New York-2015
Henry grinned as he put the blanket over Abe's sleeping form. "I must admit, and I suppose I can since he's not awake to be horribly embarrassed with me, that I have never tired of this," he said, tucking the blanket gently around Abe.
Adaline smiled warmly. "Me neither," she said as she pulled another one over Flemming who was slumped over against Abe on the couch and also sleeping sounding. "It's been a while since I've had the opportunity," she said reaching out a hand and lightly brushing Flemming's hair before standing up next to Henry. "I miss it."
They stood and watched their two children in silence for a few moments, unable to pull themselves away from the rare sight. Their children would always been seen as children in their eyes but moments like these, that were reminiscent of those childhood times, had become much scarcer over the years.
They'd spent the evening sharing an amazing feast, courtesy of Abe with Flemming's help. Even after the food was gone they had sat and talked for hours sharing several bottles of wine and many, many old memories. As the night wore on Abe and Flemming had given it their best try but as much as they wanted to keep up with their parents, physically they had their limits. When the clock showed it was after midnight, Henry had suggested they relocate inside secretly hoping that the two 'kids' would be able to get some rest even though they were both too stubborn to admit defeat and go to bed. They hadn't been in the living room for very long when Abe and Flemming had finally succumbed to their fatigue.
"I must admit I envy you," Adaline said turning towards Henry.
"Why is that?"
"Because of this; having Abe so close to you. You are able to spend so much time with him."
Henry smiled. "I am fortunate. Moving back here, living here with him, has been the best part of my new life here."
"I wish I had the same chance."
"Flemming doesn't like the idea of living with her old mum again?" Henry asked with a smile.
Adaline laughed quietly. "Ah, no. She actually laughed in my face when I brought up the subject with her."
Henry laughed. "Well, if you will recall, Abe wasn't too thrilled at the idea either, at first. In fact, I was only supposed to live here temporarily until I got settled and found my own place. But after a while we both found we didn't want it to be temporary. I give him a lot of trouble but he takes care of me. He's a good boy," Henry said a sudden catch in his throat.
"His father's not half bad either," she said giving his shoulder a playful, nudge.
He smiled at the compliment. "You never know, maybe Flemming will come around to the idea too, in time."
Adaline looked serious for a moment. Her eyes were sad now as they looked at her daughter. "I suppose that it's true, what they say."
"What's that?"
"You really never do stop worrying about them, no matter how old they get."
"No, never," Henry agreed. "If anything I think it's getting worse."
She nodded in agreement. "I just worry about her. She's...she's getting old. I know I don't have that much time left with her. What if something happens to her? What if she…goes and I'm not there?" Adaline looked down, tears threatening to overtake her.
Henry put his arm around her and gave her a squeeze. "You think about it too much," he said softly.
"And you don't consider it enough."
This was one area where they disagreed. Adaline tended to think about Flemming's coming demise too often and worried about it too much. Henry avoided all thoughts of Abe's and refused to acknowledge it at all.
Henry swallowed and looked away. "What good will that do? Worrying about it won't keep him here any longer."
"Neither will avoiding thinking about it."
"Then I suppose nothing we do will change the outcome."
"I know it won't change the outcome for Abe. You are the one I'm worried about. I worry about what will happen to you if you don't prepare yourself at all for what's coming."
"Well, I worry about you robbing yourself of your present joy. So, I guess you could say we're at an impasse."
"Agree to disagree?" she said amicably, ending this particular conversation. They'd had this disagreement more than once before but they'd never been able to convince each other to change their minds.
They stood in silence for a few more minutes watching Abe and Flemming. "We should capture the moment," Henry finally said.
"Allow me," Adaline said reaching into her pocket and taking her cell phone out.
Henry rolled his eyes. "You're going to take it with that thing? Why don't you use an actual camera?"
"Because this is much quieter. That old relic of yours will surely wake them, and then think of the argument we'll hear."
"Relic?" Henry asked in offense. "I'll have you know that model of camera was cutting edge when I bought it. It-"
"Shhh," Adaline said, cutting him off. "I know all about it. I was around when it was invented," she said with a smile.
"Well," he said giving in. "You'll print off an actual photograph for me won't you?"
"Yes, yes. Of course I will," she said rolling her eyes and then lifting her phone to take the picture. She looked at the picture and, pleased with it, she showed it to Henry who nodded in approval. "Your age really does show at times," she added, shaking her head at him.
Henry made a great show of looking offended. "Kids these days. They really don't have any respect."
"Kids?" she laughed. "I'm 107."
"Yeah, I know exactly how old you are. I still stand by what I said," he said grinning.
They walked over to the other couch and sat down. Adaline sat next to Henry, tucking her legs under her as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. They sat in comfortable silence just enjoying each other's company. Flemming often commented on how differently her mother acted when she was with Henry. Almost every time they came for a visit, she would tell Henry how relaxed Adaline seemed around him. She could be open and honest; she could be herself. He could see in the way Flemming smiled when she said it, how much of a relief it was to her to see it.
Henry was glad to hear it. He gained so much strength and joy from his friendship with Adaline and he was glad to hear the exchange was mutual. They had to be so careful about what they said and did and the image they projected to the world that it was wonderful to be around someone without having to think about all of that.
Being around her was also the only time he could feel truly understood. He could speak of his burdens knowing that she shared them too. Abe, and recently Jo, were the only two people in Henry's life who knew his secret but there were still so many things he couldn't share with Abe and especially not with Jo yet. There were things he didn't want to burden his son or his partner with. And even if he chose to put that on them they could still never understand it completely. But with Adaline he didn't have to make those same considerations.
"I've taken the whole week off," he said, breaking the silence. "But I didn't make us a lot of plans. Of course, I bought us some tickets to the latest shows but other than that I thought we could just play it by ear and see what we could get ourselves into."
Adaline had been to New York so many times she'd already seen most of the tourist sites around the city, some of them multiple times. They did still enjoy going to Broadway while she was in town and usually hit a new show every night of her visit. Of course, sightseeing was not really the point of these visits and they didn't really care most of the time what it was that they were doing, only that they were doing it together.
"Sounds good," she said smiling. "I do hope that you will at least take me to see this strange new place you work at. I can still hardly believe that you're a medical examiner now. I know you say it has its similarities to what you were doing before but it just seems…so different."
"Of course I'll take you. It is different, obviously, than practicing medicine but I've enjoyed the challenge. It was time for a change. And as odd as it might sound, facing the darkness and the morbidity of this line of work every day has really helped me to conquer my own demons. You would think seeing death every day would make me even more depressed but somehow it has made me feel more alive, more connected with the living." He paused and gave her a wry smile. "That all sounds terribly maudlin doesn't it?"
"No, not really," she said reassuring. "It's good to hear you're finding a balance. And I'm really glad you're getting to experience something new. I love getting your letters; they're so entertaining. I'm looking forward to meeting this Lucas character."
Henry let out a laugh. "You will not be disappointed I'm sure. But I will warn you he will most likely make an extremely awkward attempt at flirting with you."
"Don't you worry about me. If there is one thing I have learned after so many years of being perpetually 29 it is how to turn men down. It's flattering but sometimes I just want to tell them 'look I've heard it all before; I'm not impressed. Also, I'm old enough to be your great-grandmother.'"
Henry laughed loudly before he could stop himself and then looked over in alarm to make sure the kids were still sleeping. When they did not stir he whispered, "Well, that certainly would make for interesting conversation."
"It sure would. They would never believe me, of course, but it would be interesting to see what they would say. But," she said returning to their original topic. "I'm most looking forward to meeting Detective Martinez."
Adaline gave Henry a very knowing glance which he pretended to ignore. His relationship with Jo was not something they had discussed in person yet and Adaline had clearly been looking forward to it. Truth be told, Henry had too.
"Please tell me you'll let me meet her."
"Do you want to?" he asked in surprise.
"Of course I do! You have had nothing but wonderful things to say about her. And she's the first person you've told your story to in over 50 years so that's a big deal. You didn't actually think I wouldn't want to meet her did you?"
"I just wasn't sure if you would want to or not. You know, what with the careful associations we have to keep and all."
"Henry, she already knows your secret."
"Yes, but she doesn't know yours."
"Well, we don't have to open up the conversation with my age. If you continue to grow closer I'm sure it will come up later. For right now I just want to meet her."
"Alright," he said with a pleased smile.
"Besides, if you're going to marry her someday then I'll have to tell her."
"Wh-wh-what?" Henry asked flustered. "Who said anything about marriage?"
"You did."
"I never said anything of the sort!"
"Of course you did. Every time you talk about her it's crystal clear how much you're in love with her."
"I care about Jo, very much but I…how I feel it's…"
"Please, Henry. I'm a woman; we know about these things," she said holding up a hand to stop his further attempts at making excuses. "So, do you think she feels the same? I mean she learned about the immortality issue and didn't run for the hills so I would say that's a good sign."
Henry smiled a very pleased, very proud smile. He had been saving this story so he could tell her in person. He wanted to see her reaction. "What?" Adaline said sitting up straighter and giving him a shove. "What haven't you told me?"
He proceeded to tell her about the night Jo came to the shop after leaving Isaac and her chance at seeing Paris. Adaline's mouth was hanging open by the end of it. "Henry! She's in love with you!"
Henry's face reddened and his smile deepened. "Yes, I think she is."
"So?!" she asked excitedly. "Have you made your move yet?"
"No, not yet. I'm waiting for things to settle down. So many things happened all at once around that time, the last being her learning of my secret. I'm just trying to give her some time to digest that before I overwhelm her with another big confession."
Adaline eyed him suspiciously. "Alright. You get a pass for now. But I will be checking up on this matter to make sure you follow through. I'm not going to let you talk yourself out of this one."
"I would expect no less," he said lifting his hands up in a gesture of surrender.
They sat smiling in silence for a few moments but then Adaline looked sad. "What's wrong?" he asked.
It was clear she was growing a little teary-eyed. "Nothing's wrong. I'm really just so happy for you. After everything that happened to you I was afraid…I was afraid you would never be happy again."
Henry gave her a long hug. He realized again just how much he had worried her over the years. He had put her through so much over the years and yet she was still here by his side. "Adaline, you make me feel lucky."
She laughed. "What?" she asked as she pulled back and looked at him.
"You've been such a good friend to me. I'm so fortunate to have you in my life. Have I said that lately?"
"I never get tired of hearing it if that's what you need to know," she said smiling back at him. "Henry...can I ask you a question?" she asked quietly, nervously.
"Of course," he said with a smile. Then he noticed the seriousness on her face. He sensed it was a question she wasn't sure he would like but he encouraged her to go on. "What is it?"
"You've done it all before, from start to...finish. Would you really do it all again, even knowing how it has to end?"
She'd never asked him this before all things considered. He understood what she meant and his eyes burned a little with tears. She knew he was thinking about Abigail and how things had ended. He had taken the risk to love her but he had not fully understood what it would ultimately cost him. Now that he did, Adaline wanted to know if he would accept that eventual end in order to first have the joy. It was a hard answer to give but he knew she needed to hear it. She had never allowed herself this privilege before, of marriage, of having a partner by her side who knew her secret, and as much as it would obviously cause her pain someday he needed her to know it was worth it.
"Yes," he said with certainty. "I will definitely do it again. At first I was sure I never could again. But I think we have to. The only alternative is to become someone like Adam. And as afraid as I am of loving someone again and then losing them I'm more afraid of becoming like that."
"You never could."
"Well, I'm not going to be taking any chances. I came a bit too close after…you know; what happened with Abigail. The years that followed and what they were like, they scared me. I do not like what I became or how quickly it happened without someone by my side. Besides, I do love Jo. If she'll have me I will gladly take the risk."
Adaline looked at him with surprise and possibly a little awe. "You're being so brave. Even after all you've been through. It makes me wonder if maybe I could be too."
"Sure you could. I hope you will if you get the chance." He paused for a moment and thought. "Can I ask you a question now?"
"Of course."
"Why did you forgive me? When I came back after all those years away how could you possibly forgive me for leaving you for so long?"
Adaline thought about it and shrugged. "Because I love you," she said simply.
"But I didn't deserve it."
She shook her head. "It isn't about deserving it. Henry, all those things I said before you left they didn't change, ever. I always loved you and I always believed in our relationship. I never wanted our friendship to be over. Was I mad? Yes. Did I want to get you back for what you did? Sometimes. But what it all came down to was I wanted you back in my life and when you gave me that chance I gladly took it. I could see that you were truly sorry and that helped me to forgive you for the pain you caused me."
He smiled and then looked at her for a while growing a little solemn. "I could still lose you some day," he said quietly.
They had learned from their mistakes. Death was no longer a topic that was off limits and they no longer ignored the one major difference between their conditions. Since Henry had returned they talked about these things openly. Adaline still couldn't always relate to him when he spoke of his death experiences but he knew now he had her support and encouragement and that made all the difference. Something new he'd shared with her since they started talking about these things was his fear that one day she would die and he would find himself alone. Though it was hard to think about and discuss these things they were much better out in the open where they could deal with them together.
She reached out and took his hand, holding it tight. "I know."
"But I promise you," he said smiling, because he said this often, "You will never lose me ever again."
"Thank you Henry," she said as she gave him a hug. "For everything."
Henry thought about the past with Adaline, the good and the bad times. They had been through so much together and he knew there was still so much in the future they would share. If he did marry Jo someday he knew Adaline would be there to celebrate it. On the unspeakable day when he would lose Abe he knew she would be there to mourn with him. And in every day in between they would have their friendship to support them. It was hard to remember the time when he hadn't had her to share this incredible journey with. He couldn't believe that there had ever been a day when he'd been so broken he thought he could voluntarily give up such a precious thing. It was a mistake he knew he would never make again.
The future was a mystery but one thing was for certain: Whatever happened they would be there for each other, again and again.