Chapter 48

She's Gone

…A few years later

Drake Parker stretched in the pleasant bed that felt like he was resting on air. He

wanted to get a featherbed to put on top of his own mattress like this one. This would

have been so comfortable during those painful cancer nights. Drake was sleeping in

one of the Watson's guest bedrooms because there was a special guest who was

going to be spending the day with his second mother. He put his hand across the other

pillow and was struck wide-awake when she wasn't there.

"Hey," Drake said in his best non-worried voice, "Where are you, Sweetie?"

"Under the bed!" came the little loud voice

Drake went down to the floor and lifted the bed skirt up, "What are you doing?"

"I lost my shoe!"

"Honey, get out from under there…I'll get your shoe."

"Okay, Uncle Drake! Do you need a broom?"

Jenny Nichols was three years old with a big mound of puffy, fluffy, curly, Little Orphan

Annie like hair. Physically she was like a little female Josh she was so cute. Thankfully,

other than her brains she didn't have many of her mother's anal-retentive qualities.

"No," he laughed as he stretched to reach for her small black velvet Mary Jane, "But do

you know what I do need, Jenny Penny?"

That was his nickname for his niece.

"What?"

"I need to give you your daily dose of hair noogies and tickles!"

With having a good but worried father like Josh and popsicle stick up her up butt mother

like Mindy, it was up to Drake to keep the laughter flowing. So his niece would grow up

normal without any more neuroses than she already would.

"U-Uncle D-Drake! T-that t-tickles!"

He loved hearing the sounds of her joy. It almost made him want to have a child, but that

wasn't going to happen since he was secretly able to get a vasectomy a year and a half

ago. Drake still hasn't been with anyone since Emme passed away, but he felt that it

was just a precaution he needed to take. Was he normal for waiting this long? He

wasn't quite sure; the only thing Drake was doing was following his natural instincts. And

bed hopping didn't interest him and neither did the prospect of finding a girl who wanted

a commitment. It felt like he would be cheating on her. No one talked to him about it. His

parents knew better, Mrs. Watson never brought it up, and Josh was probably scared

not to mention busy with his young family to stick his nose in Drake's problems

anymore. Sometimes he wished his brother from another mother would have pried a bit.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in." Drake said as he rubbed his niece's tummy. He could make her giggle

again quite easily. It was a delicious power.

Still though a sad thought came across him that he tried to hide not just to keep Jenny's

mood jubilant but Mrs. Watson as well. He'd never have children.

"Hi, Grandma Beverly!" She said as her uncle put helped her put her shoe back on.

It was only Mindy with her misguided faux wisdom that her daughter would be confused

over calling three women grandma. No one else minded. If Audrey was able to accept

Drake having two mothers then she didn't mind her first grandchild having three

especially if the woman was her best friend. Besides, you could never have too much

love.

"Don't you look pretty in your red velvet dress?"

"Thank you. I got dressed all by MYSELF!"

"And you did a fantastic job. Why don't you go downstairs for breakfast? I think there are

some cinnamon apple pancakes for you."

"Yummy! Are you coming, Uncle Drake?" There were times when she sounded like a

mini adult.

"I'll be downstairs soon."

"Okay, I'll make sure to save you some. Thank you, Grandma Beverly. Can I see Peanut

Butter Cup before we leave?"

"You're welcome, honey. Of course, you can feed him an apple." She didn't have to time

to hug the running toddler or to warn her about being careful about running down the

stairs.

"She's too cute." Drake said

"She's adorable. Drake, I know you haven't had the time to get dressed yet. But I'd like

to talk something over with you."

"Sure," he sat up in the bed, "What is it, Beverly?"

"I don't want to sound like I'm interfering and I know it's none of my business, really. You

only have one real mother to truly answer to and that probably drives you crazy at times."

"It's okay." He reassured

"Drake," Mrs. Watson walked back and forth it was easier than having to look him in the

eyes, "I know how much you love, Emme and the work you do to keep her memory…."

"We both do the work." He gently interrupted

"…And the work we do to keep her memory alive is wonderful. We're helping many

adolescents that are suffering from cancer. But I worry about you. It is not my intent to

badger you, but when was the last time you went out on a date?"

"There's no need to worry. I'm fine. I have lots of things to do that keep me busy and

fulfilled."

"I'm certainly not going to tell you how to live your life. But you are still so young. Your

whole life is ahead of you. Despite having a lousy husband, it was still difficult to file for

divorce three years ago, but I did. The only door I keep open is for Craig, but he's too

much like, Jack. He really is his father's materialistic and egocentric son."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be," She poured two glasses of water from the pitcher that Mrs. Simpson put on

the tray by the end table. "Drake, when I had my one relapse, it was over a happy

memory. The Wizard of Oz—after awhile memories have the habit of being blurred

together, this is difficult to say. I've grown to love you like my own son, better than my

own son…."

"You don't have to be afraid of talking to me, Beverly."

He took a healthy sip of water.

"I think you love Emme too much. You put her on a pedestal. You wrap her old mean

behavior as cute little anecdotes. She was human and she made mistakes, like we all

do. You—we have Emme Jessica's Place. You have your band, where all the proceeds

go back to the charity. And that's a very good thing and I love you for it. But Drake, you

need to start letting go before you start reaching for the bottle or some other addictive

behavior. Because one day you will wake up and lose the will to live."

Drake got out of the bed. He wasn't angry with Mrs. Watson. He was dumbfounded but

certainly not cross.

"But I LOVE HER."

"She's gone," Beverly started to cry herself, "And we both know she'd want you to move

on with your personal life."

Drake didn't know what to say other than to hug his second mother before he started the

sometimes daily and secret sobbing. Time was not erasing these wounds. They were

still there as if someone kept stabbing him in the heart with an ice pick. The pain was

fresh as if Emme passed away yesterday.

"Do I really put her on a pedestal? Even to the kids at the center?"

"Yes, Drake. And the kids need optimism I wouldn't worry about that."

He walked back to the bed and sat down putting his hand through his hair.

"I feel like I'd be cheating on her…."

"You wouldn't be."

"Before you take Jenny to the Crown Room for tea—I think we need to talk about adding

another level to Emme Jessica's Place."

"Such as?" She thought he was doing his changing the subject routine. "We need—for

some of these older kids that are in relationships that won't have happy endings---we

need to tell them---Hell, SOMEONE NEEDS TO TELL ME HOW TO MOVE ON."

He let his upper body fall back on the pillows.

Mrs. Watson pulled up the wooden chair that was next to the bed and sat next to him.

"You do wonderful work keeping Emme's memory alive and between the both of us we

make a success helping others. Do you doubt that you couldn't respect her memory and

find love at the same time?" She gently smoothed the bangs out of his eyes.

Drake thought for a while before responding back in a soft voice.

"I'm not going to purposely look for anyone. Love has to find me." He hoped that Mrs.

Watson wouldn't find that statement arrogant, because that's not how he meant it.

If it was meant to be, then he wanted The Fates to prove it to him.

"As only it can," She extended her hand to help him up, "Now you better go downstairs

and eat some pancakes before they get cold."

"Yes, Mom."

They shared another hug. Mrs. Watson's cell phone rang and left the room to talk in the

long corridor to take the call in private.

Drake looked in the mirror parting his bangs with his hand. Knowing that another

change was on the horizon. If being a teenager sucked, being an adult was no picnic

either.

Emme Jessica Watson was indeed gone and it was a long overdue time for Drake

Parker to open up his heart again to another. With the only condition he put upon it was

that love had to make its presence known to him.

"Uncle Drake," Jenny ran into the room, "Are you going to have breakfast?"

"You bet, kiddo," He took her little hand in his, "And Jenny Penny the last one downstairs

is a rotten egg."

Author's Note: Thanks to Allie for naming Josh and Mindy's daughter, Jenny. Not to

be confused with the Jenny Nichols I originally created in my Drake/Torey unfinished

trilogy. The latter was a passed away sibling. I might do the last two chapters

as a double shot so I can upload my next story.