possibilities ( it: chapter 2 )

THREE.

☆彡

EILEEN SAT UPON her and richie's king sized bed, frowning as she watched him pack his bags. the thirty-nine year old felt a set of eyes watching him, causing him to glance up towards his wife.

richie stopped packing and walked over to the visibly upset eileen.
"what's wrong?" he asked, resting a hand upon her cheek.

"i know you've told me not to think negatively, but rich, what if yo–what if you don't...come back?" eileen felt tears well in her eyes as she stared up at her husband.

richie had told eileen not to worry about him, that he would make it out alive. if he didn't tell her to think positive, eileen would've been in a bad place.

"eileen, i'm going to come back to you. once i do, it'll be you, me, and the kids. no clowns, no derry." richie responded. eileen sighed, wanting to believe it, but she just couldn't.

"you should finish packing, love." eileen said, standing up to kiss richie. the matriarch walked out of their room and into their long hallway.

richie's flight would be leaving for derry in eight hours, which meant that eileen had roughly six hours left with her husband before she shipped him off to an unknown fate.

it had been three days since richie received mike's phone call, and he had been apprehensive ever since. richie felt that he couldn't panic because he had to constantly stop his wife from panicking.

richie knew that his family would be the toughest part about leaving beverly hills. to trade his family for an uncertain future was the part that made him want to instantly cancel his flight.

the sound of shuffling through the hallways caused richie to look up once more. his children stood against the doorframe, still half asleep.

richie's eyes softened at the sight of reece tiredly rubbing his eyes and the thirteen year old jay standing in her old set of pajamas that he bought her a while ago.

"daddy? are you leaving?" jay asked, both of the children stepping into the master bedroom. richie placed his suitcase aside and walked over towards his children.

"not yet, jay. i wanted to say bye to you guys before you two got ready and left for school." richie responded. reece was beginning to wake up more, successfully hearing the speech that richie was about to give.

"reece, i love you, okay buddy? you are the best son that i could have ever asked for and i love you two more than life itself. i just...i wanted to tell you that if," richie started as tears began to form in his eyes. "if anything ever happens to me, i need you to take care of your mom. she's a badass, but sometimes, badasses need help too. if i don't come back from this trip, i need you to be the man of the house okay?" richie looked at his son, getting choked up.

richie glanced over his son's features. reece had gained his hair texture, his foul language, and his bad eyesight all from his father. reece edward tozier was so much like his mother and maybe that's apart of why richie loved him so much, but that's also what made leaving so much harder.

reece embraced his father, his small arms wrapping around his dad's neck. richie attempted to hold back his tears as he rested his head on his son's shoulder.

the hug between the tozier boys ended and richie looked at jay. he knew that his goodbye to his daughter would be a thousand times harder.

"jade, sweetheart, look at me," richie whispered, gaining the attention of his still tired daughter.
"you are the love of my life. i didn't know that love could be so real until your mother gave birth to you, jay. you've shown me how a real parent should be and for that, i thank you. i love you so so much, and...and to think that i might not make it to your fi-first prom, or your...your wedding breaks my heart. if anything happens to me and i can't be there for you, i need you to be there for reece and your mother too." richie's voice began to waver as jay's blue eyes stared at him.

"dad, i thought that you were just going to maine. you sound like you're being deployed for war." jay stated. a smile settled onto richie's face.

"if i'm not here to tell the story, make sure you ask your mom about summer of '89." richie stated, pulling both of his children into a tight embrace.