The John Hughes Club

Chapter Fifty

Chas

Between my fingers, I'm holding onto something that my father himself has been sentimentally holding onto for many years now—my mother's rings.

"I know she would want you to have them," roughly rumbles out of dad's throat before him needing to clear his hoarseness, triggered by the memories of losing the wife he has never really gotten over.

Within my cupped palm, I stare down at the two rings of gold that my mother would have surely worn with pride and happiness. "Are you sure? I mean, are you really ready to let me have them?" I ask with a nervy swallow, knowing how hard it must be for him to let go of the two things that my mother once cherished so much.

Reaching for the back of my neck, dad squeezes it with his fatherly affection as he pulls me nearer to where he's sitting in the small fishing boat he has recently bought for himself. "Chas, you're our boy...I'm absolutely sure that you should have those rings," he convincingly tells me.

Using my thumb, I stroke them in silence, offering my father a smile of thanks. Not just for the rings, but for finally being a better dad. "Okay," quietly leaves me as I now tightly clutch my mother's engagement ring and her wedding band between my appreciative palm.

Ruffling up my hair, dad then sits with his back straighter, his own smile coming to a face that no longer seems etched with pale loss and taut bitterness. "Your mum was a remarkable woman. She had the patience of a saint, a lively spirit and she was admirably independent...couldn't cook to save her life, but god, she really was an amazing woman." Chortling, dad takes hold of his fishing rod, gazing out at the endless sea in front of us. "I see a lot of her in you, Chas. Your strength, your individuality, your endless capacity to forgive...that was just like her." Averting his eyes from the ocean, they are soon back upon me. "You're now sixteen, son. You're on your way to becoming a far better man than I ever could be. That's down to your resilience to my failings as a father. It's down to having your mother's many wonderful genes inside of you, and it's down to having the guidance of your gentlemanly grandfather. I'm proud of you, Chas...happy birthday, son." In his pale green eyes, a sheen of tears ripple across their lens'. More and more, dad has been opening up to me. More and more, I see how sorry he is for the man and the father he used to be. He knows he can't change any of the past, but he himself is changing for our future.

Reaching across, I place my hand on his shoulder. "Thanks, Dad," I answer with a sincere assurance and sincere acceptance. For my birthday, he said he wanted us to spend some quality time together, and I'm so glad I agreed to join him on this little father/son fishing trip. Just being us—talking, sharing smiles, and his giving of my mother's rings—is like an healing salve being applied around all past hurts and wrongs.

Sniffing hard, dad's now removing the thick emotion clogging up his sinuses and airways. "Have I ever told you how your mother loved Egyptians? How fascinated she was with their beliefs and traditions?" he randomly asks me.

"No, you haven't," I airily answer, smiling with new intrigue and clutching her precious rings tighter in my hand.

"Your mum was captivated by their practices, she really was. If you look just inside of the wedding band, there's an inscription." Gesturing with his eyes, dad wants me to look at it.

Taking out my new cork leather wallet that dad bought me for my birthday, I put the engagement ring safely inside one of the compartments, so I have both my hands free to check out the inscription on the other ring. Once my wallet is in the depth of my denim pocket of my black ripped jeans, I start searching for what dad was just on about. Twisting the band of beloved gold with my fingers, I soon find what I am looking for: vena amoris

Detecting my lack of understanding of what I am reading, dad wants to quickly enlighten me, "Vein of Love, that is what it means. The Egyptians passionately believed in the vein that runs directly from the heart, down to the fourth finger on the left hand. They honoured that belief by wearing a ring on that finger, signifying the pledge made by all married couple's. Which is why your mum wanted both of our rings to have the same inscription," inhaling a gust of the sea air, a haunting smile tugs on the edges of dad's mouth. "I don't wear my ring anymore, but that doesn't mean that vena amoris is no longer felt by me about your mum...because it is." Inhaling again, dad blinks away the sadness veiling his green eyes, then exhales with a more positive demeanour. "God knows how or why, but I have been given the love of not just one amazing woman, but two...for that, I'm a very lucky man."

Meaning Mindy's mum, I can only smile at the thought of Megan. To my dad, she is amazing. To me, her daughter is. "I'm glad you're happy," I tell my father with natural warmth, eyeing my mum's wedding ring one last time before also placing it safely inside of my wallet and my pocket. "Now, we had better try and catch something, or our fish barbecue will be fishless." Grabbing my rod, I smirk in dad's direction.

Grinning back at me, he chuckles. "You're right! We can't celebrate your birthday without some fresh fish, now can we?" he jokes, looking more determined than ever to catch something.

Already, my sixteenth birthday is turning into one that I never thought possible. My relationship with my dad is the best it has ever been. He has been trying so hard to gain my trust. Trying so hard to restore my faith in his parenting. Day by day, week by week, he has been doing just that. It has been such a long time since having that sense of trust and faith in my dad, and now that I am feeling it again, it's a good feeling to have. I only wish my grandpa were here to see it as well. I know he'd be so proud of how things are playing out between us—proud and relieved.

However, for as good as things really are, it still doesn't make me want to live under the same roof that my dad and Megan will inevitably decide to live together under. Wherever that might be, and whenever it's going to happen, I already know that I won't be there as well. I'll not add that complication to mine and Mindy's relationship, I just won't. I've always known that when the time comes for dad and Megan to make more of a commitment to one another, that I would do the very same for Mindy. I have an inkling that time is coming soon. Dad and Megan's feelings have developed and deepened. They're in love. Hence why it wouldn't feel right for us all to live together. I've always known that, and I'm prepared for it. I want my feelings for Mindy and hers for me, to be kept separate from what our parents have. My inheritance from grandpa will give me a privileged head start in life, and I'll not waste that privilege that many don't get blessed with. I'll use it wisely. Use it sensibly. My wiseness and my sensibility is telling me that I'll soon need to be investing in a property of my own...and ultimately, investing in what I have with Mindy.