#fall year 1

[obigem]

After the call ended, Rowan didn't take very kindly to the idea of Henry having Harvestfest with them.

"Old man, is it really polite to just invite yourself to our Harvestfest?" Rowan inquired.

"Henry is a family friend," Altus reminded him, "which means he's *always* welcome."

"Yeah, but Dad," Rowan said under his breath, "If Grandpa Henry comes over for Harvestfest that means we'll have to make everything the 𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘦 way."

"And what's wrong with that? You could use a bit of restraint." Altus reminded him.

"Mom!" Rowan protested.

"You know I enjoy your special gifts, Row, but your father is right. A little restraint won't hurt, and Henry is always welcome at our table. But I'm certain he won't be there." Ani eyed him.

"Don't look at me like that. Henford is beautiful this time of year, why not stay?"

"Because you love your family and you want to see them?" Ani reminded him.

"Of course I love them. Cameron is just pushing so hard about moving in with him. I understand his position, I really do. I just wish he'd understand mine."

"He does, Henry. But think about it from his perspective."

"From what you've told me, you missed a lot of years with him. In that time his mother was no longer, and you were lost to him. Have you considered that maybe he wants to reclaim some of that time with you while he has it?"

Henry sighed. "I wasn't the best father, was I?"

"After Delia died, I should've been there for him. I know that. But I just..." He could feel the emotion creeping up. "Somehow, I'd feel guiltier if I left her here in Henford alone. I can never make up for the husband I was, so I'm trying to do that for her now."

"Since I've been back in Cam's life, I've been able to show him how much I love him and all my grandbabies. Every event, holiday, I'm there, always. But I never got to do that for Delia. This is my way of doing that."

"Well, maybe when you see him at Harvestfest, start with telling him that? Even though you've made the effort to be there for him now, it seems he still harbors a lot of hurt from when you weren't there. Help him understand."

"I suppose I owe him that." Henry relented.

"But if I go, you have to promise you'll take care of yourself."

"Of course!"

"I mean it, Antoinette. Your little one is counting on you." Henry eyed her swollen belly.

"This little one still has a few more months, we'll be just fine." Ani smiled as she rubbed her womb.

Ani pulled Henry into a hug. "Send my love to Cameron, Andrea, and all of your beautiful grandchildren for me." Ani said as she gave him a squeeze.

"Of course! You, Altus and your little rascal have a very happy Harvestfest. Don't you worry about me, I know my way to the train."

[fashionassassin11]

Congratulations on the baby girl Dina and Morty!

Meet Valentina Caliente

[obigem]

But before she could get word out, her cellphone began to ring.

"Now, Andrea, you know better than to have phones at the table. Normally it's Cordelia I have to scold about that."

"I know, Mother, but this is kind of important."

"Andrea!"

"It'll be quick!" Dre excused herself.

Normally she wouldn't invite such a faux pas around her mother, taking a phone call in the middle of dinner, but before coming in with Cam, she had messaged Ani in regards to Henry. She was hopeful this was the call and that she could finally put Cam's mind at ease.

"Hello, Ani?" Andrea said brightly once out in the foyer and she could confirm it was in fact the call she'd been waiting for. "Please tell me Henry is having Harvestfest dinner with you."

"Sadly, no," Ani replied.

Andrea sighed. "I'd hoped he was being less stubborn."

"We were surprised to hear he hadn't made it to your home for the festivities, so Altus, Rowan and I went up the hill to check on him."

"Oh dear, he hasn't holed himself up in the cottage has he?"

"Well..."

"What is it?"

"Andrea—"

The phonecall ended.

And Andrea knew she had to tell Cameron that Henry had been located.

[obigem]

"What I'm trying to say, Henry, is last night when you went to sleep—"

"I never woke up, did I?"

"No. When did you know?"

"I think it was probably from the very beginning. You've never been this tangible before. But I wanted to believe maybe I had a bit more time."

"Are you upset at me for not saying anything sooner?"

"No. I'm more mad at myself that I never made it to Cam in time. I'm always letting that boy down. How will I ever make up for this?"

"No one gets to choose when they go, Huck. He may hurt for a while."

"He'll be upset with you. He'll miss you. But in the end, he'll know that you loved him. We both did."

"He's my little boy. I wanted to make it to him. And my grandchildren too. I love them all so much."

"They know, Huck. They know."

"I hope so. Because otherwise there'd be nothing to keep me from feeling guilty right now."

"Guilty?"

"For being happy that I'm able to be with you again. Since you left, I've thought of you every single day, Delia. And now I'll never have to be away from you ever again."

"Are you ready, for our new forever?" Cordelia held him close.

"I'd go anywhere with you, darling." Henry smiled back.

So while Cordelia held out her hand to him, Ani, Altus, and Rowan arrived at the cottage in search of Henry.

Once inside, they split up, going from room to room in search of him.

Altus checked the first floor to no avail.

Rowan the room for the grandkids. No sign.

Ani checked the bathroom without any luck.

There was one last room to clear to find an answer.

When she approached the bedroom door, Ani was hopeful she'd find Henry in there resting.

But when she entered, she was sorry she did.

"Are you afraid?" Delia looked up at her husband as he squeezed her hand.

"No. I think I might be a little excited. Is that strange?"

"Mmm mmm, I think I'm a little excited too." Delia smiled, as she prompted them both forward.

They walked hand in hand to the edge of the cliff where they could see all of Henford together. It really was beautiful.

"If you want to," Cordelia turned to Henry, "We can stay a bit longer. We can try to see Cameron and the rest of the family. We might not be able to travel that far but—"

"No. I think that might just make things harder. For us and for them. We'll see them again one day."

"I'm ready to go now, my love. My life." Henry cupped Delia's cheek in his drawing her into a kiss.

Because at the end of it all, he wished to leave this world in the arms of the woman he loved. Surrounded by her warmth, her touch, her smell. There was no better way to go.

And so the two of them left the world that day, in a blaze of love, longing, and the sweet memories they'll never forget.

Goodnight, Huck.

[obigem]

At some point in the night, Alberich had woken and went to find Dre for some comfort, but when she went to put him back down, he found his room empty.

The two went in search for the rest of the family only to find them still in each other's arms in front of the fireplace.

There they were strewn out across the couch fast asleep like she'd never seen them.

Millie was tucked into Cordie's arms. Dro snuggled into the crook of Cam's arm. Cam nestled awkwardly trying unsuccessfully to both sleep comfortably and gather them all.

Dre stiffled a giggle. The sight of them all, it warmed her heart enough to burst. All her babies, this was exactly what they needed.

"Mama gonna carry everybody up to bed?" Brick questioned as he took in the sight with her.

"No, baby." Dre gave Brick a squeeze. "Let's let them rest down here. Wanna be Mama's snuggle buddy tonight?"

"Yeah." Brick hugged her back, as they made their way back up to sleep.

By the time the fire died out, the Fletchers had all achieved their goodnight slumber.

[obigem]

Cam wasn't the only one on the receiving end of some much needed hugs as Jordie stole Cordie away from Jai's side to give some hugs of her own.

"Let it all out, bestie. I've got you." She gave her a squeeze.

"Thanks, Jordie." Cordie squeezed her back. "I know the day after Harvestfest is a big shopping day for you. You've made the ultimate sacrifice."

"You're about the only one I'd make that sacrifice for, but honestly this day wasn't totally fruitless. I witnessed something juicy."

"Oh yeah? What?" Cordie welcomed any kind of distraction.

"Oh, ya know, just you in the strapping, strong arms of a gentleman with long, flowing, firey, red hair."

"Huh?"

"Cordie don't be a cloudhead! I saw Matthew holding your hand and stroking your cheek. Spill!"

"There's nothing to spill." Cordie looked confused. "I just had a moment of weakness."

"I'll say. I noticed Jai Jai came right over and wedged himself between you two."

"Jai? He was just comforting me. What are you insinuating?"

"Cordie, you were holding Matthew's hand."

"OK? So what? Oh." Realization dawned on her. "I get it."

"Gosh, finally, I thought I was going to have to draw you a picture."

"Matthew is usually so awful, so it was unexpected for me too, but he actually managed to be really sweet to me and comfort me."

"It kind of felt like—"

"Yeah?" Jordin hung on her every word.

"Like...we were friends again."

"Friends?!"

"Well, yeah. You know, I even almost asked him if he thought we could be friends again, but I never fully got it out."

"All of that, and you see friendship?"

"I know you've never been his biggest fan—"

"Forget whether or not I think the little jerk is worthy of you, but," Jordin sighed and then under her breath, "a look like that and she thinks he wants friendship?"

"What?"

"It's nothing Cordie, just watch yourself around him."

"Why?"

"Just call it a hunch. Trust me, things will be better for you and Jai in the long run if you just follow my word on this one."

Cordie figured Jordin's words were rooted in her less than pleasant feelings toward Matthew. She couldn't say he hadn't earned the opinion.

But still...

The way he was with her today, she really held out hope that they could be friends again some day the way they used to be. Because today made her realize, that was something she really wanted.

[obigem]

"Raymond?" Rishella interrupted the moment that had turned awkward. "Are you giving Cameron our sorrows and prayers?"

"Of course, dear. And we talked about that other thing too."

"Oh." Rishella finally understood the awkwardness of the moment.

"We'd completely understand it, Cameron if you didn't feel comfortable with it."

"Yes, of course, Cameron," Raymond reassured, "It's only if you feel comfortable calling Shelly and I Mom and Dad."

"Me?!" Rishella had obviously not been made aware of that part of the offer.

Cameron could tell right away that things were starting to spiral into a very awkward place, so he decided to put an end to it as best he could.

"Listen, Raymond, Mrs. Nichols, I appreciate you both so much. You've been great, and that offer, wow, it's very loving of you."

"But even though I lost my mother so many years ago, in my heart she's the only mom I could imagine myself calling Mom, and I only just lost my Dad, so—"

"My goodness, Cameron, I'm sorry! I didn't want to insinuate that either of us would be replacing your parents."

"I know you didn't mean it that way, and don't get me wrong, I appreciate the offer. In a way, it makes me feel closer to you both that you'd be willing to see me as a son in that way. But for now, if it's all the same to you, I'd prefer to keep calling you Raymond."

"Of course," Raymond assured him, "I just wanted you to know that you'll always have Shelly and I in your corner, if you need any advice or wisdom I'm here for you in any way you need it."

"Thanks, Raymond."

Unexpectedly, Raymond approached him and pulled him into a hug.

"I know it hurts now, but in time, it'll get better." Raymond said warmly.

"I appreciate that." Cam patted him back. When the embrace broke, Raymond not so discretely nudged his head from Rishella to Cam to prompt her forward.

"Oh honestly, Raymond." Rishella sighed.

Rishella, a bit awkwardly, followed up Raymond with an embrace of her own.

"It's as Raymond says, Cameron. Things will get better, so chin up. You need to be there for your family, especially the children."

"I know. I appreciate your concern, Mrs. Nichols."

"Oh bother, I suppose we've made it to the point where it's perfectly OK for you to call me Rishella now, haven't we?"

"Really?"

"Well, you father has passed, and my time is likely not long for now, it'd be awkward for you to be calling Mrs. Nichols on my deathbed."

"Yeah, uh, I guess that would be, uh, very—"

Rishella cleared her throat as she broke from the embrace. "Well, that's enough of that. You call us if you need anything. You hear me?"

"Yes, of course. Thanks Mrs.—err, Rishella. Really. I mean it."

[obigem]

As the homegoing ceremony reception wore on, Cam decided to take a quiet moment to himself.

It felt so strange to be in his dad's house surrounded by so many happy pictures of him, in contrast to the reality that he was gone.

"If a funeral is good for one thing it's fancy free food. It's just too bad I can't eat any of it."

"Huh?" Cam looked up to find Aiden in front of him. "Oh, wow, I'm sorry, Aiden. I didn't even think about making sure there were vegetarian friendly options."

"I'll have Dre order something. Anything you want. It's on us."

"Cam, it was joke. I guess I failed at lightening the mood." Aiden gave a half smile.

"Oh. Sorry, I guess it went over my head."

"It's OK. You're allowed." Aiden got serious. "I really am sorry for your loss."

"My bio dad is kind of the worst, so it's probably shitty to say this, but I don't know if I'd even go to his funeral. But Henry always seemed like he really cared a lot about all of you. I'm sorry you lost that."

"Yeah, he did." Cam stood. "I think I'm gonna make the rounds."

He appreciated Aiden's kind words, but he didn't want to spend his quiet moment having people tell him how sorry they felt for him. It was bad enough he was still grappling with the fact he had no parents left. He didn't want the constant reminder of that.

Unfortunately, there was no shortage of people around him who were sorry for his loss.

"Cameron," Raymond approached him as he tried and failed to make it to the restroom.

"Oh, Raymond, how are you? Er, I guess that's weird to ask."

"No, it's fine." He waved him off.

"All things considered, Shelly and I are doing just fine."

"Thats...that's great to hear." Cam was running out of steam to stay in conversation.

"Listen, I wanted to talk to you about something important."

"Oh?"

"Your father, he was a good man. I'm glad I got to know him."

"It's no mystery to me that he was loved by so many, by you, the grandchildren, everyone."

"Listen, Raymond—" Cam tried to interrupt.

"What I'm trying to say, Cameron is, Henry had spoken to me about how hard losing your mother hit you both. He missed her dearly to his last."

"He'd mention so many times how ready he was to go, so he could be with her, but what held him were the grandchildren, and you. I told him that he should cherish the time he has with you now while he has it, so he did, but I also made him a promise."

"I promised him that when his time finally came, I'd look after the grandchildren and you."

"Me?"

"He worried about you, that you would feel alone once his time came. I know I can never replace him, I may not have long myself, but when you married Andrea you became family."

"As dear to me as Andrea is, you are too, like a real son. So if you'd like, I wouldn't mind if you decided to call me Dad from now on."

"Oh, umm, wow. I....don't really know what to say."

Raymond telling him to call him 'Dad' wasn't exactly on his bingo card for the day.