Chapter 70
The first goal was going to the apartment building Stephanie mentioned as they walked down the street, the Shield building coming into sight. Instantly, tears filled Abigail's eyes as she stopped to look at it, wondering if there was anything of Dean's inside and touched the stone around her neck. Why did he have to die? Why did they have to part on such horrible terms, only for him to announce he loved her in front of everyone on his deathbed?
"Abbie? What's wrong?"
Stephanie didn't know about Roman and Dean dying yet and Abigail didn't want to put a damper on the mood.
"You know eventually they'll be back, right?"
"No, they won't." Abigail wiped a tear away and turned to face Stephanie, fresh tears sliding down her cheeks. "Dean died, Stephanie. He…He died protecting me because Roman was going to out our plan to the DOV. He stopped him…and they beat him to death. We found them a few days into the journey there and…there was nothing we could do to save him. His last words were he loved me…and I did love him as a friend. I never even got a chance to say I was sorry for the horrible things I said to him and now he's gone."
Stephanie pulled Abigail into her arms, feeling her maternal instincts kicking in, and hugged her for a couple of minutes, trying to soothe her. "I'm sure he knew, even on his deathbed, how you felt and all was forgiven. I'm sorry he died, Abbie."
"Me too." Abigail took a deep breath to calm down and continue walking with Stephanie, looking back at the Shield building as an idea came to mind. "I told Mark I wanted to build a library here in Wonderful…and I think I found the perfect spot for it." It would be dedicated to Dean – The Ambrose Library.
"You know, Dean first came to Wonderful like… 7 years ago, I think it was…" Stephanie said quietly, linking her arm through Abigail's. "He was with Roman and Seth, and I remember Dean had this box with him, it was tiny. But it held comic books in them. Do you remember what those are? Like… little cartoons in tiny print boxes. He loved those, used to loan them to the boys down this way. I think a library here would be perfect." She would bet those comics, or some of them, that he hadn't given away, was still in there somewhere. "Do you want to go in for a few minutes?"
"I do, but…don't we have more important things to do?"
Stephanie shook her head, smiling softly. "We can spare a few minutes to go inside. There are more important things than everyday life, after all. Dean was your friend. Come on, we'll go see if he left any of those comic books behind."
Nodding, Abigail lead Stephanie inside the Shield building, inhaling the musty air. It was just as she remembered, and made her heart ache. Ascending the stairs, each step was a memory that filtered through her mind. His smile, his laugh, their time at the playground down the street from here, the swings, the merry-go-round, the ducks…before she knew it, they arrived at the door and Abigail opened it, not realizing she'd started crying again.
"H-His room is down here. Give me a minute please."
Stephanie nodded and Abigail went alone, taking a shaky breath before opening it and covered her mouth with her hand. There were boxes piled up against the wall, all of them marked 'Comics'. Dean didn't just have a few, he had a whole collection of them and left them behind when he disappeared from Wonderful.
"Dean…" She whispered, clutching the stone around her neck and slid her hand along the boxes, refusing to let them go to waste. "I swear to take care of these for you. This place will be a library dedicated to you and, every time someone looks at a comic book, they'll think of you. Your memory will live on and will never die, I won't break that promise to you."
"I don't know where the hell we're gonna store all this shit, man… even with as many people as Wonderful houses… we won't go through half of this stuff in years…"
"Well…" Taker had shed his shirt, dark red hair pulled back into a tight tail at the base of his neck. He was standing in the back of a trailer, tossing supplies to the next man, who would toss it to the next, and so on so forth. "Not the toilet paper…" It was good to be home.
"Yeah no, never have enough shitter paper."
It was a long day full of getting the women settled in Wonderful, finding places for them to stay with their children, feeding everyone, as well as dealing with whatever injuries came in the medical wing. Abigail was dead on her feet by the time she trudged up to the tower, kicking her shoes off, and collapsed on the bed face first, closing her eyes. While she and Stephanie watched Anthony for a little while, John and a few of his friends had gone to the Shield building to clear out all the comic books and brought them to a storage unit within Wonderful. They would be safe until the library could be opened, which was something she had to talk to Mark about. Maybe not tonight, she was exhausted and felt as if the energy had been sucked out of her.
"I'm telling you, we're going to be filled to capacity… I guess it's a good thing we've all been working on restoring buildings while you guys were gone, all that stuff…" Amy said, following Taker up the tower stairs. He carried a tray of food since he hadn't stopped to eat the nightly meal, and she was bringing up stuff for Abigail. "Jeff said if she's up for it, he'll see her in the morning for a – um… well, you know, pregnancy stuff."
"He's seen more vagina than any other man I know…"
"I know, right?"
"That man is NOT seeing my vagina." Abigail muttered, having turned her head in order to acknowledge them, and continued lying on the bed. The smell of food made her stomach rumble, she'd only thrown up a handful of times today. Stephanie assured her it was normal for it to taper off, but not to be surprised if it sprung up again violently like before. "I'm sorry, but I'm not comfortable with another man seeing my lower region, Taker." She managed to push herself to sit up on the bed and cracked her neck, groaning as the sound resonated around the tower. "Hey Red, how are you feeling?"
"Morning sickness is a bitch, congrats by the way."
"Tell me about it."
"For the record, Abbie, we don't have midwives, or um… anyone experienced in doing that kind of exams outside of Jeff. I mean, we used to, a woman, but she died. She's the one who taught Jeff what obstetrics he knows. Taker gets the fun part."
"Delivering babies is not fun."
"And you think being the guy jellying up bellies, doing the measuring and… yeah, okay. So ask him to switch jobs. Oh, hey, Matt said you were having bad morning sickness. Jeff sent up some shit for that too, not that over-the-counter crap Matt probably gave you for motion sickness."
"Do I really need to be checked out or…" She trailed off when Mark shot her a LOOK that clearly said yes and swallowed the rest of that question. "Well looks like Jeffrey and I will be getting very awkward over the next several months." Abigail and Amy laughed; she couldn't imagine what it was like being with Matt, who was Jeff's brother, and said brother was the only one who could check her out to make sure the baby was growing correctly and whatnot.
"How the hell do you think I feel, okay? You think I like the fact my man's brother has to see my vajay-jay?"
Taker snorted the water he'd been drinking and cursed, making both women laugh harder.
"Oops?"
"Don't choke to death, Hope and I need you, big man."
"Aww you know it's a girl already? How is that possible?"
"I just have a feeling and, if it is a girl, we're naming her Hope."
"Oh my god, I hate you, what a great name!"
Abigail beamed brightly, taking the tray of food from Mark before he wound up dropping it. "Thanks."
He had to sit down, shaking his head. Their first day back had been eventful to say the least. Now there was a fleet of semis outside of Wonderful's wall and he had already heard Steve say something about using them to travel Vesperia looking for other people, other settlements, on top of bringing back more supplies, more equipment, more stuff to build. His mind was spinning already.
"You eat yet, darlin'?"
"Mm, crackers and ginger ale." She pointed at the stuff. Matt had said that was about all Abigail had been able to keep down.
"Not really. I know it's bad not to eat, but Stephanie told me it's normal with morning sickness. I did try eating some fruit earlier though and I kept it down." Abigail sighed, wishing the baby would settle down enough for her to be able to eat a regular meal. The second trimester would be much better, according to Stephanie, and then the third would be when all the aches, pains, especially in the joints, came, which she wasn't looking forward to. "I'll try to eat something more than crackers, ginger ale, and water." She plucked the banana off the tray and unpeeled it, beginning to nibble to test the waters.
"I'll leave you to it then and I'll let Jeff know about you needing to be checked out tomorrow."
"Thanks, Amy." They hugged each other and Mark patted the redhead's head before she ventured back out of the tower. "You look as tired as I feel."
"I am. They're already planning a big celebration for tomorrow. Apparently, some hogs were just butchered, so a barbecue is on the menu."
There was quite a bit to celebrate and he knew it. People were already discussing the future, what next for Wonderful, and his head had been spinning all day. Taker was eyeballing the food and finally began to eat, watching as she picked at the tray.
"What'd you do today, darlin'?"
"Mmm, a barbeque sounds good, actually." Abigail didn't know how he'd react to what she had in mind for the new library, but hopefully, he would agree to it. "Stephanie and I went to the apartment building she was talking about, and on the way there, we passed by…the Shield building where Dean lived. Stephanie told me about the comic books he used to hand out to the kids down the street from him and…she convinced me to go see if he left the comic books behind. I told her about my idea to open up a new library here in Wonderful and she said the comic books would be a great addition to it. There were so many boxes, Mark and they were all filled with comic books. So, I want to turn the Shield building into the new library…and I want to dedicate it in memory of Dean. The Ambrose Library." She looked up at him, trying to gauge his reaction. "What do you think?"
"If that's what you want, darlin', I think it's a fine idea." Ambrose Library… that man was definitely more likable in death, not that he would ever voice his thoughts aloud. Dean had done the honorable thing, in the end, and died for it. "As soon as things settle down, I'll send trailers to empty the nearest libraries, we'll see what can be salvaged." He picked up a bottle and placed it before her. "Protein shake." Because there was no way she was eating all the nutrients she needed and prenatals only went so far if she was throwing them up.
"I'll probably throw this up," Abigail warned, sighing when he twirled his finger to get her to drink it anyway and took a sip of it, raising a brow at the taste. "This isn't too bad." She took another drink and then a nibble of crackers, knowing she'd have to work her way back up with her appetite. Looking up at him, Abigail could see how much more relaxed he was now that they were back home. "You really don't mind naming the library after Dean? I know you have mixed feelings about him and…I don't want you to be uncomfortable, but I really feel like it's the right thing to do."
"So do it, and with my blessing." This time, that just sort of went unsaid. "I didn't like Ambrose. He was dangerous, and a rebel, and he took quite a bit of delight in pulling my strings… but he did care for people." In his own way. "And he did have a fondness for children. I think a library is… a good way to honor him." He attributed the fondness for children due to the fact that Ambrose had never really grown up himself.
Grinning, she set her protein shake aside and turned his head with her hand to softly kiss him, after making sure he swallowed the bite of food he'd taken. "Thank you." She hugged him around the neck briefly, kissing the side of it, and pulled back to let him finish eating, wanting more color in his cheeks and eyes. "He was one big kid anyway, so I know he's probably getting a kick out of the fact we're naming a library after him." Leaning back against the headboard, she continued sipping the protein shake and rubbed her flat stomach. It was a soothing technique she'd started doing while in the truck and it helped Abigail eat without feeling nauseous, in a weird way. "What did you do today?"
"Helped unload the trailers, darlin', and there's still more to do tomorrow." They had taken hundreds of men to war and Wyatt had stockpiles of items to last thousands of people for years. They were definitely set for a good long time. "And then there's still sorting out what's what, sending it where it needs to go…" So many things to be done, but it wasn't a bad thing.
Having work, that wasn't bloody, was a good distraction from everything they had all just gone through.
"We just have to take one day at a time and everything will get done." She finished the protein shake and took a couple of bites from the tray Mark handed her, all fruit and a few vegetables. "I'm gonna go get a shower, I can't eat another bite." Kissing his cheek, she slid from the bed and pulled her top off along with her shorts, her shoes and socks already gone. "When you're finished, join me if you want."
Winking over her shoulder, Abigail padded into the bathroom to start the shower and slid out of her undergarments, tossing them in the nearby hamper. It was full, so she would be doing laundry tomorrow for sure. A minute later, she was under the warm sprays and sighed at the cleansing.
He finished eating and then cleared the table, yawning as he stood up to peel off his top. It was definitely good to be home and his eyes landed on his bed, their bed. "Oh thank Christ…"
When Mark didn't join her, Abigail felt a little rejected and tried not to let it bother her, figuring he was still exhausted in all ways from the trip that'd taken and all that happened. Abigail sighed, feeling her stomach rumble, and suddenly jumped out of the shower to empty the contents of it, dropping to her knees clutching the porcelain bowl. Just as she suspected, the protein shake, fruit and vegetables did not set well with Hope. This baby was very fickle and she just hoped once her second trimester came, everything would be a lot better.
