"I'm glad to inform you that we managed to save your father, but I am very sorry we couldn't save Marion." he said before walking back down the hall. London lost all feeling in her legs and felt them buckle beneath her. On the ground, her knees were still throbbing from the fall, but that didn't matter, she let out a scream of anguish. Tears flowed down her face simultaneously.
That was the worse news she had ever been given. Yes, her father lived, but he wasn't her true father. He wasn't the man that was in her life every minute of everyday until she moved out on her own. He wasn't the man who was on call if she needed someone. He wasn't her father.
Biologically speaking, yes he was, but he was far from a father to her. Moseby died. He was her father. He was everything to her, with the exception of Cody, his family, and Maddie. He was her father from the time she was born until now. She felt her entire world close in around her and everything went dark, the only sounds she heard seemed to be far away. Everyone seemed far away.
How was she suppose to go on without Moseby? How was she suppose to be happy with Cody as his wife, now? She was going to say yes a million times over, but how was she suppose to do that now? When she was having dinner with the love of her life, Moseby was struggling to live, which made no difference now. His struggles weren't worth it. A few more moments? A few more moments of pain and anguish. He didn't get to see anyone to say he loved them. He only had a few more moments of pain. Pain that led to only death. Death was the inevitable for him.
London just wished that his struggling would have mattered. It would have if she had been able to say good bye, or even if he could have said good bye. She wished he knew how much she really did love him…her father. Not the man in that room who was still breathing. He didn't deserve that love. He had never been there. Never. Once, but that shouldn't have counted. Her sixteenth birthday. He was there, yet, she never got to see him. His guards swarmed him like bees to honey. That would not and could not count as being there for his daughter.
Moseby was there to teach her how to ride a bike. He was there when she was sick. He was at the father/daughter dance. He was there when she graduated from Parochial school. How desperately she wanted him to be there when she got married. She imagined it time after time and every time he was there to give her away. Only recently had she seen the groom and it was Cody. He was the man she was going to marry and Moseby had always been the man to give her away. She always knew that he would be there giving her away, but now it wasn't even an option. Just like that, Moseby was gone.
Cody bent down and touched her shoulder gently, trying to help her the only way he knew how. The only reply from her were intensified sobs. Zack and Maddie were both crying, too, and watching London with pure terror. They didn't know what to do. They had never seen her like that.
Zack was the first to do something. He slightly moved an unmoving, Cody, who was useless right now, and lifted London up. It, of course, wasn't noticed by her, or at least she didn't show that it was. Maddie helped Cody up and together they followed Zack out of the hospital. Zack was being a good brother and an even greater friend, the only problem was he didn't know what to do. He hadn't meant to step up, it was just something that seeped out of him on its own free will.
That night, Zack stayed with Liam and Maddie, while Cody stayed with London. The reason Zack chose to stay away from his dorm was because he wanted to be close by to Cody and London if they needed anything. There he lay on the floor beside the couch, where Liam slept. "You know…I hate you, but you really are a good brother and friend." Liam said through the darkness. Zack was shocked, that was almost nice. If Liam wasn't such a monster he'd think he was trying to compliment him. "Yeah and for a booger, you're a good brother too. I saw how you comforted Maddie after we got back." he replied. An understanding swept through the room. The understanding that this was a one time deal. A truce for the time being and oddly, Zack was okay with that.
The next morning Zack was awaken by a bang. "What the hell?" he yelled as he leapt up from the floor. He looked over to the couch, Liam wasn't there. Suddenly fear washed over him. He smelled smoke and wondered where it was coming from but then heard a clear, "Shit!" and he knew that nothing was wrong. Well with the exception of the kitchen almost being burnt down. He ran to the kitchen in time to see Liam hovering over the stove with a frying pan and a burnt towel in his hands and dare he think it, a burnt pancake stuck on the ceiling.
"What the hell are you doing booger?" Zack asked.
"I was trying to make blueberry pancakes for everyone. So everyone would feel a little better, but then the damn thing started smoking. And I tried to flip it over but I couldn't find the spatula so I flipped the pan and well…you can see what happened. I tried to get it down with this towel and it flew out of my hand and hit the stove and then it started smoking. So I got the pan and took the towel off the burner, but burnt myself in the process." he tried to explain, but he was out of breath and it came out choppy.
"Why didn't you just turn the stove off?" Zack asked, crossing the room and switching off the stove. Liam hit his forehead with his palm. "Damn!" he said and caused Zack to laugh. "We better get this cleaned up before your sister gets up." Zack said. "Too late." a voice came from behind them. They both stiffened when they heard the voice.
"Hey…Maddie." Liam said as he turned on the innocent smile. Zack did the same. She rolled her eyes. "Liam, clean it up…Zack come with me." she said and they both did as they were told. Zack and Maddie made their way into the living room and Maddie turned on her heel to kiss him. "What was that for?" he asked. "You trying to help my brother out. I know you two don't get along and I don't get along with him either, but it meant a lot to me that you would help him." she said with an evident smile. He too smiled and enveloped her in another kiss.
Zack and Maddie knew that this wasn't a happy moment. One of their favorite people in the entire world had just died, but they desperately needed this. This moment of pure bliss. They needed each other. Just like London needed Cody right now. Right now there was no Owen, there was no stripper, there wasn't anything, but Zack and Maddie, Maddie and Zack…just the two of them. And they desperately needed that.
Meanwhile in London's apartment, London was still sobbing, but now it was a little softer. Cody had no idea what to do. He was thankful for his brother helping out last night, but he wished he would have been able to do something, not Zack. He was her boyfriend and was suppose to be there for her, but he was too stunned to do anything at all.
He sat on the couch, listening to her cries from the bedroom. He wanted to go in there. He wanted to do something…anything. But that was not so. He wouldn't know what to do if he went in there. He would probably lose all control and start sobbing himself. That couldn't be. He had to be strong. For the both of them.
A few more minutes, he was still sitting there. The pressure was building in him. He had to do something. So he did the only thing he could, he walked to the door. He gently opened the door and walked in quietly. He made his way to the bed where she was laying face down and sat beside her. Her sobs didn't stop. He gently placed his hand on the small of her back and did a circular massaging motion to calm her some. It seemed to only say he was there. She sat up and pulled him into a hug, crying into his chest.
"I love you…" she said in between sobs. He replied with the same, still making circular motions on the small of her back. "I know this isn't the best time…but do you want to go see your father?" he asked and she immediately looked up at him. "And what makes that man my father!" she yelled outraged, wiping the tears away from her eyes furiously.
"Look I know you're upset-" he was interrupted by London jumping off of the bed. "Yeah I'm upset! I have a right to be! That man isn't my father! Marion Moseby was my father! You think that a gift a day makes a father? No! I don't! The most I see of him is his handwriting! Which isn't even his handwriting by the way! It's a stamp! He uses it for business; I guess that's exactly what I am! Business! Moseby was there for me when I needed him where was dear old daddy? I couldn't tell you! Because I never got one post card! I was stuck at the hotel ALL the time, while he went country to country doing God knows what!" she finished, outraged.
Cody was taken aback. He knew that she felt some resent towards her father, but what he was hearing was more than resent. It seemed like hate, but he knew she didn't hate him. "When we were kids you use to make it sound like it was perfect having a rich father." Cody said calmly. "The gifts were what I liked. Not having my dad gone all the time. I hid my anger and my resentment and I hid behind my gifts. Didn't Maddie ever tell you guys that I mostly shop out of depression!" she replied a little more calmly than the last outburst.
"London, I know you feel resentment towards him…but he is your father. Maybe this is your chance to tell him how you feel, without him running off to Paris or Madrid! Maybe this is your chance to ask him why he was gone all of the time. Maybe its his chance to be a father." he replied before getting off the bed and walking over to her.
He enveloped her into a hug and she hugged back with amazing strength. "I love you, London." Cody said again. "I love you, too." she replied before crying into his chest once again.
Later that day, London went to the hospital alone. Without Maddie, without Zack, and without Cody. She had two stops to make. One was to her father, but the other to Moseby's mother, who she never met. She only knew that she was in the hospital. Has been for a good five years. The first stop would be to his mother, because she was in no hurry to see her father. Not that she was in a hurry to see Moseby's mother, because she definitely wasn't.
She walked to the room she was directed to by the receptionist. She saw the elderly woman lying awake in her bed. "Can I help you, darling?" the woman asked. "Oh…I'm London-" she was interrupted by the elderly woman. "Tipton. I've heard so much about you from Marion. Come in child and have a seat." she said and London did just that.
"I'm sorry for your loss." London said, but the lady laughed. "Child, you lost the same. Maybe more. He sure did love you as if you were his own. Showed me pictures of you every time he was here." she said with a slight smile. "He was a great man. Like the father I never had." London said and the lady nodded. "Marion still is a great man. He lives on in each of us. His life may be just a memory now…but it's a memory that we are all going to remember. He may have never showed it, but he loved you. I know how that boy was. Never showed anyone what he felt unless it was necessary, and speaking of which I would much like to meet the Zack and Cody he was so fond of. That boy talked about those boys almost as much as he talked about you. I know how he acted towards them, though. He told me as much, but he didn't see anything wrong with it. He was so fond of you all. You probably the most. You were like the daughter he never had, when Zack and Cody were like nephews. He even had a soft spot for a Madeline. His employee if I'm not mistaken. That boy always wanted children. Though, he'd never admit it to anyone but me. You four children helped him with that, and I am so thankful for you all." she explained.
London smiled as she remembered the times that were so precious. Even the times he was yelling at Zack and Cody. This woman was wise, London thought. She had faith in everything good, and she believed something good could come out of something bad. Her son was dead and she could still smile at the memories. Those memories weren't enough for London, but they were at least something. She was glad she came to see the lady. Maybe she could face her father after all.
Review! Next chapter will be called, "What Are You Hiding?"
