DESTINY'S PLAN - *HOT NEW BOOK*

Chapter 42

11 years ago

"Or blow me a kiss. And that's lucky too!", the two sing along enthusiastically at the large boxed TV screen fixed perfectly in front of them.

"Chim chiminey, Chim chiminey, Chim chim cher-ee!".

"No mummy! That's not yet, you have to wait", he scolded, turning his head to the right making sure to temper the woman he was snuggled up in the bed next to.

"Ops, sorry Jason, I was clearly gett-".

A nine-year-old Jason places his small hand over his mother's mouth silencing her as he fixates on the 8th showing of Mary Poppins this week.

It was their favourite movie, with the cold 1910s London, cockney street sweepers and magical nannies, being a far cry from the ever-sunny Dubai climate.

"Now mummy now!".

Jason quickly removes his hand from his mother's mouth just in time for her to join him and the cast in singing the tongue twister that is the closing line of the famous song.

"Chim chim cher-ee, Chim cher-oo! On the chim chiminey Chim chim cher-ee, Chim cher-oo!".

The two sings to each other in unison, well attempt to, as just like the seven other times this week, Jason couldn't get his small tongue around the twisted words causing him to burst out in laughter, staring starry-eyed up at the woman who was able to get through the line without fault.

"That's your favourite part!", he states in between fits of laughter, his eyes now slits due to his cheeks pressing so heavily up against them.

"You have a beautiful smile my love", Jason's mother declares, too in her own awe.

She smiles down at the giddy boy who is snuggled up at her side, trying to conceal how hard she was burning his small face into her brain.

As Jason's laughter subsided and his gaze was taken by the following scene from the movie, his mum's attention stayed on him. She was so amazed at how the mere light in another person's eyes, could create such in her own, even though her eyes didn't hold nearly as much life as Jason's young ones.

"Do they really have chimney sweepers in London mummy?", Jason questioned, tearing his eyes from the bulky screen to look at her.

"Yes, they do my love. But they're not as many as they did in Mary Poppins' day".

"Why?".

"Because houses in London are not built with chimneys anymore, as they are hard to maintain".

"But our London house has a chimney".

Jason's mum smile spread wider.

"Is that where your interest for chimneys comes from?", she teases, bringing a light hand from under her duvet to tap him on the nose.

Jason notices that her hand is colder than it should be, pulling the covers tighter around them both before wrapping a warm but protective arm around her. He then nods at her question.

Throughout his 11 years, Jason's visits to London were always under the guise of a special occasion; whether it be Christmas, to see family, or to see the business, London was a city of great memories.

"Our London house has a chimney, because it's a big old house with a fireplace. I'm not sure if we get it cleaned but I will tell daddy to pay a chimney sweeper to come over next time we are there so you can see him at work".

Jason's small eyes widened and both the prospect of a trip to London and seeing a chimney sweep live in the flesh.

"Will he dance like they do in the movie?".

"No, my love".

"Can we pay him to dance like they do in the movie?".

Jason's mum lets out a laugh that echoes throughout the room. She once again raises a weak hand to smooth her fingers over his forehead and soft ruffled hair, causing Jason to lean into the embrace as he so often did.

"You are your father's son Jason".

Despite Jason knowing that she didn't mean it as an insult, he couldn't help but frown a little at the statement, wanting everything he was to only be of her.

"Don't frown my love", she said reading him.

"It's a good thing that you have daddy's wits about you, it will keep you rich...but it's a better thing that you have me, to tell you that money shouldn't buy you everything".

"So, we shouldn't pay the chimney sweep to dance?", Jason said trying to deduce her message.

She shook her head, still softly playing with his hair.

"Is it okay for money to buy me a new nanny, like Mary Poppins?", Jason said glancing at the movie still playing, then back at her.

"Why? Don't you like Ana?", his mother asked in the most serious of tones.

Jason paused before answering, being thrown off by the palpable guilt he heard swimming in her voice.
Ana was okay, she was stern and was fixated on only talking to Jason in Arabic in order to improve his speaking, but those transgressions were not enough to declare that he didn't like her.

"Because if you don't, you can let me know", she said in a tone posed to scare anyone who displeased her son.

Jason looked over at his mother. She didn't look very scary. Her body looked snap-able and delicate amongst all the propped-up pillows and blankets, and her once radiant olive skin complexion, now appeared to be a rubbed-out version of its former self.

"No, I do like Ana, she's nice, just wish she could sing like Mary Poppins and make daddy less mean".

Jason watched as his mother only gave him half a smile, making him question if saying that he liked Ana was the right thing to have done.

"Don't worry my love, when I get better there will be no need for Ana. And I will be able to sing better than Mary Poppins and that will make daddy less mean".

Jason nodded hopefully at her and then both their focused drifted back on the showing of their favourite movie.

The movie continued to play but suddenly, their showing was disturbed by a violent coughing fit coming from Jason's mum.

Jason's head snaps to the side to see his mum bowing her head into her chest as she coughs. The coughs were so vigorous that Jason could feel the whole bed shake.

"It's okay mummy", he soothes placing a small hand on her arm and rubs it back and forth, anxiety beginning to ball in his chest.
Jason's words soon turn into action as blood starts to emit from his mum's mouth, causing him to jump off the bed and scurry to the nightstand where he pulls a handful of tissues from one of many tissue boxes laid out.

Hurrying back to his mum's side of the bed, Jason stands on the tips of his feet so he can reach across to his mum's mouth and wipe the blood from it.

"Thank you, my love", she breathes out weakly, the force of the coughing taking a lot out of her sickly body.

"You're going to make a lovely lady a good husband one day Jason", she said a tear running down her cheek, as Jason helps her straighten up in the bed.

Jason didn't know if her tear was due to the painful coughing or the thought of him getting married. But thinking it must be the latter, 11-year-old Jason put her mind at rest.

"No mummy, I'm not going to ever get married. I'm going to be here with you forever, watching Mary Poppins", he declared to her like he spoke those words into the atoms of the earth.

"One day you will my love, you will love a woman just as much as you love me and will want to watch Mary Poppins with her instead", her eyes glossed with the images of his future she prayed she would live to see.

Jason frowned struggling to conceptualise that such a woman could exist.
His frown deepened as he noticed his mum's body start to tremor.

"Mummy, you're shaking. Are you cold again?", Jason said frantically tucking her quilt around her.

"It's time for my medicine I think", she said weakly feeling a cold wave come over her.

"I'll get them!", Jason said sprinting to the door, already halfway across the large room.

"No! Don't leave me my love, I need your snuggles", the faintness in her voice causing him to stop, with his hand on the door knob.

"But you're shivering mummy".

"Tell Ana, or one of the men to get them, whilst we finish the movie", she smiled looking across the room at him, her head laid up solely by the pillow.

"No, mum I can do it faster than them!", Jason said with determination.

"Okay. But whilst you're down there, ask someone to make two hot chocolates for us".

"I can do that-".

"No Jason! You know you aren't old enough to mess around with hot water", his mum scowled.

Jason pouted in response, letting go of the image he had in his head of being her hero and bringing up her medication and a tasty hot chocolate.

"Okay, I will be two seconds mummy".

They both gave each other a silent nod and Jason races out the room to get her medicine.

3 minutes later

"I got it mum, and Ana said she will make us hot chocolate with marshmallooo...".

Jason's voice fades as he opens the door to his parents' bedroom.
He is immediately hit by a heavy feeling of hollowness that pauses him at the doorway, one hand on the door knob and the other gripping her medicine.

"Mum?", he calls cautiously to her, fear, of what he is not yet sure of, preventing him from entering his parents' room.

He squints at her, eerily confused as to why she is not answering back.

"I have your medicine mummy", he says, his voice is small and afraid, and he lifts the box of tablets in his hand up towards her direction, as if he is attempting to hand it to her from the doorway.

But she is still still.

Jason tries to rationalise with himself that's she must be sleeping, but he cannot truly say because only half of her face is visible to him due to her head being positioned bent down on a pillow.

His eyes then travels across the room to the large box television that was still playing their favourite movie, and it was then that the 11 year old came to terms with the reality that something gravely bad had happened, because his mum never once slept through a showing of Mary Poppins.

Jason's eyes snapped back to his mother's unmoving body, and with life breathed back into his lungs, Jason let out a whale.

"MUM!!!".

And rushed to her.