The Things That Will Be

Chapter Thirteen

When James walked inside, Michelle was sitting at the table drinking a cup of coffee and listening to the sound of the world outside. She glanced over at James and smiled. He smiled back.

"Good morning." She said to him.

"Morning." He replied back.

He walked over to the coffee pot and poured him a cup and sat down. He placed his mug on a coaster just like Michelle had and sipped his coffee once it cooled down.

"So, uh, I was walking down the hallway and I couldn't help but overhear you on the phone, griping your heart out at somebody." James said. Michelle sighed and nodded.

"Yeah, Steve can be a handful sometimes. He was upset about the fact that I'm still over here and he has to stay over there and run the company by himself for right now." Michelle said. James nodded with wide eyes.

"Oh, so you two run a business together." James said surprised. Michelle nodded with a lovely smile that James couldn't help but find beautiful. But only in a comforting sort of way.

"Yeah, we started a couple years ago. But now it's been longer than a couple years but oh well." Michelle said. "Who's counting, right?" James nodded with a smile.

"Right." James said. Silence fell amongst them that seemed to eat James alive until he decided to break the ice again.

"So, I had a crazy dream last night that-"

Suddenly, the two of them heard their mother's frightening scream. It was a scream of both fear and stress. The two quickly made a run for it to her bedroom and opened the door. James saw his mother standing beside the bed, slowly moving away from it. His father was laying on the bed unresponsive.

"Oh my God, dad?!" James called out as he ran towards his father's side of the bed. He reached over to check his pulse. He didn't feel anything. James looked up at Michelle and their mother with tears in his eyes. "Someone get the ambulance, now." Michelle took off to do so. James' mother fell to her knees and started to cry. James went over to her and raised her back up.

"Mom, what happened? Did anything odd happen last night?" He asked her. She became deathly silent. "Mom, what did you do?" He could tell that from the grieving look in her eyes that she felt guilty. He pressured her until she finally responded.

"We had sex last night." His mother said in tearful stress.

"You what?! Jesus Mom, you heard the doctor's words, he can't be in an energetic area. The doctor was very clear about that." James said in an angry voice. His mother nodded bitterly.

"I know, I know, I just....I don't know. I wanted it and he wanted it and so we did it. And now he's dead because of me." She belted into tears.

James felt sympathetic and ended up holding onto his mother in a hug's embrace. Michelle came back to let them know about the ambulance. She stopped and stood there in the hallway and watched them. That was all she could think of doing. Soon, she joined in.

"We'll get through this....the three of us. We will." Their mother said to them. And all James and Michelle could do was silently agree.

~

The funeral service was a dark time for those involved. Some saw it as a beautiful thing while others saw it as a grin event for an even morbid and macabre reason.

The preacher had started the service with a prayer and then proceeded to call out the one man that Richard Maxwell had in his will and testament to speak, James Maxwell.

James got up slowly and wiped his eyes. He made his way up to the podium and stared at the ones attending his father's funeral. He looked over at the strange faces he was unfamiliar with and realized he had been trembling this entire time. He looked over at Eileen and soon stopped trembling. 

He had called Eileen later that morning his father died, and told her that they were going to have a funeral for Richard. Eileen had been kind and supportive through it all. She and Megan drove over to where he was and Megan dropped Eileen off.

Since James had the vehicle, Megan didn't need to stay. Plus, she hated funerals. It was just something about being in the same room as a dead body that made her feel sick to the stomach  James pulled himself together and spoke to the funeral congregation.

"Good morning, everyone. I didn't prepare a speech so bear with me. My father was one of the most kindest people I know. He could be funny as I'm pretty sure most of you know he was in a comedy group for about a decade and then he left to raise a family. First came my sister Michelle and then later I appeared. He loved both of us equally as all fathers should. He was also a nice husband who, even in times of dispute, still loved and cherished my mother. But most of all, my father was a man after God's own heart. He was steadfast in his faith. And even though I have my problems with things like religion, I can honestly say that right here and right now that my father, Richard Mark Maxwell, is in Heaven with his family before him and he is smiling down on us waiting for the time that we can reunite forever and ever. Thanks for having me." James said, finishing up his father's makeshift eulogy and then walking back to his seat next to Eileen. Everyone clapped for what he had to say.

"James, that was very beautiful." Eileen said, wiping tears from her eyes. James hugged her and smiled and wiped his own tears away. He glanced over at a window and he saw the dove. And all James did was smile and watch the dove look at him and fly away.

~

James and Eileen packed their things into the vehicle as they were preparing to head back to Willow Tree.

Michelle stopped James to talk to him after he had given a hug and kiss to his mother who was still emotional but was getting better.

"James," Michelle said. "I just want you to know that if you need someone to talk to...I'm here." James smiled and thanked his sister.

"Thanks, that truly means a lot." James said. Michelle smiled, which turned into tears, which turned into a tight hug.

After saying their goodbyes and everything, Eileen and James made their way back to Willow Tree to the sound of A Real Hero by College playing as they did so.