Michael's POV

One thing I can say with ease – I never thought driving home would be so hard. I feel sick to my stomach, and a feeling of dizziness is starting to invade my senses.

I just watched one of my friends die ... and that isn't something anyone should have to see.

I can't physically put into words how I'm feeling now. I simply want to be home, with Becky and the kids. My mind is still repeating the same question: How will I tell Jason and Ollie? How will I make them aware of this?

Stuart ... I can't believe what he's done. He's tricked his own wife into coming over, so he could kill her. And why did he want to kill her?

He said that me and Virginia were having an affair. So ... again, this is my fault.

Billie ... now Virginia.

What am I doing with my life? It seems that I'm causing the deaths of all the girls that ever loved me!

Finally pulling into the drive way, after the tedious, painful drive home, I get out my car, feeling myself trembling, and my legs feeling as if they're about to give way. I feel like I could collapse from what I've seen.

Becky's POV

I hear the front door open, and I pause the game of Snakes and Ladders I was having with Ollie to look across the room. Maybe Michael and Virginia are back. Who knows? Maybe this Stuart guy will be here too.

The living room door opens, and I see Michael walk in alone. He looks pale and weak, as if he's sick or something.

"Michael!" I leap up from my seat, "What's wrong? Where's Virginia?"

He remains silent, walking over to the sofa and collapsing – literally – onto it. He's now curled up in a ball on the sofa, trembling.

"Michael?" I question.

His breathing is heavy, and his eyes glazed over. He can't keep his eyes on one place; he keeps averting them around the room at a quick pace. The only thing he isn't looking at is me.

"G-Get Ollie outta here," he demands shakily.

I knit my eyebrows together in confusion, before looking at Ollie, who already has his glanced fixed on me and Michael.

"Ollie, sweetie ... just go to Jason for a minute. I'll come up when we can finish the game of Snakes and Ladders," I tell him.

He nods, and silently makes his way to the door, before disappearing out of sight. My gaze returns to Michael, and I give him a concerned, yet curious look.

"Are you going to tell me what's happened? And where Virginia is?" I repeat.

Michael closes his eyes, burying his head into his hands. He removes his feet from the sofa, disbanding his curled-into-a-ball position and sitting normally.

"W-We got to Stuart's house, and," his voice takes on a deep tone, and he keeps swallowing to be able to talk properly, "He was sat on the bed, holding the gun. He explained th-that he thought me and," he swallows again, "Me and Virginia were having an affair. I told him we weren't, but he di—he didn't believe me. There was more discussion, and then ... like that, he shot the gun, and," tears form in his eyes, and he takes a deep, shaky breath, "He killed Virginia."

I gasp, so much so that my breath catches in the back of my throat, and my heart skips a beat. My hand reaches up to touch my neck, and I swallow, unsure on what to even say.

"He killed Virginia, and told me he wanted ... nothing to do with the kids," Michael explains further.

"My God," I breathe. "B-But what are we meant to do with Jason and Ollie? W-What are we going to tell them?"

"I'll do it ... but I want you there," he answers.

I nod, reaching my hand to take his. He rubs my knuckles with his thumb, averting his eyes downwards to the floor. I can't even begin to imagine what he's going to say to the kids ... but I can't imagine it having a good reaction.

"Michael ... do you want me to call them back downstairs so we can tell them?"

He dries his tears with his thumbs, before giving a gentle, steady nod of his head.

"J-Jason!" my voice gives out a little, "Ollie! Come downstairs a minute!"

Moments later, I hear two pairs of footsteps coming down the stairs – one is a quick, energetic running pair of footsteps, the other is more slow and relaxed. It's easy to determine who's footsteps are who's.

Nevertheless, Ollie arrives downstairs about three seconds before Jason, and they both look to me and Michael in curiosity.

"What is it?" Jason asks.

That's one of the first times I've heard him speak. He's been so quiet all week.

"Jason, Ollie, I need you guys to sit down a moment," Michael starts.

Obeying the command, they both sit on the sofa with us, still watching our every move to find out what we want to tell them.

"Okay, so ... earlier, your father rang your mother to say he wanted to see her. Me and your mommy went to see him, and he said a few things. He said he was upset with your mommy because she came here to stay with me and Becky. So ... then he ..."

Michael pauses momentarily, clearing his throat to try not to cry in front of Jason and Ollie.

"He decided that your mommy would be much happier with the angels in the sky. So he gave her a magical ticket to get her there ... and now she's gone to Heaven."

"So mom's gone?" Jason asks, his voice giving out slightly. "She's d—she's dead?"

Michael's POV

Feeling a strong pain in my heart, I nod my head in answer to Jason's question. Ollie takes a moment to register what's been said, then looks up at me with forlorn eyes, which makes my heart break a thousand times more.

"So we're never gonna see mommy again?" he asks sadly, tears in his eyes.

Becky looks at me, before closing her eyes and covering her mouth to avoid sobbing out loud. Ollie is so innocent; he shouldn't have to be dealing with this.

"No, Ollie ... but she's happier with the angels now..." I answer.

Ollie doesn't speak another word; instead he bursts into loud sobs, and falls into my arms. I stroke his hair and force myself not to cry with him, and I keep a tight embrace on him.

"Shh ... shh," I comfort him.

Whilst I comfort Ollie, Becky comforts Jason, taking his hands in hers and talking to him calmly. Jason seems to be trying to be strong, but I can tell he's dying inside.

Ollie's cries continue, and I gradually feel more and more pain in my heart for him. I honestly can't imagine what this is like for him, or Jason, for that matter.

After many minutes of hearing Ollie's painful sobs, his crying subsides, and he sits in my lap, his head leant against my chest, remaining completely silent. Bless him; he must be so numb.

"Ollie?" I whisper.

He looks up, and I instantly see the redness in his cheeks and eyes from how much he's cried.

"Can you make her come back?" he asks sadly.

I let out a sigh, stroking his hair once again to ease his pain a little.

"Little man ... I wish I could," I reply softly.

"Does mommy not love us anymore?" he questions.

"No! Of course that's not the case," I say quickly, "Your mommy loves you more than anything in this world. I know she does."

"Th-Then why did she want to leave us?" Ollie asks innocently.

"Because ... well," I pause to think of an answer that won't hurt him too badly, "Because ... you know God, right?"

Ollie nods his head slowly, his little arms starting to coil around my neck, as if saying he wants me to protect him.

"Well ... he decided that your mommy would be very happy in Heaven with him! And that's a very, very good thing. It means that your mommy was special, and that she was chosen by God!" I explain, trying to sound enthusiastic.

"God chose mommy?" he asks, a small smile coming onto his face.

"Yes, Ollie. God chose your mommy to live with him and the other angels! Is that good?"

"Well ... I'll miss mommy," he frowns. "But ... she gets to live with God."

"That's right," Becky pipes in. "God only chooses the best people to come to Heaven, sweetie."

Ollie sniffles, still with a small smile on his face, and nods his head in understanding. My eyes avert to Jason, who just kinda looks numb. It's almost harder for him, because he's more mature and knows properly what's going on.

A silence lingers in the room, which is only short-lived due to Jason speaking up.

"What's gonna happen to me and Ollie?" he asks.

Me and Becky exchange glances. We're both genuinely unsure on what's gonna happen to these two kids ... I have no idea.

"Well ... your father doesn't want you living with him any more, so ..." I pause to think of possible outcomes.

"Jason, Ollie," Becky takes over. "Me and Michael will have to talk about this for a moment. We won't be a second."

With that, she stands up, and I set Ollie down on the sofa, before walking into the hallway with her. Once we're out there, I watch her to see what she wants to talk about.

"What are we gonna do with them, Michael?" she asks.

I exhale, thinking of the possibilities.

"Well ... there's only really two things we can do," I answer.

She gives a confused look, so I carry on explaining.

"Well ... we could take them to care, or ... we could adopt them."

"God," Becky breathes. "Which would you prefer?"

"I don't mind. I think they would be safer here though. Anyone could end up with them if they went into care. What about you?"

"I had the same logic, but ... five mouths to feed instead of three? It's a lot more than we were expecting at this stage."

"It may be six, this time next year," I remind her.

"But I'm not pregnant, so no ... I doubt it," she gives a small smile, but I can tell that her statement makes her sad.

"We'll see," I say. "Anyway ... I think we should let Jason and Ollie make their decision on where to go."

She nods in agreement, and we re-enter the living room, where the boys are sitting, waiting forlornly.

Becky's POV

"Right, guys," I begin. "Look ... there are two places you can go now. There's either a care home, or ... you can stay with us. We can adopt you, if you really want. What do you want to do?"

Jason and Ollie look at one another, and confer in a whisper, still obviously overwhelmed from the fact their mother is dead. Jason then looks up at me, and answers.

"We want to stay with you. At least we know who you are."

Me and Michael make eye contact, and nod at one another.

"Okay," Michael says. "Are you sure?"

The boys nod again, indicating their certainty on the situation. Michael and I join them on the sofa, and we all share an embrace. I think the boys need a hug, to be honest.

"You'll be okay," Michael assures them both. "We're gonna help you all the way through this ... every single step of the way."

"Thanks," Jason mutters.

--

Michael's POV

It's now about 9:00pm, so it's rather late. Both boys are still awake; I think they'll sleep well tonight, though.

It's been one hell of a day. Becky has already called the adoption people, and informed them of the situation. I think she said they're going to come and check our home and living conditions, just to get an idea of whether our place is suitable for them to live here or not.

If it is, we can sign the adoption papers and let them live here. However, we also need to get Stuart involved ... which is the hardest part of all this.

Hopefully, we'll find a way to get through it.

Me and Becky are in the living room with Miracle. Because we've been focusing on Jason and Ollie all day, Miracle has kinda been forgotten, in a sense.

So now, I'm making it up to her with daddy cuddles and kisses.

The room is somewhat quiet, so we can hear just about every single little noise that is made.

"We're gonna get through this," I tell Becky, rubbing her leg gently to comfort her.

"I know ... and we're still gonna try for another baby, aren't we?"

I hesitate for a moment to think. "Well ... maybe not so much now. We already have five mouths to feed, and a sixth would make it chaotic. I mean, I've said it before; I would have a thousand children if I could, but ... it's gonna get harder to spread time between them all ... right?"

Becky remains silent for a moment; perhaps a little upset at my comment.

"Well, yeah, but ... you have a job, and I could get one too, then we'd be just about alright."

"Hmm ... yeah," I answer. "When was the last time you took a pregnancy test, out of interest?"

"Uh ... I don't know. Three weeks ago? Something like that?" she answers.

"When did we next have medication after that test?" I question.

"Hmm ... I think it was the day after ... two days after?"

Our conversation is cut off, when I hear a soft voice coming from the kitchen.

"You hear that?" I ask Becky.

She nods, "Yeah. It sounds like the boys."

We both get up, and walk quietly into the kitchen together. When we enter, I see Jason and Ollie standing by the back door, looking up at the sky.

"And y'see, Ollie, that huge bright star there?"

Jason points up at the sky, and Ollie stands on his tiptoes and looks up, too.

"I see it Jason."

"Well, that star is mom. She's the brightest star in the sky, y'know, and ... she's always gonna be up there looking down at us."

"How do you know that?" Ollie asks.

"Because your brother is very clever, Ollie," I answer, making both of them turn around to see us. "Very clever indeed."

We walk further into the room, and stand at the back door with the boys.

It's true – the brightest star is visible tonight.

"You wanna say anything to your mommy whilst we're here?" Becky asks softly.

"I said all I can say," Jason replies, clearing his throat to prevent his voice from giving out.

"Ollie?" I demand sweetly.

He looks up at the stars, and I can see their reflection glimmering in his glazed-over eyes.

"Mommy ... I'll miss you. I hope God looks after you. Goodbye, mommy. I love you."

Okay, I'll be the first to admit that this chapter kinda made me sad for Ollie and Jason. :( But at least they'll be adopted by Michael and Becky ... right? Hope you enjoyed this chapter. :)