A few days later, Sarai was anxious. She knew her folks were due back and she would have to go back home. It wasn’t that. She felt like a cloud was hanging over her, a foreboding had overtaken her. She was moody, chomping at the bit, barking at everyone. This was not the normal Sarai. Everyone was concerned. Soon everyone felt it. Something was in the air. Something was wrong. Everyone now was on edge. And then…

Emmett rushed into Brian’s bedroom in a frenzy. Turn on MSNBC. NOW! Brian and Justin were in the midst of kissing each other, swapping cum after a very rewarding release. They were both laying there in their glory and Brian would have said something about knocking if it hadn’t been for the fear in Emmett’s voice. Brian pressed the remote and his big TV blared on. Special News Bulletin came across the screen. Flight 527 has just crashed in Nevada. There is feared no survivors…

“That’s Sarai’s parents’ plane! Justin exclaimed. “My god, poor Sarai.” All thoughts of continuing their love fest went out the window. Tears started streaming down both Justin’s and Emmett’s faces.

“Emmett, help me get dressed. Justin, get to Marie and tell her what is happening. We have to keep Gus and Sarai from knowing until we find out some more facts. We have POA for Sarai whenever they are away. We need to contact their lawyer.” Brian was in his element. He could go into shock later. Right now he was needed to take control and help Sarai deal with her loss. How do you tell a child that her parents are no more? Justin got up, grabbed his robe and went to find Marie. As Emmett got the clothes Brian wanted including underwear since he might have to see the lawyer, he was dressed in his black jeans, red shirt, and he even put on shoes.

As Brian was dressing, he thought of what else he may need to do, who to call, and about Sarai. She was such a little sweetheart. She had black hair, olive skin, hazel eyes that seemed to lean more to brown than anything else. She was generous, good hearted, loving, and a great friend to Gus. That brought a sad smile to his face. How was he going to break the news? A light bulb dawned.

Sarai had always been gregarious but had always had a sadness about her.

She was a twice exceptional student. She had been born with difficulty and her mother had nearly died hemorrhaging so now Sarai’s mom was a bit overprotective. She had been thrilled when Sarai and Gus had found each other. For the first time in her life, she felt safe with her daughter in someone else’s hands. Sarai had been a placenta previa baby and had had complications. The umbilical cord had been wrapped around her neck during the whole labor and she had been oxygen starved. Outwardly, Sarai didn’t look different than anyone else except she had tinted glasses. She was light sensitive and had various visual problems that she had learned to compensate for as best she could. She couldn’t trust her distance sight. Her eyes played tricks. A fire hydrant in the distance could look like a person wearing a yellow raincoat to her, or some even weirder things. She had a tendency to literally walk into walls. She always sported bruises from such events. Reading was a challenge because black on white paper had a tendency to blur to all white. She found other ways to compensate for that. She had no depth perception, be it critical or gross, but she saw herself as blessed. She had beaten the odds and had lived. Her mind was sharp and she had developed a photographic memory so that she didn’t have to strain her eyes to reread anything. She loved numbers and played with numbers in her head. Sarai loved to create things and sometimes was allowed to play in the studio creating some piece of art, though it wasn’t often. She tended to bump into things and that meant easels so she had to be supervised. Marie would sit with her at the kitchen island and talk when she needed to draw. The Kinney household treated her with respect and love and didn’t treat her like fragile glass. They saw her as beautiful, not damaged. Her mother tended to think of her as the latter. At times, she felt suffocated at home because of her mom’s over-protectiveness.

Her eyes did not focus properly so she could never catch a ball. She would give it a gallant try. She was very myopic and such. When she read she read three lines as one so her speed was greatly diminished. In order for her to read for long periods of time, Justin had come up with a solution or two. Her textbooks were audio and Justin found that if she used colored paper to offset the page with a portion cut out to see some words Sarai could read longer because the words didn’t disappear. She was young and resilient. Justin, always the observant one could tell Sarai was tired or sick by the movement and placement of her eyes. One eye would move further upward and stay there. Also, she would bump into things more.

Sarai had a great sense of humor and would always laugh at herself.

**********

Brian had been keeping track of the news. He had called Mr. Cohen, the lawyer to brief him as to what was going on. He had called the airlines for any update but couldn’t get through, but he had been giving information through the recording. He had dialed the other numbers they gave. It didn’t look good. All were dead. He just hoped that they could find the bodies. He swung himself into his chair.

He looked in on Gus and Sarai and smiled. She seemed so happy. He was going to turn her world upside down. “Hey Gus, there is going to be a meeting in the living room in a half hour. Don’t make me come and get you. It is important.”

“Okay Dad,” Gus said without looking up. If he had he would have seen that something was definitely wrong. Thank god, for some favors. He didn’t have to deal with Gus’ questions. For once, he was glad for these video games.

He moved to the kitchen. He wasn’t hungry but he had to eat something. He had to take his pills and he needed food for them.

“Just toast Marie. I am not hungry.” He saw Justin consuming large portions of pancakes. How he does it, he will never know. In a crisis, Justin ate even more.

“No way, Brian. You need your strength,” she said as she placed some pancakes, sausage and egg in front of him. “I expect it completely gone and no giving it to Justin.” She gave him a look.

“Yes, Marie.” He said compliantly. Moments like this made him think of Debbie. Marie had taken over where Debbie had held a place. There were times he missed her so much. Today was one of those times. Marie was a great substitute but he needed to hear her voice. As he ate he had a faraway look. One that Justin understood. In fact, Justin was waiting for it today.

Brian had always put on a brave front but Justin knew there were times when he wanted…no, needed his mother. Not that bitch that gave birth to him but Debbie. He was trying to decide if he could handle hearing her voice. He needed to hear it so much.

They were sitting across from each other. Justin reached over to Brian and put his hand on Brian’s. “Do it. Call her. You need her Brian.” He nodded.

“But we…”

“No excuses. We need your strength Brian. Sarai needs your strength and your love. If hearing Debbie’s voice will help then do it. The meeting can be held when you are ready. Postponing it a few more minutes won’t change things. It will give Sarai a few more minutes before her world crashes in around her. Do it.” Justin spoke quietly as his fingers ran circles across Brian’s wrist. Eat then call. I will be right here when you do. You have been needing Deb for a while. Eat while I go tell Gus to continue to play until we call him. I will be right back.” Brian nodded. He had a large bite of syrupy pancake in his mouth. “Brian, I am glad you are gonna call her.” He said before he slid out of the chair to speak to Gus.