A bigger chapter again, one that had given me some trouble when I first wrote it, but I really like how it turned out in the end.
They had kept in touch with the kid and his mother, after meeting them for the first time.
He and Emily had sent him a birthday card that he had gotten Lou, Junior, and River to sign and as an added bonus Henry had signed it too. The loud phone call that they got in return proved that they had done well for having just met him.
They had known that Strip and Lyn were going to make an effort to stop by for him, and once they did, they got an excited call in return; even though they had nothing to do with the visit.
They did stop in a couple times themselves when in the area. Elizabeth always appreciated that. Them, treating her son as the family member he was, as quickly as they had.
They had also taken to exchanging phone calls every few days with the small family, trying to get to know the two better.
They had tried to do something for Thanksgiving, but it fell through due to it being the only time her parents were 'able' to do anything for the holidays with them.
So, that Christmas they flew them into Flagstaff, picked them up and brought them to Radiator Springs for the holiday.
Mater quickly took the kid under his wing, much to the kid's shock and horror at first. A little cow tipping later, and the two had become fast friends.
By the end of the holiday the McQueen's had met both Stephen and his family, as well as Bernard who had stopped by for a day or two.
Henry and Joan had made the trek over as well.
The others had followed to 'get a look at Hud's new kid' he had just rolled his eyes at their proclamation and enjoyed watching them get geeked out over when they met him.
He and Em ended up talking with Lightning every couple of days after Christmas had passed. All in all; they had ended up getting to know him quite well over the few months that they knew him.
Then at the end of February, life as the kid knew it, crumbled all around him it seemed; a feeling he knew all to well.
"Jesse wake up, we've got to go." Em said as she gave him a light shake.
With a yawn he asked "why, what's wrong?"
"We just got a phone call that Elizabeth's in the hospital after being hit by a drunk driver. She had us listed as emergency contacts. I've booked us the first flight I could get. Start packing a bag, we've got to go, poor Aaron." He got up and dressed, quickly packing a bag, before the phone rang.
"I'll get it Em, keep packing." She nodded at him.
"Hello."
"Uncle Jesse! My- my mom..."
"Ssshhh, kiddo, I know, we're on our way, we're catching the first flight that way, we're coming. You won't be alone for long, just a few hours and we'll be there for you hot rod." He sniffled out an okay.
"If you want or need someone to talk to until we get there, phone Lyn or Stephen, they'll gladly take your call and just be there for you. You could phone almost anyone you've met here and get the same response. You could phone Mater, but I don't know how comforting he'd be."
He got a little snort from that at least, he explained he had to hang up now so that they could get to the airport in time. The sooner they left the sooner they could be there for him.
That finally got him off the phone, though he did give one last suggestion that if he didn't phone one of his siblings he should phone his brother, Henry. Henry would be able to sympathize with him the most, having dealt with both losing their mother and dealing with his crash.
They weren't so rushed as to forget to put a sign on the clinic to say they would be away for a family emergency.
Their travels had never felt so long, but he knew what it felt like to lose his mother and not knowing whether she'd pull through or not. He felt for the kid, more than he could know at the moment.
Emily was lucky with when she lost her parents, to have had so many years with them.
Now this kid, who was more of a kid than he had ever been in so many ways, was very possibly losing his mother, the only parental figure he had had for years.
He had had a dramatic enough year already with finding out who his father was, that he had tried to cover him up, and that he cared so little that he wouldn't even talk or look at the kid.
When they got there he was in an absolute panic, frantically pacing and in tears. They had gotten an update on his mother before arriving. She was in critical care, they were taking her into surgery to try and fix some of the damage her body sustained. They weren't giving her high odds for her to pull through though. So the next few hours and possibly days of uncertainty were going to be the hardest waiting and the most crucial on whether she would pull through or not.
It really did bring to mind losing his mother, a little different scenario but that same waiting game.
Lightning was so distraught when they got there, to calm him down at all, they did something they used to do with Lyn when she was little and upset. They sandwiched him in-between them on the couch, each with an arm around him.
Emily was trying her best to comfort him, until he finally pulled the kid right into him.
"I'm not going to sugarcoat it Aaron, there is a very real chance you're going to lose your mom." He got a mighty wail from that and heard the kid cry he was going to be completely alone in the world.
"No you're not, we're not going anywhere. We'll be here until you're sick of us and even then we'll still be here. You are family, we'll be here until the end. Now I know you might not want to talk about it, but I want you to tell us everything that happened when you were contacted about your mom."
He explained how he came home to an empty house which he had expected, his mom always got groceries after work on Fridays, and she'd pick pizza or KFC, or just some sort of take out dinner. A treat for the end of the work and school week.
He said how he was starting to get nervous when she wasn't home at eight, because she was normally home sooner than that even when she got groceries. By the time it was nine he was getting antsy, he had eaten something already because it was getting late.
How it wasn't long after ten that a police officer had knocked on the door to tell him his mom was in the hospital, and how it felt like his world was crashing in around him.
How he only remembered the officer asking him if he had anyone he could call, which he said he did obviously. It was only after the officer left that he phoned them.
He had taken his suggestion and phoned both Lynda and Stephen, talking to each of them for an hour each. He had tried to sleep but couldn't, and since he couldn't, he tried phoning Smokey and had talked to him for a bit.
He didn't think he had been off the phone for long before they arrived, but he didn't know, time had kind of lost all meaning by that point.
Getting him talking about it had noticeably gotten him to calm down, the more he spoke the less panicked he had become. He was still emotionally distraught but was calming down enough that he might be able to sleep a couple hours.
Emily had been either rubbing Lightning's leg or his back as he talked, which had helped the kid too. As he was starting to slow down, Em had left to go get a couple of pillows and a blanket or two, so they could ease him into a sleeping position.
He knew he wouldn't be getting up very soon.
It didn't take them long to get the kid into a sleeping position. They place his head on his lap with a pillow on it and got him to lay out his legs in the direction Em had been sitting in. He was asleep quickly after that.
It definitely had brought him back to doing similar things for Lyn and Stephen when their parents divorce was in full swing.
Watching Lightning sleep, he could see the resemblance to his half siblings clearly and it didn't seem to help that Alex had a type; from trying to flirt with his sister, to the darker hair and bright blue eyes that the kid had inherited, his darker hair also made him look more like Lyn. If there wasn't the dramatic age difference, it would be visibly noticeable that they're siblings. As it was the two might pass as mother and son instead of half siblings because of age difference.
He was so young to be losing his mother. They had grown up in two very different eras, but were living through similar events with him losing his mother.
He played gently with the kid's hair, as Em came to check on them. They didn't need to speak, he was doing fine yet, he had gotten some sleep before he was woken up to leave. He knew she had been able to sleep for an hour on the plane, they'd be toast by the end of the day, but they'd be able to manage.
After the kid had been out for a couple hours when Emily had pulled up a chair beside him and in low tones they talked about what they were going to do if Elizabeth didn't pull through. By the time he was starting to wake up they had a plan of action in place. He woke up to them talking about retrieving more clothes from home.
He noticed the kid shifting more and removed his arm from where it had been resting.
"How'd you sleep kiddo?" Lightning sat up and rubbed his eyes. He just kind of shrugged in response to his question.
"I'm kind of hoping last night was a nightmare and that you're here just for a visit, but that doesn't seem very likely."
"Unfortunately not Lightning."
"Right now, it's a waiting game on whether she will pull through or not."
"Just know, we'll be here for you the entire time."
"Really?"
"Of course kiddo. I know all too well what you're going through. I lost my mom right around your age. Little different circumstances, as my mom was ill, but it's that same uncertainty of whether she'll pull through or not. This may be more sudden, as there wasn't any lead up before the accident, but that hurt of knowing you're possibly losing your only parent is the same. You're not going to be alone though, not ever."
"I'm going to go make breakfast. Any requests?" Emily said getting up.
"I'm not really hungry Aunt Emily." They shared a look over Lightning. A teenaged boy, not hungry? That definitely meant he was upset, and would probably eat more than he thought he would.
"I'm going to make something anyway. Jesse?"
"Whatever you find Em." He knew what she was doing, giving him sometime to talk to the kid alone.
He told the kid about how his father didn't make it through World War II. Leading into how he had lost his mom.
"When I lost my mom, I didn't have a large support group behind me. It was just my brother and sister. We were the only ones we had, though Henry may have leaned more on Joan than I realized then. They were together at that point.
There was a fair amount of uncertainty on whether my mom was going to pull through or not, to make it worse Ruth; my twin, was sick at the same time. So, we didn't know if either were going to pull through." He took a deep breath.
"Ruth did at that time, but our mom did not. The three of us grieved together, we weren't ready to lose her not when we had lost our father to the war just a few years prior. We did what we had to, to survive though. It was hard, and money was tight but we were able to find a new normal. We missed her everyday, still do, but you learn to live with the loss." He had to pause a moment before the next part, clearing his throat, then beginning.
"Ruth's death was harder in ways, she was my twin, my best friend, before I met your aunt, she was the only one I'd really open up to. The year that we lost her, she had been doing really good, which made her turn so much worse. She was in the hospital for weeks before she passed.
I had a larger support group then, but instead of leaning on my brother, Lou, River and Junior I locked everyone out. It didn't help anything." He looked hard at Aaron, this was important.
"Then with my crash and being told I wasn't going to be driving when I tried going back, left me bitter and took me years with Emily's help to work through it all. The point being we're here for you and burying your emotions doesn't help anything.
You have a huge support group behind you. All you have to do, is let us help support you. If she doesn't pull through, I need you to try to not completely withdraw into yourself. Think you can do that for us, to not completely withdraw on us?"
"Yeah, I can do that."
"Good." He clapped the kid's shoulder. It was going to be hard on him, but he was going to have more support than he knew what to do with.
It was only a matter of hours later, that they got word that Elizabeth hadn't pulled through. In someways, that was better. At least Lightning wouldn't have to wait unknowingly, whether she was going to pull through or not; for possibly weeks.
He had taken it upon himself to be the main comforter, as Emily made phone calls to the family to let them know that Lightning's mom had passed.
There had been a boat load of tears on Lightning's part, not being one to really hold in his emotions. With certainty more to come.
At the end of the day, they had gotten him into his own bed. He was completely emotionally drained and he could imagine how the kid was feeling. He and Emily watched him sleep from the doorway, tucked into each other's side.
Emily spoke lowly, not wanting to wake him. "And here I was thinking that you were allergic to tears. You're doing so well with him Jesse." She looked up at him.
"Well, he needs the comfort and I just so happen to know far too well the pain he's going through." He hugged her a little tighter to him.
"Either way, this is the most open I've seen you with anyone besides me. It's nice to see. Now, let's see if we can't get some rest ourselves."
This is probably going to be the last chapter for a while, life's about to get busy this holiday season and I won't have a lot of time to write until the new year now. Big things are happening for me, moving, mainly. I've got a lot of packing to do.
As a bonus, have this little piece that will probably never be extended.
They had dealt with all the funeral arrangements for the kid, and he took care of all of the legal stuff with Stephen.
"This poor kid dad, he's only a little older than my own kids, and in the past year he's had to learn that father wants nothing to do with him and loses his mom. At least he's got you and mom now."
"Doesn't mean it makes any of this easier for him."
"He'll be well cared for though. What are you and Aunt Emily going to do with him? Move him to Radiator Springs?"
"In the summer; this is his last year of high school, so he might as well finish it where he is. Relocating so soon probably wouldn't help anything. At least this way he can finish the year out surrounded by friends."