Family Part 23

 Even though Oscar was old enough to walk to and from school by himself he rarely did.  After eating breakfast and making sure that he had all of his things, he would kiss his mother on the cheek and then head off down the lane.  Every morning he would stop in to see his Auntie Deirdre and the two of them would walk the rest of the way to school together.  He was very happy that he didn't have to hide anything from her.  Though he was only eleven, he felt very fortunate to have someone he could talk to about things that wasn't either his parents or his siblings.  Deidre would always freely give both advice and hugs.  

On this particular morning, Oscar knew that Deidre would be home alone.  Uncle Arthur had gone on a fishing trip with Adam and a couple of other guys they knew.  A man's weekend, he'd called it.  Oscar thought it was ridiculous but he figured it was just a grown up thing.  When Oscar got to number 4 Hogback Lane, he knocked on the door and was surprised to not get an answer.  He knew that Auntie Deirdre was home.  She always left him a little note on the gate if she was going to be out when he headed to school.  

"Auntie Deirdre?"  Oscar called as he knocked again.  Maybe she just couldn't hear him over the radio or something.  That had to be it.  He actually started to get a little worried when he still received no answer.  He pulled his phone out of his backpack, even though he wasn't supposed to have it with him, and dialed Deirdre's number.  It always made him giggle that it had 666 in it.  He could hear the phone ringing in the house but there was still no answer.  Something was definitely wrong.  Oscar hung up the phone and put it away, then went back to the cottage to get his mother.  

"Oscar, darling, aren't you supposed to be at school?"  Crowley asked as she was cleaning up the kitchen.  Aziraphale was in his library and Freddie and Evan were upstairs starting on their school work.  

"Auntie Deirdre didn't answer the door."  Oscar said quietly.  Crowley stopped what she was doing and looked up.  

"And you're sure she's home?"  She raised an eyebrow.  

"Yeah.  She always leaves a note if she's gone before I get there."  Oscar started to pick at his fingers.  It was obvious to Crowley that her son was very worried.   Crowley went over to the doorway to the library.  

"Zira, darling.  I need to run to Deirdre's for a moment.  Would you be so kind as to call the school and let them know Oscar won't be coming in today?"  She knew there was no way he'd be able to concentrate until he knew what was going on.  

"Is everything alright, dear?"  Aziraphale looked up from his book.  

"That's what I'm going to find out."  Crowley said a little quietly.  Aziraphale nodded and then went to the phone to call the school.   Crowley went back over to her son.  "Oscar, dear.  You stay here with your father while I go check on Auntie Deirdre, okay?"  She gave him a little kiss on the forehead and he nodded.  After Oscar was settled into the library, Crowley made her way down the lane.  

"Deirdre, dear.  It's me Ana?  Are you in there?"  Crowley asked as she knocked on the door.  She pulled the spare key she had in case of emergencies out of her pocket and unlocked the door, slowly making her way into the house.  "Deirdre?"  Crowley asked, looking around as she went.  She made it all the way up to Deirdre and Arthur's bedroom before finding her friend.  

"Please just be asleep."  Crowley said softly, closing her eyes for a brief moment before moving over to the side of the bed.  It was just as she feared.  Deirdre looked like she was sleeping but her color wasn't quite right and she was cold to the touch.  Crowley wasn't sure how long she'd been gone but it was long enough that there was nothing she could do about it.  She picked up the phone by the bed and dialed 999, texting Aziraphale as she spoke to the operator.  

"Do you have a number for the next of kin?"  One of the paramedics asked as they were taking Deirdre away.  "We'll need to contact them."  

"If it's alright, I'd like to do it.  I think it'll be better coming from me."  Crowley's eyes never left the gurney as it was taken out of the house.  The paramedic just nodded and left.  Crowley took a deep breath and let it out slowly before locking up the house and going back home.  She didn't know if she'd actually be able to handle making that phone call.  

"Are the doctors going to fix her?"  Oscar asked expectantly as Crowley came back into the house.  She let out a breath and then took Oscar's hand, leading him over to the couch and sitting down.  

"I'm sorry, Oscar.  Auntie Deirdre isn't going to get better.  I'm afraid she's gone."  She cleared her throat.  It was hard to keep from getting emotional.  

"What do you mean, gone?"  Oscar tilted his head.  

"Auntie Deirdre...."  Crowley started.  She wasn't sure exactly how to put it.  

"What your mother is trying to say...."  Aziraphale said as he came into the room.  "Is that Auntie Deirdre has gone to Heaven."  He moved over and put a hand on Crowley's shoulder.  

"Oh."  Oscar said softly, then looked at his father expectantly.  "That means that you can go check on her, right?  Make sure that she's okay?"  

"I...well..."  Aziraphale really hadn't been expecting that reaction at all.  

"And since I'm part angel, does that mean I can too?  Can I go to Heaven and see her?"  He was getting hopeful.  There was a slight advantage to not being a human.  

"That, my dear, isn't possible."  Crowley took Oscar's hand.  "Because you're only part angel, you can't go up there."  That much she'd looked into.  

"But papa can."  Oscar nodded, looking at Aziraphale again.  "You can go and see her.  And give her messages for me."  He grinned.  

"I..."  Aziraphale was completely baffled.  He'd never actually looked into how the whole soul in Heaven thing actually worked.  It wasn't part of his job, after all.  

"Please?"  Oscar gave him what could only be described as a puppy dog look.  

"I can't promise anything, Oscar.  I can only check into it."  Aziraphale nodded.  Oscar got up and grinned.  

"I'm gonna write her a letter."  He then ran to his room to get started.  Aziraphale slumped onto the couch next to Crowley.  

"I'm not really sure that's how all of this works."  Aziraphale looked at Crowley.  Crowley took Aziraphale's hands in hers and squeezed them gently.  

"If this helps him cope with her death then we'll find a way to make it work."  She sounded determined.  Even if she had to write Oscar letters pretending to be Deirdre, she would do it just to help her son.  Aziraphale nodded.  It did seem to help Oscar quite a bit.   "I still need to tell Arthur and Adam."  

"Any luck getting a hold of them?"  Aziraphale asked.   

"No.  There's apparently no signal where they are.  I'm going to actually go track them down.  Shouldn't be too hard to locate Adam."  Crowley had noticed that since the almost end of the world, she'd actually been able to sort of sense Adam's location, though not precisely.  It was more of a general area that got her close enough to narrow down the search.  

"I'll get started on dinner."  Aziraphale gave Crowley a quick kiss before getting to his feet.  

"Aziraphale?"  Crowley said as she watched him walk toward the kitchen.  

"Yes, dear?"  Aziraphale turned and gave her a little smile.  

"I love you."  Crowley said quietly.  She'd felt the sudden urge to make sure that he absolutely knew how she felt.  Aziraphale softened a little bit.  

"I love you, too, my dear."  He walked over and gave her a tender kiss on the lips, lingering for just a moment before heading to the kitchen again.  He had a feeling they'd be saying it to each other a little more often from then on.  Crowley relaxed a little bit.  Now she just had to go find Adam.  She wasn't looking forward to it one bit.