So DeGrassi as a High school for supernatural beings and creatures won the story poll. Now you guys need to vote on what kind of supernatural/mythic beings all the main and secondary characters will be. This week you get to vote on what you'd like Clare, Maya and Jay to be. All the character polls will be up for one week.

Ch. 2 Tear Drops from a Hole in Heaven Dropping Down like Bombs

(ADAM)

The sound of breaking glass followed by my brother yelling for Clare to open the door sends me and Paige running up the stairs. We drop our phones on the way and when we get upstairs are overcome by the overwhelming scent of strong alcohol that has saturated the door and carpet beneath it. Clare doesn't drink but I know she must have locked herself in and smashed the bottle on the other side of the door. She also hasn't eaten or slept in many hours and when she's this upset never really thinks about what she's doing.

"CLARE PLEASE OPEN THE DOOR," Drew yells but in a begging tone.

Clare doesn't say anything but we can hear her crying, sobbing so hard that she can barely breathe. Knowing that she's not going to let us in Drew moves us back and kicks the door in. Not sure he could do that on a normal day but right now he's full of adrenaline.

The door swings open and we find Clare huddled on the floor crying and clutching Ezra's baby blanket to her, silently wailing over the loss of her son. Drew lets out a small breath, taking a bit of comfort I suppose in the fact that physically at least she's unharmed. He's wearing shoes but still steps over the broken glass, walking to Clare and sitting next to her. He crosses his legs pulling her arms so that she's laying partially in his lap and she buries her head in his lap. Clare cries harder and Drew leans down over his wife, almost like a shield, and he too begins shedding tears once again. Both of them are crying so hard it shakes their bodies and takes their breath away.

My own heart already broken at the loss of my nephew breaks for them. I wish I could do something to even alleviate the pain but they just lost their baby. A baby they wanted so badly and were so happy when they found out Clare was pregnant. Drew has always doted on Clare but when she was pregnant with their son she became his goddess and I had never seen my brother so elated and proud. And now it was gone.

"Let them be, they need each other more than anything right now. Let's clean up," I whisper to Paige taking her arm.

"Someone should stay with them at all times the next few days. I can already see Clare falling into a depression and Drew's not far behind," Paige comments as we return downstairs.

"One of us will be here, I know my parents will stay. Can you get out the vacuum? I'll grab Drew's work gloves from the garage and pick up the big shards of glass," I tell my fiancé.

She nods and gives me a quick kiss, I go into the garage and find Drew's work gloves, leather gloves he uses for yard work and his Honey-Do lists. When I get upstairs Drew and Clare are still crying but it's slowed a little. After I toss all the big pieces of glass in the trash Paige vacuums and when she's done we notice that Drew and Clare have cried themselves to sleep.

"We better leave them there, they need sleep and if we wake them to move them to their bed I don't think they'll fall asleep right away," Paige comments.

"I'm sure they'd want to sleep in here anyway," I reply and go into their bedroom. I grab the throw blanket from their bed and cover them with it. Then Paige and I close the door, as much as we can since Drew broke it, and go downstairs. "I'll call Jake and then my parents, can you call Clare's parents?" I request of Paige as we sit on the sofa.

"Yeah of course," she nods.

I really haven't even processed it all yet, I'm really just trying to hold it together and be Drew and Clare's strength right now. After seeing them in the hospital that night Paige and I came home and cried, Ezra was still alive but we were sad that he was sick and people we care about were in pain. When we first learned Ezra was gone we had to be strong for them and while we've cried for a few moments at this time we haven't really grasped the fact that we lost a nephew. Currently I'm more worried about trying to keep Drew and Clare from completely falling apart, and we're keeping ourselves busy, making notifications and arrangements for Ezra's funeral. If I stop even for a second I'm sure to break down too and they need me right now so I can't do that. Paige takes her phone and goes near the back door to call Helen and Glen, I don't have a current number for Jake but I do know where Clare's phone is.

"Hey Clare I only have a f…"

"It's Adam," I interrupt Jake.

"What's wrong with Clare?" He asks knowing I wouldn't be calling from her phone if it wasn't an emergency.

"Ezra's gone, he died earlier today. Drew and Clare are…Paige and I are handling the notifications and arrangements for them. The funeral will probably be this weekend," I tell him and the other end of the line is silent.

Clare and Jake had an awkward time adjusting to siblings after dating, they've never been particularly close but they've always been there when the other one needed them. Jake's been married to Katie for four years now and they live in California.

"Dead?" Jake whispers and then clears his throat. "I'll call Katie we'll make arrangements to fly out on Friday. Do my dad and Helen know?"

"Paige is calling them now."

"We'll get flight on Friday, call if there's anything we can do."

"Yeah I will," I reply and hang up. Next I have to call my parents; they were nearly as thrilled to be grandparents as Drew and Clare were to be parents. "Mom," I say when she answers but my voice cracks.

"Adam what's wrong?"

"Ezra is gone, he passed away."

"Oh no! Ezra," Mom whispers and I hear her crying.

"Paige and I are here making notifications and we'll make the arrangements. Drew and Clare are sleeping now; I don't know what to do for them."

"I'll call your father we'll leave right away."

"Thanks Mom."

Before I can make any more phone calls there's a knock on the door, I get up and let Owen and Ashley in. We hug them in a silent greeting and they step in looking around the house.

"Where are Drew and Clare?" Owen questions.

"Asleep in Ezra's room, they need to sleep I don't know when they slept last," I reply.

"They must be in so much pain, I can't even fathom the loss of a child," Ashley says.

Owen met Ashley at our engagement party last year, he asked her out that night and they've been together ever since. A couple of months ago she moved into his place in Long Beach. Owen graduated U of T with a coaching certificate and he coaches a high school football team. Ashely works as a music teacher at a high school in Brooklyn but she's hoping to transfer to the same school Owen coaches at in September. Owen has been good friends with Drew since high school, over the years he's become close to Clare as well.

"I'm worried about them, Ezra was their world from the minute Clare became pregnant and now he's gone," I comment.

"All we can do is keep them from falling apart all together," Paige says.

"Yeah so what can we do to help? You need us to call someone? Clean? Cook?" Owen asks.

"Someone should call K.C. and Jenna, there will be more phone calls to make but I can't think of them right now. We should probably make some food although I'm not sure either Drew or Clare will want to eat. We need to make arrangements too, does anyone have any idea how you plan a funeral?" I question as I start to break down and Paige holds me.

"A funeral home, we should call a funeral home I can do that," Owen replies.

"My parents are coming down tonight, I'm going to check on Drew and Clare," I tell them.

"You want me to come with you?" Paige offers.

"No I need a minute, I'll be right back," I reply and kiss her softly. Owen is on the sofa looking at the internet on his phone to find a funeral home. Ashley is cleaning the kitchen probably just to have something to do. I go upstairs and quietly open the door; Drew and Clare are still huddled together and asleep on the nursery floor. I close the door again and let them rest then I go into their room. The bed is still unmade; Ezra's bassinet sits at the foot of the bed, his swaddling blanket hanging over the side. It smells like him, Ezra's blanket smells like him and suddenly all I can see is my nephew and I sink down on the bed crying.

(CLARE)

I wake after a peaceful sleep to the nightmare of knowing my child is gone forever. As soon as my eyes open and I look at the nursery that he never even got old enough to sleep in I start to cry again. New tears, fresh tears, drops of saltwater and drops of pain pouring from my eyes and they won't stop. My sobbing awakens Drew, I feel him take a deep breath, sit up and his arm tightens around me, his chest starts shaking as he too begins crying again. I'm not sure we'll ever be able to stop.

"It's after dark, I hear people downstairs," Drew comments after some time and swallowing some tears.

"I don't want to see anyone; I just want to be in here. He's gone, how can he be gone? How could the doctors not know anything? They ran tests, they ran so many tests and they don't know anything how could they not know anything Drew? How could they not do anything? How could they let him die?"

Drew doesn't say anything he only holds me closer and strokes my arm. He's crying harder, holding me tighter in lieu of anything to say because there is nothing he can say. Drew's embrace suddenly feels suffocating and I push him away. I stand up slowly, my legs are shaking, my whole body is shaking. I lean on Ezra's crib and grip the side of it looking at the baby quilt that my grandmother knitted, the bear that Audra saved from when Drew was a baby and put in Ezra's crib. We were going to give it to him when he was old enough, tell him again and again how it belonged to his father and now Ezra will never know. Drew stands and puts his hands on my arms but I shrug him off.

"I want to be alone, go downstairs see who's here," I tell Drew through the tears.

He lets go of me and I hear him walk out of the room. I pick up the bear from the crib and sit in the rocking chair, cradling the bear in my arms as though it were Ezra. I didn't think it was possible to love someone so much, as deeply as I love Drew the love I have for Ezra is so much deeper, a bond that almost nothing could sever and I miss him so incredibly I don't know how this pain could ever diminish. I simply don't understand how a life so new and young can be gone or anyone get pas grief like this. Ever since rushing Ezra to the hospital last night I've felt like I can't breathe.

"Owen and Ashley are here, my parents are trying to find a flight tonight," Drew tells me coming back into the room. He sounds sad but he's not crying anymore, I don't think although I'm not actually looking at him. "You should eat something, Ashley made food," Drew says.

"I'm not hungry," I shake my head.

"Clare you need to eat."

"No. No what I need is to have my son in my arms again. What I need is for someone to tell me why he was taken from us, for someone to give me a reason that he died besides telling me it was a fever of unknown origin. He's gone Drew, yesterday we were holding him, changing him in this room, feeding him and now he's gone," I wail clutching the bear even tighter.

"I know, I miss him too. I want to hold him, to kiss him; I wish I could have done som…"

"WE COULD HAVE DONE SOMETHING!" I scream at my husband cutting him off but the energy to scream so loud drains my body and now I'm dizzy. I'm also nauseas and though I haven't eaten I feel like I might throw up. I fall out of the chair and land on the floor between the chair and ottoman, putting my head down without even the strength to cry any longer.

"Clare you need to eat. We got a few hours of sleep but you haven't eaten in over twenty four hours. Please Clare if you keep going like this you're going to end up in the emergency room, the same emergency room where our son died and I don't think I can go back there," Drew begs sitting next to me and taking my hand.

"Did you eat?" I question but my voice is so hoarse and cracked and thin the words barely come out. When I woke up Drew's arms felt suffocating but now I want to be in my husband's arms again and I move into them. They wrap around me tightly and I lay my head on his shoulder.

"I'll eat with you, I'll text Adam someone will bring us food," Drew tells me.

He lets go of me briefly to get out his phone and text Adam to bring us food. Then he helps me up and we move to the wall, Drew sits against it and I lean against him, still clutching the bear. I do put the bear down when Adam comes in with two plates of food and two bottles of water.

"I didn't know how much you'd eat, if you want more just let me know," he says.

"Thanks Adam," I reply taking a water bottle because I realize I'm dehydrated and now I'm incredibly thirsty. He puts the plate on Drew's lap and leaves us in the room, it's only while watching Adam walk out that I notice the door is broken. "What happened to the door?"

"I kicked it open when you broke the bottle I thought you were passed out in a bunch of shattered glass," Drew confesses as he starts to pick at the food.

"I don't know how to get through this Drew."

"Neither do I but we'll get through it together."

We pick at the plate of food in silence, neither of us really has an appetite but our bodies need food. We sit in the dark of the nursery together but we're worlds apart. From downstairs I can hear Owen's deep voice almost as clearly as if he was standing in the hall. I can sometimes hear Adam, Paige and Ashley and I know we aren't alone but I've never felt more alone. This pain, this suffocating, strangling, agonizing pain wrapped around my body is isolating me from everyone. I lost my baby, my world and now I'm certain that you can die from a broken heart.

"We have to call work; we can't go in tomorrow you c…"

"Adam took care of it, he called the school and the Post no one is expecting us for the rest of the week," Drew assures me setting the plate on the floor. We both drank down the water but between the two of us hardly ate half the plate of food.

"I can't stop thinking about Ezra if I'm not replaying every memory I have of him from the minute he was born then I'm thinking of everything he'll never see or do," I admit taking Drew's hand and rubbing my finger over the crescent shaped scar just under his thumb.

He got the scar a few months ago when he was building Ezra's crib, Drew cut his hand on a nail and at seven months pregnant I had to drive him to the hospital. He got five stitches and we got Owen to build the crib. After the cut healed Drew built everything else in the nursery, including a bookshelf from scratch to prove that he could. He surprised me with it when I came home from work one day.

"Yeah me too, I think I've replayed every moment we had together more than a dozen times. I can picture him grown up, I can see teenage Ezra and he'll never get there. I'll never be able to teach him to play football or basketball, take him to his first day of school, give him girl advice, see h…" Drew can't finish as his voice chokes and more tears come, pouring down from his eyes.

I grip my husband and cry again, more tears, so many tears, so much pain and grief I think I might drown it.

(DREW)

"The limo will be here in ten minutes is Clare ready?" Mom questions.

"She's probably in Ezra's room; she's hardly left there the last three days. I'll get her," I reply.

Today is Saturday, the darkest most terrible Saturday I've ever had to face. Today is a day I thought I'd never go through, I suppose no one does; no parent ever thinks they'll have to bury their child. My parents have been here since Wednesday, Owen and Ash have been up several times, Adam and Paige are over every day, Clare's parents and Jake both arrived last night. I can usually pull myself together enough and be strong enough to greet people, to speak for me and Clare and make sure that she's at least eating. We haven't eaten much in the last few days and we've only slept crying ourselves to sleep, usually on the floor of Ezra's room because Clare refuses to leave it.

I walk upstairs pushing open the door, which is still broken, and look at my wife. Clare stands in her black dress and heels, she looks well put together but I know she's a chaos falling apart inside. Clare is looking at the bookshelf I built and running her finger over the spine of Ezra's baby book that only has a few pages filled.

"Clare it's time to go," I tell her from the doorway and she looks up at me, "the limo will be here soon."

"Why'd we get a limo?"

"It was Mom's idea," I answer.

"I don't know if I can do this, lay him to rest. How can I lose a baby when I haven't even lost the baby weight from having him yet?" Clare questions and begins to shake as she starts to tear up again. In the last few days we've cried so much it's made us both sick.

I walk to Clare, encircling her in my arms and kissing her cheek. I have no words to comfort her, to make this right and all I can do is hold her and be strong for her. I walk her downstairs and everyone else is waiting, giving us the same worried, sorrowful looks. When the limo pulls up Mom grabs Clare's purse and we get into the limo. It's us and our parents riding in the limo, Mom decided it would be easier than having us try and drive. I knew Clare wouldn't like the idea but neither of us have been able to make any decisions or even think about the funeral. Adam and Paige did most of it, Owen and Ashley helped and my mom fine-tuned all the details of course. And Clare and I have just been trying to get out of bed and survive these last few days. It's all we can do to shower and eat and get up knowing our son is gone.

The car drives into the cemetery and drives through until we reach the spot where we're going to bury Ezra. The sun is shining, the sky bright and blue and all I can think is how much I wish I could share this day with Ezra. The limo stops and the driver opens the door, Mom gets out and then Dad, I get out and help Clare out putting my arm around her we walk to the gravesite. There are seats set up to the right side of the grave and the tiniest white casket I've ever seen is suspended over the grave. There's flowers all around, so many it looks like a flower shop went out of business. Ezra's headstone was chosen by Adam, the one person that knows us both really well. The dark marble headstone has two hearts with an angel between them; Ezra's picture is on one side, one of the many pictures with him smiling. In the other heart is his full name and date of birth and underneath it says he was taken too soon.

I'm staring at the headstone but Clare is shaking, her head turns into my chest and her legs are wobbling so much I think she might fall soon. I take a deep breath and help her to the chairs, sitting with my arm around her as she cries against me. I cried a lot this morning, all during my shower and while getting ready but I haven't cried since getting to the cemetery. I want to cry but I'm holding it in, doing my best to be strong like I know I should.

Mom and Dad sit next to me; Adam and Paige sit on the other side of Clare, next to Paige Clare's parents sit. Jake and Katie are behind my parents, Owen and Ashely next to them and Jenna and K.C. next to Owen and Ashley. More people are here, other family and friends, people from my work and Clare's. So many people and I know they're here but all I can look at is Ezra's headstone. I'm fighting this lump in my throat, this lump of tears, I keep swallowing it, pushing it back so I won't cry but it's not working the lump is getting bigger and harder to swallow.

"Welcome everyone," the pastor says and everyone quiets down, "the loss of any life is a sad occasion but when the life is so young it is truly a tragedy. Ezra Adam Torres was a bright star that extinguished far too quickly. In his short life he brought immense joy to his parents, grandparents, family and friends."

When he says this I breakdown, that lump of tears finally exploding and I don't hear anything else but the sounds of me and Clare crying. I don't move again until I feel a hand on my arm and look up at Owen.

"It's over," Owen says. How incredibly accurate those words seem, it's over Ezra is gone he's being buried in the ground. My son, my baby boy, the thing I was most proud of is over.

I nod and begin to stand; I'm shaking so much I use the chair for support. I've never felt so week, never been so shaky for so long in my life but when Ezra passed it took a part of me. A part I don't think I can ever get back. Owen and K.C. help Clare to stand and I look at Ezra's headstone one more time. Clare can't even bear to see it and in a very tiny weak voice asks them to take her to the car.

I feel like I should say something but I have no words and I simply can't say goodbye. I stand there a few seconds and then am barely able to whisper I love you before turning and walking to the car. The repast is at our place, Adam thought it would be best so that Clare and I could hide upstairs if we needed to or wanted to, I'm sure we will. When the limo parks we get out and stand at the door to greet people but we hardly last five minutes of receiving condolences from people before we can't take it any longer.

"I need to lie down," Clare speaks softly.

"Go rest, both of you we'll take care of things," Paige insists and I nod. I'd smile at her but I really don't think the muscles in my face even remember how to smile.

Putting my arm around my wife we make our way upstairs, we don't go into our room but straight to Ezra's room. There's a pile of stuffed animals and baby blankets on the floor where we sit and have cried ourselves to sleep. Clare sits down curling her knees to her chest and sobbing on them I sit next to her with my arm around her and crying again myself. Looking around the nursery that suddenly seems so much like a tomb. The sorrow inside of me starts to turn to anger and I get up clenching my fists and I punch the wall. My fist goes straight through the drywall and I punch again, and again.

"Drew stop," Clare says but I just keep punching. "Andrew stop," she asserts again but I can't, I can't stop. "ANDREW STOP LOOK AT YOUR HAND!" Clare screams through her tears leaping up and grabbing my hand which keeps me from punching through the wall again. "You're bleeding stop Drew please."

"Drew let me see your hand," Adam requests coming over but I'm still angry. Full of a burning anger that's set to explode and I push my brother away from me with a growl.

"ANDREW!" Clare yells in a scolding tone but I'm already running, down the stairs and out the back door I keep running. Full of anger and hatred and sorrow and mostly full of this terrible empty pain.

I can't decide if that was more emotionally jarring than the first chapter or not and we aren't done yet. The next emotional roller coaster will be next Tuesday picking up from right about here.