(Season 5)
A/N: Lauwy requested this chapter. It is a sequel to chapter 142. I hope this is what you wanted.
I don't own Bones.
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Hank wasn't sure how well this was going to go, but his son had requested his help and he wanted to do the right thing. Edwin had already spoken to his oldest son and that had turned out the way both Hank and Edwin had expected. Seeley was in the hospital recovering from brain surgery and Edwin had chosen that moment to try to make amends for the past and the abuse he had meted out to his son. He had been rejected and Edwin had accepted it. He understood why his oldest son couldn't forgive him, after all, he'd tried to kill his son when Seeley was nine years old. The only reason why Seeley was still alive was because his father had stopped him.
To his shame and horror, when Edwin thought about that day it made him sick to think about how close he had come to committing murder. His father had saved both Seeley's life and his life that day.
He had struggled for years to stop drinking, but Edwin hadn't found a reason to quit. He no longer had a family because of his abusive behavior and his inability to quit drinking, so what was left to force him to quit? Perhaps the Fates had decided to have a last laugh. He was dying. He had liver cancer and he would probably be dead in a year or two. If he was lucky, he might make it to three, but it would be a hard battle and there would be no winner in the end. Just death.
Awake to what the future would bring, Edwin had quit drinking and joined AA. He hadn't joined in hopes of a miraculous cure, but because he wanted to die as the man he used to be before he had let alcohol destroy his life. Because his attempt to apologize to his oldest child had failed, he knew it was possible that his youngest son would reject him too. He had called Jared, but as soon as the boy had heard his voice he had hung up. Now he was sitting in his father's house, waiting for Jared to arrive. He had begged his father to help him to make amends and Hank had agreed to try. Now it was up to him.
Nervous about what was about to happen, Hank stood up when he heard the knock on the door and cleared his throat. "Just sit there Edwin. Whatever is going to happen is going to happen. Just accept whatever it is." At the door, Hank opened it and stepped outside, facing his youngest grandchild. "Jared, I asked you to come here as a favor. If you owe me anything then please don't leave when you see whose here. Just listen . . . please."
Suspicious, Jared's nostrils flared as he considered what his grandfather was asking him to do. "It's him isn't it?"
Slowly nodding his head, Hank waited to see how Jared would react.
"Seeley kicked his ass out of his hospital room." Furious that his grandfather was putting him on the spot, Jared considered leaving, but the look on Hank's face made him pause. "Why should I see him?"
"Because I asked you to." The old man wasn't sure what else to say.
Calmly, Jared stepped past Hank and entered the house to confront his father. Spying the man sitting on a chair near the couch, he moved over towards the couch but didn't sit down. "Seeley handing you your ass wasn't enough? . . . Yeah, I know about your visit. I went and saw him the day after you did and he told me all about it. How could you do that? He's sick. He had a brain tumor and he's in the hospital trying to recover from that. What gave you the right to go see him when he can't defend himself?"
"Defend himself?" Edwin shook his head. "Why would he need to defend himself? I didn't go there to hurt him. I wanted to apologize to him just like I want to apologize to you. What I did . . . when you were a kid, a child, what I did was terrible, horrible and I am so sorry."
"You're sorry." He knew that his father was dying and he was sure he didn't care. "You beat the hell out of Mom until she couldn't take it anymore and she ran away. You beat Seeley and me because you could. You don't think I don't remember when you broke Seeley's arm? When you knocked him unconscious? The times he hid me from you and took my beatings . . ." He sobbed. He hadn't meant to cry, but sometimes he didn't have control of his emotions. Waiting a few moments until he was calmer, he continued. "My beatings. He tried to protect me from you as much as he could and he paid the price . . . I remember you breaking my ribs once and I remember how Seeley took me to the next-door neighbor and told them that I fell and you weren't home and they took me to the doctor. . . The neighbors cared more about me than you did you sorry piece of shit."
Edwin let his son talk. He knew that Jared needed to say those words to him and he deserved everyone of them. He couldn't do anything about the past, but maybe he could give his child some closure, no matter how painful it was for both of them. "I was a drunk, Jared. I was in a hell of my own making and I didn't care about anyone or anything . . . I know that what I did was wrong and I can't undo what I did. All I can do is say I'm sorry and I hope that it gives you some kind of closure . . . I'm dying. I don't expect to see you or Seeley ever again, but I wanted you to know that you didn't deserve what happened. You weren't responsible for any of it. It was all me."
"You're damn right it was all you." Surprisingly, Jared didn't feel angry anymore. He wasn't sure what he was feeling at the moment and he didn't try to understand it. "Seeley was my father, just so you know that. He may have been five years older than me, but he was my father. He took care of me as much as he could. A nine year old boy trying to be a better man than you were . . . We were children . . . children." Shaking his head, Jared turned to face his grandfather. "Pops, you were my father too. This man was never my father. I love you and I did what you asked me to do. I'm going back to the hospital to check on Seeley. Do you want me to tell him anything for you?"
"Tell him I love him and I'll come see him on Saturday."
Moving over to the door, Jared paused before opening it. "I'm not mad at you, Pops. I love you."
Once Jared was gone, Edwin stood up. "My sons hate me, but I knew that . . . I hope that I gave them some closure. Everyone . . ." He sobbed. "Everyone needs closure."
Pulling his son into his embrace, Edwin hugged him. "I think you did the right thing, Edwin. I really do. You let them know that what happened wasn't their fault and even though their brain knows that their hearts needed to know that too." He held his son against his chest until Edwin stopped crying. "I'm still in your life, Son. You're not alone."
"Thanks Dad." Edwin still marveled that his father could still love him after all of the bad things he had done to his family. "Thank you and I want to apologize to you." He stepped out of his father's embrace. "I forced you to take my kids and raise them when you and Mom were getting ready to retire. Just a few more years and you and Mom had planned to travel and see some of the country, but . . . but I ruined that. You had to raise my kids and I am so sorry, Dad. I am so sorry."
He had expected the apology and he accepted it with grace. "I love those boys, Edwin. Your Mom loved them so much. It wasn't a burden to take care of them, I promise you. Marie and me, we loved having them in our lives. We wished that we hadn't had to take them like that, but it was for the best. It was for the best."
Edwin pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and dried his damp cheeks. "Thanks, Dad. Thank you for being the man I should have been. I just didn't have it in me and I'm sorry."
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