My Saving Grace (Book 3)

June 14, 2030

Jessica woke up early the next day, she always did on Sunday's. This meant she could go for a run and get back in time for family breakfast. She crept downstairs and out the front door, closing it quietly behind her as not to wake anybody. She stretched in the garden and then began to let her feet pound against the concrete as she jogged. She never listened to music while she ran, it stopped her thought process. She'd often recite poems or theorems in her head but today her mind was on something else.

She couldn't take her thoughts off of the fact that Elliot was going to be her brother. It felt strange, almost like a betrayal. She wanted him as a brother, he was funny and cute and her parents adored him but it felt almost as though they were forgetting about Noah. Maybe he would want a say in this. If he were still alive would they even think about adopting again?

She found her legs carrying her in a different direction to the route she usually took. It wasn't long before she came to a stop by the graveyard. It was empty, the only sound coming from the birds that sang merrily in the trees. She swung the gate open, it creaked from lack of use. She let her feet crunch against the gravel, her pace at barely walking speed. She found his grave easily and knelt down in front of it. The headstone was beginning to fade, the rock eroding. There was a bunch of lack lustre flowers in the pot next to it. They must have been from Toby. She took them out and planned on throwing them away on the way out. She cursed herself for not buying flowers on the way there.

"Hey, Noah." She whispered. The wind whistled. "I expect you already know but dads are planning to adopt Elliot. I bet Toby has told you already." The wind whistled again. "I hope that's okay with you, that it doesn't... hurt you. He's great... So cute and sweet and they love him." Jessica stopped for a moment, trying to gather her thoughts. "So do I." Silence.

"I know you're watching over us and I hope to god that you're making sure Toby's okay. He needs everything he can get at the moment." Again the wind whistled but this time it was more comforting, softer. Jessica smiled, placing her hand on the headstone. "I love you, brother." She whispered.

It was then that she turned back, jogging home again. She took the long way so that she could work up a sweat and completely arrange and organise her thoughts. When she got home the house was still quiet. She went to walk into the sitting room when she saw Elliot sat on the couch and Alex crouched in front of him. She noticed straight away that they were signing back and forth between each other. When she looked closer she saw that Elliot didn't have his hearing aids in. He had obviously just woken up.

"When someone has to leave us they are said to go to heaven." Alex signed, Jessica couldn't understand any of this. "But I believe that their spirits stay on Earth. When you talk to them they answer back but not in words, in signals. A birds song or a winds whistle or clouds covering the sun." Elliot looked like he had been crying, his eyes a little red.

"So Adam and Noah are still here?" Elliot signed. Alex nodded. Jessica watched them carefully. Even though she couldn't understand what they were saying she knew it was something not to interrupt. She knew that look on Alex's face. The look that meant he was trying to make you feel better. He often had that look after Noah died when she or Toby would have a nightmare or were feeling sad.

"No nightmare will scare them away. All you have to do is look for their spirit." Alex looked around the room, comically, his eyes stopping when he was facing sideways. "There." He signed, reaching forward and cupping his hands around thin air. Elliot giggled when Alex pressed his hands against his chest. Jessica noted how different his laugh sounded when he couldn't hear. "Can you see Adam now?" Elliot nodded, holding Alex's hand in place so that he would still be able to see his big brother, if he let go he would probably disappear again.