Restoration [Shawn Mendes] AU

Chapter 57

Joanne and Michelle finished making the pizzas and put them in the double ovens to bake for 25 minutes. As they sat at the kitchen table talking, Maurice came out to have a seat and join in the conversation. He could see just from the short time that Michelle had been home, how much happier she was since he saw her at Christmas break and he was glad to see his girl with a smile on her face and talking enthusiastically about her classes and what she was working on for her senior project and thesis. He also was pleased she was going out with her friends and finding her way back to some sense of normalcy, such as it was, without Robert and Beau. Of course the entire family missed them and none more than Michelle, but he knew she had been getting help with a grief counselor and he also knew how much his own mother was a touchstone for his daughter as she navigated this sad time in her life. He sensed she had turned a corner and was on her way to coming to terms with the loss of Robert and Beau.

"So tell me honey, how are things going down there in Providence? Have you figured out what your schedule is going to look like this summer with your Masters classes?" Maurice asked.

"Well, graduation is June 1st and my classes begin on the 10th and then summer session isn't over until July 26th, which is really ironic isn't it? That was the day Robert and Beau died. I remember our first day of vacation last year at the beach house and I sat on the beach and watched Robert and Beau playing in the water. That's such a vivid memory. Now this year, they're gone and I'm going to be in class at RISD. Isn't it weird how things like that happen, the timing one year apart, I mean?" Michelle replied.

"Huh...yes that's surely some coincidence isn't it? Since you mentioned that, do you want to do anything to commemorate the day in remembrance?"

"I do, I plan on it, but I want to do it by myself. Just a quiet little remembrance between me and them," Michelle said. "I haven't decided exactly what that will be yet, I mean there's no gravesite to visit or anything, but I'll come up with something by then that means something to me."

"Alright sweetheart," Maurice said giving her a pat on the hand. "After you're finished with summer classes do you think you'll make it home for a short visit before fall session begins? Stefan hasn't decided what he's doing just yet. He said he may get a job at the Cape for the summer instead of coming back here to work as a camp counselor, but whatever he's doing he's going to have to make up his mind in the next week or so, since this is the time of year those jobs get filled."

"I don't know dad, that's all kind of up in the air at the moment. I was thinking about getting away for a long weekend, but I don't know about coming back here for a visit. So if Stef gets a job at the Cape is he thinking about finding a job in Chatham or is he thinking about going to Martha's Vineyard to make some big bucks from all those high profile tourists?"

"He's talked about Chatham since he's so used to the place, but you're right, he'd make a lot more money working for tips over on Martha's Vineyard," Joanne interjected.