AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Casey runs his fingers through his hair, staring straight at the ground.
Gavin’s weathered eyes settle on me and Vivi. “Son,” he says to me, taking my hand. “Thank you for loving my Claire, my Vivi. Thank you for…coming into our lives.”
“Yes sir,” I whisper, nodding. My vision clouds with tears as I try my damnedest to blink them away.
“You’re part of our…family. And in case you were wondering…I’d be so proud to call you my son-in-law…one day.”
That does me in. I can’t blink these tears away. I glance up at the ceiling, letting them slip down my face. Then I squeeze Gavin’s hand. “Thank you, sir.”
He looks at Claire, his eyes drifting down her body, lingering on her stomach. “I know I can trust you to look after my babies, Avery.”
“Always. I promise.” I’ll always take care of Claire and Vivi. Always.
He smiles up at me. It’s soft and small. “Good man.”
Turning his attention on Vivi, he holds his arms out. “Come here, baby girl,” he says while I set her gently in his lap.
Vivi presses her hands to his sopping cheeks. “You cwyin’, Gamps. You need magic kiss?”
His head bobs, just barely. “Please.”
She litters every inch of his face with sloppy kisses. “There,” she whispers, tapping his nose. “You all betta now.”
Claire moves to my side, slipping her arms around my waist and tucking her face into my side. I don’t have a fucking clue what to say, what to do, so I just hold her.
Gavin brushes Vivi’s loose curls off her face, tears sliding down his cheeks. “Beautiful girl,” he murmurs. “I have to go, sweetheart.”
“Where you goin’, Gamps? I come?”
His head shakes and he offers Casey up a small smile when he joins them on the bed, laying a hand on his dad’s arm. “I’m going to heaven to be with grandma.”
Vivi’s eyes start watering, that lip of hers trembling. She looks around the room, taking us all in, and finally looks back at her grandpa. “You goin’ to heaben? But…but I can’t come to heaben.” She traces his cheek, his eyelids, his lips, as if she’s memorizing how he looks, feels. “I won’t see you anymore?”
Gavin blinks furiously, taking a second to peer up at the ceiling. He kisses his granddaughter’s nose. “You’ll see me. I promise. I’ll come visit you…in your dreams…my sweet girl.”
She places her palm over his heart. “And you be in my heart, like Gamma?”
“Always and forever.”
She snuggles into him, nuzzling his neck. “I luh you, Gamps. I be good girl for you.”
“You’re always my good girl…I love you, sweet Vivi.”
Vivi sits up and smiles. “You gib Gamma hug for me?”
Gavin grinds widely as he brushes away Vivi’s tears. “Oh, honey. I can’t…wait…to give Grandma…a hug. I’ll tell you a…secret.” He leans in close, cupping his hands around her ear. “Grandma gives the very best hugs.”
His gaze moves between me and Charlee. He looks at Claire, at Casey, before settling back on Vivi. I know what he’s trying to tell us, even before he gives Vivi one last kiss and she squeezes him as hard as she can. He wants to be alone with his children, and he doesn’t want Vivi to see this.
I scoop up the tiny redhead and she wraps her legs around my hip, stuffing her thumb in her mouth when her cheek hits my shoulder. I kiss Claire, place a hand on Casey’s back, and finally
squeeze Gavin’s hand. With Charlee’s hand tucked into mine, we leave the three of them in peace.
Together, we amble around the hospital for fifteen minutes, rounding the corner back into Gavin’s wing when we see the doctor leave his room, shutting the door quietly.
He doesn’t see us, but we see him. We see the way he pinches his nose, scrubs his mouth, and then looks up at the ceiling, two hands on his hips while a tear slips out of his eye.
“No,” Charlee whimpers. “Oh, God.” She runs to the door after the doctor walks away, looking through the window, fingers pressing into the glass. “No.”
