Autumn in Philadelphia Trilogy

The Return: Aftermath

"It is much, much worse to receive bad news through the written words than by somebody simply telling you. When somebody simply tells you bad news, you hear it once, and that's the end of it. But when bad news is written down, each time you read it, you feel as if you are receiving the news again and again." -Lemony Snicket

==================================

Saturday morning was anything but cheery. Jon awoke at 3 in the morning, hot and sweaty. Grayson was laying on top of him with his arms wrapped around his neck. Audrey was pressed up against him as close as she could get. He didn't see how either of them could sleep the way they were. He certainly could not.

Jon shifted Grayson to his side and gently laid him next to him on the bed. The boy squirmed a bit then settled down again without waking up.

He turned over to find wide gray eyes staring at him.

"Have you slept any?" he asked.

Her eyes closed briefly, and she shook her head.

Jon wrapped his arms around her and buried his nose in her hair.

At four, since they couldn't sleep nor could they talk in the Family room, they got up to restore their bedroom to its normal state.

Audrey was silent. And her silence drove Jon crazy. So, he talked. And talked until he ran out of things to say.

Still, Audrey said nothing.

He knew she was grieving the loss of the jacket. It was a ridiculous thing to be so attached to, but she was, and he understood why.

At six, Grayson burst into their room and sobbing after a nightmare about the break-in woke him up. He blinked bewilderedly at the bedroom. It looked the way it always had.

Still the dream bothered him. Audrey sat on the bed and consoled him, stroking his hair and lovingly cooing in his ear. But to Jon, her words sounded hollow because she was empty.

He felt terrible about the situation. He must have failed in some area for this to have happened. For someone to have a key and security code to their home, he must have gotten careless.

He failed Audrey.

He failed the kids.

He felt sick.

How could he have let this happen to them?

At seven, everyone was awake when the doorbell rang. The whole household jumped. It was the security company at the door, ready to change the locks and code.

==================================

Shawn helped Julia get Jamie and Bella ready for the day. The two youngest children already had forgotten about the night before and were excited for the day.

Julia was quiet and sick with worry. Shawn did the best he could to comfort her, but he knew he was no substitute for Jon.

"What do we need for the arena today?"

Julia shrugged.

"C'mon, Jules," he said giving her arm a friendly shake. Mom and Dad said they want to keep everything normal today. So, let's help them out some."

She nodded and directed Shawn on what gear Grayson needed to take with them. She got her own bag and put it by the door.

"Shawn?" she asked timidly as they did their best to make breakfast for the family. They knew Audrey wouldn't be up to it.