'Til Death Do Us Part- Part 11 AJ
The phone rang as Mary stood up and went back to her room a few hours later.
"AJ, get that."
I snatched the phone up. "Yo."
"Is Mary Richardson at home?"
"Yeah, just a sec." I stood up and walked back to her room. "For you."
She took it and I left the room. I checked on Christina quietly, then walked back out to the livingroom.
"What do you mean? How-" Mary's voice was shaking. I stopped and stared at her.
"You can't be serious. He's supposed to be home tonight." She fell silent again. I could see her entire body shaking. After a minute, she pulled the phone from her ear and turned it off.
"Mary?" I said gently. She didn't answer me, didn't even move. Tears began to fall from her eyes.
"God damn it!" she shouted suddenly, and hurled the phone at the wall. I jumped as the phone hit, leaving a dent in the wall and the phone in pieces on the floor. Then she knocked over the side table, breaking the lamp and shattering the glass in a picture frame that held a picture of her, Kev, and Christina.
"This is not happening to me. I can't take this!" she cried, dropping to her knees on the floor. She covered her face with her hands and cried. I walked over and carefully touched her shoulder.
"Mary, what happened?" I asked, getting down beside her. She shook her head; she couldn't talk.
"Calm down a minute and tell me what happened," I told her softly, rubbing her back lightly. She took a lot of deep breaths until she could talk.
"That was the airline," she murmured, trying so hard to control herself. "They said Kevin's plane crashed a couple hours ago... they said there were no survivors... God, I can't take this anymore, why is this happening to me again?"
I pulled her towards me and held her tightly, tears falling from my own eyes.

We sat like that for a very long time, until the phone rang again.
"Should I get that?" I muttered, not really wanting to.
"I don't care. Go ahead. More bad news, I'm sure."
I stood up and answered the extension in the kitchen.
I came back in the livingroom after a few minutes and looked at her.
"That was the hospital. They want you to come down and identify... I'm sorry, Mary." I sniffled and wiped my eyes.
She stared at me. "You... I... why... they... are they out of their minds? I can't... I don't... no! I'm not going."
"Mary-"
"You can't make me go."
"Mary!"
"I'm not going."
"You can't hide from it! It hasn't even been six hours and you aren't even trying to face it."
"And what do I tell Christina? That her father is dead, and her mother is on the verge of a breakdown? I can't do that."
"Well, you have to tell her something," I murmured, leaning down and carefully picking up the picture of the three of them. I looked at it, then handed it to Mary. She looked at it for a long time and I watched her eyes fill with tears.
"C'mere," I said softly, pulling her into my arms again.
"He's not comin' home, is he, AJ?"
I shook my head. "No, sweetheart, he isn't."
She nodded into my chest and I held her tighter, forcing my own tears back.
After what seemed like forever, I finally convinced her to go to sleep. But she wouldn't sleep in her room, she refused. So we slept on the couch.

The sun woke me up at around seven the next morning. I looked down at the other end of the couch, at Mary. She was still asleep, curled up in a medium sized ball, her hands clasped over her chest.
I sighed and stood up. After I went to the bathroom, I went out to get the paper. After I glanced at it, I tossed it on the coffee table. Mary was supposed to record today, and Christina had to go to school.
"I've gotta record," Mary muttered hoarsely. I turned and looked at her. She stared up at me, her face expressionless.
"Can you take Christina to school?" She frowned, like she was trying to gather he thoughts. I nodded.
"Yeah, sure."
"Go get her up, please."
I nodded and went back to her room.
"Hey, baby girl, time to get up." I opened her blinds as she opened her eyes. I was about to ask her what she wanted to wear when her eyes suddenly lit up and she jumped out of bed. My stomach sank to my feet and puddled when I realized that she was expecting Kevin to be home.
"Christina," I said, following her from the room. She checked their room, then the livingroom.
"Where's daddy?"
Mary visibly flinched.
"You said he was gonna be home, where is he?"
"Baby, c'mere," Mary said gently, sitting up. Christina walked over and Mary pulled her up into her lap.
"Sweetheart, daddy's not coming home."
"Tomorrow then?"
"Never, baby."
"But you said-"
"I know what I said."
"You promised!"
"I know I did, baby, I'm sorry."
"You broke your promise."
"I know, but I didn't mean to. Daddy promised me he was coming home."
Christina's face fell. "So daddy broke his promise?"
Mary nodded, biting her lip. "Daddy broke his promise. But he didn't mean to, he couldn't help it."
"So he's not coming home? Where's he going?"
"I'm not sure. But don't love him any less just because he's gone, okay?"
She nodded. "Okay."
Mary hugged her tightly. I was betting Christina didn't fully understand, but I figured she'd grasped the concept. She was smart. All she knew was that her mother was terribly upset and her father was never coming home again. Okay, I was starting to get upset again.
Mary and Christina sat together for a very long time. They both cried softly, holding onto each other for support. Lord knows they needed it.