Story [1923: Yellowstone] A Time to Grieve - Jacob/Cara grief, light humor

Title: A Time to Grieve
Author: brodiew
Characters: Jacob and Cara Dutton, mentions of John, Jack Dutton
Genre: drama, light humor,
A/N: Spoilers for 1923, episode 3.


A Time to Grieve

There was a wet chill in the air, one that told Cara that snow was on the way. Winter was never welcome at Yellowstone. The shadow of death hovered over the pristine valley. The death of her sister in law Margaret, and now her son, John. Cara shivered as a chill raced up her spine and escaped her body as a stifled sob. John felt as much like Cara's own son as he was ever Margaret's. She felt a twinge of guilt for thinking it, at least in comparison to the deceased woman.

John was gone. Emma too. Poor woman. Perhaps, not so poor, given she left a son behind. A son who is short-tempered and too eager to prove himself. Too eager to make his his Great Aunt mourn another.

Cara has been to see John every day since the attack. Whether in the freezer or at the grave that Emma, herself dug with the help of a few cowboys. It would do no one any good to be hysterical, and such a thing was no in her nature anyhow. She would scream into wind and pound the earth with her fists in private moments, but there was nothing to show but love in strength for Jack and Elizabeth, Dane and the ranch hands. For Jacob.

She heard her husband approach, a slight shuffle in his long gait. "It's cold and you forgot your shawl," Cara taunted, over hear shoulder.

"Men don't wear shawls, darlin'," Jacob countered, with a wry smile. "The wind took my blanket just as I cleared the steps."

"And, you didn't call me to fetch it for ye?" she chided. "You'll catch yer death out here."

"Men don't-"

"-Just stop right there, Jacob Dutton," his said, smiling. "You've had me fetching things from the mome-from before we were married!"

"What I was going to say is that men don't, I won't, catch my death out here. I got you to warm me. And, if a tommy gun can't do it, a couple of minutes in a chill wind won't either."

Cara didn't challenge him. She kept the swell of emotion at the mention of the machine gun to herself. She could press him back into the house, but what for. He was the strongest man she knew. She placed a warm hand on his chest and leaned into it. His left arm curled around her shoulders, pulling her close.

"Have you seen John today?" he asked quietly, above her right ear.

"Not yet," she replied to his chest, nuzzling into it at the sound of John's name. "I thought you might want to come."

"You think I'll make it that far with this cane?" he said, evenly.

"I'll have Dane bring the wagon if I have to," Cara replied, looking into his eyes. "It's time."

"This isn't for the boys, Cara," Jacob replied, solemnly. "This is for us. I'll make my way. But, I'd be grateful if you'd fetch the blanket from the ground over yonder."

She slapped his chest playfully, caught in a moment of sadness and humor. "Of course, you Old Fool. Like I have every other time you've asked."

A little while later...

Standing at the gravesite, husband and wife gazed the ground marked by concrete head stones.

"Have you seen Jack out here?" Jacob asked.

"No, and I don't want to talk about Jack."

"We should talk about Jack at some point."

"Why don't you tell John about it?" Cara suggested, firmly.

Her husband met her eyes and nodded. "I miss you, son. Those that took you will be punished. Jack doesn't know what to do with this. He's lost..."

"Don't hurt yourself, Jacob," Cara said, in soft sarcasm. "He was our 'son'. He will be missed. But, as God as my witness, he will not be forgotten. You're right about Jack. He doesn't know how to mourn. What does he know of it? I realize he was injured, and Elizabeth too, but it has been weeks and that boy hasn't been out here. You'll see to it, Jacob. You see to it that he does."

"I'll talk to him," Jacob replied. "But it may take both of us. His head is full of revenge. He wants it quick. I understand that, too. He's not thinking, though. He reacting."

"Maybe, we talk to him together, now that you are mending up? There are things he will hear from you that he won't from me. And likewise from me that he would not hear from you. There are but a few Dutton's left. I'd like the name to continue."

"Jack is every bit a Dutton, but we have to see that the Fires of Hell bring him out stronger on the other side."

"Thank you for that, Jacob," Cara said. "Sits in my stomach like a rock."

He pulled her into a hug and rubbed her back gently. "We will endure. I have no doubt."

 

Wise words in a poignant scene - well done.

 

Excellently moving. They really are giving each other mutual support through indescribable loss.