School finally ended for the season that Friday and it was time to say goodbye to Mack. The entire Harper household was waiting at the street as Irv and Mack loaded his stuff in his car. Actually, one part of the Harper household was missing, Ein. He was watching from one of the windows, making sure Mack was really leaving. Ephram, Orrie, Bright, and Amy joined them on the lawn. Once all of Mack's things were in his car he hugged his grandfather and step-grandmother goodbye. Then he hugged Amy and did that manly, one arm slap on the back type hug with Bright. When Mack came to Jig, however, there was no hug, and surprisingly, no bloodshed. Mack just leaned forward, kissed her forehead, and shook her hand. Mack got into his car, waved good bye, and drove off. Once he was out of sight Edna, Irv, and Jig walked back into their house. Bright and Amy got into their car and drove back to their house. This left Ephram and Orrie alone on the lawn. Orrie still had the soft smile he always seemed to be wearing, while Ephram was shocked and upset. Mack kissed her! In front of her boyfriend! Ephram turned to Orrie.
"Aren't you upset?" Ephram asked him. Orrie smiled and shook his head.
"Jig and I aren't like that…" Orrie explained as the two started walking down the sidewalk.
"Like what?"
"Like you and Desi," Orrie told him. He saw that obviously Ephram didn't understand. Orrie sighed and explained.
"Have you ever had that feeling Ephram? You could be walking down the hall, or sitting out the couch, or even doing your homework. And you just get this feeling like you want to be held. Like you want someone to wrap their arms around you and never let go?" Orrie asked him. Ephram thought for a few moments before nodding.
"Well, that's what Jig and I have. We're there to hold each other when we feel like we need it," Orrie explained.
"But, don't you guys, love each other?" Ephram asked him. Orrie shrugged.
"Maybe, on some level, but it's not like you and Desi. We're not picking out china patterns," Orrie said laughing. Ephram laughed a little too.
"Well, we haven't exactly gotten to that stage yet," Ephram said.
"'Yet!'" Orrie said and they both laughed.
Delia was over at Nina's house. Her and Nina were in the kitchen, Nina preparing some warm food for Meredith, who was laying in her carrier on the table. Delia was waving her finger in front of the baby as Meredith laughed, trying to grab it. Delia was watching Nina happily prepare the baby's food. People had thought about how strong Nina had been, giving away the baby she carried to another woman to raise. No one knew how truly hard that had been for her. She thought it would be easy, but it wasn't. That's why she wanted to keep Meredith so much. Carrying that baby for so long made her want one. She wanted to be a mother again. She wanted a baby. And she got one. Now, Nina really didn't care who gave her the baby, it had only been a week, but Nina loved her. She was sure Carl would too. Everyone loved Meredith and she seemed to love everyone. Sam loved her, it was great. It was like the perfect family. Two point five kids. All they needed was Carl home and it'd be perfect. And, maybe with the new baby, he would push a little harder to get home.
Orrie stood on Jig's front porch and rang the doorbell. He took a deep breath and let it out. This wasn't going to be easy. After a few moments Jig opened the door and smiled, seeing him.
"Hey Orrie," she said. He nodded and took a step backward, inviting her outside. She bit the inside of her lip, grabbed a shawl hanging by the door, and stepped out onto the porch, closing the door behind her. Orrie inhaled again and slowly exhaled. He cracked his fingers and placed his hands safely inside his coat pockets.
"My dad, um, my dad's moving to Australia, for, for three months. And he wants, you know, because I don't get to see him too often and don't really know him, he wants me, to, to go with him. He's coming here Sunday, to get my answer…" Orrie confessed. Jig stared at him for a few moments, silent. He searched her face for any sign of when her silence would end. For any sign of how she was going to react. He found nothing.
"Go," she finally said. Orrie's eyes widened in surprise and his mouth opened slightly.
"What?" Orrie asked her. Jig held the shawl tighter around her shoulder and blinked her eyes quickly.
"Go, you have to go. He's your father. You need to know him. Go. You have to. Pack tonight. Go," she told him. Orrie stood there for a few moments. Then he nodded. Jig nodded too, opened the door, and walked back inside, out of the cold.
Orrie stood on the front porch of the Brown's house. He rang the doorbell and after a few moments Ephram opened. Ephram raised his eyebrows in surprise. Orrie had been looking at the ground but now he looked up.
"I'm leaving Everwood Sunday," Orrie told him. Ephram reacted much the same way Jig did, with a long, unreadable stare. Finally he nodded.
"Does Jig know?" Ephram asked him. Orrie nodded.
"I just told her," Orrie answered. Ephram stood still for a moment before grabbing his jacket.
"Dad I'm leaving I'll be back later!" Ephram yelled and went running past Orrie and down the front steps.
"Ephram?" Dr. Brown asked coming to the door. He saw his son running down the street and Orrie standing silent on the porch.
Ephram raced down the street and jumped up the porch steps three at a time. The door was open so he walked in. Edna and Irv were at the far side of the large room, knocking on Jig's door and calling to her. Irv turned at the sound of the door opening and smiled when he saw Ephram.
"Ephram! Get over here!" he yelled. Ephram ran over quickly, not even taking off his coat.
"She won't let us in and won't come out," Edna told him. He nodded, probably the only one of the three who would understand why. Irv and Edna stepped away from him as Ephram knocked on the door.
"Jig! It's me Ephram!" he yelled into it.
"Ephram?" he heard a meek, soft voice say from the other side. It was a voice ridden with weeping. The door opened and Jig appeared, her face bright red. Ephram walked into the room, kicked the door shut, and wrapped his arms around her. As soon as her face hit his shoulder she started crying again. She wrapped her arms around his stomach, putting her hands under his coat. He held her head to his shoulder and rested his cheek on the back of her head, letting her cry. He had seen her cry more violently than this. He had seen her cry so hard it frightened him. Now he wasn't scared, because now he understood, but it still tore at him. After a few minutes of him telling her how everything would be alright her knees buckled out from under her and she fell. She dragged Ephram down with her but he kept his balance enough to keep them both from lying on the floor.
"Jig, Jig come on, it's okay, it's okay," he told her. She removed her hands from around his stomach and just hung onto the front of his shirt and leaned on him, mostly sitting on the ground now anyway.
Jig was sick of it. She was sick of losing people. She was sick of the 'I'm sorry''s and the 'it'll be okay''s. She didn't want people to be sorry, and she didn't want 'it will be okay', she wanted it okay now. She was losing too many people. She had lost too much in her life. Family who never wanted her, parents that were both dead, friends who were never around, and a first boyfriend who left her. But she told him to go. It was his father. If the chance had come to her, she would have left without saying good bye. She never would have turned back. Orrie had to go. He had to learn what kind of man his father is. He had to learn his sense of humor, his likes, his dislikes. Orrie had to memorize his father's smile and his laugh. Orrie had to look into his father's eyes and see everything there was in him. He had to do everything Jig never got a chance to do
"Jig, come on. Please?" Ephram asked. Jig tightened her grip on his now damp shirt. She once told him, how lucky Amy was to have him. Now Amy didn't have him anymore, Desi did. And Desi probably knew how lucky she was. Jig loved her cousin, but Amy was a step or two behind Desi. So was Jig. Jig seemed to be behind everything now. Everything was passing her by. At least that's what it felt like. Jig reached her arms around Ephram's neck and pulled him close her to.
"Thank you," she said into his ear. She didn't know it, but Ephram smiled and held her tighter.
"Thanks for letting me…" he replied.
There were few people in this world who would let Ephram help them. And, vice versa, actually. But Jig seemed never to be without need of his help. Most people cry on their pillows, Jig cried on Ephram. This was the fourth time, actually. This was actually the only one he would be allowed to talk about. One was about her mom, he couldn't say that. Another was when she was beating Cory up, which he couldn't mention. And the other was, well, in the shower. That one would get them both in trouble with a number of people. But Orrie everyone would know about.
"I told him to go," Jig confessed, at last letting Ephram go and sitting on the floor. Ephram, surprised, sat on the floor in front of her.
"Why?" he asked. Jig sniffled.
"His father wants them to get to know each other, in Australia. I told him to go and never look back," she said. Ephram sat quietly. So it was just Orrie leaving? And his father. No wonder Jig told him to go. Jig seemed set on every person in the world knowing their father, learning everything about him. A dad was important to Jig. It was some odd obsession. The dog tags, the pictures, everything. It spelled out 'Dad.' Now that she had seen his grave, that didn't help. Jig told Orrie to leave. That had to be hard. And Orrie agreed, that had to be worse. But, they would both survive. They'd each find someone else to hold them.
"How'd you know to come here, Ephram?" Jig asked him.
"I heard you crying," he replied, figuring mentioning Orrie's name might not be the best thing to mention at this point. She laughed.
"What, do you have a microphone in here somewhere?" she asked, laughing slightly. He smiled.
"No. It's more like those mothers who can hear their kids crying from half way across town," he said and she laughed.
"Well thanks for coming Mom," she said leaning forward, kissing him on the cheek, and hugging him with one arm around the neck.
"No problem. But next time, clean your room. It's a mess in here!" he said and she pushed him to the ground, laughing.
