TRUE LOVE: FOUR SEASONS [Chapter 10: The White Dove]

I was sitting quietly in my parents’ bedroom, specifically on my mother’s side of the bed. I sat there staring at the wall; expressionless. Everyone I knew had come to my parents…my dad’s house to be there for him. My friends and Cameron were downstairs in the living room trying to comfort him. I told them that I needed time to be alone. The room still smelled like my mother’s perfume and fresh flowers, but, the room seemed slightly different, darker and sad. Although it was dark outside now, it’s as if the house knew that my mother had passed. I wasn’t able to fully process it yet and I knew that because I wasn’t crying, I wasn’t sad, I was somewhat relieved. Relieved at the fact that my mom seemed to pass away peacefully in her sleep. I just wish I got a chance to say goodbye, but knowing my mother, she would have wanted me to just say something like, see you soon, or goodnight. I stayed in the bedroom for about an hour. There was a knock on the door and it slowly opened. Cameron peeked in.

“Baby…” he said unsure what to ask

“I’m okay.” I answered anyways

“You need anything?” he asked gently

“My mom.” I said with a quivered lip

Cameron came over and sat next to me. I fought back the tears, I needed to stay strong, for my dad, for my mother, for me. I promised her and I was going to keep that promise. We sat in the room together as he comforted me, holding me with his left arm as I rested my head on his shoulder.

“Joey.” Diane called for me

I walked downstairs with Cameron holding my hand. Before I could reach the bottom of the stairs, I noticed the front door wide open and Diane standing next to it. She gestured with her head to go outside. I looked around in the living room and nobody was there. Where did everyone go? I walked around the corner and out the open door. There, on my parents open property, filling the yard, the driveway, among the trees, where hundreds of people holding candles. Everyone was in complete silence. I walked out in shock and found my dad standing in the center of the porch. I stood next to him looking at his face. Tears quietly streaming down his face as he sobbed. I looked back out into the crowd to make out some familiar faces – co-workers, school friends, students of my parents, teachers, the principle, the committee members of the winter ball, Dr. Nolan and so many other faces. These were the lives my mother touched. I gasped as I forced myself to retain composure, but I couldn’t. The tears began to pour out again. Without taking my eyes off of the candle light vigil, I reached to my left and grabbed my dad’s hand. He squeezed it as I felt his body shaking. My mother would have felt so honored to realize how many people respected her, in fact, I’m sure she knew this.

            A few people from the crowd walked forward with flowers, cards and photos they had with my mother when she was a teacher. They placed them against the steps of our porch and wouldn’t say anything other than, “I’m sorry” and walk back into the crowd. Principle Hawkins who stood among those in the front of the vigil slowly lifted her candle above her head pointed towards the sky. A couple people followed, then a handful, half of the crowd and finally, everyone. We stood out there in complete silence as people began to leave one by one. I didn’t take it as a sign of disrespect, because they showed up and it warmed my heart. I knew people couldn’t stay here forever paying their respects for my mother. The last to leave was Principle Hawkins and a few of our classmates from high school. My dad and I stood hand in hand watching them leave. He unknowingly let go of me and walked to the steps and sat down looking at the pile of memories and flowers the hundreds of people brought. I walked forward and sat next to him and placed my left arm around his shoulders pulling him into me as we both cried for as long as I can remember.

            A few days had passed since my mother’s death. Today we were spreading her ashes. I was wearing a black colored dress shirt with a grey and white tie with black slacks and a black blazer. Cameron was wearing a black polo with a black blazer and dark grey slacks, almost black. A black SUV pulled up in front of my dad’s house waiting for my dad, me and Cameron to get in. Diane, Larissa, Natalie, Phillip, Jasmine and Devin followed us in their cars. We drove east towards Mount Hood National Forest. It was one of my mother’s all-time favorite places to visit. The drive took about an hour before we reached the location my dad and I agreed to spread her ashes. My dad was carrying the porcelain urn tightly against this body. The caravan of cars found parking nearby and we all gathered near a hill. My father had requested that the pastor to their church would come to say a few words. There were about twenty people with us. My dad and I led the group up the hillside and as we reached the top, we were able to see the valley below us filled with pine trees wrapped around curving and dipped hills and across the way was the majestic Mount Hood with its peak capped in snow. The wind was strong and autumn leaves blew past us. It was a beautiful day with fluffy white clouds filling the sky, leaving shadows among the valley as they floated overhead. The crowd stood around my father and I, Cameron stood close by as we faced the valley. The pastor began speaking, but all I could hear was “Oh heavenly father…” before he faded to silence. I was focused on the view of the valley below us and I looked to my dad who already had tears in his eyes which had yet to break free. It hurt me to see him in so much pain. Just like in the hospital, things were now moving in slow motion.

            Cameron stepped forward, now lined up with both my father and me. He placed his hand on my lower back and looked into my face. I turned to my right and looked at him blankly. Beyond his face I could see Natalie in a black blouse and skirt. Her long blonde hair flowing beautifully in the strong wind. My focused changed back to Cameron and was still looking into my eyes. I slowly turned my gaze back in front of me and looked up into the clouds.

            Mother…I know you are above us…hidden in the clouds…above the sky…in heaven, looking down upon us. A cloud moved from over us which was shielding the sun, but it finally broke through warming me up and shining down on my face, I closed my eyes and smiled. It was like feeling her warm hand and kissing my cheek, acknowledging me. A tear finally rolled down my face, out of pure happiness, knowing that was my mother. I lowered my head and looked at the snow covered peak across the valley and continued to think to myself. This is where you were free, mom. This is where you would come and dream, where you found complete bliss. Even though we will spread you here above this valley, you will never leave our side. You will continue to be a part of me, a part of dad…a part of us. I promise, I will be happy, I promise that I will make you proud…and I promise to continue to love.

            The pastor moved towards us and stood in front of my father. He gracefully grabbed the urn from my dad who was still crying. He opened the lid and let my dad reach in. My dad pulled out a handful of ashes and looked down at his hand. The pastor came to me and asked me to grab ashes as well. I hesitated at first, but then I reached in and grabbed the soft remains of my mother.

“Him to, please.” I said gesturing to Cameron

The pastor nodded, allowing Cameron to grab some ashes. The Pastor stood behind us and continued to talk. After he finished my father slowly extended his hand and slowly unclenched his fist as ashes floated out of his hand and began to ride the wind. The small cloud of remains flew over the valley and disappeared in the distance. My dad sobbed uncontrollably. Tears were filling my eyes, realizing what I was about to do. Cameron then released the ashes as I looked into his face. He held back his tears and took two steps back. I now stood there alone as my dad had moved to the side trying to compose himself. My lip began to quiver as I looked at my hand extended in front of me. In that moment, a gust of wind blew against my back almost pushing me to let go. It was my mother…she wanted me to allow her to be free. I opened my hand slowly, but unwillingly as I cried. The ashes flew forward and swirled in the wind as leaves from nearby trees danced along with it. She was happy. Cameron stepped forward again, holding onto me from behind with his arms around my abdomen. We watched my mother floating up into the sky and disappear out of sight. My dad, Cameron and I continued to toss the ashes into the wind as we sobbed until the last of her remains floated away. I stood there with Cameron holding me again looking up into the sky, tears in my eyes, rolling down my face. Everyone else stepped forward and released rose pedals of different colors among the wind. It was a beautiful dance of colors above us and I knew my mother was smiling. A rose pedal floated down and brushed against my cheek, a kiss from my mother.

            We were all staring into the sky as I noticed something in the distance. As it neared I could see it was a bird. This bird was angelic like, covered in white feathers. It was a white dove, a rare sighting. The dove flew through the flower pedals and above us. It was her. My mother…just as she promised me. She would be there to watch over me, to be my guardian angel. The dove flew over the valley for a few minutes and then towards the direction of Mount Hood. I’ll miss you mom.

 ~ Dedicated to Patricia Villarreal ~

A Wife, a Mother, a Sister.

1960-1997

© 2016 Copyright J.M. Casas Jr. of Royalty Novels / The True Love Saga. All Rights Reserved.

All characters and likeness are pure fiction. Any resemblance is pure coincidence. Models and Actors used in marketing material for the True Love Saga were used as inspiration and to provide readers with an image of what the characters may look like.

TRUE LOVE: FOUR SEASONS [Chapter 9: Autumn]

The trees around Depoe Bay had become filled with reds, oranges, yellows and browns. October brought cool weather and gusty winds. It had been three months since we got the news about my mother’s terminal illness. On my last visit she weighed only 103 pounds. She was losing more memory as the weeks went by and seemed more dazed. This was really happening, my mother’s life was ending and there was nothing I could do to save her. Why did this happen…better question is why does this happen? An incurable disease plaguing the ones we love, it seems unfair. If my mother ever heard me thinking this or saying this vocally, she would have been ashamed of me. She always says things happen for a reason. Is that true? Is there a reason for this? Am I being tested?

            The days didn’t last as long anymore which would upset me. I felt like time was our enemy and wouldn’t let us spend more of it with my mother. My Dad had lost weight, but from not eating and stressing, from pain, from just plain loss of appetite. Lately, he’s only been seen with a blank stare on his face. Maybe he was drained from all the emotion that’s come over him, he just didn’t know what else to do but to shut down. My friends had been coming to see my mother at the hospital. On most visits, she didn’t recognize them, but there were a few handful of times where she would smile when they walked in, giving us a sign that she knew who they were. The doctor told her that she needed to not talk, because every ounce of energy counted at this point. Regardless of these instructions, she would try to communicate with me and my dad.

“Moun…tains.” She struggled

“Mom…please rest.” I begged

“I…want…to…go to…the moun…tains.” She smiled

“We can’t…not right now.” I told her

“After.” She said

I looked at my dad unsure of what she meant. He looked stunned, staring into my mother’s eyes.

“What is it?” I asked

“She wants us to take her ashes to the mountains.” He said flatly as a tear streamed down his cheek

My head whipped back to my mother. He eyes were tear filled and she gently nodded her head. I knelt down beside her frail body and kissed her hand and rested my cheek on it. I fought back my tears, not wanting to spend all this time around my mother crying. The nurse walked in to check on her vitals. My mother gestured to the nurse to come close to her to tell her something, the nurse was more than happy to comply. She leaned over the bed placing her ear near my mother. I watched my mother’s mouth move so slightly and the nurse stood up and smiled. She then walked out to the desk area in the main hall.

“What was that about?” I asked her

My mother simply smiled and closed her eyes. I sat down in the chair next to my mother and just watched her, keeping an eye on her breathing. About an hour into just sitting and staring off into space and wishing this were all a bad dream, the nurse returned to my mother’s room. She walked over to my mom and with her hand, brushed her hair back. She woke up and looked into the nurses eyes.

“It’s time.” The nurse said

“Time for what?” I asked nervously

The door opened again and Diane walked into the room and stood next to my mother’s bed opposite me. She knelt down and held onto my mother’s right hand. She was smiling at me and then my mother. Another person entered the room, I could hear the clicking of dress shoes at first, and then I saw a figure of a man in a black formal suit. It was Cameron. I was confused and yet, pleased to see him, but why in a suit? He had another suit in his hands, hanging on a hanger.

“This is for you.” He said extending his hand holding the suit

“What’s going on?” I asked

“Go put on the suit, Joey.” Diane smiled

I looked at our mothers, then over to my father who looked as confused as I did. I grabbed the suit for Cameron, hoping he would hint to me what was going on, but he just smiled and winked at me. I walked into the bathroom, closing the door and changed. It only took me about ten minutes to change and I exited the bathroom to find a room filled with not only our parents, but Natalie, Phillip, Larissa, Jasmine, Devin and a few co-workers from the restaurant. They were lined up against the walls of the room. Cameron stood at the center of the room, near the foot of my mother’s bed. He extended his hand with his palm up. I walked out towards him, unsure of what to expect. Everyone was smiling, including my mother.

“I don’t understand what’s going on?” I said

“Our first dance.” Cameron smiled

“This isn’t…” I then realized what this was

I looked at my mother as I stood in front of Cameron. This was our first dance. Since she would never get to see me dance at my wedding, whenever that may be, she asked Cameron and the nurse to put this together for her. I smiled back at my mother and then got into position with Cameron. The nurse played music on a small portable CD player. The sound of a guitar played through the speakers and I realized it was “You and Me” by Lifehouse. Cameron and I began to sway back and forth as we looked into each other’s eyes. Regardless of the current situation, I was happy and I showed it with a smile. Cameron held me tightly against his body as we slowly spun together, looking past Cameron’s face I could see everyone smiling and even tearing up as we danced in the dim lit room. Cameron spun be out and I followed by doing the same to him. As the song was coming to an end, I lifted my head from Cameron’s shoulder, breaking free from his grasp and walked to my mother. I kissed her on her cheek as a tear rolled off my face and onto hers. I wiped the tear away as she smiled.

            Everyone exited the room quietly and I followed them to the waiting room.

“Thank you guys.” I said smiling at them

“We knew this needed to be as special as possible for you to experience with your mom.” Natalie said

“It was special. I’ll never forget it.”

We all sat around in the waiting room, talking, catching up. I was so blessed to have such wonderful friends, family and a boyfriend. Cameron and I went to the bathroom to change out of our suits. He had to get back into his casual work clothes. His manager was extremely lenient fortunately, allowing him to spend time with me during the past few months. Cameron was pretty much his own boss, which was nice.

“Let’s go get some fresh air.” I said to everyone.

We walked outside to the parking lot. The autumn air was refreshing. I wish my mother could come outside and enjoy this day. Fall was her favorite season out of the four. We began to stroll around the hospital, standing still near the front of the hospital made me anxious. During our walk Cameron’s phone began to ring. He pulled it out of his pocket as I looked over to see the screen read, “Mom”. He answered as we all stopped in placed.

“Hello?” he answered

I could only hear what sounded like her voice, but could not make out what she was saying.

“We’re coming.” He said frantically

“What?” I asked

“We have to get back.” He said to all of us

He grabbed my arm and we both began to run. Natalie, Phillip, Larissa, Jasmine and Devin closely followed. As we entered the door to the hospitals, I could feel my heart beginning to race. It was pounding forcefully against my chest. The world around me was moving in slow motion. Our running strides took forever to land on the floor beneath us. A doctor was running in the opposite direction. Her lab coat flowing silently and slowly as she ran past us. Voices over the intercom muffled, filled the air. I saw Diane at the end of the hall waiting with an open Elevator. She was gesturing to hurry up. Even her hand signals were in slow motion. I couldn’t hear her voice, just read her lips. “Hurry. Let’s go” from what I could tell. The eight of us ran into the elevator as the doors closed. I stood near the front of the doors and anxiously fidgeted in place. It was taking forever to reach the fourth floor. The doors slowly opened as Diane squeezed by me and ran ahead towards my mother’s room. Still in slow motion, there seemed to be mayhem. My dad was being pulled out of the room and he was screaming, but still, all was silent. I reached the doorway of my mother’s room to find doctors and nurses around her, checking her pulse. I looked at the heart monitor and saw a flat line strolling across the screen. I screamed in agony, “Mom”, but I couldn’t even hear my own voice, just the pure deafening silence. A nurse held me back to let the doctors do what they needed to. I tried to wrestle out of her grip and eventually did. I ran into the room followed my Cameron and pushed a doctor out of the way. I grabbed my mother’s frail cold hand and screamed as tears poured down my face. I fell to the floor in disbelief. Cameron crouched next to me, wrapping his arms around me and resting his head on top of mine. My face partially buried into his chest. I felt a raindrop on my cheek. My conscious told me that it wasn’t a raindrop, but in fact a tear from Cameron. My dad was finally able to rush in and stand on the other side of the bed as he also knelt down and cried. The room was still silent, but I could tell there was noise filling the air. Doctors and nurses talking over one another, machines beeping, crying and screaming. Diane had walked to my dad and wrapped her arms around him trying to comfort him. I turned my head while still against Cameron’s chest and looked out of the door to the room to see Natalie sobbing in Phillips arms. Jasmine had tears rolling down her face leaning against Devin and Larissa on her knees also sobbing against the door frame.

I forced myself up as Cameron stood up with me to keep me standing. The doctor looked at me and respectfully moved out of the way. Though blurry due to the tears in my eyes, I could make out my mother. She looked like she was sleeping. Eyes gently closed and to me, what looked like the hint of a smile. I leaned over her bed and kissed her forehead, then her cheek. I continued to cry as I brushed the back of my hand against her soft face and touched her hair on her pillow.

“I promise.” I said to my mother…it was the only sound I was able to hear

I turned to Cameron and buried my face back into his chest as he held me tightly. She was gone. My mother was gone.

© 2016 Copyright J.M. Casas Jr. of Royalty Novels / The True Love Saga. All Rights Reserved.

All characters and likeness are pure fiction. Any resemblance is pure coincidence. Models and Actors used in marketing material for the True Love Saga were used as inspiration and to provide readers with an image of what the characters may look like.

TRUE LOVE: FOUR SEASONS [Chapter 8: Serenity]

News had spread to close friends and some family about my mother. Natalie took it as hard as Cameron and I did. Like I promised, I had made the best of every day, but making it a point to see my mother as much as possible. She was no longer able to work. She stayed home, or went outside or drives with us only. Her health was rapidly deteriorating. She was losing weight, she was starting to forget certain things. My dad would call me every now and then and break down. We would cry together mostly, but it’s what helped us get through this. We needed each other more than ever. My mother’s mobile status wasn’t so good. She would occasionally need help getting up or laying down. It was painful to watch. The person I held dearest to me, the woman who gave me life, my mother…was dying. Almost every day I would end with a crying session. A part of me thought about Cameron’s sanity, but he was amazing. He not only would take care of me and help me get through the day by keeping me busy, but he would hold me while I cried, he would drive me to my parents, he would visit my mother when I couldn’t, he would take her to the doctor as did Natalie from time to time. Natalie came over one day after visiting my mother, sobbing. She told me that she helped my mother bathe. She needed help getting in and getting out, washing herself. Natalie said that she held back her tears as she saw my now frail mother in the tub, struggling to survive. I stopped Natalie before she could tell me the rest. I didn’t want to imagine my mother that way.

            Although my mother did give me the diary, I didn’t start reading it. I wanted to focus on what time I had left with her. One evening, Cameron even came home with a pale face. His eyes were bright red. I could immediately tell he had been crying while visiting my mom. It was this visit that Cameron and his own mother, Diane had gone to check on my mom. They were gone for about two hours, when he walked in the door, he came up to me and hugged me tightly releasing held in tears. Everyone who knew me and knew my family were emotional and provided their support. Even Principle Hawkins called me to share her care and support.

            Everyone’s life had been put on hold, as much as I tried to normalize my life and just go on as if everything was okay…I couldn’t. I put on a brave face for my mom and would make her laugh, help her by doing chores around the house, she gave me her recipe book. We were supposed to be preparing for Natalie’s wedding at this point, but Natalie and Phillip both understood the situation and postponed further planning, not only to be there for me, but for my parents as well. Cameron started helping out at the restaurant by taking over my dad’s shift. Jasmine and Larissa had been doing well in keeping me and my dad up to date on the status of the restaurant. Many locals had been going more than usual, which I think is because they’re showing their support for my family. The popular menu item that would always sell out was Marie’s Roasted Chicken Dinner. People started writing notes on the receipts such as, Thank you for a wonderful dinner Marie, and Our Prayers are with you Marie, or your recipes are legendary. We would read the messages to my mother. Her eyes would fill with joy every time.

            I got a call from my dad, informing me that my mother was going to be admitted to the hospital for 24 hour care. Her health was diminishing and was unable to do certain things. Every day became a stronger reality that I only had a short amount of time with my mother. During her first night, I brought a pillow and my blanket. I wasn’t leaving my mother’s side in a new strange place. Cameron wanted to stay with me, but I knew he had to go to work in the morning. I told him to go and if I needed him or there was an emergency I would call him right away. My dad sat in the chair on the right side of my mother and I sat on the left of her hospital bed. She had her own room and bathroom, the nurses would come in occasionally to check her vitals and symptoms. She was plugged into an IV, she was barely able to eat anymore. My mother hardly had energy and could barely talk. Her eyes were dark and skin was pale. Her hair began to thin and feel coarse. I held onto her thin hand which was ice cold. She looked over at me as her mouth twitched. She was trying to smile. I looked down immediately and began to cry silently. I didn’t want her to see me sad, but it was hard to see her this way. My dad stood up and paced the corner of the room. He was crying too, but like me, didn’t want to show it.

“I’m going to get some food from the Cafeteria. Want anything, son?” he asked me

“No thanks.” I said through heavy breaths

“I’ll be back, sweetie.” He said leaning over my mother and kissing her on her forehead

My dad walked out of the room and closed the door. My mother turned her head back to me. She saw my tears.

“Don’t…cry.” She forced her voice

“Don’t talk, mom. Please. Save your energy.” I urged her

“I’m not in pain.” She said with a raspy voice

“Do you need anything?” I asked

She gently shook her head on her pillow. She opened her mouth, trying to continue to speak.

“Cameron…loves you so much.” She said

“I know.” I smiled

“Just like your father loves me.”

I looked into her eyes as they filled with tears.

“He loves you…” she took a deep swallow, trying to lubricate her throat, “like your grandparents loved…each other.”

“I love him too.” I said

“He…wants…” she struggled, “to…marry you.” She smiled as a tear rolled down her cheek

“I know…” I confessed, “I can see it in his eyes.”

“Don’t forget…to…save me…a seat.” She let out a raspy laugh

“I won’t.” I said crying

I continued to hold her hand as I looked into her eyes. So much love, happiness and joy were behind those eyes. She smiled at me and I smiled back.

“I’m…so…” she paused

“Mom.” I checked

“I’m…so….proud…of you…my son.”

I nodded my head, thanking her as I loosened tears which fell onto the bedside. She never stopped smiling. I realized at that moment. My mom came into this world happy…and she was leaving happy. She was in completely serenity and she wanted us to know it. We didn’t talk for the rest of the night, I just watched her as she slept. My dad returned and sat next to her side once again and held onto her other hand.

“Are you okay?” he asked

I looked at him and gave a hint of a smile.

“Yeah. I’m okay.” I nodded, “Are you okay?”

“I think so.” He said

We then both looked at my mother again as she slept peacefully. The room was silent except for the beeping of the heart monitor. I eventually fell asleep at my mother’s side with my fingers intertwined with hers.

© 2016 Copyright J.M. Casas Jr. of Royalty Novels / The True Love Saga. All Rights Reserved.

All characters and likeness are pure fiction. Any resemblance is pure coincidence. Models and Actors used in marketing material for the True Love Saga were used as inspiration and to provide readers with an image of what the characters may look like.

TRUE LOVE: FOUR SEASONS [Chapter 7: Summer]

Months had gone by and nobody had seen any sign of Teddy. I had continued to go see Dr. Nolan a few days after the incident with Teddy. I didn’t tell him about the rape, but I told him that there had been some sex involved. He told me that I was much stronger than he had ever seen me because I took the initiative to come and talk to him. Anytime, I felt like I was going to fall apart, I would always know to go see the man behind the orange door. I was able to get back on track in my life, going to work spending time with my family and friends. It was back to the good times. Summer was here and we made it a bi-weekly occasion to all meet at the beach. Larissa had mentioned that she was seeing someone on a regular basis, which surprised us all, but we were happy for her. Jasmine and Devin were still together and he had even joined us on a few occasions to meet up at the beach. Natalie had decided to get a custom made wedding gown, which would take up to eight months and cost over ten grand. My dad hired Jasmine at the restaurant and surprisingly had a huge connection with Larissa. It was nice to have us all bonded. As we were talking on the beach, spread out to get suntans, I saw something dancing in the wind. I looked up trying to block the sun. The object fell delicately onto my chest. With my left hand, I grabbed it, identifying it as a cherry blossom.

“Look babe.” I said

“A cherry blossom.” He said scrunching his forehead

“What?” I asked confused by his look

“It’s just…they never fall until autumn…like ever.” He said

“That’s weird. You think the tree is dying?” I asked

“I hope not.”

My cell phone interrupted us. It was my dad. I quickly answered it.

“Hello?” I said

“Son…I need you to come over.” He said flatly

“What is it? Are you okay? Is Mom okay?”

My frantic voice alerted my friends and Cameron. They all looked at me hoping nothing bad happened.

“I just need you and Cameron to come over please.”

He hung up. I didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye. I stared down at my phone unsure how to feel.

“What happened?” Cameron asked

“I’m not sure. My dad wants us to come over right now.” I said

“We’ll come with you.” Natalie said as she and Phillip stood up

“No, no…it’s okay. We’ll call you guys.” I said

Cameron and I rushed to my car. He grabbed the keys from my hands and offered to drive, since I wasn’t sure how I felt about the call from my dad. With flip flops on, board shorts and tank tops on, we drove to my parents. Upon arrival, I sat in the car, daydreaming. Cameron had to grab my hand to snap me out of it.  We walked in the front door. We saw my mom and dad sitting at the dining room table.

“You guys…what’s wrong?” I asked

“Hi sweetie.” My mom said

“Mom.” I said walking over to her kissing her cheek, I then walked to my dad to hug him.

Cameron followed my example and we both stood at the opposite end of the table.

“Sit down guys.” My mom smiled

We sat down without a word. My mom looked at my dad. He took a silent but deep breath. He then looked down at his hands. I looked at my mom and kept my eyes on her.

“Remember the day I fainted at the restaurant?” she began

“Yes.” I said

“Well…after testing and bloodwork and testing and bloodwork…they found out the reason that happened.” She said

“What is it?” I asked

Under the table, Cameron was holding onto my leg. He was as nervous as I was, because he was holding on with a firm grip. My mom leaned to the side of the table towards the ground. She pulled something out of her purse. It was a yellow envelope with the hospital’s logo on it. My mom slide the envelope to us in silence. I looked confused and concerned. I hesitantly opened the envelope to pull out documents and a couple x-rays. I examined the x-rays, unsure of what to make of them. Finally, I could see that it was an x-ray of my mother’s skull…her brain. There were markings on the x-ray, a circle with an arrow pointing at a dark mass.

“Mom.” I said with a shaky voice

“The doctor found it during my last CT scan.”

“What is it?” I asked as tears filled my eyes

“A brain tumor.” She said

My dad couldn’t hold back and broke down. I closely followed with a stream of tears pouring down my face.

“Mom…” I said fighting it

“They only gave me four months.” She said trembling

I leaped from my chair and latched onto her. We both sobbed uncontrollably. She held me tightly as if trying to merge us together as one. My dad also leaned into hug us. Cameron walked over, crying in silence as he hugged us from behind me.

“There must be something we can do…surgery…or medicine…chemotherapy…” I said through sobs

“I wish there was a way.” My mom said wiping my tears from my face as I crouched down by her lap

“This can’t be right…this isn’t fair!” I shouted in pain

“They caught it too late.” She said

“I’m not ready…I’m not ready…” I cried in her lap, “I’m not ready for you to go.”

“I know baby…I’m not ready either.” My mom said crying into the back of my head

As we sat there and cried for what felt like an hour, my entire life flashed before my eyes with my mother – the good, the bad, the funny, the sad, the talk we had when she first found out about me loving Cameron. After collecting myself…I wiped my eyes and noticed two tear stains on her lap. I looked up at her and her eyes were red from the crying. She held my hand as I scooted my chair next to her so I didn’t have to let go. Cameron stood behind me hunched over rubbing my back. My dad knelt down on the other side of my mom holding her other hand.

“We have to be strong.” My mom said

I nodded my head, trying to process what I was just told.

“I don’t want anything to change.” My mom looked at both Joey and I

I looked at her confused.

“Keep living your life normally. Just…come visit me a little more often…”

“Mom…” I tried to cut her off

“Listen…” she said, “these next few months are going to be tough as it is…I don’t my last days to be sad with my family.”

That hurt like a knife to the heart. Her last days.

“Promise me.” She squeezed my hand, “Promise me…that you will both live long happy lives…be happy, love one another.”

More tears rolled down my face as I nodded, shaking them loose. We sat there and talked for a while, asking questions about what the doctor said, treatment options, what was next. It was tough to listen to, but necessary. My mother stood up from the table and grabbed my hand.

“Come with me.” She said

I looked at my dad and Cameron. They stayed at the dining room table in silence, unsure how or what to talk about at this point. I walked up the stairs behind my mother, still holding her hand. She led me to her bedroom and closed the door.

“I want to show you something.” She said

She walked to her dresser and pulled opened a drawer almost completely out. She moved around some clothing and lifted a small chest out of it. The small wooden chest looked old and worn. She placed it between us as we sat on the bed. She opened the lid and it contained a few keepsakes she’s collected over the years including old glasses, a fabric daisy and a seashell among other things. The most noticeable item was the biggest and it looked like a brown leather book. She pulled it out slowly and handed it to me. I looked at her and she smiled at me.

“It was my diary, when I first met your dad. I kept up with it until you were two years old.”

“Why are you giving this to me?” I asked

“Because you have memories of me from as long as you can remember…now you have memories of me, from before you were born.” She smiled

My lip quivered again as I filled with emotion and hugged her. As we hugged, I was looking down into the chest. I saw something shining in it. We released each other and I fished for the item. It was a silver wedding band two diamonds in it.

“Whose is this?” I asked

“That was your grandfather’s.”

“It’s beautiful.” I said

“It’s simple, but has strong meaning.” She said

“Why are there two diamonds?”

“One represented him…the other…the person he loved…your grandmother.”

I glared at the ring, thinking about the years of love that were accumulated in this symbolic piece of jewelry. My grandparents stayed married for over sixty years and they truly loved each other.

“He gave it to me before he died. He told me to pass it down to my children when the time was right.”

“Mom.” I smiled

“Joey,” she laughed, “I’m not hinting that you should get married tomorrow.”

“I would love to get married one day.” I said

“I’d love to see you get married.” She said under a breath

Here it came again…the tears.

“But I want you to be there…when I do.” I said unable to control myself

“Shh.” My mother whispered holding me as I sobbed

She rocked me in her arms until I could somewhat control myself again.

“Listen to me, Joey,” she began, “When you get married…whenever that may be…I will be there.”

I looked at her through tear filled eyes.

“Whenever you see a white dove…that will be me…watching over you. I’ll be your guardian angel…forever.” She said

We sat there, crying together for a few moments. We eventually left the room and rejoined my dad and Cameron. I held the diary tightly in my hands, not paying attention to my surroundings. My mother was trying to change the subject by discussing dinner. It got later in the day and I didn’t want to leave, I wanted to spend every moment with my mother. But she urged me to leave. She reminded me that I made a promise to not change my life. I smiled and hugged her. I put on a brave face until we got in the car. I cried all the way home and cried myself to sleep.

© 2016 Copyright J.M. Casas Jr. of Royalty Novels / The True Love Saga. All Rights Reserved.

All characters and likeness are pure fiction. Any resemblance is pure coincidence. Models and Actors used in marketing material for the True Love Saga were used as inspiration and to provide readers with an image of what the characters may look like.

TRUE LOVE: FOUR SEASONS [Chapter 6: The Seduction]

A few weeks had passed and my mother was getting the necessary testing done. She was doing great. She kept reassuring us that she just suffered from a dizzy spell. My dad had recommended that she don’t work as much and just work in the back office of the restaurant, but my mother was not going to just sit down and let everyone else do the work. On her days off, she would stay home. I’d visit her, or if I wasn’t able to, Cameron or Natalie and Phillip would check on her and offer to get her anything or take her anywhere. She really didn’t need the assistance, but she enjoyed the company.

            Teddy had come to Cameron and me about a week after the incident with my mother asking for our help. He explained that his family was moving out of state and selling their house. He didn’t have anywhere to go and practically begged us if he could temporarily stay with us. I told Cameron I didn’t feel comfortable for reasons that I was only aware of, but Cameron, being the good hearted soul he was, told him he could stay for two weeks, but needed to use that time to find an alternative living situation. I never felt comfortable alone with him, there were times where I would lock myself in the room when Cameron wasn’t home or I would just go for a run, or make up an excuse to leave all together. One evening, while I was home alone, Cameron called me telling me that he was asked to work a double. This meant that he wouldn’t be home until the morning. I didn’t mind that because Teddy worked at a nightclub as a bartender. He didn’t get home until almost 3am, which was perfect because I didn’t have to try to entertain him. I was sitting at the desk in the living room facing the ocean. I had my diary open and writing about my day. It was something I started after Cameron and I got back together. I didn’t write in it every day, just the days that mattered or counted. Lately and I had been writing mostly about my mother. Cloud rubbed against my leg, purring loudly begging for attention. He jumped onto the desk and nudged his head against my chin. I pet him as he closed his eyes with satisfaction. He began to play with a paper clip on the desk, using his paws to scoop it back and forth. I stared out into the ocean, watching the moonlight glisten through the breaks of the waves. It was getting late, I should get some sleep. I text Cameron that I was going to sleep. Within a few minutes he had called me to wish me a goodnight, tell me he loved me and that he would see me in the morning. Cloud and I walked upstairs, I had my diary in my hand. I closed the door behind me to our bedroom, letting cloud in of course and shoved my diary in a hidden wedge under the bed which hid it between the frame and the box spring. Cameron knew I had a diary, but never questioned what I wrote and respected my privacy. I lied on my right side with Cloud cuddled against my back, I continued to gaze at the beautiful night sky. The wall on my side of the room was pure floor to ceiling glass with a sliding door. I began to drift into a sleep.

            I felt someone rubbing my arm, pulling me out of a deep sleep.

“Joey.” Said the voice

I squinted my eyes trying to make out the figure in front of me. I quickly sat up realizing it was Teddy.

“Teddy. What the fuck?” I said frustrated

“Sorry.” He said smelling of alcohol

“You’re drunk.” I said stating the obvious

“Duh.” He laughed

“What do you want?” I asked

“I just wanted to see if you wanted to have a couple of drinks?”

I looked over at my clock on my nightstand.

“It’s 3:30 in the morning, Teddy. Maybe another time.” I said

“Come on. Let’s celebrate.” He said

“Celebrate what?” I asked

“I got a promotion!” he said with excitement

“You did? Wow. Congratulations.” I said half a sleep and still annoyed

“Thanks, now come on.” He said ripping the blankets off me

“Ted!”

“Don’t be such a baby, come on.” He said grabbing my arm and lifting me up out of bed

“Fine…just one.” I said giving in

We walked downstairs and headed to the kitchen. Teddy had brought home a small box of alcohol. He pulled out the different bottles – Patron Tequila, margarita mix, Jack Daniels, Grey Goose, and Martini mix.

“What’s your poison?” he smiled

“I’ll have whatever.” I said honestly and sitting on a bar stool

He grabbed his mixer and poured in different bottles. He then grabbed a couple of our martini glasses and poured in an orange colored drink. He then splashed a drop of grenadine into it. He grabbed a grapefruit from our fruit bowl and sliced a couple pieces off. He placed one slice in my martini and placed the other in his.

“What is this?” I asked

“Just drink it.” He urged me

I took a sip. It was delicious! It was like a tropical orangey drink.

“This is really good.” I said sipping some more

“Thanks.” He smiled taking a drink of his

We began to chit chat about his job, about his plans of moving out and then eventually just laughing. I didn’t realize until two drinks in that I was having a good time. Teddy was being sweet and just a good friend. I began to let down my walls as two drinks turned into four drinks. After an hour and a half of drinking his delicious drinks, I stumbled to the kitchen spilling a bit of the drink on the floor.

“Shit.” I laughed

“You’re wasting it.” Teddy giggled

“I have to clean it up, or Cloud will get drunk.” I continued to laugh

I grabbed a paper towel and walked to my spill and cleaned it up. I stood up, losing my balance and falling on my ass.

“Shit. Are you okay?” Teddy laughed

“I think I’m drunk.” I said

“I think we should stop drinking.” Teddy suggested smiling

“Yeah. Good idea.” I slurred

“I’m ready for bed.” He said

“Okay. I should get some sleep too.” Giggling

Teddy came over to me and linked onto my arm to help me up the stairs. I tripped twice, almost taking Teddy down with me. We reached the top of the landing and he guided me to my bedroom. Cloud was still in the room, asleep on top of our dresser. He sat me on the bed laying me down on my back. He picked up my feet and pushed them up.

“Teddy.” I said forcing myself to sit up

“Yeah?” he asked

“I just want to say…I had a good time tonight. You were so nice…and…it was nice…that you were nice.”

“What?” he laughed at me, “I’m always nice.”

“I mean…where you are not trying to get in my pants.” I admitted

“Oh. Well. I realized that even if you were single, I would never have a chance with you.” He said smiling down at me

“Teddy.” I said making a sad face

“Don’t make that face.” Teddy laughed

“I don’t want you to think that though. You’re a very sexy guy. I just can’t see you that way, because I’m in love with Cameron.”

“I know. Every day, I wish I was him.” He said in a low voice

“You do?” I asked

“Yeah.”

I stood up and threw my arms around him, hugging him.

“I want you to be yourself.” I said

We lost our balance and fell to the floor. We laughed uncontrollably.

“Ouch.” I said

“Are you okay?” he asked

“No.” I laughed, “I hurt my hand.”

“Let me see.” He said grabbing it gently

He began to inspect it. I kept my eyes closed, as the room seemed to be spinning. I then felt something on the top of my hand. I opened my eyes and realized he was kissing my hand.

“What are you doing?” I asked, not moving away from him

“Kissing it to make it better.”

He kissed my hand again.

“How does that feel?” he looked at me

“Better.” I smiled

He kissed me again, on the knuckle of my middle finger.

“Does that feel good?” he asked

“Yeah.” I said

Finally, he wrapped his lips on the tip of my middle finger, kissing it. He simply looked at me, maybe waiting for a reaction. But all I could do is just smile.

“Can I make you feel better?” he asked

“Yeah.” I said

He reached in his pocket and pulled out a small bag. He got up, walked to the bathroom in our bedroom and sat back down next to me. He brought a hand mirror and placed it on the floor. He opened the bag and poured out a small amount of white powder. I looked up at him in disbelief.

“Cocaine?” I asked

He didn’t respond. He made two lines and rolled up a dollar bill he had in his wallet. He leaned down and snorted it. He extended his hand holding the dollar bill.

“Teddy. Last time this almost killed me.” I said

“That was poisoned. I wouldn’t do that to you. Besides, this one isn’t as strong.” He said egging me on

“I can’t.” I said

“I thought we were finally friends. Why would I try to hurt someone I care about?”

I shrugged.

“It’s only a little anyways. It won’t hurt you.” He said

I grabbed the rolled up dollar from him. I took a deep breath, realizing it was a stupid thing to do, but it’s like the spontaneous side of me took over. I leaned down and inhaled the line. I coughed a bit, somewhat tasting it in the back of my throat. I dropped the dollar and tossed my head back closing my eyes. Time began to slow down. I felt like the entire world had gone into slow motion. I looked back down at Teddy who was smiling. He stood up on his knees and moved towards me. His hands wrapped around my neck and leaned in to kiss me. His lips were soft. He opened his mouth and I opened mine. I let his tongue enter my mouth and I rubbed mine against his. He began to stand up, not releasing my lips and I was forced to stand up too. We both took off our t-shirts, only unlocking lips for that moment. He walked towards me as I walked backwards and laying down on the bed. He crawled over me and kissed my chest, abs and back up to my nipples. He unbuttoned my pants and slid them off of me revealing that I hadn’t been wearing underwear. The tip of his tongue circled my belly button and he then ran it down my happy trail to the base of my penis. I was hard. His lips, wet and full, wrapped around the head of my dick and with suction, he lowered his head onto it. I arched my back in pleasure. He ran his hand from my waist, up my body to my neck, his index finger slithered passed my chin and into my open mouth. I wrapped my lips around his finger sucking it gently and he withdrew it slowly. As his hand slowly retracted down my chest and stomach, both of my hands traced his slithering down until I grabbed onto the hair on his head. I pulled him up and locked lips on his again as I let go allowing him to get back to sucking me off. As I lied there, the room was spinning and fading to black on and off, like someone was flicking the light to the room on and off. The cocaine was beginning to take over. Teddy flipped me over on my chest and began to eat me out. I couldn’t really remember too much of what was going on at this point. There were flashes of his tongue inside me and then feeling tightness. I had realized that he was beginning to penetrate me. He grabbed my hair with one hand as he pounded me hard. Once again I blacked out, not remembering what had happened for a short period, then I remember being on my back with him over me. Things were starting to get blurry and didn’t make sense. I could hear Cameron’s voice. I pretended it was Cameron who was fucking me instead. I then saw a flash of both of them, I heard shouting and finally back to black again.

            Through my lids, I had a sense of it being daylight out. I could hear crying, sobbing, people whispering. With my eyes still closed, I turned my head to my right and began to crack open my lids. Through blurry morning vision, I could see a small group of people huddled up together in the distance. I could start to make out voices and realized that I heard Cameron, Natalie, Phillip, Jasmine and Larissa. My eyes were fully open and I could see clearly. My mouth and throat were dry and I began to cough. Cameron quickly stood up wiping his face and walking towards me.

“Babe…are you okay?” he said with a shaky voice

I couldn’t talk. I gestured to my mouth and throat, requesting liquids.

“I’ll get some water.” Jasmine said rushing to our bathroom

As she returned, Phillip, who was on the other side of me and Cameron lifted me up a little so I could drink water. The water burned going down.

“What happened?” I asked with a raspy voice

They all looked at each other, not sure where to start or how to tell me?

“Is it my mom!” I sat up in immediate fear

“No…your mom is fine.” Natalie said

“What is it then?” I asked again

“Do you remember last night?” Phillip asked me

I squinted my eyes trying to think of the last thing I remembered.

“I remember Teddy…” I began

“And?” Natalie interrupted

“He woke me up to have a few drinks with him to celebrate his promotion.” I explained

“What else?” Jasmine asked

“That’s it…that’s all I can remember.” I said honestly

Cameron looked down, closing his eyes and running both hands through his hair and rubbing his eyes.

“What’s going on? You guys are scaring me.” I said

Natalie sat down on the bed next to me and rubbed my leg, while Jasmine crouched down next to Cameron and grabbed my hand.

“Joey…” Natalie began, “Teddy…did something last night.”

My heart began to pound.

Natalie continued, “He drugged you…and…” she paused and looked at Cameron who with his eyes still closed, had tears rolling down his face.

Natalie’s eyes began to water, her mouth still ajar, trying to spit out the words.

“He raped you.”

My heart sunk. I immediately looked at Cameron who was now looking at me and crying uncontrollably. He leaned forward and hugged me tightly. My eyes also filled with tears, I was in shock, but I also believed it. As Cameron was hugging me, through my tear soaked eyes, I noticed the mirror and small bag of cocaine on the floor, but that isn’t what horrified me. Surrounding the drugs on the ground, were smears of blood, a few light splatters on the wall, broken glass and blood stained clothes. I quickly released Cameron and looked into his eyes.

“Blood.” I simply said

“It’s Teddy’s.” Larissa said

“Cameron…” I said fearful of what he was going to confess

“I wanted to kill him.” He said plainly

“I don’t understand.” I said confused and trying to piece everything together.

Cameron stood up and began to pace. He explained that he got off work early and got home around 5:30 in the morning. He saw the martini glasses and open bottles of alcohol and found it suspicious. He said that when he walked into the room, he found Teddy over what looked to be my unconscious body, fucking me. At that point, I cringed. I would fall to pieces if I ever saw Cameron having sex with someone else. My eyes filled with tears again as he continued. Cameron lunged at Teddy, throwing him to the ground. Cameron saw the drugs and began to punch Teddy in the face. Teddy was unwilling to fight back. He was crying, begging Cameron for forgiveness. When he was at his most vulnerable, Cameron asked him about the first time I was drugged in the club; Teddy admitted he did drug me, but he said that he never lied about being the one who gave me the ecstasy. That was true; the whole truth was that he gave the drugs to a go-go dancer to place in my pocket and wallet. He also confessed to being the one who gave me Mike’s number, the guy who almost killed me on his laced cocaine. The final confession was that he had drugged me last night. He had placed a small amount of the rape drug in the cup that I was drinking out of.

“I was watching him carefully. I didn’t see him do it.” I said

“He said that he had done it before he came to wake you up.” Natalie clarified

Anger, pain, frustration, disgust and hatred came over me. I was mostly emotional with sadness, because it’s something Cameron had to witness and I let it happen again. Cameron continued to tell me that with all of his confessions, he was filled with rage and attacked Teddy.

“Cameron…” said, “You didn’t, did you?”

“I wanted to…but no.” he said

“Where is he?” I asked

“I told him to never come around us again. I never wanted to see him, if I did…I probably would kill him. I don’t know where he is…and I don’t care. As long as he’s out of our lives.” Cameron said

“I’m sorry.” I broke down

“It’s not your fault.” He said comforting me

            With getting the clarity of who gave me the drugs, I was relieved to hear that Teddy would no longer show his face around.

“You need to go to the police.” Jasmine suggested

“I can’t” I said looking into Cameron’s eyes

“Why?” Jasmine asked in shock

“Because if I do, I’ll have to tell them about the drugs…about Cameron beating him up. I can’t put him or any of us through that type of pain. I just want to move forward.” He pleaded

Although I could see Jasmine and Larissa disagreed with my decision, they respected it. Cameron knew it was the right thing to do.

“I just ask…please…don’t tell my parents…you’re your mom.” I told Cameron and Natalie

They nodded and agreed.

For the remainder of the day, I stood in bed with Natalie and Jasmine by my side while Cameron and Phillip cleaned up the blood, Larissa disposed of the drugs and cleaned up the kitchen. This day ended up being a three pager in my diary…one of the many days now written down…as a day that would change me forever…it changed all of us forever.

© 2016 Copyright J.M. Casas Jr. of Royalty Novels / The True Love Saga. All Rights Reserved.

All characters and likeness are pure fiction. Any resemblance is pure coincidence. Models and Actors used in marketing material for the True Love Saga were used as inspiration and to provide readers with an image of what the characters may look like.

TRUE LOVE: FOUR SEASONS [Chapter 5: Marie]

I ran to my mother’s side. My dad rushed around the window as did a few of the servers.

“Mom…mom…MOM!” I shouted, trying to shake her out of it

“Marie! Hunny, come on, sweetie…wake up.” My dad said brusher her hair out of her face

“CALL 9-1-1!” I shouted to one of the servers

The young female server grabbed the phone and did as I told her.

“Mom.” I said under a shaky voice as my eyes filled with tears

My mother’s eyes twitched her under closed lids and she groaned.

“Oh my God.” I said in relief

“Joey, place this under her head, but be gentle.” my dad said giving me a clean towel to pillow her head

I grabbed it and gently lifted her head. Just as I did, she opened her eyes slowly.

“Is she bleeding?” my dad asked

“No, it doesn’t look like it.”

“Sweetie, can you hear me?” my dad asked

“What happened?” my mother mumbled

“I’m not sure…I think you fainted.” My dad said, “Joey, what did you see?”

“I don’t know. That’s what it looked like. You didn’t drip on anything.” I said

“I want to stand up.” My mom said

“No.” both my dad and I said, “just wait until the ambulance gets here.” My dad finished

I pulled out my phone and called Cameron.

“Hello?”

“Babe. My mom got hurt at work. We’re going to the hospital.” I said

“Shit. Where are you?” he asked

“Still here with her. Just meet us at the hospital.” I said

“Okay.” He said as we hung up.

The paramedics arrived and placed a neck braced on my mom as they put her on a stretcher and wheeled her out. My dad put another chef in charge and one of the senior servers in charge of the floor. We were both about to get into the ambulance, but the paramedic stopped us.

“Only one of you can be back here.” He said

“Go Dad.” I said

“You sure?”

“Yes, I’ll follow you.” I said running to my car

As I got in my car, my phone started ringing. It was Natalie. Cameron must have called her. I didn’t answer. A few minutes later as I was tailgating the ambulance, my phone rang again and this time it was Larissa, followed by Jasmine and Phillip. Teddy was the only one not to bother me, but there must have been other reasons as to why he didn’t. I couldn’t think about that right now. We got to the hospital and unfortunately I had to park pretty far. I rushed to the doors where the paramedics had just drove off. They must have wheeled my mother inside. I walked into the doors marked, Paramedics Only. I didn’t give a shit.

“Hey. You need to go around to the Emergency Room entrance.” A security guard shouted at me

“No, it’s okay…” Diane said

She must have been waiting for me to walk in. Luckily she worked in the emergency room. She gestured the guard to let me in. She grabbed my arm and we began to jog through the halls.

“Where is she? What happened?” I asked

“She was taken to get a cat scan. She hit her head pretty hard.” She said

“Is she going to be okay?” I asked

“I’m sure she will. Just sit tight in here.” She pointed me to a private waiting room where Natalie and Jasmine were waiting with my Dad. They were around him trying to comfort him.

“Joey.” Natalie said getting up and hugging me tightly

Cameron and Phillip walked into the room at that moment. Cameron squeezed me tightly.

“Is she okay?” he asked

“I don’t know.” I answered

Phillip walked over and gently hugged me rubbing my back.

“Joe…did you need anything? Water or coffee?” Cameron asked my dad

“I’m okay right now. Thank you.” He patted his arm in appreciation

“Okay. I’m going to go see if I can get any information.” Cameron said.

With his high position in the hospital, I’m sure he could be the first to find out what was going on. He kissed me and walked out of the private waiting room darting around the corner. We sat down and realized all we could do is wait. Twenty minutes after I had arrived at the hospital, I got a text from Larissa.

Larissa: I know you have a lot on your mind right now. But just let me know as soon as you find out what happened with your mom.

I didn’t respond. Eventually after what seemed two hours, but in reality only thirty minutes, Cameron came back with some minor information.

“The CT scan is done. She’s doing fine. Just a concussion. The doctor is heading this way with your mom in a few minutes.”

“Thank God she’s okay.” Natalie said

Phillip who was sitting next to me wrapped his arm around me to shake me out of my state of stress.

“She’s okay, J.” he said

I nodded my head. The doctor walked in followed by a nurse pushing my mother in a wheelchair. She was smiling.

“Mom.” I said wanting to squeeze her, but I was afraid to hurt me

“I’m okay.” She said in a low voice

“What happened to my wife?” my dad asked

“To be honest, I’m not quite sure. We need to run some tests. Based on what Marie said, she just felt very dizzy and she attributed that to the heat of the kitchen. Eventually leading to fainting. She is also somewhat dehydrated, so I’d like her to drink as much water as possible. She did suffer from a concussion, so she will need to be monitored and stay up for twenty-four hours.” He said

“You said, you needed to run tests. What kind of tests?” Cameron asked

“Blood work mostly. I’d like to conduct a few MRI’s. Her record doesn’t show any recent physicals and I’d like to set up an appointment with a physician to get a physical so we can update her chart.”

“Do you think it can be serious?” my dad asked

“At this point, I wouldn’t worry. I would request that your wife stay off her feet for three days and just rest and hydrate.” He told both my mother and father

They both nodded.

“Marie, if you feel dizzy or hot. I need you to quickly sit down and call someone to your side.” The doctor told my mom before turning to me and my dad, “If she alerts you that she feels dizzy or a rush of heat throughout her body, I want you to call us and bring in her right away.”

“Okay. Thank you doctor. Does she need any medication?”

“No. I wouldn’t take any medication within this 24 hour timeframe. She may feel a headache tomorrow from her fall, but just take aspirin for that.”

We all thanked the doctor and shook his hand.

“You have a wonderful family, Mr. and Mrs. Ramirez.” The doctor told my parents

“Thank you. We love these kids.” My mom said looking at me and Cameron and holding Natalie’s hand

© 2016 Copyright J.M. Casas Jr. of Royalty Novels / The True Love Saga. All Rights Reserved.

All characters and likeness are pure fiction. Any resemblance is pure coincidence. Models and Actors used in marketing material for the True Love Saga were used as inspiration and to provide readers with an image of what the characters may look like.

TRUE LOVE: FOUR SEASONS [Chapter 4: Spring]

It was April. The flowers were blooming, the trees were budding back to life, the sky was blue and filled with puffy white clouds, birds were nesting, the sun began to thaw our the cool winter air. Spring was in full force. Natalie had stopped by the restaurant to grab a bite and ask if I could go with her and Jasmine to pick out a cake for her wedding. I of course accepted this invitation, I mean…free cake…who wouldn’t? Larissa was also invited, but she had planned to meet up with a girl. After my shift, I changed my clothes in the bathroom to rid the smell of the restaurant and hopped in the car with Natalie. She was driving her new car which fit her perfectly and her bubbly personality, a Volkswagen beetle, a pale yellow to match her blonde hair. I was in the passenger seat, while Jasmine was in the center of the back seat.

“Who are you texting?” Jasmine asked

“Cameron.” I said

“Don’t you dare invite him!” Natalie shouted

“I’m not.” I laughed, “Just letting him know I’ll be home late.”

“Aww. So gross.” Natalie joked

“Me! You…getting married. I would never.” I of course joked

I noticed Natalie looking back at Jasmine. They looked like I had said something offensive or they had a secret among them.

“What? What did I say?” I asked

“Nothing.” Natalie smiled

“Wait…” I started

“Don’t you want to marry Cameron?” Jasmine asked

“I never really thought about it?” I admitted

“What? Joey, you guys have been together five years. You are almost thirty!” Natalie laughed

“Fuck you. I’m only 23.” I corrected her insensitive joke

“No, in all seriousness. Would you marry him, if he asked?” she pressured me to answer

“Yeah. Sure. I don’t see why not. I would like to wait a little more though.” I said

“Why?” she asked

“We’ve hit some bumps over the past couple years. You know that. I want to be sure I make him happy just as he makes me happy.”

“That’s very sweet…and very honest.” Jasmine patted my shoulder

“Thank you, Jazzy. What about you and you’re new prince? What’s his name again?” I asked

“Devin. He’s amazing, you guys. So sweet, attentive, respectful…so funny.” She smiled

“Yeah, but have you guys…you know?” Natalie laughed

“Nat!” Jasmine screamed

“What? Don’t be shy.” Natalie continued

“I’ll just say…he’s got a big…dic…tionary.” She laughed

“Oh my God. You slut!” I shouted uncontrollably

“Hey!” Jasmine pinched my arm

“Ouch.”

“I’m not a slut…am I?” she asked

“Well if the condom fits.” I said

Natalie laughed hysterically. By the time we knew it, we were at the bakery in Lincoln City. We exited the car and entered the building. We were greeted by a sprite like woman with a short platinum blonde pixie cut. She was extremely bubbly and sounded like she had a Canadian accent.

“Thank you so much for coming. You must be Natalie and the future Mrs. Sanders.” She said shaking her hand

“Yes. Thank you for letting me bring my friends. This is Joey Ramirez, Phillips best man and my brother’s boyfriend and this is Jasmine Morris, my maid of honor.”

“Nice to meet you both.” She said smiling at both me and Jasmine and shaking our hands

She showed us to a room in the back where we sat around a table with binders full of cake designs and flavors and combinations, frosting flavors, etc. She returned a few minutes later with a cart with small slices of different cakes. The cakes were plain without any frosting or fondant. We weren’t sure how this was going to work and just as Natalie was about to ask, she pulled out a tray from the middle of the cart with small bowls of frosting. Each bowl was a different flavor. She spread out the cakes and frosting and began to explain that she presents her cakes this way to allow clients to taste specific cake mixtures with different frostings to get a better experience of what they are looking for. It was genius. She gave us each a fork and a small plate. We wasted no time and began to take small pieces out of the cakes and scooped frosting on it. After eating 12 types of cake mixtures with over 28 different flavored frostings, we had narrowed it down to three cakes. Natalie picked out a classic red velvet cake with vanilla crème frosting, white cake with raspberry filling and white chocolate frosting and finally a white chocolate cake with French vanilla frosting. I didn’t care for the latter of the three, but Natalie seemed to like it. After sitting around for fifteen minutes and unable to decide, Natalie suggested that we come back another day with a clear pallet to make a final decision. The bakery owner agreed and suggested on the next visit, Natalie could provide a sketch or idea of what she wanted the cake to look like.

            We drove back to town and Natalie dropped me off at the boardwalk near the restaurant. I waved bye to the girls as I entered the restaurant. It was the dinner rush and my parents were fully staffed. I walked to the back to see my dad behind the grill flipping meats, stirring pots and reading off orders. My mom was at the window of the kitchen handing out the orders to the servers. I noticed my mom looked flushed. She was leaning against the counter. She stood up when my dad placed a few plates on the window. She stepped forward to grab the two plates and began to walk them over to place them in the pick-up station, when she suddenly fell backwards, dropping the plates, shattering them. She didn’t move.

“MOM!”

To be continued…

© 2016 Copyright J.M. Casas Jr. of Royalty Novels / The True Love Saga. All Rights Reserved.

All characters and likeness are pure fiction. Any resemblance is pure coincidence. Models and Actors used in marketing material for the True Love Saga were used as inspiration and to provide readers with an image of what the characters may look like.