Aftermath

Chapter 3

“Gamma Jenn?”

“Good morning, sweetheart,” Jennifer replied to the little girl who had just walked into her kitchen. “You’re up early.”

“Where are my daddies?”

“They’re at the loft.”

“I want them.”

“They’ll be here to pick you up soon.”

Bree frowned. “I thought they’d come get me last night.”

“Your Dada wasn’t feeling so good after … the funeral.”

“Is he going to die too?” Bree asked with tears in her eyes.

“My goodness, no! Come here, sweetheart,” Jenn said. Bree walked towards her grandmother, still holding her grey bunny. She refused to let go of her bunny ever since her fathers had told her about her Gamma Joan. Jennifer pulled her into a fierce hug. “Your daddies will be fine. They’re just sad because Grandma Joan is … gone.”

“You promise they’re all right?” Bree asked looking up into Jennifer’s eyes.

“I promise you they’re all right.”

“Why didn’t they want me with them?” Bree wanted to know. She didn’t like being sent away, even if it was with her Gus.

“They thought you would be … tired, dealing with all the people that were at the funeral. I know they were both very tired.”

“I cried before I went to sleep,” Bree confessed when Jennifer released her.

“It’s okay to cry when someone dies,” Jennifer assured her. She stirred what she was cooking on the stove.

“Do you think my daddies cried?”

“I think that’s very possible.”

“Oh,” Bree said. That seemed to satisfy the little girl.

“Are you hungry?”

Bree nodded her head. She wasn’t sure if she should be hungry, but she knew she was.

“I made you some porridge,” Jennifer said. “I know it won’t be quite up to Hudson’s standards, but I thought you might like it. It’s kind of nippy out today.”

“Does it have raisins?” Bree asked standing on her tippy toes to try to see into the pot.

“Yes it does, and I added nuts and some maple syrup.”

“Oh.”

“This was your Daddy’s favorite when he was a little boy.”

“He makes me porridge at home,” Bree said sadly. “Am I going home?”

“Of course you are,” Jennifer said firmly. “Your daddies will come get you later this morning.”

“I’ll be late for school,” Bree noted as she looked at the clock in the kitchen.

“The school will understand when your daddies explain what’s happened.”

Bree stared at her grandmother who was dishing her up a bowl of porridge. “Are you going to die too, Gamma Jenn?” Bree asked.

“Not anytime soon, I hope,” Jennifer replied trying to keep her voice light.

“That’s good.”

“Yes it is good. Here’s your porridge, but be careful, it’s hot.”

“’Kay.”

Jennifer sat down at the kitchen table with her granddaughter. Bree took a little spoonful of her porridge blew on it and then tasted tentatively.

“Good,” Bree said.

“I’m glad you like it, sweetheart.”

“Is Gus going back to school today?”

“Yes, he will be when he gets up.”

“Should we wake him up?”

“He was tired too, so I thought I’d let him sleep as long as he wants.”

Bree nodded. That sounded like a good idea. “Gamma Jenn?”

“Yes, dear.”

“Why did Gamma Joan die?”

“I don’t know for sure, but she did have trouble with her heart, so that may have been why.”

“My Dada said she was old and tired.”

Jennifer thought that didn’t sound like a very good explanation. “Your Grandma Joan was getting elderly,” Jennifer conceded.

“Is that why she had gray hair?”

“Yes, we get gray hair as we get older.”

“Your hair is pretty.”

Jennifer smiled. “I’m not as old as your Grandma Joan, and I have to admit that I color my hair.”

“It looks nice,” Bree replied.

“Thanks.”

“Would it be gray if you didn’t color it?”

“I’m sure it would.”

“But you won’t die, will you?” Bree asked with concern.

“No, sweetheart, I told you that I’m fine. Eventually everyone does die though.”

“My daddies?” Bree asked with worried eyes.

“Even your daddies, but not for a very, very long time.”

“Good,” Bree stated emphatically. “I need my daddies. I don’t want anything to happen to them.”

“You don’t need to worry. They’re fine.”

“Good.”

At that moment Gus and Seth came into the kitchen.

“There’s my short stuff,” Gus said with a big smile. “You’re up early.”

“Gamma Jenn made me porridge. You should have some too,” Bree informed her brother as she hugged Gus when he bent down to kiss her.

“I’d love some,” Gus said.

“Coming right up,” Jennifer said getting out bowls for Gus and Seth. She dished up the porridge for each of them.

“Aren’t you having any, my dear?” Seth asked as he poured himself a coffee.

“I had some toast while I was cooking the porridge,” Jennifer said. She gave a bowl to each of the men.

“Are you leaving soon, Gus?” Bree asked.

Gus hesitated. He knew how Bree usually reacted when he had to leave his sister. “I’m afraid I have to,” he said hoping Bree wouldn’t make a fuss.

“Gamma Jenn told me you had to go back,” Bree admitted. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too,” Gus responded. He was surprised that Bree seemed so calm.

“Bree’s been asking a lot of questions about what happened to her grandmother,” Jennifer said. “I think she’s beginning to understand.”

“That’s good,” Gus said.

“And she’s growing up,” Jennifer added, earning a smile from her granddaughter.

The doorbell rang at that moment.

“That must be your daddies,” Seth said.

“Yay!” Bree crowed as she practically leapt off the chair and raced to the front door. “Daddy! Dada!” she screeched as she yanked the door open.

“Hi, sweetheart,” Justin replied picking her up and giving her a big hug.

Bree kissed his face, but then looked around uncertainly. “Where’s Dada?”

“He’s staying in Pittsburgh for a couple of days with Uncle John. You’re coming home with me.”

“But … I want Dada.”

“I know, but he has some things to do for Grandma Joan’s house. He wants to get all the loose ends tied up.”

“But he’s okay?” Bree asked.

“He’s fine,” Justin said wishing he could be totally sure of that. At least John would be with him.

Bree seemed to believe her father. “Gamma Jenn made me porridge.”

“Is it as good as Hudson’s?” Justin asked. That was their rating scale for porridge.

“It’s almost as good as Hudson’s and just as good as yours, Daddy.”

“Well, who do you think taught me how to make it?”

“Gamma Jenn?” Bree asked.

Justin chuckled and nodded. He kissed Bree’s cheek. “Are you ready to go home?” Bree nodded. “Go get dressed and we’ll be off,” Justin said. Bree ran upstairs to get dressed.

“How was she?” Justin asked his mother who had joined them in the front hall.

“She has lots of questions, and she needs reassurance that everybody else isn’t going to die, but otherwise she seems fine.”

Justin nodded. “Then I guess it’s time to go home.”

After some juggling of cars, it was decided that Bobby, Justin and Bree would go home in the Navigator. John arranged for a company truck so that he could make his rounds of his Pittsburgh construction sites. Brian had his trusty Jeep to get around in.

Bobby and Justin had barely made it one block away from Jenn’s condo when Bree began to sniffle then cry.

“Bobby, pull over,” Justin quietly requested.

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” Justin asked Bree.

“I want my Dada,” Bree cried softly. In spite of assurances that her elder father was fine, Bree needed to see Brian in person.

“Bri, where are you?” Justin said into his cell phone.

“At Kinnetik. Why?”

“Bree really needs to see you. I think she thinks you’re sick or dying,” Justin whispered.

“Maybe I’ve been going about this the wrong way,” Brian mumbled more to himself than to Justin. “Bring her to the office,” Brian said clearly.

“We’ll be right there,” Justin said. Justin gave Bobby a look and without saying a word, Bobby got back on the road heading for Kinnetik.

“Dada!” Bree screeched as she ran into the old bathhouse and spied her father coming out of his office into the main room. Brian knelt down as Bree flung herself into his arms. She burst into tears.

“Come on, Squirt, let’s go for a walk,” Brian whispered into Bree’s ear as he carried her outside into the alley.

 

*****
 

“Well, shit,” John deadpanned as he looked into the hole in the ground. A backhoe was rumbling away in the background, its driver awaiting orders.

“My words exactly,” Gordon said as he stood at the edge of the hole looking at the same things that caught John’s eye.

“We have to call the authorities,” John commented.

“I figured,” Gordon said as he waved his cell phone. “They’ll be here soon.”

“I better alert the mayor’s office. They were hoping we’d have a block of one family houses up before winter,” John said.

“If it’s a crime scene, we might make it. If it’s a long lost burial site...”

“Yeah, I know,” John waved his hands in frustration. As the wail of police cars got closer, John and Gordon took out their plans for an alternative construction site.

 

*****
 

Brian sat on one of the rainbow painted benches that lined Liberty Avenue. Bree sat on his lap. The October sun was warm but there was a hint of Fall in the air. A cool breeze wafted by making Bree shiver. Brian took off his sport coat and draped it around his daughter.

“Are you going to die?” Bree asked in a tiny voice.

“We all die eventually,” Brian answered. This was not what Bree wanted to hear. “Briana, this is something I can’t promise you. Life sometimes doesn’t obey our rules but I can promise you that I try to eat healthy food. I exercise regularly and I go to the doctor for my check ups. So far the doctor says I’m very healthy.”

“But Gamma Joan was healthy.”

“Not really. Her heart wasn’t in the best shape and before she got to know you and Gus, she abused alcohol. Do you know what that means?” Bree nodded her head. “You know when Daddy and I have a beer or a glass of wine?” Bree nodded her head, her ponytail swung back and forth. “How many glasses do you see us having?”

“One or two,” Bree said after she thought about it. Brian once let her smell a glass of beer. Bree didn’t like it, wrinkling up her nose in disgust.

“Well, my mother used to drink much more than one or two glasses of wine every day. Have you learned about that in school?”

“Too much alcohol can hurt your liver and your brain,” Bree said. “We learned that in health class. The teacher said that drugs can do that too!”

“She’s right. Grandma wasn’t always very happy, and sometimes when someone isn’t very happy they turn to drugs or alcohol to make them forget why they’re sad. But then you came along and helped to make grandma very, very happy. She stopped abusing alcohol, began to eat right and to follow the advice of her doctors. Bree, you and Gus made Joan so happy that she took better care of herself. But some things couldn’t get better. The damage to her heart and liver was extensive. Do you know what that means?”

“It means that there was too much damage,” Bree said seriously. “We learned that some damage is irr...irra...”

“Irreversible. That’s right.” Brian stopped talking. He was watching several same sex couples quietly walking hand in hand down Liberty. It was one of the few places where they could without fear. Bree sat quietly on her father’s lap, thinking about what they had discussed.

“Dada, Gamma Jenn said she was afraid that you’d do something stupid.”

“Did she now?” Brian smirked, he wasn’t surprised. He knew a lot of his family was waiting for Brian to do something stupid. They’d have a long wait.

“What did she mean?”

“Bree, you’re only eight but we both know how smart you are,” Brian said as he looked into her bright violet blue eyes.

Bree nodded. Bree knew she was smart. She also knew that there were lots of things that she didn’t know, but she almost never forgot things that she was taught or read.

“When I was younger I wasn’t very happy and I did some things that I probably shouldn’t have.” Bree’s eyes grew very wide. “It took a few years, but after I met your father and our relationship grew...” Brian smiled to himself. Relationship.

“What is it, Dada?” Bree noticed the change of expression on her father’s face.

“When I was young and stupid I never believed in relationships.”

“But now you do?”

“Yes. That was one of the many things I learned from your father. I learned about love and relationships and about being a good person.”

“But you are a good person, Dada!” Bree said as she wrapped her little arms around Brian’s neck. “You are a very good person and you’re my Dada.”

“Thank you, Squirt.” Brian smiled, a beautiful smile at his most precious daughter then pecked her little nose. “I haven’t done anything stupid in a long, long time. And I had stopped before I did any permanent damage.”

“Not like Gamma Joan,” Bree said sadly.

“No, but you know what? Because of you and Gus, Gamma Joan stopped doing stupid things so that she could spend the best time of her life with you and with us. You and Gus made her the happiest person ever.”

“And you and Daddy? Did you make her happy?”

“Yeah, I think I did. She loved spending time with us at the lane. She especially loved the time we spent in New York together and she was very proud that you wanted to learn about your heritage and culture. She loved being involved with our whole family.”

“You mean our cwazy wittle family?” Bree asked using her father’s term. Brian laughed for the first time in days.

“Oh, yeah, our cwazy wittle family.” He hugged the little girl hard. “We did the most important stuff yesterday to honor Joan and her memory. We gave her a good send off but now it’s time for you to go back to school, to continue to learn just like me and Daddy and Joan want you to do.”

“But why can’t you come home with us?’ Bree’s face fell.

“Because there’s some stuff that I need to take care of for Joan and instead of driving back and forth for the next few days, it’ll be easier for me to stay here. Uncle John is going to stay with me, and he won’t let me do anything stupid.”

“Oh. I thought he has to work too. That’s why he wants to stay.”

“Well, yes, he and Gordon are working on a big project but that’s just an excuse. He really wants to take care of me.”

“Like Gus and Patrick take care of me cause they’re older? And Gus is my big brother?”

“Yup. Uncle John is my big brother and he likes to take care of me. He doesn’t think I know but I do. It’ll be our secret, okay?” Brian gave Bree a sly smile. She giggled and nodded, joining her father in the conspiracy. “It’ll be easier to get my business done faster if I stay here for a few days rather than doing everything over the phone.”

Brian was talking to Bree like she was much older and Bree seemed to understand.

“Okay, Dada. I’ll go back to school and learn. I miss Ashley,” Bree said, crisis almost all over. “But I’m gonna miss you.” Bree hugged her Dada.

“I’m going to miss you too but I’ll talk to you every day. And I won’t stay away too long. I like our nice quiet lane. Besides, Uncle John snores,” Brian whispered, making Bree laugh. “Come on, we better get back. Your daddy and Uncle Bobby are probably getting mad at me.” Brian picked up Bree to carry her back to Kinnetik.

“There you are!” Justin called out as Bree and Brian walked into Kinnetik. Justin was visiting with several of the artists and employees. Bobby was talking business with Ted. Justin took Bree from Brian then kissed Brian over Bree’s shoulder.

“Is everything okay?” Justin asked Brian.

“We’re good. Bree and I had a heart to heart talk and she understands why I have to stay here for a few days and why it’s very important for her to go back home and back to school. Besides, she misses Ashley.”

“Ashley. Yes, I’m sure Ashley misses you too.” Justin put Bree down and asked her to go get Bobby. As soon as she scurried off Justin turned to Brian. “What happened?”

“Do you know we have a very smart daughter?” Brian asked, circumventing Justin’s question.

“Yes, I know,” Justin replied with a smile then he gave Brian a hug.

“I told her the truth, Sunshine,” Brian murmured as he held onto his spouse. “I told her that Joan abused the booze and that it hurt her body. I also told her that because of Bree and Gus, Joan stopped drinking to excess and embraced life. That because of her, Joan was happy. And that you’ve made me happy. So happy that I stopped doing stupid things that could hurt my body.”

“Did she understand?”

“I think so. She seemed calmer. I also told her that I know why John is staying with me.”

“You figured it out, huh?” Justin snickered.

“Yeah. Took me a while but I did. I promise, I’ll get Joan’s affairs straightened out then I’ll come home,” Brian said kissing Justin’s head then his lips, not caring that most of Kinnetik was watching.

“Promise?” Justin asked sounding a lot like Bree.

“Promise, and I don’t lie,” Brian assured his spouse. Justin rounded up his daughter and his brother-in-law then left for Edna’s Treasures.
 

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