Such is life

"Why… Why??" asked Natasha as she cried, she just cried and cried, until she had no more tears left to cry, and even then, some tears still fell from her eyes.

Her brown eyes were now red, their colour had be changed by her tears, she looked hopeless, sad, broken, like a bird who's wing had been broken and would never fly again.

"You see my dear, dealing with loss is never easy" said Ernest as he rubbed Natasha on her back as she rested her head on his shoulder as she looked devastated, she did not say anything at all, her throat had become scratchy from all her crying and talking and Ernest was sure that she had calmed down now, so he could now talk to her and try to comfort her, because he could not have done so before, she would not have listened at all.

"But such is life… you loose people and some pass by, leaving us all alone" said Ernest.

"Or so we think" said Ernest.

"My dear, have you ever thought that maybe it was his time?" asked Ernest.

"No…" said Natasha as she shook her head and she sniffed.

"No, he was healthy, he was fine… until… until I came to visit him" said Natasha as more tears fell from her eyes.

"Oh my dear child, you can never tell what truly goes on, on the inside" said Ernest and Natasha sniffed.

"But one thing you should never forget my dear, is that your father always loved you, he always did, every single thing he did, was because of you, he only wanted the best for you" said Ernest as Natasha began to cry again, every single time it felt like her wound was being reopened again, she still could not come to terms with it.

"My dear, we never truly come to terms with the death of a loved one" said Ernest.

"We only learn to live with it as life goes on" said Ernest and Natasha sniffed as Dom just stood there leaning of the wall as he watched the both of them talk, he knew he had called the right person, his Grandfather was able to calm down Natasha, while he… he was unable to do anything.

"My dear, do you remember when Mary died?" asked Ernest and Natasha looked up at him as she sniffed.

"The love of my life, my forever queen, who's throne still sits right here in my heart" said Ernest as he smiled and he touched his heart with his free hand.

"When she died, I was just like you" said Ernest.

"I was broken, I was in despair, I felt like my heart was ripped out and all that was left was nothing but emptiness" said Ernest as he explained with a sad heart.

"I just wanted to leave everything behind and die along with her, I had no will to go on anymore, without her by my side" said Ernest.

"But then I looked around…" said Ernest.

"I looked at the wonderful family God gave me, I looked at my wonderful friends, the ones who stayed by me" said Ernest.

"I could not be selfish and just want to leave those who still needed me behind" said Ernest.

"So I picked myself, even though It was very hard, I did it anyway, for my son, my daughter, my grandson, my granddaughter, for you and for everyone else who still needed me" said Ernest.

"And I am sure that my Mary would be proud of me where she is in heaven" said Ernest as he smiled and a lone tear slipped from his eye and he wiped it away quickly, as Dom smiled sadly as Natasha sniffed.

"Do you remember what she always used to say about cookies?" asked Ernest as he smiled and he looked at Natasha.

"Of course" said Natasha.

"The three most important things in life are God, family, and thirdly cookies" said Ernest as he laughed and Natasha gave a sad smile as Dom smiled.

"I could promise you, that wife of mine loved cookies, I would say she even loved them more than me myself" said Ernest as he laughed and Natasha smiled, she loved Mary, she was like her own Grandmother, the one she never had, she had grown up going to her house along with Dom and the others, it brought her so many good memories.

"Oh and she was very creative, very, very creative, I never knew how she did it" said Ernest as he laughed.

"She had a cookie flavour for everyone, everyone's flavour was different" said Ernest as he laughed.

"Mine was vanilla, because she said that I was a very plain man when she met me" said Ernest as he laughed.

"Dom's was red velvet, Charlie's was chocolate, Michael had his, and well yours… yours was" said Ernest.

"Ginger" said Ernest and Natasha at the same time as Ernest smiled at her.

"She said mine was ginger" said Natasha as she smiled.

"She said I was adventurous, and also because it matched the colour of my hair" said Natasha.

"Right you are my girl, right you are" said Ernest as he laughed.

"She was always very resourceful, patient, we were complete opposites, and yet we were best whenever we were together" said Ernest as he smiled.

"I remember when I was still a young man, I would come back from my newly started business, I would be exhausted and frustrated on how tough things were in the market" said Ernest as he remembered.

"But once I got home, sat in my armchair, and waited for dinner, my dear Mary would always tell me sweet words, she would always encourage me, even if she had a bad day, it would never affect the good news she wanted to tell me in the evening" said Ernest as he smiled.

"Her care, her love, and her warmth, is what got me through the most difficult years of my life, and I could have never gone through them without her" said Ernest as he smiled and he glanced down at Natasha who seemed to have finally calmed down, she was no longer crying, she was just quiet, and staring blankly.

"My dear, do you remember when you were fifteen and I took you all fishing, and the boat capsized? Cecilia scream from the fright of falling into the water suddenly" asked Ernest as he smiled.

"When we came back home soaked, do you remember the first thing your father said when I told him?" asked Ernest.

"He said what did Natasha do?" said Ernest and Natasha at the same time as Ernest laughed, and Natasha laughed for the first time since she had been sad.

"He really knew you his daughter, because I wonder how he knew you were the one that capsized the boat?" asked Ernest as he laughed.

"I wanted to help Michael catch the fish, and I moved a bit to close to the edge, and we all fell into the water" said Natasha as she laughed and she sniffed.

"Your father, always wanted the best for you," said Ernest as he smiled.

"Remember on Dom's and the boy's high school graduation?" asked Ernest as he smiled.

"That was not my fault Grandfather, I accidentally stepped on the girl's graduation gown, it was not on purpose" said Natasha as she laughed, she was feeling better with Grandfather making her remember all these funny times.

"Oh I know that my dear" said Ernest as he laughed.

"But what surprised me was that earlier on your father make a joke about you being clumsy and pulling down someone's graduation gown" said Ernest as he laughed.

"At the time, I only thought he was only saying things, but when it actually happened, I was surprised, he knew you so well, like the back of his hand" said Ernest as he laughed.

"Mhmm yes he did" said Natasha as she smiled.

"And he always knew how stubborn you were" said Ernest as he laughed.

"When you would misbehave, his advice to me was to let you calm down and see your mistakes by yourself, because that was how you preferred to learn" said Ernest as he laughed.

"I am not jealous to say that he was a more mature father than I ever was" said Ernest as he smiled.

"And he loved you very much" said Ernest as he smiled.

"You see my dear, when someone we love dies, it is not for us to grief and cry and be sad, but rather for us to remember all the good things, and reminisce on the happy moment we spent with them" said Ernest as he smiled and Natasha smile.

"Grandfather, do you miss Grandmother?" asked Natasha as she looked up at Ernest.

"Oh everyday my dear, every single day, but I have you all to keep me company" said Ernest as he smiled and Natasha smiled at him.

"Oh Grandfather, please forgive me, I got my tears all over your coat" said Natasha as she laughed and she stopped resting her head on Ernest's shoulder as she noticed that the right shoulder of his coat was all damp with tears.

"Not to worry my dear" said Ernest as he smiled.

"Do you feel better now?" asked Ernest as he smiled.

"Yes Grandfather, thank you" said Natasha as she smiled and she hugged Ernest, she needed some comforting, and he was the one who always knew just what to say to make her feel better, she did not know what she would have done without him here, he was always there for her, no matter what.

"You are welcome my child" said Ernest as he smiled.

"Well I must be going back now" said Ernest as he smiled and Natasha let go of him.

"Grandfather it's late, why don't you stay?" asked Dom as he smiled.

"Yes Grandfather stay" said Natasha as she smiled.

"I would love to stay, but I just must go, I have an appointment tomorrow morning that I must not miss" said Ernest as he smiled.

"And don't worry, I came with the driver, he is waiting outside" said Ernest as he smiled.

"Alright the Grandfather, let me see you out" said Natasha as she smiled.

"No, don't worry my dear, you stay here and get better, Dominic will see me out" said Ernest as he smiled.

"Alright Grandfather" said Natasha as she smiled.

"Goodnight my dear" said Ernest as he smiled.

"Goodnight Grandfather" said Natasha as she smiled and Ernest stood up as he smiled and he walked out the living room door as Dom followed after him.