Great Things
By Shannon Kathleen
Part Two – An Empty Home
~;~
Boston
6:30 am
Summary: Pacey and Joey return to Capeside to deal with the aftermath of his
father's death. But while hiding his
grief, Pacey begins to act strangely out-of-character, leaving Joey to pick up
the pieces.
Joey locked the door to their small house and
turned toward Pacey packing the last of their bags in the trunk of her
car. She stopped to watch him, a frown
creasing her forehead. All morning he
had been walking around like he was just getting ready for another day of
work. But they were actually returning
to Capeside and to his mother, who had just become a widow overnight.
Pacey noticed her staring at him when he shut
the trunk, and he smiled. Joey
shuddered, knowing that reality had not hit him yet.
"I'm sorry you have to come home with me,"
Pacey said as he tossed the keys into the air and caught them absently.
"Why are you apologizing, Pacey?" Joey said
slowly. "This is something we have to
do together."
"Yeah, but it's annoying."
"Annoying?" Joey asked and
just stared at him uneasily as she reached to take the keys from his
hands. "I'll drive, OK?"
"You remember how to get there? You've never driven there since we moved
away," Pacey laughed.
When Joey nodded, Pacey surrendered the keys
and walked around to the other side of the car. She couldn't believe that he was making jokes.
Twenty minutes after Joey pulled out of her
driveway, Pacey nodded off. Joey looked
over at him. She knew that his grief
must be overwhelming, so much that it was easier to just fall asleep.
The two-hour drive seemed longer than normal
for Joey as she worried about her husband.
She'd been in his place as a child when her
mother died. But she had never been on
the other end and had to comfort someone like Dawson had comforted her.
What had he said or done all those years ago
that had helped her feel better?
Nothing, she suddenly remembered.
There was nothing that he could have said or
done. So that's what he did –
nothing. Time had really been her
savior. Joey reached over to touch
Pacey's shoulder as it slightly rose and fell in his sleep. She had time for him. They had time.
~;~
Capeside
8:30 am
Pacey still slept as Joey drove her car
through downtown Capeside, which was just waking up. The stores were opening and people were arriving at work. Joey passed the downtown post office and
jumped with a start when she noticed the American flag and the Massachusetts
Commonwealth flag both flying half-mast and wondered why.
Joey glanced over at Pacey mumbling in his
sleep. She doubted the town could be
mourning their sheriff this early. Or
could they?
As they neared the first home Pacey had ever
known, Joey knew she needed to wake him up. He was going to do something difficult, but it had to be done.
Reaching over, Joey touched his forehead and
moved her fingers down his face. She
brushed his hair back lightly as his eyes slowly opened. Pacey was suddenly startled to look around
and find himself in the driveway of his childhood home. For the first time but only for a fleeting
second, Joey could see the grief he's been hiding as he remembered why he had
returned.
She grabbed for his hand, but he pulled away
suddenly.
"I guess let's go in, Jo," Pacey said curtly
as he reached for the door handle.
She brushed off the pain she suddenly felt as
she followed him out of the car and up to the front door.
A neighbor answered and instantly recognized
Pacey.
"Oh, sweetie, come on in," the older woman
said. "Hello. It's Josephine, right?"
"Yes, it's Joey," she corrected quietly and
glanced down to the floor.
Pacey peered into the living room to find his
mother. He noticed her sleeping in on
the couch.
"Mary's been up all night, and she just fell
asleep…"
"Thanks for all you…" Joey started.
"We can take over now." Pacey said as he moved to open the door for
her.
"OK, Pacey, call me if you need me for
anything." The woman said with a little
uncertainty.
"Thanks," Joey whispered again as she left.
Joey glanced around her at the dark, empty
house, which was once filled with children. That's what she remembered most about Pacey's house, it was never empty
– not like it was now.
When the door closed, Pacey walked past Joey
into the kitchen.
"You hungry?"
"What? Pacey, what about your Mom? Do
you want to tell her that we're here?"
"Yeah, yeah..." Pacey said as he walked into
the kitchen. "When are Doug, Gretchen
and the rest of the beloved Witter brood getting here?"
Joey shook her head, and glanced back in the
living room.
"I really think you need to go talk to your
mother, Pacey." Joey said firmly this time.
Pacey glanced back at her new tone of voice,
but cast his eyes down when he met her gaze.
"OK, alright," he said dejectedly.
Joey waited in the kitchen and watched Pacey
walk over to his sleeping mother. Her
trembling hand wiped away a tear that suddenly welled up to see her husband
kneel down in front of her.
"Mom? Hey," Pacey whispered.
Mary Witter opened her exhausted eyes, and
her relief at the sight of him was obvious.
"Pacey, you're here." She reached out for his face as she sat
up. "My baby's here."
He suddenly shied away from her touch, not
knowing the first thing to say to her.
"You're the first one I called. I just wanted you here."
"Me?"
"You're the loyal one of all my
children. You've always been. I knew you could come help me. I can't make any of the decisions people
keep asking me."
"Mom, I'm a grown man now, but I'm afraid….I'm afraid that I just don't know what to do," Pacey said quietly.
Without saying anything, she brought her hand
down on his head as Pacey leaned against the couch cushion. Joey walked into the room when he called her
name, and she sat on the floor next to her husband. Pacey let his head fall slightly on her shoulder, and the three
of them sat together in a comfortable silence for several moments.
"Mom, when is the rest of the Witter gang
getting here? Like Doug or Gretchen…"
Pacey spoke.
When she didn't respond, Pacey sat up from
Joey's shoulder and looked at her.
"Well, honey…I didn't call them."
"What?"
"I wanted to wait until you got here. I just couldn't call them."
"Why?" Pacey asked his mother a little too harshly for Joey's comfort
level. "No matter what happened, they
would want to be here. I just thought
they were being their lackadaisical selves as always, but funny, they really
don't know what happened."
Joey almost wanted to reach over and cover
his mouth. This was typical Witter
interaction, and it always made her a little uneasy. This time it was making her skin crawl.
"You know they haven't spoken to me or even
wanted to speak to me all year long."
"You need to overcome that before someone
else tells them what happened."
"Pacey, I just can't. Please talk to them for me."
He jumped up from the floor, startling Joey,
who had been sitting next to him.
"Pacey…" Both women started to speak, but he
interrupted them.
"Why is this family incessantly screwed
up? Why can't we just act normal when
something like this happens? Why can't
you just call them like you did to me and say, 'Hey sorry guys, Dad's dead.'"
"PACEY!" Joey shouted at him after noticing the look of horror on his mother's
face.
"You want me to do this? Fine, I'll do it because then they can tell
me how they really feel! Because I
couldn't tell you how I really felt about all this," Pacey shouted. "Notice, I'm not all that sad that Dad's
dead. And they won't be either. I guarantee you."
As Pacey darted out the front door, Joey
scrambled off the floor after him. She
reached the porch and shouted his name as he was headed to the car.
"Pacey. What are you doing?"
He shot his arm out at her, a sign telling
her to let him go.
"Pace, no," Joey pleaded with him so only she
could hear as she watched him drive away in a fury.
Joey glanced back toward the gaping front
door to hear her mother-in-law crying. How could he leave her here to deal with this?
To be continued…