he called her. And the news…what horrible news. She sighed and closed her eyes, remembering the way he hugged her when she got to the house. Cried into her shoulder. He had loved Gregory. Truly.

"So?"

"What's that for? That 'so'?"

She sighed and leaned in conspiratorially. "Casey. Having Casey and his kids living with you. So, how is it?"

Olivia looked truly surprised. "Oh." She shrugged and brushed her hair over her shoulder as she glanced up at the house. When she turned back around, she saw the small smile on her face. "Gregory's happy they're here."

"And you?"

"I'm happy Gregory's happy," she replied as she raised the coffee mug to her mouth. She took a deep sip and sighed as she leaned back in the patio chair. "He's a part of the family. I want him to know Gregory. The real Gregory."

"And?" she asked, hating when Olivia forced her to coax the gossip from her.

"Well, I don't know. I suppose it's funny to think Gregory and I have another child living at home when Evy's getting ready to leave for university in two weeks."

She snorted and raised her mug. "You and Greggy are denied the chance to be empty nesters."

"I suppose we'll just have to settle for a holiday home in Tuscany."

She wiped her eyes as she sadly shook her head. It was her fault Olivia and Gregory had gone to Florence this last time. She had done too good a job of talking her friend out of the villa they found in October. She had teased her when she saw the listing and said Gregory's money could do better. So, Olivia coaxed Gregory into rescinding the offer they made and told him they were going back after the holidays to look at more properties. They wouldn't have been there if it hadn't been for her and her big mouth.

She inhaled sharply, forcing herself to look at Olivia's bruised face. At the pillows propping up her right arm. At the way her eyes fluttered open and she groaned softly. "Livy?" she asked, standing quickly. Her hand slipped into Olivia's left one as she sat on the mattress next to her. "Livy?"

"O-one more," she murmured, her words slurred.

She reached out, the back of her hand gently running over her left cheek. "One more what, Livy?"

"Just…just have one…more," she sighed, her blue irises flashing before her eye lids fell shut.

She frowned, watching the way Olivia's lips curled and she breathed one last word. She didn't need to hear her friend's wheeze to know what she was saying. She had known her since 1974. She knew exactly what Olivia looked like when she said her husband's name. She cupped her face and leaned in, whispering, "Go back to sleep, Livy. Go back to sleep."

Sean told her that when he and Casey got to the hospital in Florence, they had to tell her Gregory was gone. For the second time. She closed her eyes, remembering the way Sean's devastated voice crackled across the phone line. The doctors said they told her, Bette. Before we got here. They had to. S-She kept asking f-for Dad. But, when Casey and I got here, she woke up and wanted to know were Dad was. Like-like she didn't know he was…"

It was her fault they were in Florence.

It was her fault Gregory was dead.


Shasta

She rested her head against the wall as she watched the bed. Tanner was sandwiched between Hope and Delilah, somehow holding onto each of their hands as the three of them napped. They breathed deeply and their chests rose and fell in near synchronicity as they slept in Sean's childhood bedroom. A wistful smile came to her face, remembering how Olivia still referred to the rooms by her children's name. Caity's room. Sean's room. They were both grown and with families of their own. But, when they came home to Sunset Beach, each of them ended up in the room they slept in as children.

Behind her, the door opened and she whipped around, holding her index finger to her lips. It was a nightmare getting the three of them to take their naps. Once she got them to sleep, she'd do whatever it took to keep them that way. Sean nodded and quietly closed the door, stopping next to her. Despite the beard, she saw the way his throat worked when he looked at their three sleeping children. She took his hand and tugged it gently, leading him to the balcony doors.

The sunshine warmly greeted them as they stepped out and he closed the door to the bedroom. With a sigh, she reached out, wrapping her arms around him. A moment later, she felt his arms enfold her and she heard the way he sighed deeply. She squeezed her eyes shut, remembering the way she walked into their home two weeks ago, juggling Tanner on her hip and two filled-to-the-brim canvas shopping bags. The way she stopped instantly in the foyer. Because she felt it. She felt something was wrong. The house – which was clearly the domain of their four children – was eerily silent. No sound of cartoons. No animated beeping from the tablet. No feet thundering across the wood floor.

It was the worst sound. The heavy and ominous silence.

She looked up and blinked, coming back to the present as the comforting roar of the ocean reached them. "Penny?" she asked, draping her arms around his neck.

He shook his head and closed his eyes, leaning his forehead against hers. "I can't think anymore," he sighed. She flinched at the flat and empty tone of his voice. "My brain hurts."

Gently, she nudged his chin up and pressed her lips to his. She felt him sigh again before he pulled back. "I can't. There's so much-"

Her heart sank, watching as he turned away and shook his ahead. A moment later, he leaned against the railing and lowered his face. He had been going non-stop for two weeks. Since Casey had called him. Hadn't slept. Barely ate. Didn't shave. He was making himself sick. With a quiet inhale, she pressed against his back and wrapped her arms around him from behind. "It's ok, Sean. It's ok to stop. It's ok to…hurt." She felt him tremble and squeezed him tighter. From what she knew from Olivia, Sean was just like Gregory. That's why they often ran aground with each other.

Despite their differences though, Sean loved his father. Deeply.

"I-" she heard him gasp, choking back a sob, "I don't know how…"

"Together," she sighed, her right cheek pressed against his back. "Together."