Chapter 5: Accepting Reality
It has been three days since the disastrous Bagge family reunion. Since finding out the news of her father's death, Rebecca has kept herself in her room and hadn't come out nor spoken to her grandparents or anyone since that ill-fated day.
And all it has done was cause the entire household to worry for the teenager's well-being. Well, mostly everyone. Although he could now admit that the timing of his comments was rather inappropriate, Eustace still stood his ground for his beliefs against Mark. All of the choices he had made up to this point have now not only cost him his life but left his daughter without both of her parents.
Muriel and Courage on the other hand felt terrible for the teenager. At that point, they could only imagine what kind of pain she was going through.
Later in the afternoon, Eustace, and Courage were sitting at the dining table while Muriel was cooking something over the stove. Finishing up their lunch and thinking about what transpired three days prior.
Once Eustace finished his food, the elderly man got up and said with his traditional frown,
"Bah! I'm gonna go fix my truck!"
With that, he left the house while slamming the door shut behind him.
With Muriel and Courage being left alone, the elderly woman asked the pink beagle while handing him a plate of spaghetti,
"Courage? Would you be a dear and bring Becky her lunch? You know how hard this has all been for her."
With an understanding sigh, Courage nodded and began walking up the stairs to Rebecca's room. Once he made it into the room, he saw Rebecca lying motionless on her bed as she stared up at the ceiling in silence. The same way she had been for the past three days.
Going towards her desk, Courage set the plate of spaghetti down as he took the other plate of food that had been a day old and untouched. Looking back at the teenager as she remained in her same physical and emotional state, Courage shook his head and sighed sadly as he prepared to leave the room.
That was until he heard Rebecca say,
"Three days."
Courage turned to her and asked in confusion, "Huh?"
Rebecca elaborated as she kept her gaze up towards the ceiling,
"It's been three days, and yet I still don't know how to feel. When my mother died, I couldn't stop crying for weeks. All I could feel was pain and misery. And yet, I just found out that my father died and I haven't even cried or shed a tear once. I'm not even angry, even if I should be. After all of the times he shrugged me off for his next fix, or even lash out or beat me when I tried to hide his pills, or whatever else he brought into our apartment... I knew I couldn't be angry, because it wasn't him. He wasn't always like this. There was no way that he would've acted like this if he was sane or if mom was still around... So that gave me a little bit of comfort. But the one thing that really hurt me was the fact that I couldn't even recall the last time he told me he loved me. Or even tried to show it."
Shocked by what she was saying, Courage came closer to Rebecca as the teenager went on to say,
"You know, there were so many times when we were still living in the apartment, and I thought he was gonna overdose. The first few times I was afraid for him, but after a while, I just stopped. It just became my new normal. I didn't think that it would hurt anymore if he just overdosed one day and never woke up. Sure, when he got arrested and I ended up moving here, I was concerned for him. But now that he's gone, I've just gone back to feeling nothing."
Turning to the pink beagle, Rebecca expressed,
"I don't know if it's because I stopped loving him, if it's because reality hasn't hit me yet, or if I'm relieved that he's gone, I don't know… I just don't know what to think anymore Courage. I don't even know why or how my life has gotten to this, or how to feel about it."
Thinking about what the teenager had just said, Courage ran out of the room with Rebecca watching on. One moment later, Courage came back into the room and handed a giant book to the teenager that said, The Bagge Family Album.
Looking down at it, Rebecca said, "Huh… I didn't even know we had a family album."
Opening up the album, Rebecca looked through the pages to see various pictures of herself, her mother, and grandparents spending quality time together. Flipping to one page, Rebecca said as she spotted a picture of her and the family celebrating her fifth birthday,
"Wow! This was when Mom and I came over to celebrate my fifth birthday!"
Flipping through another page, Courage sat down beside the teenager as she came across a Christmas photo. Everyone was gathered around the tree with a seven-year-old Rebecca sitting in the center while her father was falling off of a ladder in a failed attempt of putting the star on top of the tree!
"Oh! I remember this one! This was that one Christmas when Dad decided to join us. Ha! Ha! I remember Grandpa and I laughed so hard when Dad fell off the ladder while trying to put the star on top! We couldn't stop laughing for ten minutes straight!"
Courage laughed with Rebecca as the teenager turned over to the next page that showed a picture of a nine year old Rebecca and the rest of the Bagge family celebrating her mother's birthday, saying,
"Hey! This was the last birthday celebration we had for my Mom! That was the last time we really got together as a family. There was no fighting, no drama… It was all so nice."
The two continued to look through the pictures of that day, of Emily blowing out her birthday candles with the entire family surrounding her, a picture of Emily and Rebecca riding horses together, and one picture of the mother and daughter holding each other happily while Mark stood beside them, wrapping his arm around Emily contently in a nice family photo between them.
Touched by the family, Courage sighed sweetly at Rebecca's family being together in that one moment. That was until he heard a sniffle and saw a drop of water hit the family photo.
Courage asked with concern, "Huh?"
And the little pink dog looked up to see Rebecca crying as tears streamed down her face. Courage looked at the teenager with sadness as Rebecca clutched the family album, saying through her sobs,
"F-First my Mom… A-And now my Dad! I don't get w-why any of this had to happen! I-I just want them back! All I wanted was my family back!"
And Rebecca covered her face as she continued to cry.
Courage's heart broke as he saw the teenager break down like this. Knowing all too well what it's like to lose both parents, he could really relate to what Rebecca was going through. Doing the only thing he knew was right, Courage came closer as he comfortingly wrapped his arms around the teenager. Holding her tight as Rebecca began to mourn both of her parents for the first time.
After a few minutes of the teenager sobbing, she soon heard a strange voice say,
"There, there, Rebecca… It'll be okay."
With a sniffle, Rebecca asked as she looked around for the mysterious voice,
"W-Who said that?"
Tapping her on the arm, Courage said nervously as the teenager looked down at him,
"Look down, kid."
Seeing the pink beagle talk to her, Rebecca gasped and jumped back in alarm as she asked,
"Courage? D-Did you just talk?!"
Courage replied, "Uh-Huh!"
Rebecca said in shock, "Woah! I-I mean! I know I've seen you talk before… But then I thought it was all just in my head."
"Courage shook his head and explained,
"No! No! I've always been able to talk. You've just never been able to understand me whenever I get scared or anxious… Though I'm actually surprised that you could understand me at all! I never could get the farmer or Muriel to listen to me."
Still shocked by what she was seeing Rebecca said,
"Wow! First the shape-shifting, then the yo-yo tricks, and now this?... You are an amazing, one of a kind dog!"
Courage replied, "Gee, thanks! But getting back to what I was trying to say before… Becky, I know how hard everything is now. I understand what you're going through."
Shaking her head, Rebecca said as tears began to fill her eyes once more,
"No, you don't… I'm sorry, Courage. But nobody can truly understand what I'm going through. Nobody understands what it's like to lose one parent in an instant and then to watch another one crumble before your eyes… And not be able to do a thing about it! Nobody gets that, Courage!... No one…"
Courage replied sadly, "I do."
Rebecca looked to him with confusion as the pink beagle went on to explain,
"Rebecca, I also lost my parents when I was little. And what happened to them… I-It's a really long story. But I remember what it was like to watch them being taken away from me. And how scared, sad and heartbroken I felt at the thought of never seeing them again. But most of all, I felt lonely… Because I thought there was no one else that would ever love me like they did. That was until Muriel came and took me in."
Listening to the small dog, Rebecca began to say with regret,
"Wow… So you really do know what it feels like. Courage, I am so, so sorry! I shouldn't have been that insensitive-"
Courage interrupted, "No! No! It's okay… You didn't know. But Becky, I know how hard it is to live with the fact that your parents are gone. And I know that pain will never truly go away. But one thing that I learned when I came into your grandparents' lives was to accept the things that I do have in life."
With a sniffle, Rebecca asked, "What do you mean?"
Courage explained, "Sure, your mom and dad may no longer be here. But it doesn't mean that you're entirely alone… Think about it, kid. You have a whole family that loves you. You have a really sweet and loving grandmother in Muriel. And a grandfather in Eustace… That's always there. And you've even got a great-grandmother and freaky cousin to come by and show you support."
Rebecca scoffed and said, "Well, I don't know about grandpa! He really didn't seem all that happy when I first came here nor at the family reunion."
Courage shrugged his shoulders and replied while doing a spot on impression of Eustace, with Rebecca covering her mouth to try to hide her giggling,
"Eh! What can you expect from Eustace? This is the same farmer that goes around saying stuff like, 'Bah! You stupid dog!,' 'Blah! Blah! Blah!,' 'Muriel, where's my dinner!' 'What's yer offer?!' 'Muriel! HUNGRY!"
Unable to contain it any longer, Rebecca busted out laughing at the hilarious impression of her grandfather that Courage was doing. With the pink beagle joining her, the two laughed for what seemed to be forever, but what was really only a few minutes.
As the two's laughter started to settle down, Muriel came into the room and smiled at the sight of her granddaughter's joyful expression returning to her face. With a happy sigh, Muriel said,
"Ah! I'm glad to see that you two are getting along, and to see that beautiful smile on my darling Becky's face once more!"
Finally finished with her laughter, Rebecca greeted her grandmother,
"Hi, Grandma!"
Muriel asked, "Hello, Dear. What are you and Courage up to?"
Rebecca said as she looked to the beagle,
"Oh, Courage was just helping me to cheer up a little."
Happy to hear that her dog was trying to help cheer her granddaughter up, Muriel said as she ruffled the top of Courage's head,
"Aw! Such a good boy to help my darling Becky smile again!"
Rebecca asked, "What about you, Grandma? What are you up to?"
Muriel said, "I just came to check up on you, Dear… It's been three days since you've come out of your room or eaten, and I was starting to get a little worried for you. I know these past few days couldn't have been easy for you with your father and all."
Rebecca nodded and replied, "It wasn't. It was hard enough to accept the fact that my mother is gone, but now that my father's gone too… It just makes me feel sad and even lonelier to think that I'll never see them again."
Listening to the teenager, Muriel placed a comforting arm around Rebecca as she said,
"Oh come now, Becky. You know that isn't true. Someday you'll be reunited with your parents in the big farm house in the sky. But until then, you have me, you have Courage, and you have your grandfather. Trust me, we all love you very much Becky. And if there's anything you ever need, just know that I'll always be there to support you."
With a smile of her own, Rebecca said as she wrapped her arms around her grandmother in a loving embrace,
"Thanks Grandma. I know it'll take some time, but I'm glad that I'm not alone in it this time."
Muriel said reassuringly, "Oh, you'll never be alone with us Becky. That's what a family is for."
Rebecca nodded in understanding as Muriel stood up and said while taking her granddaughter's plate of cold spaghetti,
"Well, I think I'll just take your plate and heat it up for you, and you can come downstairs to eat. And once you're finished, you and Courage can help me whip up another batch of my Scottish dream cookies!"
With both the teenager and dog excited, Rebecca said,
"Ooh! That sounds like fun! I'd love to do that with you and Courage."
Muriel replied happily, "Wonderful Dear! I'll just take your plate downstairs to heat it up and once you're finished eating, we can get started."
Rebecca said, "That sounds good, Grandma! I'll be down in just a minute."
Muriel nodded as she walked out of the room, leaving Rebecca alone with Courage once more.
Reflecting on her sudden change in mood, Rebecca said,
"Wow! That was a first."
Courage looked to her with a raised brow and asked in confusion,
"Hmm?"
The teenager explained, "The first time that I actually felt… Happy. I haven't been able to feel excited, or even smile or laugh like that since… I can't even remember when."
Courage smiled at her and said, "Well, I'm glad I was able to help you out a little."
With a sweet smile, Rebecca said as she came to hug the pink beagle,
"Thank you, Courage… Grandma's really lucky to have such a great dog like you."
After returning her hug, Courage said, "Listen, you're family now. And anyone that is a part of Muriel's family is a part of my family too… And besides, you still gotta show off all of your cool yo-yo tricks too!"
Rebecca giggled and said, "I'll be sure to do that soon! Now, come on! Let's get downstairs so I can eat lunch and so we can make those Scottish dream cookies!"
Courage cheered with joy, "Yes!"
And with that, the two walked out of the room hand in hand as a nice friendship began to form between the two.
