Uncharted Imagines/Shorts'

31 (Samuel Drake) Family

It was hard enough for Lyra to lose her husband and have to raise their children alone, after fifteen years could they be a family once again?...

I remember the day they came back without him, bloodied, bruised and broken. Nathan couldn't even look at me when I opened the door to see him stood there alone, my heart dropped the second I realised what this meant.

"Uncle Nathan!" my four year old son ran past me and hung onto his legs grinning, I gulped not knowing what to say or do. "Hey buddy" Nathan forced a smile as he picked Noah up. I moved aside and let him come into the house just as Victor appeared on the porch, he had that same look but at least he could bring himself to make eye contact with me before turning away.

"Someone please tell me what happened..." I asked my voice breaking, they shared a look like they didn't want to but I could already feel myself falling apart and needed to know before it was too late and I changed my mind.
Victor placed a hand on my shoulder and gave me a soft smile "let's go and sit down huh?" he said and we all started to move into the living room. It felt like my mind was overflowing with things to say, to ask to feel and I didn't know if I should cry or laugh, scream? I knew it was all going to come out any second but I had to keep myself composed for Noah.

Nathan read my mind and placed my son on the ground and crouched to level with him. "I need to have a talk with your mom, why don't you go play and i'll come join you soon?" he offered and giddily my son rushed out of the room and up the stairs to his own.It all flowed out the second I heard his bedroom door close. Nathan had to hold me to stop me collapsing in a heap, my entire body just gave up in that instance and for a long time we were just there while I sobbed. I thought two months was a long time to be without him and now it would be a lifetime. Victor eventually decided I needed to know the details as prolonging it wouldn't make things easier to handle, I managed to get myself sat into an armchair and they told me the whole thing from start to finish. I never spoke a word the entire time but I sat there and hung onto every word, the good things they dropped into the tale and the bad, the final nail in the coffin was to confirm that my husband is now in fact dead. Eventually the tears just stopped and I was numb, Nathan offered to stay for a few days but then he would be leaving once more to travel back to Scotland, to continue to help the man that got my husband killed.

Victor ended up staying for a few weeks until Nathan returned, at that time I found out I was pregnant again and immediately broke down knowing one of our children would never meet their father, Sam wouldn't get to be there to see them come into the world either. It felt like everything was getting worse but that baby kept me going, even when I was left with two children to raise alone I managed it because I knew there was no other way, nothing could bring their father back.

Fifteen years later I now have a 19 and 15 year old, both look just like him. I always tell them things as time goes on, we hold onto the memories.

"Noah, take your brother to go unload those box's and then stack them in your uncles office please" I ask flipping through the pages on my clipboard. Nathan managed to help me get a job in the recovery business years back, stock manager and accountant, it's a lot but it means the boys get to help out and earn some money in the school breaks and on weekends.

Noah and Connor leave without a grumble heading for the parking lot, just as my phone starts to ring in my pocket. "Hey, everything okay?" I ask answering the phone knowing it's Nathan. "Lyra...can you come to my office real quick? uh, without the boys if possible" he asks nervously. I start walking toward the building "yeah, be there in a moment" he hangs up as soon as I answer him. He seems weird but I ignore it and continue into the building and down the small hall going straight into the room.