Chapter 8

Jarrod stared out at the rising sun, the stunning colors blurred by the tears flooding his eyes. He'd woke up this morning and gone through his morning routine, but one thing had been missing…the bright face of his sister greeting him with a hug and kiss, dressed and ready to ride.

Today was Audra's birthday and as long as she'd been old enough for him to take out on his own, he had taken her to watch the sunrise and told her the story of how she'd been in such a hurry to join the family, he'd nearly broke his neck in his ride to town in the dark. As the sky slowly lightened on that day, the doctor had fought a fight against death to keep Audra with them. Just as the sun peaked over the horizon, a lusty cry had filled the house signaling that life had won out.

Now…now death had finally claimed that sparkling personality that the doctor had cheated it out of all those years ago.

Looking at the velvet box he held in his hand, he thought about how bright Audra's smile would have been when she opened it to discover the necklace she'd seen the last time she'd visited him in San Francisco. He always got some small thing to give to her as they watched the sunrise and this one he'd had for months, buying it shortly after she'd returned to Stockton from her visit so that he could make sure no one else had the chance to buy it before he did.

Thinking once again on how this morning should have been, he could hear her laughter as Nick did his part, starting the tradition he had with their sister by scooping her up and swirling her about as he sang, Listen to the Mockingbird, at the top of his lungs. None of them had ever understood the choice of song, though he suspected it was some joke between the brother and sister. Victoria would eventually come out with her hands over her ears and shake her head at the cacophony even as a smile played about her lips at her children's silliness.

He knew that Victoria's own tradition had been to go and sit beside Audra and watch her sleep a few minutes before waking her to get ready for her ride with her brother.

None of them even knew if Eugene had a birthday tradition with his sister or not, the younger brother having always been the more quiet of the bunch of them.

Heath had come along so late that he and Audra hadn't really had a chance for starting any traditions, though he had taken over the first dance with Audra at her parties.

Swiping at his eyes with his handkerchief, Jarrod got up and walked to where he'd tethered Jingo. Patting the faithful horse's head, Jarrod reached into his pocket and pulled out a bit of carrot he'd secreted from the kitchen. "Here you are, boy. Thank you for being patient with me today."

Jingo gently butted Jarrod's head with his own in answer and reassurance. He knew his human was sad and he knew it must be because the pretty human that usually came with them on this ride wasn't here.

Jarrod easily pulled himself up into the saddle, turning Jingo in the direction of Audra's gave, knowing that was where he'd find his mother and more than likely his brothers. Eugene had shown up late last night, none of them questioning why he was there, just welcoming him home with open arms and a warm meal. He knew his baby brother was lost without their sister, far more than the others as they were the closest in age, so close that people had often mistook them for twins.

He sighed. They'd gone from four brothers and a sister to…just four brothers. The family felt lopsided.

TBV

Victoria knelt beside Audra's grave, her gloved hands pulling at weeds and digging a small hole to plant the rose she'd brought along. "I thought you would like to have a bit of the rose you always favored in the garden. It wasn't what I'd intended to give you for your birthday, but…" her voice broke as she closed her eyes against the tears. "I was going to take you to Paris. You always said you wanted to go and this year I felt you would be old enough to go and truly enjoy the trip."

"She would have enjoyed it, Mother." Heath whispered as he knelt down next to her and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

Victoria opened her eyes and smiled at Heath. "How did you find me?"

"Followed you," he told her and shrugged when she raised an eyebrow. "I didn't really need to follow you to know where you'd be this morning."

"I heard Jarrod ride out and knew where he was going. What about the other two?" she asked then heard horses and turned to see her other three sons riding up.

"They're here." Heath couldn't help the half grin that appeared when she looked at him with exasperation.

Victoria shook her head, thankful to the young man for adding a bit of humor to the day. Watching Jarrod, Nick, and Eugene as they made their way toward her, she felt gratitude for the way her sons had all pulled together to support her and each other as they all grieved the loss of Audra.

"Mother." Jarrod smiled as he knelt beside her and pressed a kiss to her cheek. "Planting a rose?"

"It isn't what I had intended to give her for her birthday, but…" she paused and took a deep breath then continued. "A trip to Paris doesn't work anymore. This rose is the new one she was so fond of."

Nick was next to kneel down after pressing a kiss to her head. "She took after you with her love for roses."

Eugene hugged his mother then knelt down on the other side of Nick. "Can we help you, Ma?"

Jarrod nodded. "That's a good idea, Gene." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the velvet box containing the necklace he'd bought for Audra. "I'd like to put this with the rose."

"May I see it?" Victoria asked.

Jarrod nodded and handed the item to his mother. "She'd seen it when she visited last. I bought it after she came back to Stockton. I had planned to give it to her this morning when we went for our ride."

Opening the box, Victoria fingered the necklace inside. "It's beautiful. Are you sure you want to do this?"

"It's hers." Jarrod whispered.

Victoria nodded and handed it back to him. "Alright."

"Mother?"

"Yes, Nick?"

"Can we still have a party? Just for us?"

"So we can celebrate her?"

Nick nodded. "Yes."

Eugene pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket and stared down at it. "I think that's a good idea," he whispered before handing the paper to his mother. "I always wrote her a letter for her birthday."

"A letter?"

Eugene nodded and looked up at Victoria. "It's how we always told each other things when we were growing up. She could tell me things she couldn't the others because of how close in age we were, but she didn't want to say them out loud. It was the same for me. When we got older, our letters like this became our birthday cards to each other. I'd like to put it in with the rose."

Victoria felt tears streaking down her cheeks as she held the letter to her heart. "Thank you. All of you." Smiling at each one of her sons, she went back to her digging, each one of her sons adding his own hand to the spade handle to help.

She didn't know that she'd ever fully recover from losing her daughter, but with the help of her sons, she knew she'd be able to cope and learn to live with the change in their family.

Together they could do anything.