possibilities ( it: chapter 2 )

SEVEN.

☆彡
the next morning, the toziers were boarded onto a 9 am flight to derry, maine. eileen made sure to email the childrens' schools, saying that there was an immediate family emergency—that they needed to return to maine to deal with a loss.

"just....be nice to your grandparents, okay? they're old and just really morally uptight." eileen looked towards her kids.

as usual, jade was sitting in the passenger seat while reece was in the back seat in the company of their luggage. eileen had been in too much of a rush to place their baggage in the trunk.

"i like grandma and grandpa! we haven't seen them in like four years though." jay shrugged. she was impartial to her grandparents. they spoiled her and her brother, so she got along easily with them.

"mom, what happened to dad's mom and dad? where are they?" reece tozier inquired. the eleven year old boy leaned forward in curiosity.

in the tozier household, no one discussed the matter of richie's parents. richie hated thinking about them and how badly they mistreared him. as a result, their names were never spoken of in his home.

"they possibly still live around here, i'm sure. but...we—your dad doesn't like to talk about them. they weren't very good parents." eileen stated. reece only nodded and sat back in his seat.

eileen and richie agreed that their children would stay at their grandparents' house and the married couple would stay at a hotel. so when eileen parked her rental car in her parents' driveway, the two kids got out of the car and grabbed their suitcases from the backseat.

eileen sighed before getting out of the car, she closed the door and stared up at her childhood home. the thirty-nine year old grabbed her suitcase and walked up the porch with her kids.

after knocking on the wooden door, there was a long pause before the seventy-five year old diane lankman opened the door.
"eileen! oh my!" diane gasped, pulling her daughter into the tightest embrace. eileen hugged her mother back, the two softly swaying during their hug.

eileen pulled away and diane looked down to her grandchildren.
"my babies," diane placed her veiny and wrinkled hand over her heart. "jade, i haven't seen you since you were nine, you are so beautiful—looking more like your mother every day." the older lankman woman smiled, pulling her granddaughter into a hug.

once their hug ended, diane's eyes traveled over to reece tozier. her blue eyes widened at the sight of her grandson, whom was much bigger than the last time she saw him.
"reece! look at you! you've grown so much, oh my. come here!" diane insisted and reece was hesitant to hug his grandmother.

nevertheless, he did and he thought that she smelled exactly like how old people smell. jay snickered at the face that reece made when he hugged his grandma.

the toziers went inside the house, the kids going up the stairs to put their bags down. jay would be staying in her mother's old room. it was filled with books, multiple t-shirts and hoodies from yale university, and it was kind of a mess, but it was the epitome of teenage eileen. reece, on the other hand, would be staying in the guest bedroom. it was usually reserved for whenever eileen's aunt jessica would come to visit.

"what brings you into town?" diane lankman asked, placing a book back into their large bookcase.
"ah, uh, something with richie's family. i was going to meet up with him and some of the people that we used to hang out with." eileen stuck her hands into her back pockets uncomfortably.

"i thought richie was estranged from his family?" diane questioned as she lowered her voice when she said 'estranged.' eileen only sighed and nodded.
"he is, but they wanted to see him and the kids. considering that they haven't seen them...ever." eileen lied to her mother.

she glanced around the house and noticed a lack of something, or at least, someone.
"mom, where's dad?" eileen inquired.

she hadn't seen her father since she arrived, and it was finally beginning to sink in.
"he had to run some errands, sweetheart. don't worry. go say goodbye to the kids before you go." diane encouraged, and eileen took her advice.

stalking up the wooden stairs, eileen stood outside of her old room as she watched jay and reece walk around it in awe. the two saw the polaroids of eileen and the losers. jay's eyes widened at the sight of her dad's younger self and his thick glasses.
"dad wore those?!" jay gasped, looking at reece.

when no one was around, the siblings were close. neither would openly admit it, but they cared about each other more than anything in the world. they were each other's best friends. jay had been reece's best friend since the day he was born and well, jay came to love reece eventually.

"woah, you do kinda look like mom in this picture!" reece pointed out the young eileen lankman.
"all right, enough of the old pictures. i'm going to see your dad." eileen said, walking into the room.

the two children looked back towards their mother.
"why can't we go?" reece pouted. he was beginning to miss his father's inappropriately timed jokes and his dumb voices.

"because it's adult business, okay? we'll be back here tonight before you two go to bed. you'll see him then. but for now, hugs?" eileen opened her arms.

almost instantly, reece embraced his mother. eileen smiled, her hands touching his soft brown curls. eileen looked down to her baby boy and placed a kiss against his forehead.
"i love you, reece." eileen whispered with a smile. reece's brown eyes stared back up at his mom.
"i love you too, mom." he stated.

eileen looked up towards jay. the thirteen year old stood with her arms folded over her chest. she didn't want her mom to go, she felt that her mom was vulnerable out there—both of her parents were.

"do i get a hug, jay?" eileen asked. over the past year, her daughter had developed a worse attitude than she had before. eileen suspected that it was the arrival of her teenage years. she was becoming "too cool" to love her parents.

jay felt tears sting her eyes and she rushed over to her mom. the girl's arms wrapped around her mother's neck. eileen tensed up at the feeling of her daughter hugging her with the tightest embrace that she had ever felt. jay sniffled, not letting go of her mother. eileen relaxed into the hug and wrapped her arms around her daughter.
"mom, i know about it. i read the letters." jay whispered.

eileen pulled out of the hug hastily, the warmth of her daughter's hug vanishing quickly.
"you what?!" eileen's blue eyes focused on the eldest tozier child intensely.