I'm sorry for the ending of the last chapter, I needed it to add that in so this chapter makes more sense. So you aren't confused, Bella's winter break memory happened when she was 7, and when she woke up she was 12 years old. This chapter jumps ahead to 3 years after Emily and Joe have died, and Barbara will give more details on the night that they got news of their deaths. Also sorry for not warning you, but this story has a lot of death in it. . '

Barbara Maitland was at the kitchen table, trying to make a vase out of clay. She didn't know why Adam had insisted on her getting a hobby, but she suspected it was because lately, she was feeling more and more depressed. She felt like she was finally getting a vase-like shape when Adam opened the front door loudly, "Hey Barbara, how is the pottery going?" This caused Barbara to be startled and smoosh her clay into an unrecognizable lump. She groaned in frustration and stood up to clean her hands, she figured she wouldn't be able to continue in the state she was in. Adam apologetically looked at her and said, "Sorry, I didn't realize the door as that loud…" Barbara sighed as she cleaned her hands, "It's… It's fine Adam, I was wanting to take a break anyways…"

Barbara then went over to the cupboard and took out a small wine glass, much to Adam's disapproval, "Barbara, how many have you had today?" She turned to him with her glass in hand, "Look, I grabbed the small one for a reason. I just want a couple of ounces of wine, okay?" Adam shook his head and put the groceries on the countertop, "I got some ingredients to make lasagne… And some things to fix that crib that the Smith's brought over…" Barbara nodded, filled her glass up with some Chianti, and went to go sit by the window. Adam however, grabbed his things and headed to the attic to go fix the crib. Barbara took a sip of her wine, thinking about the last time the whole family was here and had lasagna.

It was about 3 years ago, on Christmas Eve at the Maitland household. Bella was 12 years old, but she still had the spirit of a child. Barbara was in the kitchen checking on the oven where the lasagna was cooking, while everyone else was in the living room around the Christmas tree. "Can I open my present Daddy? Please?" She was holding Charle's arm and sitting on the couch next to him, while he was trying to look at his work emails. Adam chuckled at how child-like Bella was acting, he wished sometimes that he could have a kid, but Bella was good enough for now. Charles turned to Bella deliberately, "Bella, why don't you go ask your mother, if you can't tell, I'm a little busy at the moment…" He gave her a small smile as he turned back to his work, while Bella sighed dejectedly.

Emily turned to him smiling, "Charles, please. It's Christmas Eve! Take a break and enjoy time with us…" She was in the kitchen helping Barbara set up the table. Things weren't as festive with Joe at the mental institution, but they would be able to visit him tomorrow morning. Bella turned to her mother excitedly, "Can I open my present mommy? Can I please?" She bounced on the couch impatiently, causing both Adam and Emily to laugh. "Okay, fine… But only one present okay?" Bella jumped off the couch excitedly and scoured the presents under the tree. She found a small box buried under the big pile of gifts and pulled it out, it couldn't have been much bigger than the averaged sized novel, but it weighed considerably less. Emily smiled and sat down next to Bella, "I was hoping you would pick that one…" Bella smiled as she ripped off the wrapping paper, putting the pieces in one pile so it would be easier to clean later.

When she was finished taking all the wrapping off, she noticed that is was a pristine looking box that felt so smooth, it reminded her of velvet. She carefully took the top half off to reveal a pair of hair clips that were grey with white stripes down the middle. Bella picked up the hairclips curiously, they were about as long as her pointer finger and a little bit wider than the length of her thumb. She smiled at her mom gratefully, "These are cute! Thanks, mom!" Emily gave Bella a warm smile, "Here, let me help you put them on," Bella handed her the clips and sat patiently as Emily expertly put the clips in her hair, "There, you look lovely, my little flower…" Bella blushed and gave her mom a tight hug when suddenly the phone rang in the kitchen. Barbara said, "I'll get it!" and headed towards the phone. Emily however let go of Bella and grabbed the phone off the wall, "I got it, she said as she held her hand over the phone.

Barbara shrugged and went back to the kitchen to check on the garlic bread, Bella however watched her mom answer the phone, "Hello, this is Emily Maitland…" she said into the phone, and patiently listened to the caller's voice. She then went pale and asked in a terrified voice, "When? Is he okay?" Bella looked at her mom worriedly, 'Who was the 'he' mom was talking about?' she thought to herself as her mother got more and more anxious, "Okay, I'll be right there. Thank you, goodbye." Her mom hung up the phone and went to go get her shoes and coat, "Who was that mommy? Bella asked curiously. Her mom bit her lip as she put on her coat, "I don't know, but they said that something happened to Joe, and I need to go see what happened…"

This caused everyone to look up in shock, "Is Uncle Joe okay?" Bella asked on the verge of tears. Emily walked over, kissed her forehead, and pulled her in a tight embrace, "We can only hope, but I am going to go to see him, just to be sure…" She then walked over to a worried Charles and kissed him, "I'll be back home in about an hour, please don't let Bella stay up too late…" Before Charles could protest to her leaving, she gave both Adam and Barbara a hug, "Don't wait for me to have dinner, okay? It's a long drive to the In-" She cut herself off and glanced at Bella before continuing, "The mental hospital," Barbara nodded and let her go, "I'll put the oven on low, just in case…"

Emily then went to the door and opened it to find that it was snowing outside, Adam walked over and said, "Are you sure it's safe to go driving? I love Joe as much as you do, but it's not the best conditions to be on the Interstate…" Emily smiled, "I'll be fine, Adam. Take care of the family okay?" and with that, she walked to the car, pulled out of the driveway, and drove away. That would be the last time any of them would see her alive. No less than an hour and a half later, they heard a knock at the door to find the constable at the door. Adam, being the one who answered the door, looked extremely confused as he addressed him, "Good evening, Officer Sullivan. Would you like to come in? We just got the lasagna out of the oven-" The constable shook his head sadly, "I wish I was here to say 'hello', but I'm here on more… Serious matters Mr. Maitland…"

Bella, who was sleeping on the couch next to her father, woke up groggily and mumbled, "Is mom home yet?" causing the officer to have tears come to his eyes. Adam looked at him, fear growing in his heart, "Did something happen to Emily?" The officer took off his hat and spoke quietly, "While Mrs. Maitland was driving to Norwich State Hospital to visit the now deceased Joe Maitland, she got into an accident while exiting I-84 and was killed upon impact." Barbara who had just grabbed the lasagna out of the oven, let it fall to the floor with a smash, sending bits of the glass dish and scorching food onto the kitchen floor. Charles had stopped typing his email and felt himself becoming numb, Bella on the other hand, felt herself become wide awake, "Mom and Uncle Joe are WHAT?"

She ran off the couch and looked at the officer with a pleading look and tears in her eyes, "You must be joking! They can't be dead, they can't be!" She was standing next to Adam who was still trying to wrap his head around the news, the officer looked down and muttered quietly, "I'm so sorry for your loses…" Bella started bawling and held onto Adam for support, for she felt like her legs were going to give out from under her. Adam bent down and picked her up, like she was a little child, and nodded to the officer, "Thank you," he said quietly as he shut the door. Bella continued to sob on his shoulder and Barbara walked over trying to hold herself together. Adam held out his arm for her to join the group hug, to which Barbara couldn't hold her tears back any longer and held both Adam and Bella tightly.

Charles wouldn't get up for a solid 5 minutes, but he finally managed to pull himself together. He walked over and grabbed Bella from Adam, "She needs to sleep, I'll go take her to bed now…" He held her close as he went up the stairs slowly and quietly, while Barbara and Adam continued to hold each other quietly. Barbara then said to Adam, "I think I need a drink…" He nodded and let her go, heading over to clean up the mess from the lasagna. Barbara found a wine glass and filled it with the Chianti she was saving for when Emily got back. She downed the glass in about 5 seconds and quickly filled it up again. Adam looked up to see Barbara on her second glass and dropped the broom to grab Barbara's hand, "Barbara please! Don't drink too much, you'll have a massive headache in the morning…"

She gave him an icy stare in return, "If I don't get my mind off of Emily soon, I will do something you will not be happy with..." Adam slowly let go of Barbara, she sighed and collapsed on a chair, "I'm so sorry Adam… It's just…" She put her cup down and sobbed into her hands, Adam walked over and hugged her tightly, "I know Barbara, I know… We lost two wonderful family members, in one night…" They sat in silence for a while, time meaningless to them, until eventually Adam took Barbara's hand and led her to their bedroom to sleep.