Beyond the Broken Angel

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

F O U R

Y E A R S

L A T E R

— smoke —

February 18th, 2024

"I LOVE YOU, Mama."

"I love you too, sweet boy. Have a good day at school!"

"I will, Mama. Bye-bye!"

"Bye-bye!"

Giselle watched from the entrance of the school building as her almost four year-old joined the group of children filtering into the school. He stood a head taller than the others, and walked with an air of authority that reminded Giselle of Will.

A lot of Liam reminded her of Will, and she couldn't be more delighted by that fact. He had dark hair like his father, and shared the same wide grin and grumpy scowl, and could be fiercely stubborn when he felt like it.

Giselle loved him more and more each day, but even as her love grew, it still couldn't replace the gaping Will-sized hole in her heart.

In the four years since she had last seen him, it felt like that hole had only deepened.  She didn't feel like herself most of the time, like she was a lifeless shell with only half of a heart.

"Stop thinking about it, Giselle," she whispered to herself as she turned around and headed towards the car park. "Try to be in a happy mood, you have all those letters Selene had picked up to read, after all."

Besides being with her son, one of the other bright spots in her life was the letters Will sent her. He tried to write one every day, sending them in bulk. They usually got to her after a month of floating around in the post, but when they did get to her, she didn't feel so empty inside.

He was a bombardier in the Royal Air Force, though he spoke nothing about the war or what he did in his letters. Giselle didn't know if he did that for her sake, or for his own.

He also sent letters to his son, Liam usually thrilled when his mother would read them aloud. Liam had even commissioned Giselle to write some for him, breaking Giselle's heart when he would ask her to write, "When will I get to see you, Papa?"

"Stop thinking about it," Giselle said to herself again. She was at her car now, opening the door and slipping inside. "The war ends next year. Everything will be fine."

She repeated that in her head until she got home. Selene and Hester were the first things she saw when she entered the house. They were sitting on the couch, laughing with each other.

The sight would've confused Giselle a few years ago, but now, it was normal.

Hester and Selene rarely got into fights anymore. Hester had completely shed her cold exterior when Liam was born. Giselle figured that seeing Giselle with Liam had reminded Hester of when Selene was a baby, and had possibly made her feel bad about her behavior towards her daughter.

They were a lot closer now, and Selene had even taken Hester through the tree to visit the kids. Hester had cried when she met them, overjoyed to meet her "grandkids."