Goodbye

40

No one saw each other for a while. Each family giving everyone the respected space they needed.

Vanessa raising her boys silently and away from everything. She didn't want them to see anymore horrible things but it was almost impossible to do so.

Sebastian did his best to keep his grades up and make his mother proud. He knew his father was watching him from above, and he wanted to make him proud as well.

Francisco did the exact same thing. Keeping his grades up and taking up music lessons just like his father had wanted. He didn't want to get rid of music completely just because his father had left. He felt like he needed to bring it back into the family. He would play the piano and sometimes even get his mother to smile. He did attempt to play the openings of certain songs his father had written, causing her to cry, but only because she saw so much of Lin in him.

Things were slowly looking up for them.

But on the other side of the city...

"I'm not having this conversation again!" Steve yelled at his wife. "I'm over it!" He threw his hands up in the air refusing to look at her. Pippa stood in the kitchen watching him.

"She's old enough to be in daycare Steven. I can go back to work now that I have no reason to be home." Pippa growled. "I don't want to be at home anymore." She frowned while going back to cooking.

"Oh really?!" He snapped. "Then why are you here then?!" He asked in a fit of rage. Pippa looked up from the stove and shook her head. She slammed the spatula down and turned off the stove. "What are you doing." He growled at her.

"Leaving. And I'm taking Christine with me." Pippa sniffed. Steve knew he had messed up. He shouldn't have snapped, but he was on edge. It had only been a month since they lost their daughter, and only so long since the funeral. He understood that she was hurting, but he hurt too..

"Don't leave..." He sighed when he saw her walking back down to the living room. She waved him off and picked up Christine's blanket and shoved it into a bag. "Phillipa."

"Steven I think it's best if I leave. You'll be alone. Just like you've been begging to have for weeks now." She spat. He saw the tears rolling down her cheeks as she spoke to him. He couldn't bare it.

"Please don't leave." He pleaded. Pippa once again shook her head and packed away the rest of her daughter's things. She didn't want to leave, but she didn't want to be there anymore. At least for the night... he watched Pippa carry their daughter down the stairs and saw her crying as well. "Please let me know you're safe..." He whispered. Pippa turned to look at him and nodded once. It was all she could do.

"But I wanna stay with daddy!" Christine cried as they left. It broke Steve's heart to hear his daughter's cries. But he wasn't going to fight Pippa anymore. It was a full week of constant fighting with them. He just didn't want to make anyone upset anymore...

===

Pippa sat Christine on the hotel bed and pulled out their bags. It was a short train ride through to DC where she could be away from it all. She escaped away from the busy streets of New York and went to her nearest family members. Her cousins.

"I want daddy." Christine hiccuped.

"I know." Pippa sighed. "Right now we just need to be here." She frowned.

She couldn't bring herself to say it. She didn't know if she honestly wanted to be happy again. But every time she looked at Christine, she couldn't help but feel happy. She hated the feeling now. She didn't want to feel happy while still mourning the short life of her other daughter.

"Mommy?" Christine sniffed, bringing Pippa out of her mental daze.

"Yes sweetie?" Pippa answered her.

"Dot will be safe in Heaven right?" She frowned. Pippa blinked a few times, looking at her young daughter.

"Of course." She sighed. "Uncle Lin is taking great care of her up there." She said quietly.

===

Vanessa didn't sleep as much anymore, usually waking up in the early morning to see an empty space next to her. Part of her knew that he was only in the other room, writing down whatever idea came into his mind. But she knew if she walked into that office... He wouldn't be there. No one had gone into his office since the last hospital visit either. No one could bare the memories.

"I miss you so much Lin..." Vanessa whispered, her hand wiping away a few tears. "The boys miss you so much. But they talk about you to everyone. Saying how great you were." She smiled faintly. "I just wish you were here to see them." She frowned.