An Affair To Remember

Instant Human: Add Coffee (Thirty-Four)

The majority of the time having the ability to come up with something to talk about, Sonny got a conversation started and soon the two had been yapping away for a good half hour on one topic or another. It had gone unnoticed by them when Jayme slipped outside to make sure that they hadn't murdered each other. He saw them peacefully chatting a ways from his grandparents home. Smiling in delight, the young boy had drifted back into the beach house.

"I'm ready to tell you," Jack stated, having waited for a lull in their conversation so that she could bring up this subject.

"Tell me what?"

"What I told Anne yesterday." Jack looked down at the sand as though it was suddenly of extreme interest. She soon found herself staring into a pair of concerned green eyes when Sonny gently lifted her chin. Quietly, the other woman earnestly stated that it wasn't necessary, and that she didn't have to if she would rather not. Jack shook her head. "No, I want you to know, and there's no time like the present."

Reaching over, Sonny pulled Jack's hand into her own. "Are you sure? I'm not in any hurry. I can wait until you're ready."

Jack tenderly smiled, loving this woman more every second. "I've never been more ready than I am at this moment, Sonny girl. I've related this story to three other people in my life, and those were Leslie, your mother, and...that woman who is your cousin. Well now, I'm ready to tell you...to tell you about what happened to my parents all those years ago. How they died." Remaining silent, Sonny gave the hand she held an encouraging squeeze. Jack told her early on in their friendship that her parents died, but she never went into detail. Sonny had assumed that they might have been in an automobile accident. "They died when I was eighteen, and Chloe six."

"Was it an accident?" Sonny gently prodded.

Jack shook her head, looking out toward the ocean. "No, their deaths were very intentional," she softly replied. "My Dad...his name was Jack too, short for Jackson, he died almost a month before my Mom did. He was on his way home from work one evening when three younger men assaulted him in the parking lot. I know the details of what happened because they were caught within a couple of hours. There was so much evidence against them that they couldn't possibly deny what they had done. Anyway, they ordered my Dad to give them his wallet, and the keys to his car. He willingly gave up both. They said that they were about to leave him alone when they spotted the wedding ring on his finger, and told him to give them that too, but he refused. They put a gun to his..." trailing off, Jack wiped at the tears that had started to fall down her cheeks. Though she had not been a witness, for the last fourteen years, she had played the scene from what happened that night repeatedly in her mind.

As Sonny began to stroke the length of her back, Jack attempted to get her emotions under control before she continued. "They umm...they put a gun to his head, and repeated for him to give them his ring, but he still wouldn't do it. Even after they threatened to shoot him, he refused. So finally, one of the other two grabbed the gun from the guy holding it, and shot my Dad. Afterwards, they pried the ring from his finger, piled into his car, and sped away. A witness saw them driving off, and quickly called the police, and an ambulance, but it was too late. Dad died immediately after they shot him," Jack paused before adding, "And for that I'm grateful. At least he didn't have long to suffer." Starting to cry, Jack felt a pair of arms wrapping around her and buried her face in the crook of Sonny's neck. Though it had happened fourteen years ago, the pain was still fresh. Beginning to cry as well, Sonny held on tight while she gently rocked the upset woman in her arms.

"Why couldn't he have just given them the ring? It was replaceable unlike his life. I miss him so damn much," Jack heartbrokenly whispered.

"I know you do, baby. I know. I'm sorry. So very sorry."