Chapter 73: Nostalgia in a cup
Andrew calmed down by the time the smaller Mrs. Proctor came back and put down the tea she had made as well as a plate of cookies.
Andrew glanced at her from where he was and found that her smile was soft, and she held onto her tray in front of her as she looked at them.
"It’s okay if you don’t want to do this today." She told him softly. "I know it must be a lot. We’ve been working like this for a while, it won’t hurt us if we continue to work like this for a little bit more." She told him, and that seemed to calm him more.
No. He couldn’t keep them living like this. This was something he should have done years ago, and it wasn’t fair to them. They had been living like this, thinking that...
"Mrs. Proctor." Andrew sniffed, before he slowly unwrapped himself from around Maxwell, to find both of them were looking at him expectantly. He winced. "Uh, Kim, specifically." She nodded, while her wife sat down next to her. Instinctually, Kim pulled her closer to wrap her arm around her shoulder, and Mrs. Proctor tucked herself against her mate.
"Yes, Andy?" She responded, a small smile on her face. Andrew fiddled with Maxwell’s hand, tracing his fingers nervously as he tried to think of the best way to phrase this.
"Did you...did you know? That she had passed?" It was a hard question to ask, let alone answer. When Andrew met both of their gazes, he found that they had the exact same expression on their faces. It was a mix of sadness, grief, and endurance. Kim chuckled, pushing her free hand through her hair.
"Well, of course I hoped that she had run away somewhere nice and sunny where she could flourish and there were a lot of flowers and plants for her to enjoy, but I also knew her condition. She tried her best to hide it from me, but some things you just...know, you know? Especially when she started giving us gifts from things that she liked. Things that you wouldn’t care about if they got placed with us." Her smiled warped, and Andrew could tell it was because her lips were trembling. Her wife put her hand on her thigh, squeezing it in comfort. "When I didn’t hear from her for a while, and you hadn’t sent a message to the company, I thought it was okay. But then I continued to not hear anything, and after a while you just...you know, right?" Andrew’s heart was breaking.
After spending time with her and listening to her stories about the past and his Mother, he felt like such an asshole that he hadn’t followed up.