New families

What's going on?

Fletch came home at lunch time with everything covered at work .
"How are my two favourite ladies" he said bending to kiss Jac. It was only then that he noticed the sad tear stained faces.
"What's going on?" He said taking a seat
Jac and Emily looked at each other. Jac reached for Emily's hand and nodded encouraging her to tell him.
"I have news" she began "I er the thing is...."
Emily's eyes welled up and she looked imploringly at Jac
"Fletch" said Jac softly "Emily is dying. She has a rare inoperable brain tumour. She wants us to have our wedding whilst she's in England "
All the colour drained from Fletch's face. He stood up and walked out of the front door,
Slamming it behind him
"Shit" said Emily "that went well"
"He just needs time. It's a lot to take in especially after all he's been through"
"I shouldn't have said anything"
"You are joking. He really would kill you for that"
"I know but look at how upset he is"
"We'll help him. I'll be there for him I promise"
"I know you will hun that's how I know he's going to be alright after I'm gone"
"More tea?" Jac asked
"That's so British" Emily laughed "tea in a crisis"
Fletch was sitting in his car outside the house in a kind of trance. This could not be happening again, someone close, someone he loved dying young. Dying before their time.
Even after moving to America, Emily was a constant in his life. They'd always been there for each other. Fletch was the first person she came out to at the age of 18, she was there for him when Colette left him on their wedding day, she was auntie Emily to all his kids and helped them through the loss of their mother and now she'd penetrated the Naylor defences in one morning.
He put his head on the steering wheel and let hot tears of anger and frustration run down his cheeks. His mobile rang - he saw it was Jac but he let it go to voicemail
Hi it's me
I 'm worried about you. You don't need to come back straight away - clear your head. Just let me know you're safe. That you're ok
Love you
He listened to the message. What would he do without Jac? Life had been finally starting to go so well with the arrival of Luc but now this threatened his happiness, their happiness.
But oh my god poor Emily she must be so scared.
You selfish arse Fletcher sitting out here feeling sorry for yourself when your best friend is in there probably scared of hurting you whilst coping with the fact she's dying. Get a grip man
Fletch wiped his tears and went back into the house. Wordlessly he pulled Emily to her feet and enveloped her in the tightest hug which seemed to go on for at least 15 minutes.
They eventually parted and he kissed her forehead.
"What are we doing about this wedding then?"
He looked between Emily and Jac
Jac cleared her throat so she could talk through the emotion that was lodged there
"Well I have my maid of honour" she smiled at Emily "So we better get cracking"
Fletch mouthed the words 'thank you' to Jac