Can She Go Home?

Hello Daniel!

If it wasn't the sight of her eight year old son walking towards her that threatened to release Charlotte's floodgates, then it was his excited yell for his Daddy, that had her crumpling on the inside.

She felt Darren release her, the icy cold grip he had on her arm disappearing as he held his arms out for their - his son. The boy took seconds to reach him, jumping into his father's arms and holding tightly to his neck. It brought a tear to Charlotte's eye and she turned away from the beautiful image of Father and Son infront of her.

Charlotte missed the few words exchanged between her son and her husband, noting only a bit of Darren telling Daniel how much he missed him, and how his Nana would have loved his suit and tie. She didn't miss the overly loud and equally as shrill yell of a woman that she had not missed once in her six years away.

"How dare you?!" Diana spat as her and her husband Philip joined the once family of three by the front of the hall. "Who do you think you are."

All at once, Philip, Darren and Danny's eyes all went wide at the matriarch of their families outburst. Philip tried to shush the woman, murmuring about how she was making a scene, meanwhile Darren stared dumbfounded at his stepmother at a loss of words. Danny couldn't seem to pick where to stare, turning between Diana and Charlotte in curiousity.

"Diana, let's not do this now." Darren started, trying to be the diplomat for the family, not wanting his son caught up in all of the drama.

"No Darren!" Diana shushed him, her glare fixated on Charlotte and dripping with anger. "She thinks she can just come crawling back now, ready to disturb the peace again. I remember how she hurt you, Darren, and how she hurt Danny. I'm not going to let her do it again!"

"Diana! Please, for the sake of Danny, can we do this another time?" Darren pleaded again, desperate for his son to be spared the high emotions of the day. It was already going to be hard enough to say goodbye to his Nana Mae.

"She is crazy if she thinks that you are going to let her hurt Danny again." Charlotte flinched like she had been punched, and Darren felt something tug in his chest. He hated seeing her attacked like this, after all that had happened, that was still his wife and he hadn't gotten over her at all in the past six years.

"Diana!" Darren hissed, his pain turning to anger as he saw the look of devastation on Charlotte. "Please, think about Danny."

"What?!" The older woman shrieked, looking at her grandson before turning back to glare at his mother. "You don't want him hearing all about how his awful mother left-"

"Enough!" Roared Darren, turning from Diana and covering his sons ears as if it could erase what the young boy just heard.

Diana went quiet, shock across her face as she stared at her stepson. Before Diana could say another word, Charlotte was pushing away from them, turning on her heel and running out the door, tears streaming down her face. Watching her leave, Diana sneered, only turning to her husband and stepson when the girl had turned the corner out of the funeral home.

By the time she turned, it was to see Darren and Danny chase after Charlotte, the man wasting no more time with her and instead choosing to attend to his former wife.

Diana scowled, her husband shaking his head at her disappointedly.

"You couldn't just leave it alone, could you?"

---

Darren and Daniel caught up with Charlotte just before she could get to the parking lot, their yells for her to wait not registering in the upset woman's ears until Darren threw himself out in front of her.

"Charlotte, stop!" His voice echoed his desperation as he clung to their son, the boys eyes mirroring his father's with the same pleading expression. "She had no right to even speak to you, let alone yell at you, this is between us."

Charlotte glanced between her son and her husband briefly, her chest aching from Darren's words. She wanted to leave; to get to her rented car, drive back to Emily's house and hide there in silence until her flight on Monday morning. He was right though, this was between them, and she couldn't just avoid it forever.

Especially now that she had seen her son.

Daniel was staring at her, curiousity penned over the features that she used to trace with her fingertips at night while he slept. He looked just like she remembered him, at the same time, he looked nothing like she remembered him.

He was older, more mature looking.

It was clear that the sands of time had happened, and Charlotte had missed all of it.

"Please don't go," Darren begged, reaching out for her arm gently, and caressing it with his finger tips. "This is for your Nana, you shouldn't have to leave." His appeal was a convincing one, Charlotte knew that her grandmother would want her there.

The look in his eyes was even more convincing; wild, desperate, without a hint of malice or upset at her.

Darren had every reason to hate her for what she had done, to kick her out of the services and ignore her very existence. He had the right to want nothing to do with her, and yet? It seemed as though he just didn't want to lose her again.

"I'll stay, for tonight, for Nana." She finally agreed, her voice little more than a whisper.

It was good enough for Darren though, and it was good enough for Danny. Identical matching smiles bloomed across their faces, as Darren set his son down on the ground.

He wanted to offer her his hand, a shield of comfort to combat the words his stepmother so willingly tossed at her.

That wasn't his place though.

Once upon a time it had been. With his hand in hers, they were unstoppable. The two of them had navigated highschool, avoiding the drama and pitfalls that befell their peers in relationships not as strong as theirs. When their talk turned to colleges, they had picked one that fit both of their needs. Danny had been a surprise, and yet, once again they had figured it out with limited complication.

Darren once thought that they could get through absolutely anything if they were together.

Then Charlotte had left him.

That one moment had shaken the strength and confidence that Darren had in his relationship. It had shaken a lot more than just his faith.

He wanted to offer her his hand, not just for her but for him as well. He wanted to feel her beside him, the warmth of her hand in his, and know that she was home with him. It might not be forever, but Darren was certain that he would try his best to convince her not to leave again.

She likely wouldn't take his hand, but there was someone else who stood a little shorter, and was more convincing than Darren could ever be.

"Come on, let's go see Nana." Daniel said softly, reaching up to take his mother's hand.

The very sight of it made Darren want to tear up.

Darren had taken the subject of Charlotte leaving very seriously. Everyone had their opinions on what should be done when it came to Daniel; friends tried to convince him to give her some time to come back and distract the boy until Charlotte came home, Diana had wanted him to ignore the woman's very existence and lie about where she had gone. Darren refused to do either.

Instead he had sat down with the two year old, and explained that Charlotte had needed to go away for a while and work on herself. He took his time to answer and re-answer every question that the boy had come up with since. Darren and Daniel had kept pictures of Charlotte all over the house, they spent her birthdays talking about her, and Darren ensured that nobody spoke ill of her to Daniel.

Darren wanted to ensure that no matter his feelings, Daniel would be allowed to form his own opinions.

It seemed that he had.

"O-okay..." Charlotte whispered, allowing her son to hold onto her and lead her back towards the doors of the funeral home.

She turned slightly, looking back at her husband and the tears glistened in Charlotte's eyes as she met his gaze and saw the same. He followed behind them, giving a wide berth to allow mother and child to walk at their own leisure. It was slow but it got them to the door in time to see Charlotte mouth her gratitude back at Darren.

He figured that it was a step in the right direction.

---

The night went by in what felt like a blur to the young man. When Darren wasn't greeting friends, family and acquaintances to the visitation, his gaze would often turn to his wife and son, watching the way that they interacted through-out the evening.

In a fashion that was entirely true to Daniel, the little boy was keeping all of the attention on him. Darren didn't blame him, the boy's mother was not his usual audience and so he seemed to soak in all of her presence.

It was good for him, the eight year old had been devastated by the loss of his Nana, and Darren hadn't been sure if he was going to handle the visitation as the realization that the woman that had shaped his life so much was never coming home again finally sunk in.

Watching the way that Charlotte's eyes lit up just a little as she spoke with her son, Darren would guess that this moment was good for her as well.

He was happy to see it.

His stepmother was not happy about it though.

After greeting and fielding questions from friends and family, and watching the way that his son and wife interacted, Darren spent the rest of his time arguing with Diana about whether or not allowing them to interact was a good idea.

He supposed that she had a point, Charlotte had left them six years earlier with barely a second glance back, he didn't want his son to go ahead and get attached only for her to leave him again. It was only one night though, and the way that his stepmother acted, it seemed as though she would rather Daniel spend his night with a convicted felon than his own mother.

Darren didn't feel the same.

He knew that they needed to talk, they needed to discuss what the next steps were, and Darren needed to know if Charlotte was going to just hop on the first plane after the services the next morning.

That night, it wasn't needed though. That night, he could just let two grieving souls who had been raised by the same woman, share their cherished tales and bond over the experience.

So he watched from afar, as they bonded.

He let them joke around about how much their Nana had tried and failed to understand pop culture references (everything from misnaming any major singer in the past 25 years to when she had tried to make Halloween costumes painfully literate). He smiled as Daniel had shared his stories about his friends at school and his soccer teams latest victories. He tried not to cry as the little boy had curled up against her and watch the slideshow of their Nana's life.

Darren let them wait out the night, as visitors came and went. He didn't utter a word as his own father and stepmother left, the latter complaining as loudly as she could about how Daniel needed consistency and "why don't you let us take him home with us, get him away from her". He stayed as the night darkened, and he was willing to stay even later except for the fact that the funeral director needed to get home, and Daniel seemed to be losing a battle against sleep.

"It's time." Darren whispered as he watched Daniel's head slip off of Charlotte's shoulder for the fourth time in five minutes.

Charlotte knew, and she wasn't going to complain. Her husband had let her have more time with her son than any other person would have, and she knew she should be grateful for it.

She couldn't help the ache in her though, at the thought of Daniel going home without her.

The entire evening had been one large slap in the face, a reminder that Charlotte had done this to herself. She was the one who had left, and she was the one who had missed out on six years of her son growing and changing. Charlotte was the only one to blame.

She still didn't want to go.

"I know, I-" Charlotte fought back tears as Darren lifted the little boy off of her lap and into his arms.

She bit back her words, knowing that she had no right to say them. It wasn't about her, it was about the little boy who was clinging to his father just as tightly as he clung to the notion of being awake.

"I'll see you both tomorrow?" She settled on, reaching out to brush her fingers through Daniels hair. "For the funeral?"

Darren wanted to invite her to come back home, wanting to claim that they still needed to talk. They had so much to talk about. The boy in his arms brought him back to earth though, and instead he only nodded. "We'll be there early."

It was too late to talk now, especially with how early he would need to wake himself and Daniel up. Darren knew that if he didn't put his foot down, and scold himself for the mere idea, that they would talk for hours. At least, he would want to talk for hours.

He just hoped that she wouldn't skip town on them again before that talk could happen.

"Okay," She agreed with him, a flash of something in Charlotte's own eyes that made Darren question if she too was a little disappointed by not talking that night. It was curious, and curious was something that he hadn't felt in over a decade.

Deciding to let it rest, Darren turned to leave the parlour, small arms having wrapped around his neck tightly.

He had almost left when a thought occured to him, and turning back, he hoped his comment would be taken with the best of intentions behind it.

"Charlotte," He called, "Try not to stand us up again?"

With the remnants of a sad smile on her face, Darren left before he could hear her small but determined whisper back to him, "I'll try not too."