Westley has always known Claire. She's always been a constant in his life, whether it be as his babysitter, his secret Santa, as his pretend-girlfriend, his confident, as the person he could always rely on.
But she's also always been the girl he lov...
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I'm fifty six and my step mother just died.
Eloise stays with Dad for a couple of weeks. Eloise was always Dad's favourite even if he won't say it out loud. I know it. She knows it. So having her around lifts up his mood a little bit.
I stay with him for a few days too, but I don't know what to do, or what to say and it feels like losing Mom all over again.
It's been so long since my mother died that Holly's filled the role over the years. And now losing her leaves another hole in my heart.
Holly was a good person. She made my father into someone a little bit more decent. I'm not scared to admit that she complemented my father a lot better than my mother ever did.
I feel so bad for my father. He didn't lose one wife, he lost two. The idea of ever losing Claire seriously freaks me out. I don't think I could ever survive it.
I tell Claire, "I just want you to know I'm going first. None of that surviving you bullshit. I'm dying first."
"You're not dying," she tells me, a little appalled.
"Not right now, but when I do, I'm the first to go."
"I'm older, I'll go first."
"Trust me, I've always loved you more, and I'm going first."
"You never loved me more. And I told your mom I would marry you, you know."
"What?"
"When you were like two years old with your adorable curly hair and your crazy green eyes and your dimples and your giggles, you were just the cutest baby ever and anyone with half a brain knew you would grow up gorgeous so I told your mom to hold off any marriage proposal because I would marry you one day."
I smile at her. "You didn't."
She smiles back. "I did. You always loved me. Fine. I always knew I'd marry you."
