Chapter 416: A gift 10 years in the making
The ladies were clearly waiting with baited breath as the doors to the entryway opened. Andrew and Maxwell were arm in arm when they were leaving the sanctuary. They looked as if they were holding their breath, but then they burst out into relieved smiles. The younger of them was vibrating as the safety door closed behind Andrew and Maxwell and then finally, she exploded.
"What did he say?" She asked, clearly excited and Maxwell gave a sly smile before he showed off the ring. He waved his hand around like he was at a fancy dinner and Andrew’s smile was infectious. He hoped the man did the same in large crowds too. Bragged so openly about how Andrew had put a ring on his finger.
"He said yes." Andrew told them and the younger let out a squeal, hugging her older companion.
"Oh goodness! That’s so exciting! Can I see the ring?" She asked and Maxwell nodded, ever the bit dignified, even if his eyes were a little red and puffy. Both women came over, coming out from the little ticket booth so that they could examine the ring. It was a sweet moment, but Andrew could feel how the older of the two kept glancing at Andrew.
Eventually, she finally said what she wanted to.
"I’m glad that I was able to be here to witness this." She said softly, quietly, and Andrew swallowed. He could tell there was something more to her words, a weight that he wasn’t sure about. Even the other two could tell. Maxwell glanced at her, curious about what her words could mean, while the younger seemed to have a light go off behind her eyes. She glanced between the older woman and Andrew nervously.
Andrew stared at her, trying to see if he could remember seeing her before. He was pretty sure that he had. Honestly, she had probably worked here since Andrew was a kid. He swallowed.
"What do you mean?" Andrew asked carefully and she smiled warmly.
"Why do you think it was so easy for you to come here and get everything ready for today?" She asked in return and Andrew felt his body freeze. Maxwell, also catching onto something, squeezed Andrew’s hand.
"Andy." Maxwell said softly as Andrew’s mind raced. Why had it been so easy? Maxwell had to call in favours to get his proposal ready, but Andrew? They agreed as soon as they heard his name and his plan. They hadn’t even hesitated beyond saying that they had a school trip coming on the Thursday so it would have to be after that. There was also the fact that the sanctuary hadn’t changed anything really in the years that he’d been here. He-
"No." Andrew whispered and a wide, joy-filled smile crossed the older woman’s face. She turned, hustling over to the small room that was used for the ticket booth and fussed around inside before coming back out with two things. A plaque and an old, weathered envelope. The plaque had a sticky thing over two of the names, and Andrew had a sneaking suspicion that he knew what names were going to be under it. Andrew felt his eyes begin to water.
There was a wall for the average people, the people who contributed a significant enough of donations to have their name mentioned, but not enough to get anything named after them. It was a classic thing to do, happened at universities, hospitals, all kinds of places that functioned, but functioned better with donations. Each of the common donors’ names were in a butterfly. It was cute, soft, but of course, there had to be others who donated more.
Andrew hadn’t seen the plaque yet, or maybe he had, but it had disappeared at one point. The plaque wasn’t big. Probably had enough space on it for about 24 names and about half were taken up. Andrew could see that it was for a tier that donated over $20 000. All of the pieces were slowly coming together.
How frequently they had come together. How, at one point, they stopped asking for payment from them. They could come and go as much as they wanted, without a care. Andrew had even remembered one time how he had come without his Mom and they just...let him in. He’d been a kid, hadn’t really understood what that meant.
Now that he was an adult, he did. Nothing was free.
Andrew sucked in.
"It was Mom?" Andrew asked, his voice strained and the older lady’s eyes softened.
"She wanted to keep things the way that they were until you brought someone to propose." She said softly. "You can imagine my delight when I finally got the phone call." She sounded genuinely delighted and Andrew let out a choked laugh. This was just like her. Of course she had planned this.
"That’s...so sweet." Maxwell’s voice sounded tight, like he was fighting tears as well. Andrew sniffed, pulling out one of the fabric squares and dabbing at his eyes.
"Fuck. She’s so damn sneaky." Andrew got out, sounding harsh but that was only because he was fighting back more tears. Maxwell let out a laugh.
"Sounds like someone else I know." Maxwell turned to look up at Andrew with such adoration in his eyes that Andrew couldn’t contain himself and tears began to pour over. Andrew pushed his glasses up with his hand, covering his eyes as his shoulders began to shake. He cried in earnest, not fully able to believe that she had done this for him.
So far in advance. So, so far in advance.
He felt so conflicted. On one hand, it was something sweet. Something that made his heart sore with happiness that she had listened to him and had taken him seriously. She had taken the words of a child that had been Andrew had believed in him. Trusted that he would keep his word. On the other hand it made Andrew rethink everything.
How long had she known she was going to die? Did she realise it from the moment that man bit her?
Andrew couldn’t stop crying, even as Maxwell turned in his arms and comforted him. The girls seemed worried, upset even as Andrew continued to cry.
"Should I have not said anything?" The older of the two whispered and Maxwell shook his head, his eyes kind.
"No. You did the right thing to tell us. Andrew’s just overwhelmed. His Mom...passed a while ago, so this just means a lot to him." The ladies both softened immediately. The older of the two stared down at the plaque in her hands, her grip tightening.
"Ah. Well, stay as long as you need. I’m just going to turn off some of the lines in the dome, but here, take this. It was a letter that was meant to be given to Andrew after he came here." She said carefully, softly, and Maxwell took it. He watched as the two women went about closing the place while Andrew tried to control himself.
He wasn’t able to. Sobbing like a damn child.
"Do you want me to drive us home?" Maxwell asked and Andrew let out a rough laugh.
"Sorry Maxy. I shouldn’t be crying like this." Andrew’s speech was rough from tears, and hard to understand because he was trying to speak around his tears. Maxwell didn’t mind, patting the bigger man’s back, his arms around him, offering him comfort as he held onto the precious letter from Andrew’s Mom.
"It’s okay, Baby. It’s okay. Come on, let’s go home and you can cry in something comfy." Maxwell whispered and Andrew nodded. The photographer followed them, awkward of course. Who wouldn’t be when one of your clients was crying like a damn baby?
Maxwell dropped her off at her house and she thanked them and then said she would see them tomorrow. They had hired her for the whole weekend so that she could also get photos of their engagement party. She would meet them at the venue tomorrow though. Maxwell thanked her, Andrew tried, and ended up just waving at her as tears streamed down his face.
Maxwell was thoughtful, kind, and forgiving as they drove home. Not in silence, they listened to the radio. Once home, Maxwell helped Andrew into the house since Andrew couldn’t see through his tears. It was like something had snapped inside of him. They made it upstairs to the bedroom before Andrew just collapsed and told Maxwell what had broken inside of him.
He told Maxwell about how he felt loved, cared for. That she took what he said seriously and invested to make sure that it stayed the same. But why did she make sure that it stayed the same?
Maxwell came to the same alarming conclusion that Andrew had. Andrew admitted that he was 10 when he told his Mom. 10. She hadn’t died until he had entered university, and was in his second year. That was a decade of time, and that his Mom had known the whole time that she wasn’t going to be there by his side when he got married.
Maxwell looked at Andrew with such deep sadness that it only spurred on Andrew more.
"Did she know? Did she know from the moment he bit her that she wasn’t going to make it?" Andrew asked between sobs. Maxwell’s look, the eyes he could see through his curtain of tears told him the same thing that Andrew was afraid of.
She had known. She had known, and Andrew had to come to terms with something even greater. She had made this company for Andrew. Andrew knew that. That part was obvious given the name of the company. Andrew could even accept that she made it so that he wouldn’t have to rely on his father’s side of the family, but Andrew had avoided looking at the deeper meaning behind it. The real reason.
That she wouldn’t be there to protect him.
He could accept all other reasons. All other excuses. She could have still been by his side, but wanted to spit in the face of his father. Spite him. Show him how she could survive, thrive without him. But no, that wasn’t the case. She knew. She knew that the man would lose interest in her and leave her to die. She had always known that she had a timer over her head, so she made sure to set Andrew up for success.
Maxwell held his fiancé in his arms as he faced some harsh truths. He made sure that the letter was tucked away somewhere safe so it didn’t get crumpled. So that Andrew could read his Mom’s words when he was calmer.
For now, he comforted the man who was hit all over again with the loss of his parent. Someone who had so clearly loved her son greatly, but didn’t want her son to be lost in grief for her. Maxwell smiled softly as Andrew soaked his suit. He had a feeling that everyone was going to be crying tomorrow when Andrew told them about the butterfly sanctuary.
Maxwell was also tearing up over it. How could anyone not? It was so sweet, and showed that she truly knew her son even as the years passed. Even when Andrew doubted himself, grew uncertain about who and what he was, his Mom was there, a silent reminder that Andrew would not only always be Andrew, but also her son. No matter what.