FIC: Twenty Years (Complete)
Title: Twenty Years
Fandom: Harper's Island
Pairing: Abby/Jimmy
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1,253
Summary: Twenty years after Wakefield's killing spree, Abby and Jimmy reflect on what's happened since.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harper's Island and never will. No copyright infringement intended.
Author's Note: I wrote this fic on the assumption that Wakefield is the only killer. I know that's probably not true, but I didn't want to point at a suspect yet. Enjoy!
Abby Mills-Mance hurries up and struggles to get inside the house before it rains. She and Jimmy were having Sully and Danny over for dinner in a few days. The rest of the survivors can’t come.
“Mom, when are Uncle Sully and Uncle Danny coming?” asks eighteen year old Charles Adam Mills-Mance, Jimmy and Abby’s oldest child. The survivors of Wakefield’s massacre are all very close, and talk to each other several times a week.
“They’ll be here in two days, Lee,” Abby answers. She wants tonight’s dinner to go really well. Tonight is important. It’s been twenty years since John Wakefield was killed and the massacre on the island ended.
“What are we having for dinner?” Lee’s younger brother, seventeen year old Shane Caleb Mills-Mance is always hungry, something that Abby and Jimmy are now used to living with two teenage boys in the house. Shane was born only eleven months after Lee. Lee came along in November 2011 and Shane followed in October 2012.
“Spaghetti and meatballs, Joey.” Abby could have sworn she told her son this earlier. Joey most likely wasn’t paying attention at that point in time.
“Hey you,” Jimmy says. He kisses his wife and sits down on a chair with five month old Sarah Avery Mills-Mance in his arms. Sarah was Jimmy and Abby’s surprise baby. They thought that Abby was going through menopause, and were surprised to learn that she was pregnant.
Abby smiles at her husband. “Hey back. I love you,” she replies. She still can’t believe that she and Jimmy got their second chance and actually made it off Harper’s Island.
“I love you too, Abby.” Jimmy can’t wait to see Sully and Danny in a few days. The three became close after Wakefield’s killing spree.
“Are you going to tell us about Harper’s Island tonight?” questions Shane. He’s always been curious about the island where his parents gew up and asks a lot of questions about it. Abby and Shane don’t like to talk about the island too much, but they’re making an exception tonight.
“Of course we will,” Abby assures her son. She’s glad not to be anywhere near Harper’s Island twenty years later. It’s one of the main reasons she and Jimmy headed towards Massachusetts. They wanted to get as far away from their childhood home as they could.
“Be prepared for crying,” Lee informs his younger brother. He has watched both his parents cry over what happened twenty years ago. They are unaware of this, but Lee knows what’s coming. He just wants Shane to be prepared.
“I will.” Shane doesn’t know why he should be prepared for cying (other than the fact that his parents lost so many friends on Harper’s Island), but he’ll listen to his older brother. Shane feels horrible for his parents. He knows his mom still has nightmares that she refuses to talk about.
“Why don’t you start setting the table?” Abby asks her sons. She wants the table to be ready by the time she starts cooking dinner.
“I’ll do it.” Lee loves to volunteer for chores around the around. Shane makes fun of him for it, but Lee doesn’t care.
“Thanks. Now where’s my baby girl?” Abby makes a move towards her husband and takes Sarah out of his arms.
“She really missed you today,” Jimmy informs her. Sarah had cried for three hours this morning. Come to think of it, Lee and Shane had done the same thing when they were babies. They all loved their mother very much.
“I can understand that. Did you miss me, Jimmy?” Abby’s secretly happy that Jimmy took off work today. She knows her husband wouldn’t be able to concentrate on anything. At least Sarah was here to distract him for a few hours.
“I missed you very much.” Jimmy is dreading telling Lee and Shane about Harper’s Island, but he know he can do it with Abby’s support. His wife and children are the best thing to ever happen to him.
About two hours later, the Mills-Mance family sits down to eat dinner. Abby feeds Sarah in between bites of her own dinner.
“I can’t wait to start hearing your stories,” Lee comments when he and Lee are washing and drying the dishes. It’s their night tonight to clean up.
“We’ll get there eventually,” Abby assures her oldest son. She and Jimmy are having a hard time working their way up to telling the stories of their past and what happened on the island.
Half an hour later, Abby and Jimmy sit down with their three kids to start the stories about their past. Abby lets Jimmy take the lead and plays with the baby for a little while.
“I’m glad you guys got off the island,” Lee tells them when his parents are finally done talking a few hours later. Shane nods his head in agreement.
“We’re glad too, Lee.” Jimmy and Abby plan on never returning to the island. There’s too many bad memories associated with it.
“Were you terrified you would die?” Shane questions. He’s always been fascinated by the Harper’s Island Murders. There’s so many books out on the Wakefield killing spree (both of them) and he reads every one he can find in the library. His mom claims he’s like their late friend Chloe in that aspect. She had also been obsessed with Wakefield. Shane’s not obsessed with Wakfield or the murders, though. He just loves the history.
“We were,” Abby confirms. She and Jimmy were definitely terrified of what was going to happen. Everyone had been so happy to finally see the police arrive after they killed Wakefield.
A week after Wakefield had been killed by Trish, the state police had finally showed up and got the survivors off the island. Abby had been so happy she immediately burst into tears and couldn’t stop crying for a long time.
“I was just happy that the kllings stopped and that your mother and I were still alive,” Jimmy explains to his sons. He hadn’t been able to sleep for weeks afterwards, though. Like Abby, he still has nightmares about that horrible week. Of course, Abby is still having nightmares about her mother’s death twenty-seven years ago.
“I’m glad you guys are able to talk about it,” Shane replies. He and Lee get up and head into the living room. They turn on the TV.
A news station is on. “It’s been twenty years since John Wakefield went on his killing spree in Harper’s Island, which is off the coast of Seattle” a reporter says. The boys settle in to watch it. However, Abby and Jimmy take Sarah upstairs and put her to sleep in her crib.
“You want to forget about everything for the next few days and head out of town?” Abby asks once Sarah falls asleep. She just wants to stop thinking about tragedy for now. It’s been on her mind for the past few weeks.
“That’s a good idea, Abby.” Jimmy knows exactly what Abby’s thinking about, and agrees with her. Hopefully Lee and Shane will want to go with them. A family trip is what they need right now.
It’s been twenty years since John Wakefield went on a killing spree on Harper’s Island, but that doesn’t matter to Abby and Jimmy. They’re still having problems over what happened.
As long as they have each other and their kids, Abby and Jimmy will be fine. They’re each other’s support.
Nothing will ever be able to touch them again.