AN: So, a little background on this one. I was first inspired to write this after I saw a video of Jeremy Jordan singing a song called 'Sarah' (which I highly suggest everyone go watch because it is gorgeous just like everything that comes out of that mans mouth) that was inspired by a letter that a soldier named Sullivan Ballou. This story is based on the actual letter Sullivan wrote and the events that happened after his wife received it. The letter in the story isn't the whole letter, it's a mix between what was said in the letter and lyrics in the song, and I made some changes because even in his 30s, Jack would not be that poetic. So... yeah. Enjoy!
My Very Dear Wife,
Katherine, I fear I may leave you to move on your own. A harsh wind is rising to scatter the thoughts we have known, but know that I will always be with you. I see you, my Katherine, when I close my eyes. If fate is kind, I'll soon be by your side. If I do not return, Katherine, know that my last breath will be used to whisper your name. All my thoughts run back to you, and someday soon I know we'll meet again.
Until then I swear,
I love you, Katherine, forever and always, and always my heart will be there.
- Jack
Katherine clung to the letter as if it was her lifeline, and it may as well have been. They were in the middle of what they'd been calling The Great War, and so of course her husband had enlisted at the first opportunity. He'd been gone for almost a year, sent a total of three letters, this recent one being the third, and Katherine had no idea where he was. She kept rereading the letter. Anyone who didn't know Jack wouldn't be able to tell, but he was worried. She knew he didn't think he'd be coming home, but she refused to believe that. The hope of him coming home was all that kept her sane, raising their two sons alone.
"Mama?" Katherine looked up to see their eight-year-old, William, looking at her with wide eyes. "Who's that letter from?" William loved writing and receiving letters, and Katherine often let him help her respond to any mail she got, but thankfully he was old enough to understand that there were some letters he wasn't allowed to see.
"It's from your father." She answered him, and his face lit up.
"Really? Is he coming home?" She took a deep breath and slowly shook her head.
"Not... not yet, buddy."
"Oh." The disappointment in his face was clear, but just like both of his parents, he quickly put on a brave face. "I'm going to go play with Edgar." He said, speaking of his three year old brother. She. nodded and he quickly left the room. Katherine sighed. She was worried that depending on what she next heard from Jack, her sons would be forced to grow up much too fast.
oOo
It was two weeks later when Katherine got the letter. She knew before she opened it that there wasn't anything good in it. Jack never wrote a second letter so soon after sending a first. She dreaded opening it, but both of her children were still at school and if there was ever a good time to do it, it would be now. So she sat at the table and slowly opened the envelope.
We regret to inform you that your husband, Jack Kelly, has been killed in battle.
There were other words on the paper, but that was all she saw. Jack Kelly has been killed. He wasn't coming home. She was a widow. Jack was dead. Katherine's hands started to shake and she dropped the letter. She instinctively tried to hold back her sobs, though there wasn't anyone to hear, and it was a good thing, since she couldn't hold them in. So, she just sat at the table, and sobbed. She didn't know what she was going to do, or what she would tell her children. She just wanted Jack to come home.
oOo
It was the day of the funeral, after the service, and Katherine didn't cry. She hadn't cried since the day the letter arrived. She couldn't. She couldn't very well have broken down while telling William and Edgar, who had taken the news pretty badly, as had been expected. She had to tell the boys as well, which had been exceedingly more difficult, and she had arranged the entire funeral. So, she couldn't cry. She had to stay strong for her boys. She said goodbye to the last of the guests, thanked them for coming, and started home with her two boys. Edgar, who was still too young to really grasp the concept of death, only knew that his father wasn't coming back, and so he'd been crying almost the whole day. William was more composed, and instead of crying, just stayed eerily silent. When they got home, she put Edgar down for a nap, and William went off to 'play in his room', so he said. Katherine suspected he was actually going to cry in private. Katherine, being momentarily free of her children, sat down on the couch and pulled out Jack's last letter to her. Forever and always, and always, my heart will be there. Perhaps that would be comforting to her later on, but now she still just missed him. So, she stood, still holding the letter tightly, and walked to her room. She shut the door behind her, and lay down on her bed. Then, she wrapped her arms around Jacks pillow, and, deciding to let herself stop being strong, started sobbing into it.
