B'Elanna had to look twice at the letter she had. It was from her father's lawyer, telling her that her father was gone and that she was his heir. B'Elanna took a breath, she was going to have to go through his things. She knew that he lived on Earth, so it wouldn't be a long trip. The lawyer had told her what her father had died of and B'Elanna had to wonder why her father never told her that he was dying.
"Hey, what are you doing home so early?" B'Elanna looked up and saw Tom making his way from the basement. Tom looked around. "I going to guess nothing to do with the children because it is quiet." Tom saw her face as he got closer. He wrapped his arms around her. "Is everything okay?"
B'Elanna took a breath. "I just got a letter from my father's lawyer, telling me that he is gone."
Tom took the PADD out of her hand and placed it on the kitchen counter. He turned her around and kissed her on the top of her head. "I'm here if you need me."
B'Elanna wrapped her arms around Tom. She took strength from Tom right now. She needed him. B'Elanna pulled back. "The thing that hurts the most is he didn't even tell me that he was sick. I could haveā¦"
"You could have been there for him," Tom mumbled. B'Elanna nodded.
"I know that our relationship wasn't great, but he was still my father," B'Elanna said.
"I know," Tom didn't want to think that could have been him with his father dying.
B'Elanna took a sigh and stepped out of Tom's arms. "I need to go to Boston and deal with this."
"Do you want me to come with you?" Tom asked.
B'Elanna shook her head. "No, the children are still in school, and someone needs to be here for them."
Tom nodded. "If you need me at all, I'm only a phone call away."
B'Elanna leaned up and kissed him. "Thank you," B'Elanna left the kitchen and headed for her office to make arrangement to leave.
B'Elanna stood at the grave where they were burying her father. She had made all the arrangements for his funeral. Tom was standing by her side with the children. She glanced at the other members of her Torres family. Her uncle and cousins were there. There were some of her father's friends and work people. The service ended and they went back to her father's house for the reception.
B'Elanna had never been in his house since he moved back to Earth. She was going to have to go through his things and get rid of a lot of things. B'Elanna looked out to the backyard to see the kids play with her cousins' kids. She had come in the kitchen to grab another pan of food to bring to the front room.
"How are you doing?" B'Elanna turned around to see her cousin, Elizabeth.
"I guess okay," B'Elanna grabbed the pan. Elizabeth grabbed another pan.
"How long are Tom and the kids going to be here?" Elizabeth asked.
"They are leaving tomorrow morning," B'Elanna headed for the front room. She placed the pan on the table. Elizabeth put the other pan next to hers.
"Are you going to need help with all this?" Elizabeth asked.
B'Elanna looked around the house. "Probably," She mumbled.
"I'll come over after Tom and the kids leave so we can get started," Elizabeth gave her a side hug. B'Elanna nodded and watched her cousin walk away.
B'Elanna felt a pair of arms around her. She knew that it was Tom. "Are you sure you don't want me to stay?" Tom asked.
"Yeah, Elizabeth is going to help me," B'Elanna looked up at him. She saw him frowning. "You know that I need your strength, but I need to do this without you. I never got to say a proper goodbye to my mother. I need to say goodbye to him."
"Okay," Tom kissed the side of her head. "I love you and I am here if you need me."
"I know," B'Elanna smiled. Tom always had her back.
"Selena, you need to go with your father," B'Elanna pulled Selena away.
"But I want to stay with you," Selena looked up at her with tears in her eyes.
B'Elanna sighed. The transporter was here, and Tom had gotten the other children in the transporter. He was waiting for Selena. B'Elanna kneeled until she was eye level with Selena. "I must stay and clean out my dad's house. I will be home at the end of the week." B'Elanna hugged her daughter. "I love you," She kissed her on the top of her head.
Tom came over and grabbed their youngest. He leaned down and kissed her. "I'll see you in a week."
B'Elanna nodded and watched Tom get on the transporter with Selena. She stood there and watched the transporter leave with her family. She knew that she could have asked Tom to stay and help but then they would have the children running around. B'Elanna knew that she could get more done without them here.
"Are you ready for this?" B'Elanna turned and saw her cousin Elizabeth walking up with boxes.
"Yeah," B'Elanna took a breath and led the way into the house. They had to clean out the house so that it could be ready for the next family to come in.
They started on the first floor and only kept the things that B'Elanna wanted. B'Elanna found a lot holoimages of her as a child and of her children in his study. The pictures of the children she already had, so she didn't need them. The pictures of herself, she kept going through later. She started to realize that Miral looked just like her when she was Miral age.
"Is that a picture of a baby B'Elanna?" Elizabeth held out a picture. B'Elanna took the picture and saw a baby picture of her in the bathtub with her butt in the air. There was a smile on her face.
"Oh, my," B'Elanna laughed.
"Something to show Tom," Elizabeth threw in the box that B'Elanna was saving. B'Elanna shook her head.
They made their way through most of the downstairs before they called it a day. Elizabeth had to get home to her own family. B'Elanna knew that she would here tomorrow. B'Elanna replicated dinner and ate in silence. She was used to eating with noise coming from every direction from the children and before that on ships she was on.
She heard someone calling her and knew that it was Tom and the kids. She answered the call. She saw the faces of her children and husband. All she had to say was hello before the children started to tell her about their day. They had the day off from school and they were going back tomorrow.
"Alright," Tom yelled at the children. "Say goodbye to Mom and then go and play," Each child told B'Elanna before going to play in the family room. Tom watched the kids for a moment before turning back to B'Elanna. "How did today go?"
"It was good. We got most of the downstairs done. Did Selena stop crying for me?"
"Yeah," Tom sighed. "She cried herself to sleep on the transporter and woke up as soon as we landed in front of the house."
B'Elanna nodded. "Make sure that they have everything for school."
"I will," Tom smiled. "Remember that we love you," B'Elanna nodded.
"I love you, too." B'Elanna was ready to say something when Selena came running up.
"Daddy, Xavier is being mean to me," She looked up at him with those blue eyes.
Tom sighed. "We'll talk tomorrow," Tom disconnected the call. B'Elanna laughed before turning off her computer.
B'Elanna and Elizabeth started upstairs the next day. The only room that was hard was her father's bedroom. The other bedrooms were only guests' rooms. They donated a lot of what was upstairs. They agreed to work on the attic tomorrow. B'Elanna didn't know what was up there. Elizabeth left for the day and B'Elanna went and got a hotel room because at the end of the week Elizabeth's brothers were coming to help with the furniture and B'Elanna couldn't stay in her father's house anymore. That night it was her that called her family and she felt better about what she was doing when she could hear the laughter of her children as they talked about their day.
The next day, B'Elanna found herself in the attic with Elizabeth. It wasn't hard getting rid of a lot of things. They came across one box label Torres family. B'Elanna traded a look with Elizabeth.
Elizabeth smiled. "Grandma gave a box like this to my father before she died. She must have given one to Uncle John." B'Elanna nodded before opening the box. One the top was an old photo album. B'Elanna felt that something like this should be in a museum, not in an attic. B'Elanna was ready to open the album when Elizabeth stopped her. "There should be a letter," Elizabeth looked in the box and found a white envelope B'Elanna thought that she would see her father's name on it, but it was her name.
"Was your letter address to someone specific in your family?" B'Elanna asked.
Elizabeth shook her head. "Maybe Grandma wanted you to have this and knew that the only way was through your father. You remember how she felt when you returned home," Elizabeth whispered.
B'Elanna nodded. When they got back to Earth and after everything settled down Tom and she went to see her grandmother. She remembered that she cried when she saw B'Elanna. She wouldn't let go of B'Elanna for five minutes, then she took Miral, and wouldn't let the baby go until it was time for Tom and B'Elanna to leave. "Yeah," B'Elanna mumbled. It was the last time that she saw her grandmother before she died.
B'Elanna was ready to open the letter when Elizabeth stopped her again. "I think that you need to read this when you are alone," B'Elanna nodded. She put the letter back and closed the box. She would take it back to her hotel room.
Besides the box there was nothing else of value in the attic. All they needed to do was get the furniture out of the house and the house would be ready for the next family to have. B'Elanna took the box to her hotel room. She waited until after her call with Tom and the kids before opening the box again. She took the letter from the top. She opened the letter.
'B'Elanna,
I don't know if you are ever going to get this, but I thought that I share some family history with you. I know that it would be hard to go through this box if you and your father aren't right. But remember you come from a strong Torres family. I know your mother was strong raising you by herself. You have her strength. I hate that I missed you grow into a beautiful woman. I know I should have tried hard to see you but know this I thought about you every day. Please don't throw this box away if you get it. I think that there are some things you would like to see. I love you, B'Elanna. I know that you grew up into a strong woman. Please enjoy this family story and maybe one day share it with your own children.
Grandma Torres'
B'Elanna wiped a tear away from her face. All she could think about was her grandma' banana pancakes as she read the letter. She set the letter aside before taking out the photo album. She opened the cover and on the first page was the date 1910 and the Torres family name. B'Elanna couldn't believe that her grandmother would give this to her being so old. B'Elanna was ready for a pair of white gloves when she opened the first picture. There stood a family in front of the farm. There was the father, mother, and three children. Two boys and girl. Under the picture were the names of the family members.
B'Elanna turned to the next page and found the youngest boy standing in a uniform like he was going off to war. B'Elanna wondered if he made it home to his family. B'Elanna watched the family grow through pictures. She saw another young boy wearing uniform about to head to war. B'Elanna came to the last picture that reminded her of Tom and her on their wedding day. The couple looked so in love as they looked at each other.
B'Elanna set the album aside and looked through the rest of the box to see that it was family heirlooms that her family had held on to through the generations. B'Elanna wondered what happened to the couple on the last page. They must have had children, or she wouldn't be here. On the bottom of the box was another letter but this was older than the one her grandma wrote to her. B'Elanna didn't know if she should open it. It was addressed to someone different. She the flap to the envelope was opened. She pulled out the letter.
She couldn't read it because the ink was faded. She put it back, she knew that she could have someone tell her what was on the letter but right now she didn't care. She felt connected to her family right now and didn't want to lose that. And it wasn't because of her father, who should have told her family stories but from a grandmother she barely saw, but she would always remember her banana pancakes.
The house was empty, B'Elanna went through the house one more time. She never felt connected to her father, now she packed up his life and all she was a box of a Torres family heirlooms. B'Elanna took a breath before she closed the house one last time. She should go back to her hotel room and pack up her things because her transporter will be in a few hours to take her home to her family. B'Elanna found herself walking to the graveyard where they buried her father. It didn't take long for her to find her father's grave.
There was a new headstone there. It said his name and the dates of his life. There was nothing about being a father or friend. B'Elanna stood there staring at his grave for a moment before speaking. She didn't know where the words came from, but she had to speak them. She knew that she would feel better if she did.
"Dad, you left me when I was five and didn't see me again until you thought that I was lost in space. The next time I saw your face was when I was pregnant with my own daughter. I had so much anger in life at you and Mom. At you for leaving me and never being the father, I needed. You took a part of me, and I had to work through by myself.
"I didn't think I was worthy of love until I met Tom. Tom, who was there for me even when I didn't want him to be. He helped me pick up the pieces that you broke. We put the pieces back together. He stood by my side when I was going through things. He was there when I heard about my mother's death.
"When I thought our love story was over, he told me that he wanted to be the man I wanted him to be. We were married that day," B'Elanna let out a little laugh. "When I found out that I was pregnant with Miral, I thought that he was going to leave her the same way that you left me. Tom told me he was never going to leave me or our daughter. He told me that we could have three or four running around and he would be happy.
"Tom loves our children, and I couldn't ask for a better father for my children. He tells our girls every day how smart and beautiful they are. That they are strong and can do anything in the world. Tom is my everything."
B'Elanna felt someone standing behind her and she knew who it was. She turned and smiled at Tom. "What are you doing here?"
Tom stepped up. "I thought that you might need me," He looked down at her father's grave.
B'Elanna took his hand. "Thank you," Was all she said. Tom nodded. Tom led them out of the graveyard. B'Elanna knew that she had married the right man.
