Boyd woke up early, the covers of his bed rustling lightly despite his efforts to keep quiet. The sounds of his wife's breathing comforted him, but was not enough to placate his mind. Something had been weighing on him recently, and it had become too insistent to ignore.
The house groaned every so often with the wind, a result of the winter weather that never seemed to stick, and every creak caused Boyd to jump, fearing that someone might hear something and come running. He remembered doing something similar to this the morning after Katrina told him she was pregnant with Alexander, only this time she was pregnant with their fourth child and they were living in a much more stable condition than they were back then.
Thinking about it now, it was amazing how far they had come, and as Boyd pulled on his coat to leave, he smiled a bit, marveling about how things could change so quickly.
Boyd drove to his destination in his own car, a slight change from the past's taxi cab, but a welcome one. It did nothing for his nerves, though, and he gripped the steering wheel tightly as he threaded his way through the streets of Sunset Valley.
Boyd walked slowly up the pavement towards the home that he had lived in so long ago. It was just the way he had left it, and distant memories of Susan's smiling face resurfaced, memories that Boyd would never regret keeping hold of.
It was still unsettling, though, to be met with the sight where everything happened that led to where he was today. Should he have given in to Susan, stayed with her to raise their child, they might have been able to grow old together.
Of course, that was impossible. Their marriage had been in disrepair long before he had met Katrina, and he knew that, but he still longed to have been able to raise his other child, the one that still probably didn't know the conditions of her birth.
It wasn't long before he reached the door, not even needing to knock before someone stood before him to let him inside.
He was met by a young girl in a cowgirl hat, with vivid red hair and blue eyes to match. To say she looked like him would be an understatement, and Boyd could deduce that this girl was his daughter quickly, the one of which he hadn't seen since she was a toddler, and Boyd allowed his eyes to soften just a bit as he committed her to memory. He was about to say a greeting, perhaps ask why she wasn't in school, but quickly after opening the door she ran back inside, turning into a hallway and disappearing from his line of sight.
It was odd, but nonetheless Boyd stepped inside after her, wondering if he had done something but was quickly halted by the aged but still beautiful woman sitting on the couch near the entrance.
Boyd's heart ached to see her. He still loved her after all this time, and had never stopped. Even if their marriage was dead and gone, or that he was living with another woman nowadays, he still valued her just as much as the day he met her, but he couldn't find a way to voice that.
His eyes lingered on the fact that the wedding ring he had given her all those years before was still on her finger, a symbol of her commitment to the broken marriage and the love she still held for Boyd.
This brought Boyd both comfort and sorrow. Comfort for that he had never made a mistake in marrying Susan, sorrow for that Susan would die a divorced woman, with no chance at love in plain view. He had clearly ruined her life, and Boyd was all too sorry for that.
"Boyd." Susan said solemnly, lips pressed into a crisp line as she stared directly into his eyes. No sign of malice or scorn was hidden in her voice, and it might've even sounded grateful if anything else.
"Susan." Boyd whispered in return, barely able to muster even that.
She appeared to have heard him, and her face looked relieved as she stood from her place on the couch and started walking towards him.
"We'll talk about this outside, Boyd. I don't want to upset Janny."
Safely outside and away from the door, Boyd confronted Susan, pleading to know but not actually wanting to be there.
"Susan...I'm guessing you know why I'm here."
Susan heaved a sigh and looked towards him, and for whatever reason Boyd though Susan might've looked happy, which was surely impossible for someone in her position.
"Yes, I know. And you don't even have to ask." she said, seemingly kind in her words
Boyd started to speak, but Susan quickly hushed him.
"Boyd, you gave me the best years of my life. You gave me the love of a family and the familiarity of someone who's been in the same boat as me. You gave me happiness, even in the worst depths of our marriage, and I will always love you for it. However, I also know that what we had wasn't right for us, and it wouldn't last forever. I'm glad that at least you still have someone to take care of you. Now, Boyd, is there anything else you want to ask?"
It was blunt, it was beautiful, and it was the reason he had married her. Susan had always been the only one to understand him. Even now, even with Katrina, that was still true. Boyd smiled lightly at her before his expression faded back into seriousness.
"What are you going to do with Janny?"
That was it, that was the question. The one that even Susan feared. Susan wasn't going to last forever, and when she finally passed on, Janny had to go somewhere.
However, Susan had also planned for this and spoke with absolute certainty in her words.
"There's this man, Harold McNair. He lives alone in the house across the street, and since you've gone, he's been my only company besides Janny."
Boyd nodded, understanding where this was going.
"I've done my research on the man, and he seems nice enough to at least house her for a short amount of time." she said lightly, just as Boyd expected. Susan was smart enough not to just hand their daughter to a stranger, at the very least.
"She's leaving tonight, and no later. She's been packing the entire day."
That explained why she was home, but Boyd was unaccepting and unwilling to let Susan live out her remaining time on earth alone and uncared for.
"Isn't it going a bit fast? You should spend a bit more time with her before she leaves, I'm sure you have a few days."
Susan shook her head slowly, almost mournfully, "No, I don't."
Boyd didn't even have time to contemplate this before she gripped him by the shoulders and forced him to look her in the eye, hands trembling despite her unfaltering resolve.
"Boyd, promise me one thing."
Boyd nodded, unperturbed by her sudden change in attitude. Mood shifts weren't uncommon in the Wainwright house, perhaps a result of all the indecision that had gone on between them in the years of their marriage.
"Don't tell Janny about what happened between us."
Boyd knew it was for the best, and agreed after a few moments.
With that, Susan pushed him away.
"Goodbye, Boyd."
Boyd did as he was told, unbeknownst to the full weight of those last words. Susan stared after him, eyes tinged with both sadness and complacency, and some of the between. There was nothing more for her to do.
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Susan Wainwright shook hands with Grim that night, finally at rest with her life. Boyd was happy, her child safe, and Susan looked up into the night sky for one last time, heart swelling with joy at the thought of what she had acheived before following Grim to her final end.
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Well, okay, that was a bit longer than expected. Took way more than twenty minutes, at the very least.
