Disclaimer: Hey all my fellow Higher Ground lovers.........sorry....I don't own this show or the characters in it. But let's get ONE THING STRAIGHT.....IF I DID OWN THEM THEY WOULD BE RENEWED ALREADY, JEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FOR REAL!!!
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Okay....I AM SO SORRY! I LIED! I SAID IF I GOT 15 REVIEWS I WOULD POST AND I DIDN'T. I HAD FAMILY COME IN UNEXPECTED AND I NEVER SEE THEM, SO I HAD TO GO OUT WITH THEM. DO YOU FORGIVE ME??? I'M POSTING AS SOON AS I CAN!!!!
OH YEAH!
BIG CONGRATS TO MY FRIEND BRAD ALLEN. WRESTLING CHAMP! RANKED 4TH IN THE STATE IN HIS WEIGHT CLASS FOR 17 YEAR OLDS AS OF SATURDAY! GO BRAD!!! ALSO BIG CONGRATS TO MY FRIEND TY CODY WHO PLACED 3RD IN HIS WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP SATURDAY! GO TY! SORRY I COULDN'T BE THERE! I LOVE YOU GUYS...AND BRAD...WHEN U GET THAT SCHOLARSHIP TO ISU (IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY) YOU'VE BEEN GOING FOR, YOU BETTER KEEP IN TOUCH! THAT'S A MILLION MILES AWAY FROM LITTLE ME IN TENNESSEE! Oh yeah...Brad..you're hot. I was kidding yesterday when I said u weren't!!!
Okay......sorry about that. I just had to tell them I am proud of them. Oh yeah...and girls...Brad really is hot!
I Can't Let Go
Chapter 2
When Shelby was calmed down and had stopped her crying, they gathered the girls up and took them into the living room. They set them down side by side on the couch. Scott sat in the recliner across from them and Shelby sat on the arm of the recliner next to Scott.
"Uhhh...girls...that was...one of grandpa's friends on the phone." Scott started.
"Oh...why did she make mommy cry?" Carly asked, her big blue eyes filled with confusion.
"Um, Carly, sweetheart.....that's the thing." Scott said getting nervous. He ran a hand through his hair, as he always did when he was keeping something from his family. Shelby had begun to notice Annie doing the same thing. She acted so much like Scott. Most of her mannerisms and her outlook on things were identical to Scott's, while Carly was more like Shelby. Shelby glanced at Scott who looked like he could absolutely lose it at any time and took over.
"Girls, remember when you were in Sunday school and they were talking about how everyone, when God is ready, goes up to Heaven to be with him?"
"Yeah, so..." Annie sighed and leaned back, getting bored with the conversation, from the simple fact that she just didn't understand what was going on.
"Well...Ann...God came and took Grandpa this morning." Shelby said
"Grandpa went to heaven?" Carly asked with a puzzled look on her face
"Yeah." Shelby said and forced a fake smile.
"Well...is he happy?" Carly asked furrowing her little brow and looking a lot like Scott.
"I'm sure he is, baby." Shelby said quietly and nodded quickly.
"Then..can we go play?" Annie asked. They didn't really understand. To them it was just as if he had moved. They didn't realize they would never see him again.
Shelby nodded and watched them run up the stairs to play. She slid down into Scott's lap and wrapped her arms around his neck, and leaned her head on his. He held her around her waist.
"That went well?" he asked her.
"Yeah, cowboy, it did." She said. There was a long pause. "They don't really understand, though."
"I don't want them to." He said. "To understand this is to feel it. I don't want them to feel this kind of pain." Shelby kissed his forehead. "We need to make arrangements to get up there." He said after a long silence.
"I know. Do you want me to do it?" she offered.
"No. He was my dad. I got it." She nodded.
"Okay." And she patted him on the shoulder
"Well, I better hop to it. There's a lot of stuff to do." He said and then he stood up. Shelby slid off him into the chair. She watched as he slowly made his way to the kitchen mumbling things to himself. She bit her lip. She hated seeing him in so much pain. If she could take it all from him and bear it herself, she would. But she couldn't, and she knew it. She had enough to deal with herself. Shelby sat, listening to the sound of Scott's voice as he called all the appropriate places. About a half an hour later he emerged from the kitchen.
"We leave tomorrow at 7:55 A.M. from the airport and the flight gets in at 4:23 P.M. in Vancouver. We're gonna stay with my mom." He explained. Shelby nodded.
"Is she okay with suddenly having 4 extra people in her house?" Shelby asked, a little worried about Susan.
"I think she needs us there, Shelb. She's takin this pretty hard." He said
"I would imagine so." She replied. They sat in silence for a few minutes. Shelby was trying to figure out some words of wisdom to give Scott, but she couldn't come up with anything. Like she always knew, what Peter had told her at Horizon, went in one ear and out the other. She only remembered the stuff that had applied to her messed up life. "Scott..I don't know what to say to make you feel better." She said getting up and standing next to him.
"Then don't say anything." He said. "Just....hold me, Shel."
"Next time why don't you ask for something a little tougher, huh?" she said, pulling him into a hug that lasted forever. He buried his face in her hair and breathed in deeply.
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After packing that night, Scott and Shelby sat quietly in front of a blazing fire in the fireplace of their living room.
"Are you gonna go to the funeral?" Shelby asked quietly. Scott sighed deeply.
"Yeah. I feel like I owe it to my dad. I need some closure, too." Silence. "God, I'm gonna miss him." He said shakily. "I never thought this would happen. I mean..I knew he would die, but not now. I wasn't prepared, I wasn't ready for it."
"Who ever is, Scott? That's why you have to say what you need to say and tell people how much they mean to you today. You never knew when they'll be gone." She said
"Boy, did I learn that lesson too late." He said with a slight edge in his voice.
"It's never too late to tell people what they mean to you." She replied.
"Shelb..my dad's dead..."
"But, Scott, where he is..I'm sure he can hear you." With that she patted his leg and went upstairs to check on Carly and Annie. Scott pondered this thought for a minute. He decided to take her advice while he was alone in the quiet of the living room. As he talked he began feeling kind of stupid, but he pressed on anyway.
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"Hey dad. It's me, Scott. If you can hear me...I never said it, really...I love you, and I'm gonna miss you...ALOT. I know when I was a teenager...before Horizon....I was terrible, I know....and I put you through hell. For that I am sorry. I never meant....for anything like what happened to happen. But it did and I'm sorry. I just wish you could be here to see the girls grow up....that's what you're really missing out on. And Shelby wants another baby. A boy. So, dad, ever though you're not here...promise me you'll be watching and I'll be happy." He finished. He leaned back and listened to the silence.
A few seconds later there was a loud bang coming from upstairs and Shelby's voice rang out. He looked at the cieling as if it were the source of the sound.
"OH ANNIE! YOU DON'T GIVE A CAT A BATH IN THE TOILET!" she yelled. Scott laughed to himself. Her voice got louder. "SCOTT, WE'RE GONNA NEED A PLUNGER UP HERE HON!"
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Okay...so this is setting up for next chapter. Believe it or not, but this chapter will be important later in the story, so make sure you read it carefully. Please review!