FREE FLYING HEARTS -- A collection of short stories from Tonig73

The Park Bench Chronicles ... 5

Well, my loves.  The park benches have been a little empty of late, so, not much to report.  However .... if not much to report means no drama, no awfulness, no angst, then, no.  Not much to report.

But if reporting anything means smiles for miles, and laughter, and joy and happiness on four very special faces, then, get ready.  I hereby submit my humble report for your perusal.  

Oh, my giddy aunt, they are so happy !  Larry gets to have chaperoned visits with Ember every Tuesday and Thursday, just like Laurent.  I wonder how that happened, hmmm ..... ?  I see them out there in the park, and it makes my chest swell, and my heart burst, and my eyebolls get all leaky.  Again !  So much with the happy tears.  

Everything starts well, with Larry and Laurent playing with Ember and Elise.  They chase them, catch them.  Then pretend to chase them, pretend to catch them.  Then Larry and Laurent just do their own thing, like climb the climbing frame, swing on the swings, again competing with each other to see who can swing the highest before the swing set topples over.  That happened once.  They quickly set it upright, then ran, like two delinquent teenage boys who knew they'd done wrong, and tried to put it right before they got caught.  They raced to the slides, competing to see who could reach the bottom first.  Children.  Big giant children.

The girls got fed up with this, of course they did, it was their playdate, not their fathers', though you would think it was.  Larry and Laurent's playdate, court ordered, every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon.  And these two grown ass men were just as excited as if it were.  

When they got like this, Cassie tried yelling at them to get them to at least behave like grown men, they were not setting a good example for the girls.  Thing is, they were, and she told them off like a school marm with the biggest grin on her face.  They were all letting the girls know, in the plainest and happiest of terms, that you should grab joy and happiness by the scruff of it's neck when the opportunity presented itself.  To live in the moment, and to share those moments with the people you care most deeply about.  And that it didn't matter how old you were, it was never too late to have fun.  Share the joy.  Spread the wealth.  

Cassie couldn't remember the last time she'd seen Laurent this happy, except maybe when he was with Elise.  A sad melancholy smile passed quickly across her face as she reminisced.  Laurent had been happy with her, she thought, if only for a short time.  Thing is, she'd always been happy with him, even knowing what she knew.  Knowing that her beloved husband was gay.  Knowing about Alex.  

I often thought I should have been a hairstylist.  Therapy with a cut and blow dry thrown in.  Everyone told me their stories.  Some were everyday stories of life, and living that life.  Some were of love and loss, of joy and heartbreak.  And there were some, like this happy bunch, that hadn't always been that way.  That had fought hard for that happiness, and were now grabbing that fleeting moment with both hands, before it escaped them completely.  Before their gorgeous girls grew up, and were gone.  

And I watch Cassie and Larry too, sitting on Larry's bench together.  They seem to get on really well, their topic of conversation besides the girls, being Laurent, I would imagine.  I don't know where Larry is in his relationship with Laurent, but it's progressing nicely, it seems.  Even though Laurent isn't out, ( and no one will hear it from me, as much as I love to gossip ), he slips in a little Larry hug when he thinks no one's paying attention.  When they stand, or sit close to talk, he grabs Larry's hand for a few seconds, to play with his fingers, or graze his skin with his thumb affectionately, Larry allowing his touch, and enjoying it.  Laurent thinks he's being slick, but I see.  And it's lovely.  

I don't see them at the weekends though, no, that's a lie.  I see Laurent and Elise every Saturday, they come into the cafe' for some dessert and coffee, invariably after shopping.  More dresses !  They grab the corner table if they can, now their table, and sit opposite one another to indulge in some father / daughter silliness.  But their eyes, both of them, and their demeanor, let me know somethings missing.  And it's not Cassie, as much as both Laurent and Elise love her.  She's an amazing woman, how could anyone not  love Dr Cassie Bourgeois.