Together
As soon as Jackson walks in, he notices Catherine and April sitting on the floor, holding on to each other.
Normally he would wonder what they were doing on the floor, with a chair tipped over not far from them, but when he considers how he and April also sat on the hospital floor just yesterday. Jackson doesn't even bother as he understands.
He kneels on the floor, watching the kids hug her from her other side, making April barely visible. Seeing him sitting alone and watching them. Harriet calls him and says, "Come on, daddy, hug mommy too."
Jackson looks at Catherine and hesitates. April notices and looks at Catherine, who tenses next to her.
He starts to shake his head, also considering how it may make April uncomfortable, when Ruby comes and takes Jackson by the hand, walking him to her.
"Family hug!" Harriet shouts, and they all hold onto April together, with Jackson more hesitant than the others.
Not long after, Catherine moves away and quietly retreats to her bedroom.
"Can we call daddy Matthew, and he can hug us through the screen too."
Harriet asks, excited about seeing him again.
Jackson tries to let go of April, but she holds him back, looks up at him, and shakes her head. Knowing they need a united front after considering what Catherine said.
April knows if Jackson gets up. He will sit somewhere outside the family and only take over when needed. Always a separate hand. Always on standby for anything but never within the family.
She realizes she needs to have someone help her hold on to the kids and help her tell them the news.
"You can let go of my arm, but don't move away. Help me to tell them the news from down here, please?" She pleads in a low voice.
Looking at her, Jackson decides not to move his arm, sensing she needs the physical support when he hears the pleading in her voice and sees fear in her eyes.
While they all hold on to each other with the kids stuffed between April and Jackson, they try to explain to Ruby and Harriet that Matthew is gone.
For a long time, they don't get it, breaking Aprils' heart when they keep asking why he can't come back from wherever he has gone to and they only finally get it when Jackson says, "he is in heaven forever, just like your brother Samuel."
"Like brother?" Harriet asks.
"Yes, like him." He answers.
"Mommy and grandpa too?" Ruby asks.
"Yes, all of them are together," April says.
Ruby gives this some thought and, out of her young mind, asks another question. "Can I fisit?" her v sounding like and f
"I don't know?" Jackson answers, looking to April for help.
"Don't worry, Ruby and I will try to visit, just like daddy visited him every day. You don't have to be sad anymore. I know he's happy there." Harriet says, wiping tears April didn't know she had.
April doesn't know what to say to this and leaves it for another day.
Instead, Jackson and April each hold them in their arms, and when the kids refuse to choose whom to hold onto, they end up in a bundle of bodies refusing to let go.
Both Jackson and April worry that they don't quite understand.
But they do, they know that people don't come back from heaven. They just refuse to let go of the possibility of them going for a visit.
And while Jackson and April are holding them, they all end up sleeping in a tangle of human limbs.
Seeing this later when Catherine comes to get some milk, thinking they had left.
She stands there and watches them sleep as a family for a while.
Taking them all in, she realizes they are and have always been a family because of her actions.
She lays the blanket over them and calls Richard to let him know not to use the back door as she doesn't want them disturbed.
Grateful, they are all safe, and together, she makes a mental note to redecorate a bedroom, paint it baby blue full of heavenly clouds and order a large, wooden R for Ruby's wall.
