April's Fool Pt. 04

"It's time, I love you both so much and am so happy that be were able to be friends and lovers. I tried really hard to be a better person. I think I did okay. Please don't let the kids forget me. Being a mom was the greatest thing that ever happened to me. The second greatest was being loved by you two. I don't know what is going to happen after I move on, but if I can, I plan to stick around and watch you all. So make sure you put on an extra special show every once in a while."

She tried to chuckle and it turned into a obviously painful cough. I found out later that she had stopped taking her pain medication so she could be lucid. I wanted to say something but my chest was tight and my eyes were full of tears. All I could get out was a giant sob.

"You two better live to a ripe old age. Those kids are gonna be great. Just remember the good times we had, I know I made mistakes but I loved you both so much." she started to wind down.

Beth and I sat on either side of the bed and cried and told her how much we loved her. I don't remember any exact words but the feeling must have gone through because April smiled and for that moment she looked just as beautiful as the day I bought her that first glass of scotch. When she closed her eyes the smile stayed. A few minutes later she was gone.

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Which brings us to today. The casket is lowered and the well wishers are gone. I know I should be more ... something ... but I just can't bring myself to feel anything except loss and sadness. I was looking out the window across the field that separated our house from the main ranch that Steve and Barb lived in. We had built a new house on the edge of the property when we decided to have the boys. I felt a pair of arms circle me and a pair of breasts push into my back. Beth nuzzled her head into my back and I could feel her sobbing. I turned around and just held her as we both shared our pain and misery and love for our wife. When we calmed down she took my hand and wordlessly led me into our bedroom. We made love and as we both hit our climaxes we knew that somehow April was watching and she was happy. We would be okay.

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Epilogue:

The problem with being old is that you're never the right temperature. With my arthritis, I had a tough time with the clasp of jeans or slacks so I always made sure I had clean sweats. I could handle pulling a sweater over my head, given enough time, so Nurse Ratched didn't have to help me with that task. Thankfully I could still wipe myself and shower so she didn't need to be helping me with that. All in all, I was doing pretty good for an 82 year old. Honestly my nurse was a great girl. I felt bad that she had to spend her time watching an old man like me. If I didn't love my daughter in law so much I would have just sent her away. When Gail starts to cry I get messed up and find myself agreeing to pretty much anything. At least I got her to agree to only part time. The tradeoff is this necklace that monitors heart rate and everything else. That was our agreement for me moving back into my old place. Lately I have taken to sitting out on the patio and watching the sun come up with my cup of coffee. I know I am old but I am sure I can hear giggling coming from inside the house. I like to think that April and Beth are enjoying themselves. I look at the picture we took of the three of us at Mackinac Island the week before April's surgery. As I have been doing for the past few months I think back over the years.

After April died I became the majority owner in Livingstone Steel. Beth talked me out of selling it by pointing out that I could leave something for my children. As the boys grew up I let them know that they could have the reins when they were old enough but they could also do whatever they wanted. Eric and Arthur seemed to think of it as a family legacy and both took the responsibility seriously, starting in high school. They both balked at having to go through each facet of the company as an hourly but I was adamant. When Grandpa Steve backed me up on it they were a lot more willing. Eric met Gail in college and the two of them hit it off. They got married two weeks after he graduated college. I thought it was interesting because Gail's not really a looker. I know that sounds terrible, and I feel guilty for saying it but it's true. Eric actually modeled for a summer. That is how they met. Gail was on the college softball team and was practicing while Eric was being photographed for the college calendar. She hit him with a foul ball and the rest is history. I remember Rachel asking her what her secret was to keeping a happy family at their 15 year wedding anniversary. I walked out of the room when Gail told her that she met him at the door on her knees holding a beer and wearing nothing but high heels. Good for my boy.

Arthur was a different story. He had any number of smoking hot women on his arm at any given time but he never settled down. He was a semi pro tennis player and met all types of athletic women. He decided to focus on running the financial end of Livingstone while Eric handled the personnel side. I was shocked when I found out the reason he never settled down. It was his sister.

Sarah was our resident introvert. She had no interest in the company, wanting instead to focus on her passion of writing. Not being the kind to push my kids into something they didn't want to do, I encouraged her to pursue her dream. It turns out she could write the hell out of a romance story. You probably have read or at least seen some of her work. She writes under a pen name. Being quiet and reserved, she would get picked on and while all of the family would rally around her I couldn't help but notice that Arthur was the most vehement. Eric would stand up to a bully and either talk him down or lay him out. Arthur would wait until the guy was alone and hit him in the back. I know this for a fact because when one of Sarah's dates tried to force her into a back room during a party, Eric beat the shit out of him. Three weeks later someone took a baseball bat to the guys knees and wrists. The would be Casanova lost his free ride to college on a baseball scholarship. To this day I don't know if Arthur and Sarah are a couple. I have my thoughts but it really is their business. As long as they are happy and not hurting anyone, who am I to judge?

Rachel is our cheerleader. Literally. She took high school by storm. Cheerleader, class President, Valedictorian, President of the Honor's Society, basically if she could lead it she was doing it. It carried through college. She took two years off to do some modeling thanks to contacts from Eric but decided she wanted to be a physical therapist. She has a growing practice catering to athletes and returning veterans. She fell in love with a guy that lost his foot in Iraq and together they run marathons.

Which brings us to Ellie May. Five years after April died we got a notice saying that the unused eggs we had frozen were about to expire. After a long thought process, we decided to try one more time. We fertilized the last of the eggs and one produced a viable embryo. Nine months later our Ellie may was brought into the world.

From the moment she appeared she had me wrapped around her finger. I knew it and was helpless to stop it. Much to the entertainment of the rest of my family.

Ellie was diagnosed as being slightly on the autism scale. She had a stubborn streak a mile wide and she would overreact to inconsequential things. But she was fiercely loyal to our family and we knew that she loved us as we loved her. Case in point. We had a barbeque for the employees and all the kids had gravitated to each other and were playing games. One of the grandsons of one of the board members was a bully and was playing rough culminating in pushing Sarah down to the ground. Before anyone could step in all we heard a banshee-like wail and Ellie was all over the guy. She climbed up this kids back and started clawing at his eyes. Years later it was funny telling the story of a fifteen year old man/child brought to the ground trying to get a seven year old off his back. At the time we figured we had a problem. With some counselling we were able to come to an understanding. As a reward for good behavior I bought her a dirt bike. It was all over from there. She rode every race she could. Beth took the older kids to soccer practice and music lessons. I took Ellie to the dirt tracks. She tore up the local circuit. From age 8 to 16 she was the queen of the track.

We always made it a point to let the kids know about April. When we told Ellie how we used April's egg she had a hard time processing. She eventually came around and wanted to get a tattoo. The problem was that she was only 14. Knowing that she would just go out and do it, I had a long talk with her. She agreed to be tattoo free until she was 18 then we would get one together. It actually turned into a family event with all of us getting a "Momma April" tattoo inked somewhere. This turned into another dream of hers and now my little darling, the apple of my eye, runs a tattoo parlor and bike shop. She also owns a controlling interest in a biker bar just out of town. The bar and shops have a "no colors" policy meaning that bikers can't wear their insignias. They are considered neutral ground for conflict resolution.

Steve and Barb bought an RV and toured the U.S., leaving the day after Beth and I's wedding. Five years later they had been killed in a massive pileup outside of Tennessee. I know they would have wanted to spend more time with their grandkids.

As for Beth and I? We got married a year after April passed. She became the matriarch of our family and the best partner a man could ask for. Every day we missed our April but we were able to be happy and content. There was never a thought to bringing in someone else for either play or emotion. The triad only worked with the three of us. She died 10 years ago from a heart attack. Thanks to the blue pills we were that couple that was fucking into our 70's. God she was beautiful. I miss her every day.

We had moved into the main house when Steve and Barb passed. After talking to the kids I offered the house to Eric and Gail when Beth died. They kept an apartment for me but with the grandkids growing up and great grandkids on the way I decided to move back into the old house. Hence the necklace and the nurse. Plus it was time for me to fade away. The company was going strong with Eric and Arthur at the helm. Sarah was opening another office. Rachel had another best seller. Ellie just kicked her cheating boyfriend to the curb and was dating a nice young lady. Turns out it is the niece of an old girlfriend, Trina. It was a small world I guess. I found out from her that Trina was alive but had severe dementia. That made me sad because Trina was a great gal.

I have found myself dozing off these days. Lately I have a wonderful dream where I walk into the house and there are Beth and April waiting for me to get ready so we can go see the world. I am sad when I wake up.

I hear the giggling again. I look into the house and there they are, as beautiful as the day I met them.

"It's time, Bill," April says to me with a smile. "Come on in and let's get ready to go see the world."

Hell, even knowing it's a dream I get up and walk towards them. Funny, I don't seem to have any aches.

"Come on babe," Beth says as I go through the door. "We got a long trip but we are going together."