Big Tex (17 page)

 Brody held her as she cried, and Micah held Sierra.  All they could do was sit and wait to see if Lauren's blood pressure would go back up.  An hour later the doctor came back.

 "I'm sorry, but her blood pressure just won't come back up.  Her chart says that she refuses to be put on life support, and that would be the only way we can keep her alive."  The doctor told them.  He looked at Willow and asked what she wanted him to do.

 "I'm going to turn around and walk to the door.  When I get outside, you do whatever you need to do."  Willow told the doctor.  She walked out the door, with Brody, Micah, and Sierra following her.  She walked out of the hospital and never looked back.  The doctors pulled the plug, and pronounced Lauren Fox dead at 11:52 am.

Chapter 14 You're Not Alone

The rest of the day seemed to pass in a blur for Willow.  Brody had called his mother and told her what happened, and she raced over to help Willow out wherever she needed her.  Between Willow, Sierra, and Maggie, all of Lauren's friends and family had been called to let them know about her death.

Maggie and Brody went with Willow to the funeral home to pick out a casket and headstone, and to plan out the wake and funeral.  Maggie had made most of the decisions, while Willow gave the final ok on everything.  Brody just sat by and comforted Willow.  After they left the funeral home, they went to Lauren's house to pick out an outfit for her to wear.  Maggie brought the dress downstairs while Willow stayed in Lauren's walk-in closet.  She looked through her mom's clothes and ran her hands over the fabric of the clothes.  She felt like this was all a dream, and that she would wake up and her mom would be there for her.

Willow finally left the closet and laid on her mother's bed.  She put her head on the pillow and smelled her mother's scent.  She rolled over and got off the bed.  Willow walked to her mother's armoire and opened it.  Inside was a small key hanging from one of the pegs.  Willow took the key and went to her mother's safe.  She unlocked the safe with a key and found all of her mother's jewelry.  She opened the box that it was all in and looked through it.  Every piece of jewelry brought back memories for Willow, like the ring her dad had given her mom on their 20th anniversary, and the locket Willow had bought her mother when her dad died.  It was all in there.

Willow picked up the box of jewelry and brought it downstairs with her after locking the safe back up.  Brody and Maggie were cleaning out the fridge and taking out the garbage.

"You guys don't have to do that, I'll have a maid come in and clean everything up."  Willow said.

"Oh, we're just getting rid of the perishables so that they don't spoil and make the house stink."  Maggie said.  Willow nodded her head and walked into the family room.

She went over to her mother's mantle that had picture frames arranged on top of it.  She ran her hand along the cool marble of the mantle, and took one of the pictures down.  It was of her and her mother on Lauren's first day in Texas.  The girls were standing in the middle of the room surrounded by boxes, looking overwhelmed.  Willow didn't know it, but Sierra must have taken the picture.

That picture was just taken a few months ago, and her mother was fine.  Now she's dead.  Willow started to cry.  Her mom was so happy moving down here.  Things were finally starting to go right in their lives, then this had to happen.  Why!  Why did her mom have to leave her.  What was she going to do without a mother, what was she going to do without her mother.  Lauren meant everything to Willow, and now Willow was alone.

Just as that thought went through Willow's mind, a pair of strong arms wrapped around her from behind.  Willow turned and buried her head in Brody's chest.  He whispered soft, comforting words into her ear as Maggie walked up and rubbed her back.

Willow realized right then that her mother didn't leave her all alone.  She left her with the support of a wonderful fiancé and a caring mother-in-law-to-be.  Willow knew that even though it hurt to lose her mother, that things were going to be ok.  Willow was still alive, and she had a life to live.  Life couldn't stop because she lost her mother, it was just the beginning of a new chapter in her life.

Willow picked her head up and Brody wiped the tears from her cheeks.  Maggie handed her a tissue so she could blow her nose.  Willow looked up and thought 'Thank you Mom.  Thank you for showing me I'm not alone.'  The three of them left the house shortly after carrying the jewelry box, the picture of Lauren and Willow in the midst of boxes, and the dress for Lauren to wear.

The wake was a somber affair, but Willow made it through.  The funeral director told Willow that he had never seen so many flowers or so many people.  A lot of people that Willow didn't know came to pay their respect.

Willow looked around the room at the set up.  Maggie had chosen a beautiful casket.  She thought that if her mother was alive, she would have remarked at how it was just perfect for her.  Next to the casket was a big board, scattered with pictures of Lauren over the years.  A lot of them had Willow in them, with both Mom and daughter looking so happy.  Willow had put a picture of her and her mom in the casket with Lauren, from when Lauren graduated high school.  She also put a picture of Sierra, Lauren and her in there, from when Sierra and Willow graduated college.  Along with the pictures was a stuffed toy Ladybug.

Willow went up to the casket before everyone got there and knelt before her mom.  She reached over to put her hand on her mother's and was shocked at how cold it was.  It brought tears to Willow's eyes as she looked at her mother laying there, looking so peaceful, as if she was sleeping.  Willow knelt there for a while, silently talking to her mother, until people started to show up.  Willow kissed her fingertips and touched her mom's face.

Throughout the rest of the night, Willow stood in a 'receiving line' with Sierra, Brody, and Micah.  Everyone commented on how sorry they were and how much they all liked Lauren.  By the end of the night, Willow was ready to drop.  The wake had lasted 3 hours longer than it should have because there were so many people who came.

Willow fell asleep in the car on the way home, and Brody carried her up the stairs to their bedroom.  He took of her dress and put her pajamas on, then laid her on the bed.  She didn't wake up during any of it.

*****

The next day at the funeral, Willow was grateful that there were chairs.  She had stood so much at the wake, and she was so exhausted, that she didn't think she'd be able to stand anymore.

The preacher spoke a few words about Lauren, and did the standard funeral speech.  When it was time for the eulogy, Brody got up and went to the podium.  He talked for a while about how Lauren was such a great influence on him, how she became his mentor when she took over the company.  As he listed her accomplishments, he talked about how her biggest accomplishment was her daughter.  As Brody spoke about how proud Lauren was of Willow, his voice cracked and he broke down into sobs.  He looked into the crowd and said, "I'm sorry, this part is so hard for me.  It's easy for me to talk about her work and distance myself from it, but when I talk about Willow, it's personal.  She is the love of my life, and I couldn't imagine a day without her.  Lauren made Willow into the woman that she is today, and though Lauren is gone, a large part of her lives on through Willow."  Brody stopped for a minute and composed himself.  "Before I knew that Willow was Lauren's daughter, Lauren always used to drag me into her office to tell me about her fabulous daughter that she was so proud of.  She thought I would be perfect for her and kept saying that she was going to set me up with her.  Little did any of us know, I was already dating her daughter."  Everyone laughed softly.  "But the one thing I will always remember is the sparkle in her eyes every time she mentioned Willow.  They had a bond between them stronger than any other parent/child bond I've seen, and they truly were best friends.  We're all going to miss her dearly, and she will always hold a place in our hearts."  Brody looked up to the ceiling.  "Lauren, I know you're up there watching over us right now.  Just know that I'm going to take good care of your daughter for you."  He said as more tears slipped from his eyes.  He walked down from the podium and was met halfway by Willow, tears streaming down her face.  She ran into his arms and held onto him for dear life as her sobs shook through her whole body.  There wasn't a dry eye in the place.

After the funeral, everyone congregated at Brody's house.  Maggie had arranged to have a caterer bring food to the house.  People were reminiscing about Lauren and congratulating Willow on her engagement.  Brody didn't leave her side all night.  He was there to get her food, drinks, and tissues.  She didn't think she would have been able to get through the whole thing without Brody or Maggie.  Sierra had been really distant and didn't want to talk to anyone.  She didn't stay at the 'party' for very long, but instead went up to her and Micah's room to be alone.

At the end of the night, after all of the guests had left, Brody went upstairs to run a bath for Willow.  Maggie took Willow onto the back patio and talked to her alone for the first time since Lauren had passed.  "Willow, I want you to know how truly sorry I am about your mom.  I know we haven't known each other long, but you are a part of our family now.  If you ever need anything, you let me know.  I'm not trying to take over for your mother, because no one could ever replace her, but just know that I am here for you."

"Maggie, I can't thank you enough for all that you've already done for me.  I wouldn't have been able to get through all of this without your help.  I hope you know how much it means to me.  And your son…I can't thank you enough for him."  Willow said with a small laugh.  "You did a great job raising him and I don't know where I'd be without him.  I love him so much, it's unreal."  Willow said with a smile on her face.

"Well, he loves you so much it's unreal."  Brody said from behind her.  Willow turned and smiled as he kissed her softly on the lips.  "I see, I leave for two minutes and you start talking about me to my mother.  Have you been asking for baby pictures again?"  Brody joked.

"Ha-ha, funny Country Boy.  Actually, your mom and I were just talking about everything this week.  But I wouldn't mind seeing the baby pictures."  Willow laughed.

"God, that's music to my ears!"  Brody said.  Willow gave him a questioning look as he picked her up into his arms.  "I haven't heard that beautiful laugh in a while.  I miss it."

"I know.  It felt pretty good to laugh too.  Where would I be without the two of you?"  Willow asked Maggie and Brody.

"Well, without me, you'd probably be on the ground since I'm carrying you right now."  He pretended he was going to drop her and her arms tightened around his neck.  "Come on, your bath's ready."

"Good night Maggie.  Thank you again, for everything."  Willow said.

"You’re welcome dear.  See you tomorrow."  Maggie said as Brody carried Willow back into the house and up the stairs.  She was so happy to know that Brody was so in love and that Willow loved him just as much.  Her heart went out to Willow for losing her mother at such a young age.  Maggie vowed to be there for the kids whenever they needed her.

The next day, Brody and Micah went in to the office to see how everything was going.  They hadn't been at the office since Monday, and they had closed the office Wednesday and Thursday in observance of Lauren's passing.  Friday was going to be a short day for everyone, they had just opened it to let people finish up last minute things they were working on.  Everything else could wait until next week.

After Brody and Micah left, Willow went to find Sierra.  She was laying on the couch in the game room, just staring at the ceiling.  "Hey Sierra.  Can we talk?"  Willow asked.

"Whatever."  Sierra said.

"Look, I know you're going through a difficult time, but so am I.  I think we need each other, and we need to be there for each other."

"Oh yeah, like you've been there for me the past couple of days?"  Sierra asked.

"Sierra, are you really that selfish?  My mother just died.  I know she was like a mother to you too, but come on.  She was my flesh and blood, she was the only family I had left.  Now she's gone.  Do you think that's easy for me?"

"Do you think it's easy for me?  I don't have any family either Sierra.  At least you've had Brody and Maggie there to help you.  Who have I had?"  Sierra yelled.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but haven't you had Micah.  I seem to remember Brody trying to help you out too, before you bit his head off over something. I know you're hurting, but so am I.  I don't want to fight with you about this.  I'm trying to move on and live my life like I promised my mother I would, but I feel like you're not letting me."  Willow told her.

Sierra was silent.  She looked over at Willow with tears in her eyes and sat up.  She reached over and hugged Willow and said, "You're right.  I'm so sorry.  I know I've been being selfish, I just didn't know where I fit into all this.  I know Lauren didn't want us to grieve over her, but it's just so hard."

"Tell me about it.  All I know is that we're all going to get through this together.  You need to remember it's hard on the guys too.  Mom came to mean a lot to them in the short time that she knew them, so comfort Micah a little too, okay?"  Willow said.

"I know.  You're the best friend in the whole world, Willow.  You know that?"

"Are you drunk Sierra?"  Willow joked.

"No, but that sounds good for tonight, doesn't it?"

"I don't know, maybe.  What sounds good to me is a nice soak in the hot tub out back.  Are you in?"  Willow asked.

Sierra nodded then ran up and put her bathing suit on.  Willow did the same, then put some beer in a cooler and put it next to the hot tub.  Willow and Sierra both climbed in and relaxed as soon as the hot water and jets hit their body.  They stayed in the hot tub talking about the past until the guys got home.  It made Sierra feel better to relive some of the memories from when they were younger.