Author note:

As I was writing this chapter I realized that there was another fic recently posted with a similar basis. I have not read that story. But, I was encouraged to go ahead and post my story. I hope you enjoy and are still liking my interpretation of Clay and Emma's life together.

CH 14-Legacy

Emma had just gotten the kids on the bus and was getting ready to head to the grocery, when the phone rang, She didn't recognize the number, but she learned long ago, from her Mom, that when you have a loved one in the service, you answer the phone.

"Hello."

"Good morning, may I speak with Clay Spenser, please?"

Ugh! A telemarketer, she didn't have the time or patience to deal with this right now.

"No, he's unavailable at the moment, goodbye."

"Please, ma'am. Please, don't hang up."

"Listen, I don't need to buy anything, and we already support several charities, thanks."

"Ma'am, I'm not trying to sell you something. My name is Martin Walker, of Haslett, Green & Walker. I am Mr. Ashland Spenser's attorney."

"Alright…" she answered hesitantly.

"I need to speak to Mr. Clay Spenser."

"He's ahhh…he's not at home right now and I don't know when he'll be back."

"Ahh, yes, Mr. Spenser is in the service, of course. I suppose under the circumstances…"

"Sir, can you please tell me what this is about?"

"You are his wife; you are Mrs. Emma Spenser?"

How did he know her name? What was going on?

"I am. Now can you please tell me what in the world is going on?"

"Ma'am I have the sad duty of informing you that Mr. Ashland Spenser has passed away."

Emma pulled a chair away from the table and sat down with a thud.

"Okay…" she wasn't quite sure what to say. They had no contact with Clay's father after he had shown up on their doorstep several years ago.

"Mrs. Spenser? Are you still there?"

"Yea, ahhh, yes, I…I'm here. Sorry," she responded while shaking her head, trying to clear her jumbled thoughts.

"As I was saying, Mr. Spenser has passed. He died two weeks ago, of a heart attack."

There was another long pause before Emma answered.

"Um, thank you for letting us know. I will pass the information along to my husband."

"I understand that Mr. Spenser and his son were…well…estranged."

"Yes. That would be one way to put it."

"Due to that fact, your husband may not be aware of my client's Will and last wishes."

"No, we aren't."

"Well… Mr. Spenser was a very successful author and had many lucrative speaking engagements also."

He let the words lay, perhaps hoping that Emma would be impressed. When she didn't respond, he continued.

"In any case, he left behind a sizeable inheritance. And, he left it, all of it, to his son."

Emma's head was spinning. She could barely wrap her mind around Ash's death and how to break the news to Clay, let alone this additional bombshell.

"He did what?!"

"His Will clearly states that all of his assets were to go to his son, Clay Spenser. I assume this is somewhat of a shock?"

"Yea…uh…yes, completely."

"I will be sending you some papers in the mail to get the necessary information from your husband to transfer the holdings and bank accounts. You will need to have it Notarized. It should arrive in about 5 business days. In the meantime, please feel free to call my office if you have any questions. Thank you, Mrs. Spenser."

Emma sat with the phone still held to her ear for several more moments even after the call had disconnected. She felt as if she was in some sort of parallel universe or the butt of a colossal joke. After all the abuse, alienating and antagonizing that he had done, Ash now left some sort of inheritance?

She finally put the phone down and stood up. There was nothing she could do about all this now. Bravo was gone for a mission and Clay didn't know for sure when they would get back. This was certainly not anything she wanted to tell him over the phone or via a video chat. Happy that today was one of her two days a week that she wasn't teaching, she decided to just go about her day and figure this all out later.

Even though they shared everything, Clay was very private about anything that involved his father and his childhood before he went to live with his Grandparents. He told her about some of the abuse and neglect he had endured at the hands of his father, and just that small bit horrified her and made her heart break for him. She also knew that she was the only one that he had ever confided in about any of it. But, her dad and most any of his Bravo brothers knew about Ash's reputation as an Operator and how he sold out the brotherhood and his own son for notoriety and monetary gain.

For all of these reasons, and how he had scarred Clay, literally and emotionally, she knew she didn't want anything to do with Ash Spenser or his money. She couldn't imagine what Clay's reaction was going to be. So, when the papers arrived from the law office, she set them aside without opening the envelope. The next few days until Clay and the team returned were busy, as always. Emma managed to push thoughts about Ash Spenser aside for the present.

A few days later Bravo was back. Clay got home late at night, kissed the kids without disturbing them and slid into bed next to his wife. He hated to wake her, but he couldn't resist wrapping his arms around her and holding her close. She did stir when she felt his embrace and rolled over to face him.

"Welcome home honey. Everyone good?"

"Yea, we're all fine," he said and then placed a kiss on her cheek. "Sorry I woke you babe."

"No, don't be sorry. I always want to know that you're home safe," she responded and returned his kiss.

"Go back to sleep Em. We can talk in the morning."

"Mmmm."

She snuggled into him and soon they were both asleep.

The next morning was Saturday. Everyone was happy it was the weekend, and once the kids realized that their dad was home, they were ecstatic to be able to spend the day with him. They watched cartoons all morning and then went to the park for a picnic, not returning until past dinner. Then they all settled in on the couch for a movie. When it was over, they tucked the kids in and went back downstairs for some alone time. They cuddled together on the couch in the quiet. Emma knew she had to tell him about his dad.

"Honey?"

"Yea?"

"I had a call while you were gone."

He sat up straighter and moved to look at her face.

"About what? Is something wrong?"

She didn't really know how to tell him. She reached for his hand and laced her fingers through his.

"Clay…Ash's lawyer called," she could feel him automatically tense up. "Ash died of a heart attack a few weeks ago."

She watched a myriad of emotions play across his face. He stood up and started to pace across the floor.

"Good riddance," he spat out.

He grit his teeth and his swallowed hard. Turning back to her she could see his chin quiver slightly and the flutter of his lids as he blinked back tears.

"World's better off without that…that…" He couldn't finish and swiped his hand across his eyes.

He sat back down next to her and exhaling loudly and pulled her onto his lap. He buried his face in her hair.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled against her.

"Sorry? For what?"

"For reacting like that."

She smoothed her hand up and down his arm.

"Don't apologize. You have a right to your feelings."

He nodded and blew out another breath.

"Clay…there's more."

"More…what? What do you mean?"

Emma rose and retrieved the envelope from the lawyer's office. She sat back down next to him and handed it to him.

"That's from his attorney." She paused, looking for the right words. "I guess Ash made a decent amount of money from his books and things. And…he left it to you."

"What?! Why would he…after everything, thinking he can buy me off, buy my forgiveness."

He threw the envelope to the floor as if he had been burned. He raked his fingers through his hair over and over.

"I don't want anything from him. I don't need anything from him."

"I know that honey. But it's yours, legally, like it or not."

"Do you, do you want me to open it," she asked softly.

Clay shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.

"If you want."

She tore open the envelope and pulled out the stack of papers inside. In addition to the documents relating to Ash's holdings, there was what appeared to be a hand-written note to Clay. Emma held it out to him, but he couldn't raise his hand to take it.

"Could you? Please Em…"

Emma cleared her throat and began to read,

Clay- If you're reading this, I guess I'm dead. And I'm guessing you're not too broken up about that. I know we aren't close because of all that stuff from when you were a kid. But that's water under the bridge. You turned out pretty good any way so you must have gotten at least a few of my traits. I know you're still a pipe-hitter so you can probably use the money. I figured that you could leave it to your kids as a legacy.

Emma folded up the letter and held it out to him. Clay had been silent as she read but let go in a tirade as he shredded the piece of paper.

"Legacy?! Legacy my ass. Why would I want them to have anything from you…fucking bastard!"

After he tore up the note, he stalked across the room and threw it in the garbage. Then he stood there with his back turned, leaning on the counter, head bowed. Emma could see his shoulders shaking and then his legs buckled beneath him. The weight of the memories and his emotions was too great. Emma went to him, wrapping her arms around him and pulling his head to lay against her shoulder. They both wept. They cried for the broken little boy, for the childhood and father he wanted, but never had.

"I don't want his legacy Em," he managed through the tears. "I don't want to pass anything of him along to our kids."

"You don't honey. You don't. You are the best dad. You love them more than anything and they know that. We are all so lucky to have you babe."

She kissed his head and rubbed his shoulders and back, trying to sooth him. He took a few deep breaths and sat up.

"He's right though. I won't be able to leave them anything when I die, no inheritance."

"We might not be able to leave them any money. But the legacy you're leaving them is so much more important than money. You are leaving them love. Love of family and friends, love of your country. You show them the value of service and sacrifice."

She framed his face with her hands and looked directly into his eyes to make sure he heard every word.

"You are a good man Clay Spenser. You are an amazing husband and a wonderful father. Your children adore you and I love you more than anything. I always have."

She kissed him fiercely and he held on tight until he could relax and breath easy again. The stood up slowly and made their way upstairs to sleep and hopefully move on from this and from his past. The legal documents laying forgotten on the table.

Emma awoke the next morning and found Clay downstairs, drinking coffee, and going over the pages from the lawyer. She went over and wrapped her arms around his shoulders and leaned to kiss his cheek.

"Good morning, you didn't get much rest. How are you doing this morning?"

"Morning babe. I'm better, thanks," he turned his head slightly and pecked her lips.

She fixed herself a mug an sat down beside him.

"So…you decided to look into those?"

"Yea. I need to know what I'm dealing with here."

He passed her the pages and when she saw the amounts listed, her brows flew up.

"Whoa! That's… that's a lot of money."

"Yea," he sighed.

"You okay?"

"I just…I don't want this. I don't want any of it. But it could help out our kids. Am I being selfish to deny them just because of my issues with Ash? Am I wrong Em? Should I accept this?"

She laid her hand over his and answered him.

"Honey, I can't tell you what to do. But I will support whatever decision you make."

"I don't want him to have anything to do with my family. If we put this money back for them, I'll have to explain one day where it came from and who Ash was and why they never knew him. I…I don't want them to have the burden of knowing all that. I know that's cowardly…"

"Hey," she interrupted. "You are not a coward. You are only trying to shield them, to keep them from being hurt. You are protecting them, like you always do."

He lifted her hand to his lips, turned it over and pressed a kiss into her palm.

"Thank you, Em."

She got up and slid onto his lap and ran her fingers through his hair.

"Do we have to decide now? What if you wait a little, think it over, and then make a decision?"

He nuzzled into her neck and mumbled a response.

"That's a good idea. Let's do that."

They put the stack of pages up and left them lay for a few weeks as life went on. Emma said nothing, not wanting to rush him.

Finally, about a month later, they had just snuggled into bed when he broached the subject.

"I think I've decided honey."

"Hmmm?"

"About the money."

She lifted her head from its place on his chest to look at him and tightened her arm around him, letting him know that he had her support.

"So…I was thinking, we could donate to some organizations that support service members and their families. That way," he chuckled, "that way Ash will finally be doing some good for someone other than himself. What do you think?"

She looked up at him and smiled with pride.

"I think that's an excellent idea."

"I…I know the kids could probably use it down the line, but…"

"You give Quinn and AJ and me everything we need, every day."

He looked at her eyes that were full of gratitude and love for him and felt overwhelmed. He spoke past the lump in his throat.

"Alright then. I'll arrange it with the lawyer."

He kissed her lips softly and closed his eyes to sleep. Emma prayed that this would help him finally lay Ash and the pain he had caused to rest for good.