Waiting Is The Hardest Part

Chapter 16

Bosco opened the front door as Jennifer and Kathy approached. He nervously looked at Jennifer who looked just as nervous as he felt. Kathy stepped through the door first, sort of like an attempt at breaking the ice.

"Hi Maurice," Kathy said cheerfully.

"Hey, Kath," Bosco said, leaning forward and kissing Jennifer's sister on the cheek.

"Hi, Jen," Bosco said, holding the door open for her as she walked in.

"Hello," she responded nervously.

Bosco watched the two women enter and sighed as he walked out to Kathy's car to bring in Jennifer's things from the hospital.

Jennifer entered her house and looked around. Everything was pretty much as she remembered it, with a few differences here and there. She guessed that was to be expected since there had apparently been big changes in her life since Jeff had died.

"You want to head upstairs to your room, or do you want to spend some time down here for a little while?" Kathy asked, adding, "Jordan should be coming home from school in a little bit. I know she's excited to see you home."

Jennifer smiled at the thought of Jennifer. "I can't wait to see her either," Jennifer said, with a smile. "I think I'll wait here for her," she said as she wandered toward the pictures on the mantle.

She drew in a sharp breath at some of the pictures showing her and Maurice Boscorelli, obviously closer to each other than they were right now. She was startled by the sound of Kathy's voice behind her.

"It's okay, Jen. You're safe here. I promise," Kathy whispered to her sister as Bosco came through the front door with Jennifer's things. Both women looked over at him and he couldn't help but notice the "trapped" look on Jennifer's face and feel discouraged.

"I'll just put these things up in our..., I mean upstairs," he said, looking away and moving toward the stairs.

"You can bring them into the guest room," Jennifer said before he started climbing the stairs. He looked back at her, puzzled.

"I mean..., I don't want to put you out of your own room," she added, a blush coming to her cheeks.

"No, Jennifer...," Bosco said, fighting to keep what he wanted to say - "That's OUR room, your's and mine. We share that bed, this house, this family, this life," - but biting his tongue.

"You'll be more comfortable up there. I'll take the guest room," he said instead. She started to object, but he cut her off, forcing a smile to his face. "I insist," he said. "You'll be closer to Jordan at night," he added.

"Thank you," she said and watched him climb the stairs. She couldn't help but think how defeated he looked and hated putting him through it. He seemed nice enough. She just wished she'd be able to remember, but knew pushing herself wasn't going to help.

She was brought from her thoughts by the sound of Jordan bounding through the front door.

"Mommy!" she shouted, shattering the calm of the house and immediately heading toward Jennifer. Uncle Peter followed her in, having picked her up from school for Bosco.

"Jordan!" Jennifer screeched back, sitting down on the couch to be able to take the girl into her lap. "I'm so glad to see you," Jennifer said, hugging her and receiving a hearty hug back. "How was school today?"

"It was really long. I didn't want to be there today because I knew you'd be coming home, but Daddy told me it would keep me from going crazy waiting for you to get home," Jordan spouted innocently.

Bosco heard Jordan's answer and was the first to notice the stricken look on Jennifer's face at Jordan calling Bosco 'Daddy.'

He made it to the bottom of the stairs and cleared his throat. Jordan looked in the direction of his noise and jumped up excitedly.

"Mommy's finally home, Da..." she started, only to be cut off by Bosco so Jennifer didn't have to hear it again.

"I know, Bug. I told you the day would go faster if you had something to do to occupy your mind," Bosco said as Jordan ran over to give him a hug. He hugged her briefly, not wanting to cause Jennifer any more stress.

"How about we go upstairs? I think I hear Jason waking up," Bosco said, turning to usher Jordan up the stairs.

"When you come down, I think I'll head upstairs and lie down for a bit," Jennifer said.

"Sure," Bosco said. "You want me to help you up the stairs. We'll only be up there for a couple of minutes. But, Jason's been waiting to see you too. But, if you think it's too much right now, I'll hold him off."

Jennifer tensed a little and looked over at her sister and Peter. "Um, no. I'll wait here until you bring him down. I'll say hello to him and then go up - if that's okay?" she said.

"Of course. Good idea," Kathy jumped in. "I'll go get you a drink while Maurice gets Jason."

Bosco hid his disappointment and followed Jordan up the stairs as the girl called out gently to Jason.

"Jay-Jay! Mommy's home. Want to come say hi?" Jennifer said as they entered the darkened room.

Bosco put the shade up in the room to let the afternoon sun in, helping to wake up the toddler.

"Da, da," Jason said, sitting up and giving a big smile.

"Hey, Sport," Bosco said, picking him up and giving him a hug.

"Jason, Mommy's home," Jordan told him again as Bosco put him on the changing table to put on a clean diaper.

"Ma, ma," he repeated with a smile as he kicked his legs and feet. Bosco smiled at the show of excitement and finished changing the diaper.

Peter came in the room a moment later. "How're you doing?" he asked Bosco.

Bosco let out a breath, "Man, its tough. I mean, I want to just hug her and welcome her home and wait on her, but she seems so awkward, so nervous."

"Well, I think everyone is. It's to be expected. You want me or Kathy to stay overnight with you. It's not a problem. Or, if you change your mind and want us to take the kids til you're ready...," Peter offered.

"Thanks, Pete, but I want to try to make things as normal as possible for the kids - - for everyone really," Bosco explained.

"Okay. Well, we're gonna take off in a few minutes then. But, remember, we're here for you as well as for Jennifer. This is gonna work out," he said, trying to bolter Bosco's spirits.

Bosco offered his hand and they shook. "Thanks. You guys have been great. You've made me feel like family from the very beginning," Bosco said, fighting back his emotions. He hadn't been sleeping very well since Jennifer's illness and especially last night in anticipation of her coming home, so every nerve was raw right now.

Kathy came back out of the kitchen with a glass of iced tea for Jennifer. She noticed her looking around the room, the lost look on her face.

"Here you go," she said, catching Jennifer's attention.

Kathy sat down next to her on the couch and covered her sister's hand with her own.

"How're you doin' kiddo?" she asked and almost joined Jennifer when her eyes filled with tears.

"She called him Daddy," Jennifer whispered.

"Ah, Jen," Kathy said, leaning over and enveloping Jennifer in her arms. "He's been her Daddy for the past two years," she said and felt Jennifer's body shaking from sobs.

"She knows that Jeff is her real father. You two have made sure that she doesn't forget him, but the two of them are very close, Jen. He's great with her - loves her very much," Kathy assured her. "Would I leave the kids here with him and you with him if I wasn't 100 percent sure of that?"

"I guess not. I just wish I remembered something. I thought coming home would jar something loose," Jennifer said with frustration as they heard everyone coming down the stairs.

Jennifer quickly sat up, wiped the tears from her cheeks and regained her composure just as Jordan hit the landing.

"Mommy, here's Jason," Jordan called to her. "He's very excited to see you," she added, sounding much older than she was, which made Jennifer chuckle.

"And I'm anxious to meet him as well," Jennifer said, not realizing she sounded like she'd never met the child before. Bosco let the comment slide and continued toward Jennifer with Jason, looking for some sign of recognition.

Nervously, Jennifer reached up as Bosco handed the boy over to her. Jason's arms were outstretched and around Jennifer's neck giving her a hug immediately. His little fist managed to grab a handful of Jennifer's hair and Bosco gently untangled it from his hand. He absently tucked the hair behind Jennifer's ear - a gesture that he'd done numerous times over the last few years. He didn't notice the look on Jennifer's face at the action. Something about it was familiar.

TBC...