Ten days later – July 2, 1993

It's been eleven days since Virginia and her boys came to stay, and they're still here. It's actually been a lot of fun, to be honest. Ollie is obsessed with Miracle and is very cute, Jason is respectful, and Virginia is kind and sweet.

I should also tell you that Miracle had her christening a few days back, on June 27. Her official name is now Miracle Hope Joy Jackson, so Michael is naturally happy that she's sharing his last name – soon to be mine, too.

Oh! And I should also tell you that me and Michael are now trying for a second baby. Only this time, we've been doing it when the others are out, or if it's night time, and we do it quietly.

After last time, I'm a little worried another mishap will happen.

Right now, me and Michael are downstairs with Miracle, and the others are upstairs getting ready. It's 10:27am, so still early on in the day.

"So, what do you reckon we should do today?" I ask Michael.

"Gee, I don't know. We've pretty much done everything we can do, haven't we?" Michael chuckles.

"True. Hey, why don't we just—"

A ringtone sounds, cutting me off from what I was saying. My eyes scan the room for the possible source of the sound, but I have no success in finding anything.

"Where's that coming from?" I question irritably.

"Check the windowsill, behind the curtain," Michael advises.

I get up from the sofa, before heading towards the window. Pulling back the curtain, I see a small mobile phone ringing and vibrating there.

"Here it is," I announce, picking up the phone. "The caller ID says "Stuart"."

"That's her husband," Michael tells me. "Don't answer it."

"Why would he ring her if—"

The phone goes to voicemail, which makes the phone beep over and over. The noise is so annoying.

"We can't have that beeping all day," I hiss.

"Well, just leave it anyway," he answers.

"Aww, but, c'mon!" I protest.

"No. Wait for Virginia to come back," Michael decides.

"Fine."

I place the phone down before walking back over to the sofa, and sitting down next to Michael. The beeping keeps going on, which irritates me no end. I didn't even know phones beeped when they had an answer message!

Suddenly, I hear footsteps on the staircase, and I cheer a little at the idea that now we won't hear the beeping sound.

"Hey you guy—God, what's that beeping?" Virginia asks. "Wait! It sounds like my phone."

She walks over to the phone, and lifts it up. She looks at the screen.

"Stuart tried to ring me... why? And he left a message."

She presses a button on her phone, before lifting it to her ear and listening closely. Her facial expression seems to change every few seconds, and it intrigues me, no end.

Finally, the message ends, and she presses a button on the phone again, and lowers it, a look of shock on her face.

"What's wrong, Virginia?" Michael asks.

"Th-The message," she mutters. "From Stuart."

"What did it say?" I ask.

She hands me the phone, and I let the message play.

"Virginia, baby... I'm so sorry for what I've done. I'll never forgive myself for it. I know you've gone, with Jason and Ollie, but I need to see you. I need to hug you and touch you. I know, I know... it all sounds so cliché of me to say...

"... But I love you, and I want to see you before I go. Now your question is, Where are you going? Am I correct? Well..."

The sound of a gunshot is heard on the other side of the line, which catches me by surprise.

"That's where I'm going. I'm done, Virginia. I feel too much guilt for what I've done. There'll be no more crap from me.

"... Goodbye, babe. Love you."

Now my face is exactly the same as Virginia's, and I understand why hers was that way.

"What did the message say?" Michael asks. "I still didn't hear it."

I hand him the phone, and he plays the message. After about a minute, he pulls the phone away from his ear, and knits his eyebrows together.

"Well, we gotta go save him before it's too late!" he cries.

"But what about Ollie and Jason?" Virginia asks desperately.

"I'll stay and look after them," I offer.

Virginia rushes over to me and hugs me tightly, "Life saver; thank you."

Michael kisses me and Miracle goodbye, and then he and Virginia run out the door, slamming it behind them.

Michael's POV

Me and Virginia get in my car, and I start the ignition and start driving quickly. Although this guy sounds like a jerk, he's still speaking of suicide, and it's this girl's husband at the end of the day.

"Please drive quick Michael," she breathes.

"I'm on it," I reply.

She sits in the passenger seat, shaking and crying. Me? I'm just trying to get to her house without crashing the car out of nervousness.

After about ten minutes, we finally arrive at her house, and make a dash for the front door. Virginia pounds on the door, but I push my entire body against it, attempting to open it.

At first, it seems stuck, so I force my entire self against it once more, and the door finally opens.

Virginia reaches into her pocket, and brings out a set of keys.

"Oh gosh... I had a key, Michael," she says guiltily.

"It's cool. I'll pay for the door," I answer.

We enter the house, trying to listen out for any kind of sound from any of the rooms. It's complete silence, and it's deafening.

"Where is he, Michael?" Virginia whispers fearfully.

"I don't know. Keep close," I answer.

I walk ahead, and find the bedroom door closed – the only door in the house that is closed. I open it ajar, and peer inside.

There he is. The guy that must be Stuart. He's holding a gun in his hand, sitting on the bed, looking down at the gun, in the floor's general direction.

"Oh, Virginia..." he mumbles.

Virginia then forces the door open, drawing attention to us both, and Stuart looks over in our direction and smiles faintly.

"Hey," he greets softly.

"Stu..." Virginia starts, walking over to him and sitting on the bed by him. "I-I know we've had a lot of disagreements lately... but I'm sorry for that. Maybe we can get past all that."

He looks at her briefly, but then he can't help but avert his eyes back to the floor. His fingers fiddle with the gun a little as he looks at me.

"Why are you here?" he spits.

"I drove her here because you left her the voice message. She was staying at me and my fiancée's house. We're not together, if that's what you're thinking," I explain.

"Right, right," he mutters. "Then explain the kiss you shared when you left our house that night, a while back."

"That?" I gasp. "Oh! That was accidental. My fiancée asked about that, too. See, we were gonna do general cheek kisses, as in like... saying goodbye. But then it went wrong and... well, you know the rest."

"Why do I struggle to believe you?" he asks rhetorically.

"I don't know. But look... this woman loves you, with all her heart, despite what's happened. I don't think she would be appreciative of you killing yourself in front of her eyes," I say.

He exhales shakily, his hand still clutching the gun firmly.

"Stuart, why do you want to kill yourself?" Virginia asks sadly.

He remains completely silent, which kinda scares me. Why won't he reply?

Instead, after a few moments, he changes the subject.

"I'm messed up in the head, Virginia... I do bad things, then regret 'em right after. S'pose I can't regret death; I won't know no different."

"But you can change," Virginia tries to persuade him. "And I'll help you. Think of the kids... they need their father back."

"Who wanna have a father like me, eh?" he asks. "I wouldn't."

"Well... if you change, you'll be the perfect father," Virginia mutters.

"I can't change though."

"Stuart—"

"I can't!" he suddenly shouts, catching me off guard, let alone Virginia. "I can't change, and you know that! I never will!"

"Then what was the point of calling me?" she asks tearfully. "If you aren't gonna bother to change, why did you call me to say you were done with life?"

"To get you over here," he answers.

"What do you mean?" I interrupt.

"I wanted her over here, to let her know a few things before it was too late..." he starts. "First off..."

He clicks the trigger of the gun, setting it ready to shoot, "I only have one bullet left in this thing. But I guess... that's enough to kill, right?"

"Don't do this," Virginia frowns. "I can help you, honey..."

"Second," he adds, completely ignoring her last comment. "I don't believe yours and Michael's story about the kiss. You got something going on, I know it."

"No!" she cries. "There's nothing! He has a fiancée!"

"Thirdly..." he blanks her again. "I know I'm not perfect. But... you've done things you shouldn't be proud of, too..."

"I know. What's that got to do with anything?" Virginia asks uncertainly.

"I'm just saying... it isn't just me that's done bad things," he reiterates. "I don't kiss no other girls, do I?"

"I... I didn't kiss Michael on purpose, Stuart. I honestly didn't. Why are you turning this around on me?"

"Cos maybe... it makes me look less bad," he smirks. "Cos you done bad stuff too."

"But I didn't kiss Michael," she repeats desperately. "Not on purpose... look, just put the gun down. We can come back from this. I can help take the suicidal thoughts away..."

Stuart pauses for a moment, and hesitantly nods his head. He then falls into her arms, hugging her tightly.

"Just one thing," he states.

"Yes?" she asks.

"I ain't lookin' after Ollie and Jason," he says.

"Why?"

"I don't want to," he says. "You gotta put them in care."

"Why? I'll look after them," she assures him. "They're my kids. What's making you think I won't look after them?"

"Well..." he pulls away from her embrace, "This."

Before I can react or do anything to stop it, he fires the gun.

"No!" I scream, as if it'll change anything.

I can't move at all; I'm frozen in my place. I feel like I've been shot myself, but I haven't. It's just shock from what's just happened.

My heartbeat quickens, and I hear it thumping in my ears. My body starts to shake, like the time I had that panic attack after Billie's death.

This hasn't happened... no.

I close my eyes tightly, before opening them again. It's still the same situation at hand. My breathing becomes jagged, and my eyes avert to Stuart.

"Y-You just..."

My mouth cannot physically produce words. I'm stunned; shocked... scarred. I wasn't expecting this at all.

My eyes avert down to Virginia's lifeless body; she's lying in a puddle of her own cold blood.

"Now," Stuart starts. "I know you got my kids. Do what you want with them; just make sure I don't see any of you again."

My eyes widen in surprise, as I can barely even believe what I'm hearing or seeing.

"Wha—?" I start. "You just killed your wife, and all you care about is—"

"Now listen here, Michael," he points a finger at me. "I'm gonna set this up to look like suicide. Say anything; you'll see what happens. You realise there's knives in that kitchen. Run along, otherwise one could end up inside you."

He's threatening me now? I can't do this. I'm already in shock.

All I can do is nod my head slowly, before running out the house as fast as humanly possible. I get in my car, starting the ignition and driving away from the house, feeling more scared than ever before – most likely – in my entire life.

My fingers are shaking, just hovering over the steering wheel, and my mind is numb with thoughts. I feel a little light-headed, but I've got to get home before I faint – cos I certainly feel like I'm going to faint, after what I've just seen.

So many things are running through my mind right now. But... the main thing is...

... How am I gonna tell Jason and Ollie that their father just killed their mother?

It's been a significant amount of time since there was any drama. Hope it wasn't too bad for ya. :)