A/N : Thanx to the reviewers of chapter 6; tinkerbell42, EmilyTheStrange1, fashiongrrl, SlayGal, fictionfreak2, Rachel - you guys are so nice! Just so it's clear, Hank and Jenny both died in the crash. I know it's sad, but there is a reason for it. Hopefully everything is starting to get a little clearer now and less complicated, and I'm glad you're all still reading despite the fact that so far it's all back-story and no Spuffy...anyway, hope you all keep reading and liking and reviewing :-)
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)
Chapter 7 : Grief and Sorrow - 1985
I would say it was hard losing my father, but to be honest I cannot miss what I have never had, and I know Willow would say the same about her mother. We did not suffer, but I know our remaining parents did. It helped that they had each other to lean on, but I just cannot imagine how awful that joint funeral must have been, especially when it was all too soon after the double wedding that had made all four people so happy.
"We're so sorry Rupert" the old Mrs Giles told her son as they walked out of the cemetery, herself and her husband to the man's right and Joyce carrying her baby to his left.
"Jenny was a very special young woman" the older Mr Giles agreed and Joyce began to cry all over again, as she remembered her best friend as well as her husband. Giles who had been mostly silent for the whole week since he found out about his wife and friends death, slipped his arm over her shoulders, as much for his own comfort as hers. He watched the tiny baby in her arms stretch and yawn and thought of his own child who had not been well enough to leave the hospital who was due to leave the hospital tomorrow after a small relapse. As if it were some kind of nasty irony, Willow's little heart had slowed on the day Jenny died. Fortunately, after much examination, it was found to be nothing serious, just a little breathing difficulty from her early birth and the doctors assured Giles that the child would be just fine, but another couple of days at the hospital were recommend.
The silent Englishman was almost glad not to have to worry about her during the funeral. His other child, William, was at nursery school all day and was looked after by his grandparents for the rest part of the time. It was they who had told the boy he wouldn't see Mummy again and he'd cried about it of course, but not really understood. When told that Jenny was in a pretty place called Heaven now and that she was happy, it seemed to please him somehow, just knowing that she loved him and that she was safe.
"Would you like us to pick William up from the nursery?" Giles' mother asked as they neared their cars. Silently he nodded and so William was to spend the night with his grandparents at their house across town again. No-one realised just how much time he would be spending with his older relations.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Giles retreated into himself after Jenny's death and seldom came out of his apartment. He remained inside, clutching his baby girl like she was his last link to his dead wife. Joyce was equally upset about her loss, but she'd dealt with it differently to her friend. She chose to remember the happy time with Hank, and whilst she did obviously cry for him, she knew he'd want her to be happy. She made the best out of those first few days that she could, loving her daughter so much and seeing her husband in her eyes.
William remained with his grandparents, as there was really nowhere else for him to go. When Giles shut himself away he looked after himself and the baby well enough but he refused to open the door to his parents or the small child they cared for which was really his own.
It was now two weeks after the funeral and the little boy had seen his father and sister just once, and then only briefly. After the loss of his mother, he started to believe his father was gone too and his sister with him. It hurt the child whom could not understand why it was happening. Had he not been a good boy? Is that why everyone he loved was going away.
"Your Grandma Jane has been taken ill" the old Mrs Giles told her son, "It's sounding bad and your father and I need to go back to England for a while"
No reply, as usual, although Willow could be heard crying and Giles' parents had no doubts that silently their son was crying too.
"If you want us to, we can take William with us" Rupert was told through the letterbox, "I doubt we will be gone above a week or so, but he's your son and if you want him with you..."
Still no reply, as if they'd not been heard at all. They worried about him deeply, but the older Mr and Mrs Giles knew only too well, that this was Rupert's way of dealing with things and had been since he was a child. Lock himself away, cut himself off from everyone that he could until he's got over his pain or at least beaten it down to a manageable level. Willow was probably the last person other than Hank that Jenny had seen before she died, the last little person she'd spoken to, the last to hear the words 'I love you' from her lips. Giles was clinging to that but in the process he was alienating the rest of his family.
The silence meant the decision was made, the Giles must leave for England that night and it seemed their grandson was to travel with them. The pair slipped a note beneath the apartment door, making doubly sure their son would know what was going on, just in case he hadn't taken in the words they'd spoken to him now.
Joyce was crying. From her own apartment she could here Giles' parents calling to him. She alone could understand how much he was hurting, how deep the pain cut into his heart, as her own grief tore into her. She wished she could be of some use to him, but even her begging and pleading would not make him open the door, she'd tried several times.
The widowed Mrs Summers hoped rather than believed that her English friend would soon find a way to deal with his guilt, if not for his own sake, she guiltily wished he would be of some support to her. They could help each other through this difficult time, she was sure, if only he'd let her in.
It was far from a happy time, I can't begin to imagine how awful it must have been for them all. Losing one person you love must be bad enough but to lose two at once...sometimes it's just too horrible to think about the agony they must have gone through. I comfort myself with the fact that they are happy now, and that happiness came, as Mom knew it would, from them supporting each other...
To Be Continued...
A/N2 : For those who are interested, my next update will probably be in a couple of days on 'One Wild Night'.
