Suze's POV:
I spun around in my chair and stared at Jesse.
And then, I hugged him. He hugged me back fiercely. "I'm so sorry, Susannah." He whispered. I could only nod as more tears poured out. We pulled away, and I wiped my eyes.
"He's not coming back." I finally choked out. "Not in ghost form. He moved on."
"Not quite, Suze." I heard Paul say. I looked past Jesse's shoulder and saw my husband standing transparent.
"Paul!" I tore past Jesse and threw myself into Paul's arms. Paul held me to him tightly.
"Jesse...Take care of Suze, and our children." Paul said, still holding me to him. I cried harder.
"Suze...My sweet Susie." Paul said quietly. He tilted my chin up and kissed me sweetly. "If I had to leave you with anyone, I cannot imagine someone who would love you or care for you and our children more than Jesse will."
More tears ran down my swollen cheeks. "Paul...Don't leave, not yet. We need you, the kids need you...I need you." I begged, my voice tear-strained.
"Be strong, Suze...Jesse, take care of them..." Paul said, his voice losing its strong quality and becoming transparent as he disappeared in a bath of pure white light.
And then he was gone, and I was in Jesse's strong arms once again.
"Mommy, Mommy!!!" I heard my twins yell as I walked in the door of my parents' house. They came running at me, blue eyes they'd inherited from their daddy shining. "Mommy, where's daddy? And who's he?"
"Hello again, Jesse." David said, following Hailey and Peyton to the door. "Suze, what happened?"
"Let's get everyone settled in the living room, and I'll explain." I said, calmer than I had been at the hospital.
I sat my four children down on the couch, Mom sat in Andy's lap in his big reclining chair, I sat in Jesse's lap in the other reclining chair, and David stood next to the couch. I took a deep breath and said, "Lindsey, Sean, Hailey, Peyton, I have some bad news about Daddy."
Jesse gripped my hand as more tears threatened to fall. "On the way home, there was an...an accident. A drunk driver in a big truck swerved into our lane, and Daddy swerved the car. But the way he swerved caused his side to get hit by the truck." I paused, taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry, he didn't make it."
Lindsey and Sean both understood the graveness of my words and started to cry. Lindsey burst into noise sobs, while Sean was quieter, subtler. Hailey and Peyton looked at me confusedly. "What do you mean, Mommy? When's Daddy coming home?"
I got up from Jesse's lap and sat between Sean and Hailey on the couch. I held my children as I further explained: "Sweetie, he's not. Daddy's not coming home. He got hit by the truck and his injuries were too severe. The doctors couldn't save him."
Hailey started crying. "I WANT MY DADDY!! BRING HIM BACK!!!" Peyton got up off the couch and ran to David, who picked her up, even though she was 5 years old and too big to be picked up. Those two had always been close.
Lindsey had gone to sit in my mother's lap and cried silently now. Hailey began to beat on my chest with her tiny fists, screaming. "BRING DADDY BACK!!! I WANT MY DADDY, BRING HIM BACK NOW!!!"
She was always her daddy's girl. Sean grabbed her fists and held them tightly. "Hailey, listen to me. Mom can't bring him back! Dad's always going to be watching over you from heaven, but Mom can't bring him back!"
And then my baby girl collapsed, half in my lap, and half on Sean, crying her eyes out.
Just a little bit more to go...I'm so sorry I haven't updated in forever...Life just kinda sucks right now...