Restoration [Shawn Mendes] AU

Chapter 15

September turned into October and Michelle and Gran decided they should begin the tasks of closing up the house for the winter. They would need to clean the bedding and all the towels and put them in the linen closets with dryer sheets to keep them smelling fresh, clean out the refrigerator, scrub the bathrooms, mop or vacuum all the floors and move all the smaller outdoor furniture to the basement, cover the larger pieces with tarps secured with bungee cords and cover the upholstered furniture in the house with old sheets to keep the dust to a minimum over the winter months. Michelle would do most of the work, but Gran was going to wash the towels and bedding and then hang them out to dry since the weather was still warm enough to do so.

The housework kept Michelle occupied and kept her mind on something other than her grief. She was moving along fairly well in her daily tasks, that was until she got to the bedroom she shared with Robert and Beau's bedroom. She had avoided those two spaces until everything else was finished, but now it was inevitable. She halted at the doorway to Beau's room, took a deep breath and walked in. She stood in the middle of his little room and took in the whole of it. Once she removed the toys and books and games, his drawings on the bulletin board and took the summer clothing out of his drawers and closet, the room would cease to be Beau's room. It would be another guest bedroom in this family beach house that held so many memories for her family over the decades. This room would remain empty until someone else in the future should happen to sleep there. She took it all in and as she did, a few tears slid down her cheeks.

Michelle's thoughts began to wander as she got distracted by picking up his belongings and putting them into a box. She wasn't quite sure what she would do with the box once his belongings were packed in it, but she didn't think she could just get rid of them, at least not right now. She stopped when she got to the dresser and saw the last pair of jammies he wore the night before he died. They were folded up and neatly laid on top and she picked them up and brought them to her face as she inhaled deeply, hoping she could smell the scent of her son once more. She breathed in again...is that really his scent after all these weeks or am I just imagining it? No she was not imagining it, she really did smell him. Oh my sweet baby, mommy misses you more than you know. I love you so much and wish I could kiss your little cheeks one more time, Michelle thought to herself, wishing she could hear Beau's infectious laughter and see his big blue eyes again.

Just then his teddy bear, the bear he always slept with, fell off the twin-sized bed. The bear had been sitting up by the pillow at the headboard, not perched on the edge of the mattress. How did his bear get from the headboard to fall on the floor?

Michelle stared at the bear on the floor for a few seconds, not sure what to think. Then without hesitation, she just blurted out, "Beau, are you here?" knowing it might sound like a stupid thing to ask, but she said it anyway. As soon as she did, the curtains at the window fluttered ever so slightly even though his window wasn't open. There was a slight breeze outside but not strong enough to blow through double-pane glass to make the curtains move like that.