Bullet

Chapter 7

The first thing Deacon received was a hug, Greg wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close, keeping her warm, 'I'm sorry', she whispered and he pulled away just a little to look down at her, 'why're you apologizing?'

'Because I wasn't there when -'.

'That's enough Dee, there's no need to apologize over something that's out of your control'.

He brought her into another hug, this time a lot tighter than before. She felt his fingers gently play with her hair, it was what he usually did, at first she thought it was strange, but after a while, she was use to it, 'come on, do you want something to drink?'

'So you have tea?'

He smiled, 'you know I always have tea'.

She followed him into the kitchen, it was cold, so she wrapped her jacket around herself, Greg noticed, 'oh, sorry, I've got aircon but I forgot to turn in on, I don't feel the cold that much', he chuckled softly as he pressed a button on the wall. There was a beeping noise and a rush of warm air hit the back of her neck, she was standing underneath the machine, closing her eyes, she allowed the warmth envelope her. The kettle started to boil, 'I found some old photos by the way', she froze, her eyes slowly opening to meet his, he looked down quickly and began preparing the drinks, 'sorry... I understand if you don't want to see them right now', but she shook her head, 'of course I want to see them, do you have them here?' He nodded, finishing up with the drinks, after, he went to grab the photos. The chair creaked under Deacon's weight, she was afraid it might break.
Greg returned with a big box, ok, didn't expect it to be that big, she waited as he brought out all the photos, he grabbed one of the other chairs and brought it closer so that he was sitting next to her, 'you ready?' He looked straight at her and she nodded.

The first photo was of Beatrice Georgina... Or Delfino, she was sitting out on the porch, wearing a beautiful sun dress, a big floppy hat sat on top of silky hair that reached down to her breasts, she was stunning. In her arms she held a baby, 'you look so cute', Greg chuckled and Deacon had to admit, she looked a lot better when she was a baby, another picture showed Beatrice and Deacon's father, they both looked very happy. They were in the living room, her father, John Georgina was on his knees with her by his side, wearing the usual dusty singlet that he always wore on hot days along with shorts. These were the happy days before it was all over. Deacon sighed, the other photos were just as memorable, it was amazing to see how much she had grown up.
Then there was Greg and his father, how quickly the scene changed. Deacon remembered holding Greg for the first time, 'you're so fascinated by me back then, look at your eyes', she laughed. They went through a few more photos, some brought tears to both of their eyes, 'I just can't believe that she's just... Gone'. Her words echoed through the kitchen, it had grown cold again, but the aircon was still going, 'we'll get through this, I've already started sorting out all of the things in the house'. Deacon leaned against Greg, she was tired, but she couldn't sleep, afraid she'd have nightmares.