Something More || A Morrilla Story

Part 11

Jen's POV:
I wake up later than usual the next morning and I roll over and look at the clock on the nightstand. 9 O'Clock. Shit, I'm three hours late to work! I scramble out of bed and trip on the pillow that was laying on the floor. I crash on the ground, sending a loud thud to travel through the house. After a few seconds, I stand up and I see a worried Lana standing in the doorway. "You didn't wake me up, we're late for work!" I say in a hurry. "You haven't heard the news then?" She asks me and I look at her confused. "Jen, your mom called your phone this morning and I answered... Your dad... He..." "He what Lana? Tell me!" I yell out of fear. "He had a heart attack and isn't doing very well. They want you there with them...they want us to be with them." She says and my head shoots up when I hear her say they want us both there. "She asked you to come along?" I ask surprised and she just stares at me. "Sorry, no offense. My parents just haven't really cared about, let alone asked to meet anyone I've ever dated. They didn't even want to meet my husband." I say. She nods and sits on the bed and stares at me. "So when do we leave?" I ask. "Get dressed, I already have everything packed. Your mom also asked us to bring Ava, and she's ready too." She responds. "What about Lola?" I ask. "She's not the traveling type. I already called Ginny and Josh, they will be watching her while we're gone." She says. I nod, and sit on the edge of the bed next to her. "How bad is he?" I ask as the truth begins to set in. "They aren't sure yet. That's why they want you there, just in case its the last-" I cut her off and stand up. "Let's go." I say urgently as I through on a pair of clothes from the day before, not really caring about the smell or the fact that they were all wrinkled. We rush downstairs, grab our bags and Ava, and hop into the car before driving to the airport.

Lana's POV:
Luckily, we only have to wait 45 minutes to our flight to Chicago. From there we will drive to where her parents live. We board the plane, and don't say much of anything for the 3 hour flight. Once we've landed, Jen carries Ava in the doggie carrier as we walk to get our luggage. My heart breaks for Jen. I know her parents haven't been there for her when she really needed them, but they were still her family. It was hard for me to lose my dad when he was killed by my ex boyfriends motorcycle gang when I was 16, but I had the rest of my family there for me, Jen doesn't exactly have that. She just has me, and I need to take care of her when she needs me. We rent a car, a black Prius just like mine, and we drive to her home town, Ava on Jen's lap the whole time. Once we get into town, Jen gives me the directions to her parents house. We pull up in front of the house, and that's when Jen loses it. She sobs and hugs Ava who just sits still, obviously used to this kind of thing. I rub her back as she cries, and after a few minutes shes okay.

Jen's POV:
I take a deep breath before I undo my seatbelt and open my door. I hold Ava under my arm and Lana walks around the car and our fingers intertwine with each others. We walk up to the front door. The door I haven't stepped through in years, and all the child hood memories come flooding back. I choke back the tears and take a deep breath before looking at Lana. "Ready?" She asks me, and I nod. I Let go of her hand and ring the doorbell. My sister Julia answers and when she sees me she hugs me and we both begin to cry on each others shoulders. I feel Julia look up at Lana and she pulls away from me and she composes herself before entroducing herself to Lana. "Hi, you must be Lana, its so great to finally meet you, I'm Julia." She says and gives Lana a warm smile. Lana smiles back and shakes her hand. "Nice to meet you too." She replies. I'm actually pleasantly surprised by my sister. The last time we actually talked was years ago, when I brought Olivia home to meet the family, and let me just say, it didn't go well... It didn't go well at all, so I'm happy that things look like they are going smoothly. Julia opens the door for us, and we walk inside. I look around. Exactly how it was the last time I was here. Neat, clean, and welcoming. I hear my mom and brother Daniel in the kitchen, and the three of us walk in. My mother sees us and she looks at me oddly, almost with anger, but then her expression changes and she smiles at us, before coming over to hug me. When she sees Lana, she quietly whispers something in my ear. I can barely make it out, but she says "looks like you've found the one." And I pull away with a huge smile on my face, I can't help but be happy. This was the first time my mom has ever said anything remotely nice to me about anyone I've dated. I look at Lana and she has a huge smile on her face. My mom smiles at her and hugs her, which I'm surprised by. Either they have finally accepted me, or they just want me here because it could be the last moments with my dad. I think. Daniel hugs me and shakes Lana's hand. I finally put Ava down, who runs off to do who knows what. "So, mom, how's he doing?" I ask. She sighs and tears begin to fill her eyes. Julia walks over to her and rubs her back. "It doesn't look like he will recover." She says as tears begin to spill from her eyes. All of a sudden, those words hit me like a ton of bricks. I burst into tears and almost collapse on the floor, but I'm caught by a strong pair of arms. I look up, and can just barely make out Lana's face through the blur of tears that sit in my eyes. I wrap my arms around her shoulders and cry into her neck. She rubs my back soothingly, and doesn't say anything. Daniel brings me a glass of water and I sip on it and begin to calm down. "If you want to see him, you may want to go now before its too late." Julia says. My brother and mom nod, and we all get in our cars and drive to the hospital.

We pull up into an empty parking space and get out of the rental car. Lana and I, hand in hand, walk to the hospital entrance following the rest of my family. I have been lucky, I haven't been in a hospital since house, but now all those memories come flooding back to me. We get into an elevator and it takes us to the third floor where my dad is. We walk to his room and just before going in, k take a deep breath, and try my best to keep a calm composure. I walk in and there is a bypass machine next to the bed. I almost wish I wasn't in house, I wouldn't know what all the machines were for, I wouldn't know how bad he really was. I look over at the bed and can barely recognize him. He's pale, weak, and looks nothing like the strong dad I used to know. "Hey dad." I whisper and walk over to him, Lana following close behind. His eyes open slowly, and he looks at me. "Jennifer..." He says and smiles and attempts to hug me. "Hey dad, its okay." I say, and lean down to hug him. He sees Lana behind me and smiles at her. "And you must be her love, come here." He shays in a raspy voice. He coughs and Lana comes to his bed side and holds out her hand for him. He gently grabs it and Lana smiles. "Treat her right. I haven't always been there for her when she needed a strong dad in her life... Its one of my biggest regrets. She's had a lot of heart ache and deserves a happy ending. Take good care of her for me darling." He says looking up into Lana's eyes as tears stream down her face. She smiles and dad looks back up at me. He let's go of Lana's hand and reaches out for mine. I grab his, and the tears that stung the back of my eyes when I first walked in can't stay put any more. "Daddy, I love you!" I cry and hug him. He gently pushes me up. "I'm sorry I wasn't around for you much the last several years, but please take this last gift and cherish it forever." He says and I look at him confused. He looks between Lana and I before continuing. "You are going to make a great wife and mother someday. I just want you to be happy, that's all I have ever wanted. If this beautiful girl is the one for you Jen, then marry her." He says and I'm shocked but the tears won't stop. He takes a deep breath, then continues, still holding onto my hand "You two have my blessing... I love you." He says looking up at me, and then his head sinks into the pillow, his hand tnhay was in mind goes limp, and the steady beeping from the machines turn into one steady long beep, meaning only one thing. He had passed away, in my hand, his last words, lingering in my head. I break down in tears and collapse over the bed. The idea of not having a dad anymore scared me, even though we hadn't seen each other in years. He was still my dad, and he used his last breath to give his blessing to Lana and I, his last words... I love you.

I hear the sobs of my mom, Julia, and Daniel, and even Lana is crying. Lana pulls me off the bed and pulls me in for a hug. I let her and we cry, holding each other up. The last time I cried this hard was when I lost my husband. I never thought I'd ever feel this pain again, but I guess I was wrong. It took us a half an hour for all of us to finally calm down enough to walk out of the room after saying our final goodbyes.

A/N: sorry for such a sad chapter, the next one will be better, I promise. It was hard for me to write this chapter without crying, but I think it made a good part of the story. I hope your enjoying it. Stay tuned for more updates ❤😘