Chapter 24 - Francesca

"You want to check that box of yours out now?"

"Yeah, we better." Summer stretched up and placed the box in front of her and Seth. "You ready?"

"If you are." Summer carefully opened it. The lid was quite hard to get off; it seemed to be an old box or it was just very well used. Summer placed the lit beside the box and Seth gave her leg a little squeeze.

When the lid was gone the back of a photo frame appeared. It was a pretty big frame; it was almost too big for the box. Summer carefully took it up from the pink box and turned it so they could see. They were both taken back, at least Summer. It was a photograph of her family; her father, mother and herself.

"It's the picture." Summer sat in her mothers arms while Neil had his arms round them. It looked like on of those pictures taken in the early 1900; the black and white one where no one smiled but looked happy any way. Francesca sat on a chair in a white dress with Summer in her arms and Neil stood next to them, his arm resting on Francesca's shoulder and his hand on top of Summer's head where just a few fluff of dark hair grew.

"What picture?" Seth asked and he could see that Summer was admiring the picture sadly. It obviously meant a lot to her and brought a lot of emotions. And Seth himself couldn't deny that this photograph was one of the most beautiful ones he'd ever seen. It was perfect and seemed so enchanted.

"It's the one my mother loved so much and took with her when she left. The picture I saw was gone from the wall that night." Summer sighed and put the picture down, turned down against the bed. She flicked through some papers, articles and photos. There were mostly pictures of Summer, Neil and some with them all together. But there were also pictures of just Francesca. Summer held one up.

"This must be before I was born; she looks very young." Francesca was wearing a long black dress and gave a sad smile to the camera. She must have been about fifteen and at her parent's funeral. They'd both died in a car accident.

"It's at the funeral; my grandparent's." Summer gave the picture to Seth and started to look through the box again. Seth examined the picture; Francesca looked just like Summer when he got to know her. Though she had lighter hair and was taller; at least it seemed that way.

"How old was she in this picture?" Seth asked as Summer leaned back with something new to turn her attention to. It wasn't a photograph this time but a peace of paper.

"I think fifteen; that's when they died I believe. Check this out Seth." She showed him the peace of paper and leaned back, resting her head close to his cheek. He took a hold of her arm and looked at what she held in front of them both. It seemed to be a letter.

"It might be the letter she talked about at the hospital. She's got a nice handwriting. Can you read it to me; I don't think I can." Summer cuddled closer to Seth and rested against his chest and stomach.

"Sure, there are two of them. It say's:

Dear Neil,

I'm sorry to just leave like this but it's the easiest way for all of us. I've met someone else. It wasn't on purpose; it sort of just happened. One day he stood there and I realised that he could give me what I wanted. You know that our life never fitted me; I'm not the kind of person to settle down and have kids. I know that this will hurt you and Summer but I know that you'll give her a better home than I ever could. I'm afraid that this is the end; I'm not coming back. / Francesca

Dear Neil,

I bet that right now you have no idea where I am and you have a lot of questions. I know that this is wrong and I know that I'm hurting you and our little girl. But you see; this was something I had to do. I couldn't stay and not because I don't love you because I do; I love you and Summer so much. I know that you'll be alright without me. It may take a while but you'll be okay, I promise. I'll be okay too and I'm always gonna think about you and remember you. My last letter wasn't true; I could never find anyone better than you and you know that our life was exactly what I've always wanted.

You need to know that I didn't want to leave but I had no choice. I can't tell you why I left just that I didn't do it because I wanted; I did it to protect you and Summer. Promise me Neil that you will tell Summer that I love her, try to explain why I left. Don't make her hate me. I know that's a lot to ask of you and especially since I haven't given you an explanation. I fully understand if you hate me and if our daughter will too.

I'm so incredible sorry. I'll always love you.

Francesca

Seth's voice died out and left the room in silence. It had been hard for Seth to read the letters but he had done it for Summer. He knew that those letters had a special meaning but he didn't know in what way. He had no idea how she would react and the worst thing was when she was completely silent, like now.

"Summer?" Seth could feel her breathing against his chest and saw that she had closed her eyes. He carefully patted her shoulder waiting for any reaction. She slowly began to move and sat up a little, opening her eyes.

"I'm fine." She quickly said and gave him a small smile. She then started to look through the box again. There were more pictures and a few drawings, probably made by Summer, and peaces of paper. She took one up; it seemed to be a diploma or something.

"What do you think this is?" She showed the Seth the paper and searched his face for an answer.

"It's a diploma; the CIA." And it surely was. Complicated text filled the paper; the only thing there to understand was the name Francesca Taylor and the date; 3td March 1984.

"Then it's true." Summer once again turned to Seth. She seemed so vulnerable and pleading. Seth nodded.

"But how do we know. She could have made this up. Someone could have…"

"Summer, we can't know for sure if it's true but everything seems to fit. You can just decide if you're gonna believe her or not." Seth gently touched her chin as he spoke; she knew that this was the truth. Suddenly the thing he had been waiting for the past 30 minutes occurred; Summer started to cry. Silent tears came down her cheeks from her watery eyes. The tears never seemed to stop on Summer; her eyes always kept filling till she decided not to cry anymore.

"Come here baby." Seth embraced her and she began to sob like never before. Her whole body shook and she started to hiccup. But as much as Summer had been a crier lately this was different, much similar to the first time Summer had really cried in front of anyone and of course Seth had been that person. It had been when Marissa and she had gotten into a huge fight. Summer had turned up in Seth's bedroom and immediately flung her arms around him. He had told her that she was allowed to cry and she had; for a whole hour. And not just because of the fight but because of everything that had happened the past years and she'd never cried over.

"It's okay sweetheart." Seth said as he shushed her, trying to be the best comfort to her and whether he knew it or not he was. There was no way Summer would have survived her whole life without Seth being there; she would still be the party girl and probably an alcoholic by this moment. He was the one who changed her, who made her. To him she was herself and he let her be without making her feel like she wasn't good enough. She knew that she wasn't perfect and she wasn't very smart always and did the craziest things. Summer could also be very childish and she cried a lot, but to Seth nothing of that mattered.

"Seth..." Summer started but a new sob escaped her mouth. Seth stroke her hair and could feel the wetness through his shirt; the tears kept coming all the time. He slightly rocked her back and forth as she calmed down, the sobbing disappearing but she was still hiccupping.

"What am I going to do?" She sat up in Seth's lap and kept resting her side against him. His arms immediately went round her and he gave her a worried look. She knew that he couldn't answer her question, only she could.

"I wish this wasn't happening to me. It's too hard." Summer wiped away the tears from her face as she kept hiccupping.

"Summer, your mother loves you; she didn't leave you the way you thought she did. That's a good thing, right? And it's good that you found out before she…you know." Seth tried to be positive but realised that he had said it wrong the instant he said it.

"I'm sorry honey; I didn't mean to say that. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, really. I know that she's going to die and I better accept it. Don't be sorry Seth." Summer gave him a kiss on his cheek and leaned in for a hug. She placed her head in his neck and felt all her emotions build up inside of her; sadness, love, fear.

To be continued…

If any of you wonder when I'm going to update my other story 'When you say nothing at all' I'm working on it. This story is my priority and the one I update regularly. I hope you can understand that and wait. Please review!