Just A Dream (completed)

Chapter 57: A Day Of Grieving

Brooke is silent as she watches James feed Kenzie her bottle. He refused to leave the hospital until he could take Kenzie with him. The hospital wanted to keep Kenzie overnight, just to be safe. While everyone else went home, Brooke offered to stay with James, even though the whole night was stressful. James kept bursting into tears and Brooke would have to comfort him until he stopped, which means that she got no sleep last night. She doesn't mind, though. Her baby boy is hurting and he needs someone to be there for him.

She looks at the beautiful baby girl in her son's arms. She loves her new grandbaby. She was overjoyed when she finally got to hold Kenzie, immediately falling in love with the child. Kenzie doesn't even realize what's going on. She's just a baby, so she doesn't understand. She's too young to realize that her mother is dead and her daddy is struggling. She shouldn't have to worry about that.

James puts Kenzie's empty bottle in the diaper bag, proceeding to burp the little girl. He looks like he's on the verge of tears again, so Brooke gently rubs his back. She kisses his cheek before standing up, grabbing the diaper bag. She looks at her son, who is making no move to get up.

"Let's put you in your carrier, princess." She tells Kenzie, removing her from James's arms. She lowers the baby into her carrier, wrapping the blanket around her tiny body. She runs her fingers through James's hair, watching as he stands up with Kenzie's carrier. They walk out to the rental car and put Kenzie in her new car seat. Jennifer let Brooke put it in the backseat of her car so she could pick her son and granddaughter up.

Once Kenzie is in the car seat, Brooke and James get into the car. As she starts the car, Brooke glances at her son. She watches as he starts crying again, unsure of what to do. All he has done is cry and it kills Brooke. She can't believe that they're going home without Jenna. Brooke wasn't too sure about Jenna at first, but she made James happy. That's all Brooke has ever wanted for her son.

"Shhh." She whispers, pulling him into a hug. He buries his face in her shoulder and sobs. She kisses the top of his head and holds him close, letting him cry as much as he wants. She has never seen James in such a vulnerable state before. Even after Brooke and Samuel divorced, he never cried very much. He got angry, but Brooke doesn't recall him sobbing.

"Jenna!" James sobs, shaking as he cries.

"Calm down, honey." Brooke whispers, kissing his forehead. "Let's get you and Kenzie back to the Palm Woods."

James slowly stops crying, even though his tears continue falling. He nods and wipes his tears away. He doesn't want to leave the hospital without Jenna. He wants to go back into that hospital, hear the doctor telling him that it was just a mistake, then take Kenzie to her mommy. He wants to kiss Jenna and tell her how much he loves her...No...He didn't tell her that he loves her!

As he comes to this realization, he starts crying again.

Brooke has to listen to James's crying for most of the ride back to the Palm Woods. She's amazed that Kenzie hasn't woken up. Anyway, Brooke finds a parking space in the Palm Woods parking garage and looks at James, noticing that he has finally fallen asleep. All the stress is tiring him out. She can already tell that Jenna's death and his newfound status as a single parent is taking its toll on him.

"Wake up, honey." She says, stroking his cheek. James slowly opens his eyes, looking at their surroundings. He nods and gets out of the car, opening the backseat door. He removes Kenzie from her car seat and gets out of the backseat, kissing the baby's forehead. He walks to the other side of the car and puts his baby girl in her carrier. For some reason, he feels sick as he looks at the entrance to the Palm Woods. There are so many memories of him and Jenna getting out of his car, walking through that entrance, greeting their friends, and doing whatever. Now she's gone and their life together is over.