Come Home

Chapter 38

"Papa," she sobbed as she held her arms up.

Doctor Roberts rushed over to her and scooped her up in his arms. She hardly ever called him that anymore but right now he couldn't focus on that. His goddaughter was sobbing her heart out and he needed to try and help her fix it as best as he could. "Oh Little One," he whispered as he sat on the blanket and rubbed her back soothingly, "I'm so sorry."

"Ho...h...how?" she finally managed to ask in between sobs.

"The caretaker called me after letting you in," he explained as he began rocking her back and forth. "He figured you would need me as upset as you looked." She burst into tears again and he continued to rock her back and forth until she cried herself to sleep.

He scooped her up and placed her in her passenger seat. Thankfully her keys were on the blanket, so he didn't have to go through her purse. He grabbed the urn, black horse stuff animal, and blanket then set them in her lap with her purse on the floorboard.

As he started her car, he frowned at how it sounded. North and Brandon were going to flip when they heard it. "Forgive me for this, Little One," he whispered casting her a quick glance as he pulled out of the cemetery, "but it's for your own good, I promise."

The rest of the drive was filled with silence as he pondered exactly how this was going to go. Pulling up to the gate, he punched in the code, then took a deep breath as he pulled up to the ranch house.

"Doc?" multiple voices confusedly asked as he hopped out of the front seat and rushed around to the side, opening the passenger door.

"What piece of crap is that?" North asked taking one step down off the porch. "Got us another project...shit, Baby," he whispered seeing the sleeping form in Dr. Roberts' arms as he walked toward the group of men.

"Alice?" Multiple voices whispered loudly as Dr. Roberts entered the house.

"Shut up," he whispered angrily as he looked around.

"Her room is upstairs," Gabe whispered as he rushed over to the staircase.

"I knew you didn't get rid of it," Dr. Roberts whispered as he followed Gabe up the stairs.

"No, just kept cleaning it," Gabe whispered as he pulled back the comforter. "Fucking hell," he whispered as Dr. Roberts removed her shoes then carefully removed her thin hoodie before laying her back into the bed.

"Hush," Dr. Roberts whispered as she whimpered. "Go get the stuff animal out of the floorboard of the car, now, and the rest of her things."

"On it," Luke whispered as he rushed out of the room.

He went out to the car and cursed when he saw what was in there. Grabbing the items carefully he walked back into the house.

"What?" the group asked when they saw the grim look on his face as he walked up to them.

"This is what brought her home," Luke's voice cracked as he pulled the urn out from behind his back.

"Fuck," multiple men groaned as they read the Jack Skellington Gates plaque.

"Place it on the mantle under the painting," Owen declared as he cleaned his glasses. "He deserves the place of honor."

Luke nodded as Axel took the urn from him and placed it on the mantle along with an eagle feather on each side of it.

"Give me this," Dr. Roberts said taking the black horse stuffed animal before heading back up the stairs. When he came back down he sighed, "Try and get some sleep, I have a good feeling when she wakes it's going to be hell on all of us."

"Where was she, Doc?" Jackson finally asked the question that was in everyone's minds.

"Visiting her grandparents," Dr. Roberts sighed tiredly. "The caretaker called me when he let her in since she was so distraught. Everything else can wait, we need to try and get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be interesting to say the least."

Alice woke up and looked around confused. She wasn't back home so where was she? Sitting up she looked around and forced back a groan as it dawned on her where she was. Getting up and looking out the window, the memories of the previous day came back to her. Sighing as she looked out at the stars, she briefly wondered what time it was. Turning back to the bed, she saw her phone on the nightstand plugged in. She went over to it and picked it up to find out that it was four in the morning.

Knowing she wasn't going to go back to sleep, she slid her phone into her back pocket then slid on her shoes. Carefully opening the door, she crept down the stairs and stepped over the sleeping men in the living room. She frowned in confusion seeing Jackson and Jasper asleep on the floor but didn't allow herself to think about it anymore. Opening the back door, she slipped outside and headed to the barn. She froze for a second hearing voices coming from inside.

"If the pony doesn't start eating, we are going to lose it," a man's voice said sadly.

"We can't lose this pony," another voice declared. His voice sounded very familiar but she couldn't place it at the moment. "The boss men said we have to do whatever it takes to keep this mustang. It's Jack's son, we HAVE to save him."

Alice softly gasped and blinked back tears. Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the barn, clutching the black stuffed horse tighter to her chest.

"Boss Lady," Justin said softly when he turned around to see who was coming into the barn after hearing the hinges creak a little. "Welcome home."

"Wh...wh...," She cleared her throat.

"Come see," he motioned over to the stall.

She walked over to him and her breath caught seeing the solid white horse laying in the hay. "You said..."

"After you left, the ranch two over said that Jack has been frequenting his mare and she was pregnant. Boss men had us do DNA, he's your boy's son. The mother passed away a couple weeks ago, the owner could never tame him so the bosses had us go get him. He takes after his father, Boss Lady."

"Was he still nursing?" her voice broke as she wiped her tears off her face. "Wild horses can nurse for years. There's been five and six year olds still nursing from their mothers."

"Don't know, Ma'am," Justin shook his head. "He won't let us get close enough to try and feed him. I've seen him eat once in a blue moon but it's been days since I've seen him eat. We were all shocked he let us carry him in here, honestly.

"Bring me a bottle," she whispered as she sniffled.

"Here," Justin said handing her the warm bottle. "We got some antibiotics in it."

"Hey sweet boy," Alice sniffled as she slowly approached the horse. "You are such a pretty boy." She knelt down by his face and sniffled. "I miss your daddy so much. He was such a sweet boy too." One of the other men opened their mouths but the quickly shut it after seeing Justin's glare. "Here, just take one drink, it'll make you feel better, I promise," she said rubbing the nipple of the bottle on his lips. "I'll tell you some stories about your daddy." She ran her fingers over his nose then gently kissed it. "Drink up, Zero, you need to be big and strong and free like your daddy."

"Thank god," Justin barely whispered as the mustang started drinking.

"There's my sweet boy," Alice smiled as she stroked his face. "Let me tell you about the first time I met your father."