Soldier Boy

12

Cameron's POV continued

Two years later.

"I hate funerals," Cissy said in the passenger seat of our minivan.

One thing I swore to myself when I finally became a dad was to never, ever, ever buy a minivan. Guess that plan backfired.

I nodded. The rain outside the van was pouring down but people were lining up outside the church to come to my mom's funeral.

"Why did Nana have to die?" Logan asked. He had turned nine years old this morning. Cissy and I looked at each other, not sure what to say to this question.

"Well, bud, death is apart of life. Nana wouldn't live forever, even if we wanted her too, and she knew that one day, she would be gone. We'll see her again someday. I promise you that."

Logan sighed and ate his cheeseburger. "These burgers you bought us are really soggy."

"They aren't soggy, Logan, it's just because we're sad that Nana passed away." Cissy took a bite of her burger to prove to our son that the burgers weren't soggy. She ended up spitting it out in the wrapper and glaring at me.

I held my hands up in defense. "Don't blame me. Blame Sid's Burgers all you want. I had nothing to do with the soggy burgers."

Timmy whimpered in his car seat as he woke up from his nap.

"Dad, I think we should go in now. These people will start to get angry for waiting so long."

So in we went. Pastor John Andrews said a prayer and played Amazing Grace and then it was time for me to give the Eulogy.

I took a deep breath and my family smiled reassuringly at me as I shakily went up to the pulpit.

"Good evening," I began. The audience in attendance chuckled softly. "To know my mother was to love her. She was always the kindest soul and I am so thankful that I got that from her. My mother, Eliza Turner, was born on June twenty-ninth, 1973, to Richard and Lisa Turner. When my mother was seven years old, her brother David was born and soon after he arrived, my grandfather died in an automobile accident. Her mother never remarried, and instead remained widowed for the next fifty years she lived until her death at the age of seventy-two when I was just a teenager. My mother's brother David died of lung cancer before I was born so I never met him but she always said I reminded her of him. My mother gave everything up so she could raise me and my sister Julie on her own after my little brother, Levi, unexpectedly passed away at the age of fourteen. She once said to me after I had caused my teammates to lose our football game, 'I am so proud of the man you have become, Cameron. You and your sister are the shining stars of my bleak life. Keep shining brightly, my boy. Always know that I love you.'"

I wiped the tears from my eyes and continued reading what I had written. "She was the best mother I could have asked for and the greatest grandmother to my sons. It brings me peace knowing that I'll be reunited with her again."

I sit back down and Julie puts her arms around me. "That was great," she whispered. I nodded and gave her a smile.

"Let's all turn in our Bibles to Psalms 23," Pastor Andrews said.

~~~

"You're staying for dinner?" Sonia asked Julie as we headed back to our vehicles after the service.

"Yeah. If that's okay with you," Julie said. Sonia nodded and kissed her head.

"Aren't you excited to be moving in with your brother?" she asked. Julie smiled.

"Not really, but at least I can be around my nephews more."

Cissy buckled Timmy into his car seat and
looked at me. "Tell her," she whispered. A small smile played on her lips.

"Uh, Julie. Cissy and I, we made the decision to make the garage at our new house your very own bedroom and bathroom. We figured that you'd like the space but you'll still be able to get to us through the kitchen door."

Julie smiled and hugged both of us. "Thank you!" She said.

"You're welcome!" Cissy nodded and bid goodbye to her Mom just until we got back to the farmhouse to eat dinner with her.

~~~

"Hey," Cissy said, her hands in her coat pocket as she greeted me with a kiss.

"Hey yourself," I replied, smiling at her.

"I noticed that Nathan and Nicole didn't make it to the funeral," she said.

"They're on vacation, sweetheart. You know Nathan apologized for it."

She shrugged. "It just would have been a nice gesture for him to be there. That's all I'm saying."

I looked at her and said, "I know. I'm sorry that he couldn't come."

She nodded. "How long are they going to make their baby-moon anyway?"

I laughed and kissed her. "I have no idea."

She smiled and started walking back to the house. "Come to bed soon, alright?"

I nodded. "Gotcha. Goodnight!"

I closed the garage doors and went to bed just before sunrise. Julie's room would be ready for her arrival in no time.

"Dad?" Logan called from his room as I passed by to get to the stairs.

I poked my head into the doorway and smiled. "Hey, buddy. What are you doing up this early?"

"I waited for you to come inside. I need to talk to you."

I went in his room and sat on the edge of his dinosaur-themed twin bed. Ruffling his head, I questioned, "About what?"

"Would you be happy if I said I wanted to be a superhero like you and join the military?"

That took me aback. He wanted to be a superhero. He thought I was a superhero. I'm just a guy that did his duty to protect his country.

"I would be, yes."

He smiled and said, "Good. Because you're my favorite superhero. Goodnight, Dad. I love you."

I smiled at him and kissed his forehead before tucking him in. "I love you too."

Cissy sighed contentedly as I laid beside her in our bed and she put her arms around my back.

"I just got Timmy to sleep," she said, looking over at our toddler asleep in his crib, his pacifier sticking out of his mouth.

I smiled and kissed her lips. "Good. He hasn't been the easiest to put to sleep lately."

She laughed and kissed my chin. "He's still a baby. It'll get easier as he grows."

I smiled and looked at her, at the splatter of freckles painting her nose. Her freckles, as much as I wanted them to stick around all the time, only showed in the wintertime. And right now, snow was beginning to fall outside.

"I'm grateful that I was able to come home to you and to the boys. I couldn't imagine living without you."

She kissed my cheek then my nose and said, "I couldn't imagine living without you, either."

"I can't sleep. I'm afraid to sleep," I sighed.

She pulled herself closer to my body and kissed my chest. "Then don't sleep. I'll stay up with you as long as it takes for the nightmares to go away."

So there we lay, both staring out at the frosted winter wonderland that lay out on the plains. Our house stood about a mile from the farmhouse and I drifted back to the barn and to that night.

"The rest of our lives began in the old barn, you know. That place holds so many memories."

She smiled and yawned. Soon, she was fast asleep on my chest, her arms wrapped around my back, her breathing warm and slow against my chest. I kissed her head and then was able to go to sleep.