Dried and Dying Roses (BWWM)

Forty Two: The Baby

At the wake, Isa and Adrian were the first two in the church, only after Jean Ford. As they walked down the aisles of the large church together, Adrian with his arm wrapped around Isaline, his large hand rubbing soothing circles into the top of her arm. The couple slowed down as they approached the first row, reserved for immediate family. As they sat down, Adrian rested his hand on Isa's lower back, leaning forward to whisper into her ear, "Did you want to go up to see him, or-"

"No," Isa whispered back, reaching over and grasping her grandmother's hand.

Jean was staring blankly at the casket her husband was resting in, but when Isa's hand came in contact with hers, she looked up, then stood, pulling Isaline, then Adrian into her arms, pressing her lips to both of their cheeks gently, "Hey babies,"

Once all three were seated again, Isa turned to her grandmother, still holding her hand in her own left one, and Adrian's hand in her right, "Where's Grand Pop?"

She was speaking of Ronald Ford's ninety three year old father Vernen Ford who was her great grandfather, and Isaline's only living great grandparent, his wife having had died seventeen years ago, and Isa's maternal great grandparents who had died before she was even born. Jean let out a quiet sigh, folding her hands in her lap, "Pop's on the way. He told me he was going to have Isaac pick him up, so he'll be here whenever your brother and Delly get here."

The time dragged on as the sanctuary filled up at a snail's pace, everyone coming to the front to give the family their condolences, some stopping to visit with Ronald before heading to their seats. Isa was fine until the church speaker started to play his favorite hymn. She had already been holding in her remorse, trying to think of all the great times this family had had with her grandfather, and trying to almost no avail to block out the people whispering their final goodbyes to the body of her grandpa.  

It wasn't working with her enhanced, immortal auditory system.

His large, cool hand wrapped around hers, which only seemed to push Isa to let everything she was holding in even more, her pouty, pink lips trembling as she stared ahead, trying to will the liquid form of her emotion to stay inside her eyes, refusing to blink. She couldn't break down, she couldn't have a repeat of the last time- she had to keep telling herself that.

Those fingers, the same ones that had thrown her, the same ones that had brought her to and past the brink of pleasure, the same ones that caught her when she sometimes couldn't seem to slow her inhuman pace down, now they tipped her chin up, giving her no choice but to look up at him. His usually stone eyes were a molten silver, those bright blue glacier specks now melted to a soothing azure as he looked down into the feminine eyes that were almost identical, only she had specks of gold, seeming to be searching for something.

Isa hadn't a clue whether or not he found what he was looking for or not, but the same hand that was holding hers in comfort was pulling her gently up, then to out of the sanctuary, and finally into the waiting area of the large church, pulling her to a soft seated bench, then sitting next to her in silence as she covered her face trying to muffle the cries of grief falling from her lips.

"Adrian,"

When he looked up at her, acknowledging that he had heard Isaline calling his name, she managed to climb into his lap despite the black, knee length dress she had on, wrapping her arms around his neck, and just breathing in the heavenly scent that made up Adrian Lew.

"I... I-I love you too," Her voice broke, and it took a few tries, but Isa finally managed to voice the phrase, tell him that she did in fact reciprocate the feelings he had expressed to her over a month ago.

She hadn't understood what was going on within her heart, her soul, but when her grandfather died, he had been the sole reason she was sane, he talked with her, trying to help her deal with the loss of her grandfather, he held her, he was so sweet, so unlike he was in the beginning that Isaline felt  like she was with a completely different man, she was glad she was.