Oregon
His breath caught in his throat as he stared at her. The field of flowers made it hard for him to clearly make her out but he knew. She turned her long black curls flowing as she started to run. His feet started going before he could even register that he was moving. His hand reached out for her. "Mommy wait!" He called out to her.
"Please mommy I'm sorry!" He yelled as he chased her. He felt like he was running for hours before everything went dark. He couldn't see anything as he turned to look for something. Where did she go?
"It's time." He heard a voice whisper. It sounded like it was coming from everywhere. He turned around and around trying to find the source. His body stopped moving no matter how hard he tried to move.
His breath caught in his throat as he came face to face with her. Her green eyes staring into his.
"It's time Jestion." She said softly. They stood for a moment just staring before a ringing filled his ears. Her face faded away as the ringing grew louder and louder.
---
Jestion woke up in a cold sweat. Panting filled the quiet room as he held his chest trying to catch his breath. Why after all these years would he dream about his mother now. He turned to Riley who was sleeping deeply beside him.
He then looked over at June's crib seeing the boy was still asleep before he laid down. He stared at the ceiling for a while before looking over at the clock on the dresser. It read 3:45 am. He fought for his eyes to close, for his mind to drift back into sleep but no matter what he did he couldn't get her voice out of his head.
'It's time.' It repeated over and over again ringing in his mind.
---
Jestion sat at the kitchen table half asleep with a cup of lukewarm coffee in his hands. Elias walked in whistling a Christmas song. He grabbed his apron and turned to get ready to make breakfast. He jumped, seeing his brother looking half dead at the table.
"Jess! You scared me, how long have you been awake?" Elias questioned as he walked over to the fridge. Not hearing anything coming from his brother he turned to see Jestion staring at the wall blankly.
"Elias...what happened to moms stuff after they died." Jestion asked as he looked at his brother. His blood shot eyes made Elias sit everything down and walk over to him.
Elias sat down beside him and grabbed his hands. "When I came to live with my foster parents, they took me to visit mom and dads grave. Someone put all of moms things in storage, dads ex-wife took his things." Elias said as he grabbed the coffee mug.
"I'm gonna make you tea." Elias said letting go of Jestion's hand to go make some tea. "R-riley and I need to go on a trip for a couple days." Jestion called out. If the house wasn't silent Elias would've missed it.
Elias turned to see his brother with tears streaming down his face. "I think I need to say goodbye to mom, Elias." Jestion said as he tried to control himself. He couldn't be crying again, not when they were all supposed to be in such a great mood.
"Okay, how long are you going to be gone?" Elias said as he turned back to put the kettle on. Jestion sniffled before wiping his eyes one final time. "Just a couple of days." Jestion said standing to get the tea bags for his brother.
"Okay, we'll watch the boys just make sure you're back before Riley's parents arrive." Elias said, causing the conversation to die. After making his brother's tea Elias began to start on breakfast.
Jestion sat at the table sipping his tea blankly staring at the wall. "I'll set the table." He told Elias before excusing himself to the dining room. Elias watched him leave and sighed. He hadn't had the heart to tell Jestion the police never found their moms body.
---
Everyone sat at the breakfast table having small conversations. Caleb laughed as the twins tried to pile their eggs on his plates because they didn't want them. Elias talked to Alexi but he kept glancing at his brother who looked even more tired than earlier.
"Heather, I was thinking we could take the twins, June and Caleb to this cool arcade I used to go to." Elias said, staring at Heather and slightly gesturing to his brother. Heather looked at Jestion before hurrying to swallow her food. "That sounds perfect! Bradley, you and Carl should come too. I'm sure you two would love a mini date." Heather said to her brother gesturing to Jestion.
Bradley looked over at Jestion and cleared his throat taking a sip of water. "That sounds lovely, we should all go after breakfast!" He said giving his boyfriend's hand a quick squeeze when the man looked at him confused.
Jestion was so out of it he hadn't even noticed the conversation as he fed June. Riley sent them a silent thank you as he looked at his fiance. "Jess, what do you think?" He said, trying to snap the man out of his trance.
"That sounds fine." Jestion mumbled not even really knowing what he was agreeing to. Everyone went back to silently eating and having hushed conversations as they worriedly gave Jestion glances.
After breakfast the group all went to get everyone ready to go. "Where is your hat Caleb?" Elias asked as he looked through Caleb's drawers. The boy pointed to the chair making Elias sigh and grab the hat to put on him.
"Is Jess okay?" Caleb asked, his voice barely coming out. He was afraid to ask, not wanting to be shut out or yelled at. "Yes, he's going to be just fine, we're just giving him some alone time with Riley so they can talk about boring adult stuff.." Elias smiled at Caleb. The boy nodded, smiling back as he stood up and walked to get his gloves.
"You've been walking so much more Caleb! I'm so happy for you!" Elias said happily as the boy went back to sit down. Caleb smiled as he put his gloves on and waited for his coat. "I'm trying I'm good with walking around rooms Jess said I can't walk down the stairs without someone." Caleb said, smiling big as he kicked his feet.
Elias got his coat and put it on him before he looked around the room making sure they weren't missing anything. "Okay let's go get June and meet everyone downstairs." Elias said, waiting for Caleb to get up and make his way to the door.
They left the room Elias walking slowly just so he wouldn't tire Caleb out too quickly. He knocked on his brother and Riley's room. Riley answered the door with June who was ready to go. "We'll be leaving tomorrow after talking with everyone tonight, thanks for this. By the way, hopefully I can get him to open up." Riley said as he handed June over.
"Of course." Elias said politely before saying goodbye. Caleb gave Riley a hug before he waved goodbye and followed Elias down the stairs. Elias came back to the top and yelled after Riley. "People are going to be here this morning to check on the cabin if you hear ruckus outside while we're gone." Elias said quickly before making his way back to Caleb.
The group all left driving in two different vehicles so they would have enough room for the boosters.
---
Riley sat next to Jestion on the bed. He carded his fingers through Jestions curly hair. "Jess, are you ready to talk to me?" Riley asked softly as he tried to comfort his fiance. Jestion turned over to face Riley. He stared at him for a moment.
Riley frowned seeing tears fall down Jestion's face. "I think I'm finally going crazy Riley." Jestion said as he cried softly. Riley kicked off his shoes and laid down next to Jestion so he could hold him better.
"I've been having this dream, at first it would just be me seeing my mom in a field of flowers and I would chase her over and over until I could never catch her." Jestion said before he paused as the dream flooded his mind again.
It was so vivid. It was one of the only dreams he could remember every single detail about. "Now I just keep hearing her say 'it's time' it's ringing in my head Ri, it won't stop." Jestion said before burying his face in Riley's chest.
Riley laid there for a moment thinking about what he could suggest to help Jestion. "How about after we visit your mom, we look into some different therapy options?" Riley said as he rubbed his hand along Jestion's back.
Jestion looked up at him for a moment before letting out a long sigh. "Yes." He said, ending the conversation. Riley let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. They had argued many times about Jestion getting therapy just having someone to talk to and suggest coping habits for him.
They laid in bed together just needing to be close.
---
That night the kids were tired as they all slowly ate dinner. June had been put to bed early after he had a couple bites to eat and a warm cup of milk. After everyone realized the twins and Caleb weren't going to make it through dinner Heather took them all to bed before coming back down to finish eating.
"Me and Jestion are gonna leave for a couple of days, we'll be back before mom and dad arrive if that's okay?" Riley asked knowing that would mean leaving June and Caleb with his family.
"Of course take your time." Heather said as she smiled at her brother. Bradley nodded agreeing with her. "We'll finish up everything before mom and dad get here, the last thing we'll all need to do is wrap gifts." Bradley said remembering the long list Elias had given them.
A Lot of the things had already been completed until the fair. All they had to do was finish getting ingredients for the Christmas dinner and wait for some gifts to come in the mail or to be picked up and wrapped.
Of course Elias had an elaborate set up for the presents after all the kids went to sleep on Christmas eve they were going to stay up and do but that was a problem for later.
Jestion smiled at everyone not having the energy to say anything at the moment. Everyone ate dinner together talking about the Christmas fair. They were all as happy as the could be that night.
A/N: I hope everyone has been enjoying the story so far! :)