A/N: I was going to write the funeral but I decided that would just be way
to depressing for me. I thought I'd leave the major angsty stuff for the
queen of angst, Siamese Cat. For those of you who like angst and haven't
read her stuff it can be found at:
Excellent stuff but I warn you, take the Kleenex icons seriously. She is the queen of tearjerkers.
Roberts' House 2035 hours 12/29/2003
This has been one of the longest days of my life. AJ was so confused about the funeral and of course Mrs. Sims didn't help any by again losing control in front of him. She dragged him up to the coffins and told him his mommy and daddy were in there.
I really think she wanted to get him upset so she could show what a great grandparent she was by comforting him and making him feel better. Unfortunately for her, he went straight to Mattie and refused to leave her side the rest of the day. Mattie didn't seem to mind but it drove Grandma nuts.
Jimmy was fussy all day. I'm sure it was just because he was picking up on the emotions around him. Harm or I had to hold him all day. He wouldn't go to anyone else. He was a little bit better for Mikey but wailed like a banshee for Mrs. Sims.
Big Bud was actually a godsend. AJ refused to go near the graves at the cemetery. Mr. and Mrs. Sims were trying to force the issue and Bud jumped in before Harm could lose his temper and suggested that AJ and Mattie walk around the cemetery and play in the snow. Everybody agreed with that plan so quickly that the Sims couldn't say a word.
After the cemetery there was the luncheon of course. That's one thing that as always bothered me. Why do we feel the need to feed people and have almost a party after a funeral. Of course Harm and I had to take shifts eating and walking around because we had to hold Jimmy and try and keep an eye on AJ and Mattie at the same time. So if the luncheon was meant to relax us, it didn't work. Also nobody thought about the eating habits of little boys when planning this thing, so we had to get Jen to make a run to McDonald's for AJ's lunch.
Guess who went to boarding school with Mrs. Sims? Porter Webb. She was at the funeral and made a point of asking me within earshot of almost everybody how Harm and I were going to manage to take care of 3 children, our careers and separate lives. I just smiled and told her that Harm and I were planning on moving in together so I didn't think it would be that difficult.
Of course that was the first Harm knew of my decision but he did an excellent job of hiding it. Bud and Mikey said they thought that sounded like a wonderful idea. The admiral offered us a week off to get things organized. Mrs. Sims almost choked on her chicken. Unfortunately it was only almost.
"What are you smilin' about Marine?"
"Just thinking about the look on Mrs. Sims face when she found out we were going to be living together." Harm chuckles.
"I'd pay good money for a picture of that. You couldn't of warned me though?"
"Sorry about that."
"I doubt that. I bet you enjoyed watching me try to swallow my surprise without dropping Jimmy."
"Well, it was kinda fun."
"So, were you serious?"
"Yeah, I was. You know this isn't going to be easy."
"If it was, it wouldn't be worth doing. I know it's going to be a lot of work Mac but I want this. I hope you want it too."
"I do. I just need you to realize that I'm going to need some time." Harm looks like he's going to say something so I hold up my hand to stop him. "Let me finish." He nods
"I've done a pretty good job of screwing up my life lately and it's going to take me awhile to fix it. I'm not just talking about Clay. I did a pretty good job of destroying our friendship and my friendship with Sturgis. I need to work on getting both of those back. I don't like myself very much right now and it's going to take some work before I do. I want this. I'm willing to do the work but I need you to be patient with me."
"I'll do what I can Mac."
"That's all I can ask. Now I don't know about you but I really need some sleep before we meet with the Sims tomorrow."
"You're not alone. Goodnight Marine."
"Night Squid."
Excellent stuff but I warn you, take the Kleenex icons seriously. She is the queen of tearjerkers.
Roberts' House 2035 hours 12/29/2003
This has been one of the longest days of my life. AJ was so confused about the funeral and of course Mrs. Sims didn't help any by again losing control in front of him. She dragged him up to the coffins and told him his mommy and daddy were in there.
I really think she wanted to get him upset so she could show what a great grandparent she was by comforting him and making him feel better. Unfortunately for her, he went straight to Mattie and refused to leave her side the rest of the day. Mattie didn't seem to mind but it drove Grandma nuts.
Jimmy was fussy all day. I'm sure it was just because he was picking up on the emotions around him. Harm or I had to hold him all day. He wouldn't go to anyone else. He was a little bit better for Mikey but wailed like a banshee for Mrs. Sims.
Big Bud was actually a godsend. AJ refused to go near the graves at the cemetery. Mr. and Mrs. Sims were trying to force the issue and Bud jumped in before Harm could lose his temper and suggested that AJ and Mattie walk around the cemetery and play in the snow. Everybody agreed with that plan so quickly that the Sims couldn't say a word.
After the cemetery there was the luncheon of course. That's one thing that as always bothered me. Why do we feel the need to feed people and have almost a party after a funeral. Of course Harm and I had to take shifts eating and walking around because we had to hold Jimmy and try and keep an eye on AJ and Mattie at the same time. So if the luncheon was meant to relax us, it didn't work. Also nobody thought about the eating habits of little boys when planning this thing, so we had to get Jen to make a run to McDonald's for AJ's lunch.
Guess who went to boarding school with Mrs. Sims? Porter Webb. She was at the funeral and made a point of asking me within earshot of almost everybody how Harm and I were going to manage to take care of 3 children, our careers and separate lives. I just smiled and told her that Harm and I were planning on moving in together so I didn't think it would be that difficult.
Of course that was the first Harm knew of my decision but he did an excellent job of hiding it. Bud and Mikey said they thought that sounded like a wonderful idea. The admiral offered us a week off to get things organized. Mrs. Sims almost choked on her chicken. Unfortunately it was only almost.
"What are you smilin' about Marine?"
"Just thinking about the look on Mrs. Sims face when she found out we were going to be living together." Harm chuckles.
"I'd pay good money for a picture of that. You couldn't of warned me though?"
"Sorry about that."
"I doubt that. I bet you enjoyed watching me try to swallow my surprise without dropping Jimmy."
"Well, it was kinda fun."
"So, were you serious?"
"Yeah, I was. You know this isn't going to be easy."
"If it was, it wouldn't be worth doing. I know it's going to be a lot of work Mac but I want this. I hope you want it too."
"I do. I just need you to realize that I'm going to need some time." Harm looks like he's going to say something so I hold up my hand to stop him. "Let me finish." He nods
"I've done a pretty good job of screwing up my life lately and it's going to take me awhile to fix it. I'm not just talking about Clay. I did a pretty good job of destroying our friendship and my friendship with Sturgis. I need to work on getting both of those back. I don't like myself very much right now and it's going to take some work before I do. I want this. I'm willing to do the work but I need you to be patient with me."
"I'll do what I can Mac."
"That's all I can ask. Now I don't know about you but I really need some sleep before we meet with the Sims tomorrow."
"You're not alone. Goodnight Marine."
"Night Squid."