In a Town Called Blooming Orchid

Chapter Thirteen: The Concert

      It was Christmas Eve, 2017. No one expected that they'd be holding a funeral for their mayor who was also a murderer. The funeral service was short, Tom was cremated and Maybell got his ashes in an urn. The funeral goers followed Maybell down to the Rehearsal Hall, and then into the women's bathroom. Maybell dumped her late husband's ashes into the toilet in the stall he and Sherry were caught having sex in. She flushed them down the toilet and let out a small laugh.

     After the funeral, Robin and Byron were getting ready to get into Robin's truck and leave, but Garret ran after them.

     "What do you want?" Robin asked him. Garret stayed silent for a moment. Then he looked up at Robin and began to tear up.

     "Robin, you're my best friend, I don't care that you're gay, I love you and I want to support you," He said. Robin's eyes widened in surprise. He got out of the truck. Byron just looked down at his phone.

     "Are you serious?" Robin asked, sounding upset.

     "Yes Robin, I miss you," Garret said, "Robin I'm truly truly sorry, can we please be friends again?"

     "Thanks for apologizing..." Robin muttered. "I'll think about it," He began to turn to step back into his truck before freezing. Then he turned around again, his face full of tears. "I can't be mad at you Garret, I love you too!" then he tackled his best friend in a hug. "Get in the car, asshole, we're going home!"

     The group of friends were reunited, Heather (who's therapy sessions went swimmingly) was called over to help the men bring their things back into their house from the hotel.

     "Sophya!" Tiffany called walking into their shared house together. She was shocked to see her best friend only in a bra on top of Evan, the guy she met at the mall. There was an awkward silence before Tiffany beamed. "Ooh get it girl! I'll leave y'all alone!" Sophya turned to Evan and giggled before pulling him into a kiss.

     Meanwhile Anthony sat in front of his mother's grave. Spending his first Christmas without her.

     "I'm sorry I didn't want to come home for Thanksgiving, Mama," Anthony sighed. His warm breath visible against the cold winter air. "Life is so short and I never realized how blessed I was to have a mother like you,". He stood in silence. His face was hot and eventually tears blurred his vision. "You were always there to love and support me, and I'm truly so sorry that I never treated you with the love you deserved,". Anthony wiped a tear and placed orchids down on his mother's grave. "I'm keeping up with your garden for you, mama, I picked these," he smiled. 

     He stared at Jewel's grave in silence. Just crying and feeling. He didn't care about the weather, he just cared about his mother. He began to sing Nox Aurumque to the empty air, serenading the whole graveyard, and when he sang the final verse, he could faintly feel his mothers arms around him for just a small moment. He broke down in a fit of sobs after he finished.

     "I love you, Mama,".

     The next day was Christmas, it was a sad time for the McGregors and the Mayweathers, but for everyone else it was a finally a time to relax and be happy with their families, and of course the famous Blooming Orchid Symphonic Orchestra was putting on their annual Christmas Concert, right on schedule.

     "Hello everybody," Anthony said standing up on the stage, the orchestra behind him, who had just finished playing Tchaikovsky and Vivaldi, wearing their concert black was flipping their music over to Nox. "There's going to be a change of pace, the orchestra and I had planned to do a performance of Nox Aurumque by Eric Whitacre for you all in honor of my mother, but since I had to stay inside at all times, it was taken off the program, however, since all is well now, I will be performing it for you all,". Before beginning, Anthony and Knightley shared a kiss. 

     "Good luck, mon ami," Knightley whispered. Anthony grinned and got ready to perform.

     And perform he did. His beautiful voice rang out across the packed concert hall, making even the toughest of them all tear up in remembrance of Jewel. It seemed that in that moment, as her son sang her favorite song, Jewel's soul was in the room, on stage with him, bringing love to everyone's hearts like she always did in life.

AURUM,

INFUSCATUM ET OBSCURUM,

CANENS NOCTIS,

CANENS MORTIS,

ACQUIESCENS CANENDO

ET ANGELUM SOMNIT AURORARUM ET BELLORUM,

SAECULORUM AURORUM FUNDIT LACRIMAS,

LACRIMAS RERUM BELLORUM.

O ARMA!

O LAMINA AURATA!

GESTU GRAVES NIMIUM,

GRAVES NIMIUM VOLATU.

AURUM,

INFUSCATUM ET TORPIDUM

SUSCITA!

DILABERE EX ARMIS IN ALAM!

VOLEMUS ITERUM,

ALTE SUPRA MURUM;

ANGELI RENASCENTES ET EXULTANTES AD ALAS

AURORARUM,

AURORUM,

SOMNORUM.

AURUM,

CANENS ALARUM,

CANENS UMBRARUM.