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.