Forever N ever (Book 13 in the Forever Series)

Chapter 10

Mercy

I was excited when my dad asked to turn a poem I had written into a song for his album, but when he asked me to sing on the album with him, I was honored. When he got up to introduce the song at the listening party, I wasn't expecting him to make me so emotional.

"The first song you're going to hear is the one I'm most proud of because my talented daughter, Mercedes Faith Jonas wrote it with me. She wrote a poem about holding onto forever, something that she wanted me & her mom to do & I was so amazed by the words she wrote I turned them into the chorus of this song. We both thought it would be great as an upbeat song & I think it turned out perfect this way. My daughter's got a bright future ahead of her, whatever she decides to do. I can't believe the talented children I have been blessed with, but I am proud of each one of them more than I can put into words. Enjoy this song, called 'Hold On Forever.'"

Dad came to hug me, then we quieted, while we listened to the song once it started playing. "First thing, we make you feel better. Next stop, we pull it all together. I'll keep you warm like a sweater. Take my hand, hold on forever. Just fall apart if you need to. I"m here & I won't leave you now. Don't look down, hold on forever."

The praise I got from everyone was beyond comprehension. It made me feel so incredible & it made me want to write more songs as soon as possible. Even Jerry was proud of me, which surprised me because I thought he'd be jealous that I had a song with Dad. When Mom came over, I could tell she had been crying, but I wasn't sure if it was because she was proud of me or if she was touched by the song.

"Mom, why are you crying?" I asked her, after she loosened her grip on me.

"The song was beautiful, Mercy."

"But why did it make you cry?"

Mom closed her eyes & shook her head. "I'm just proud of you & the song made me kind of sad."

"Did it make you want to hold on forever?"

Mom's eyes snapped open & grew wide. "For a moment." She nodded her head then took in a deep breath. "I wish it was that simple."

"Maybe it is." I shrugged my shoulders then Dad was at the mic again, introducing the next song. 

"This next song is pretty self explanatory, so I'm just going to let it speak for itself." Dad was looking right at Mom, but she was trying not to meet his gaze. As the music began & the words began, I understood why Mom avoided Dad's gaze. You could see the love in his eyes, the way he kept staring at her, even as he lifted a plastic cup to his mouth to take a drink.

"I'm proud of you. You found a way to be okay, I'm proud of you. You had the strength to walk away, I'm proud of you. You made the best of my mistakes, so I'm proud of you. So proud of you. I'm on the move. Taste the feeling every night to get over you. Drinking more than you would like, I hate to lose. And you said you hate my pride, but I'm proud of you. So proud of you. But this time, it's harder to make you know and you said the trust was gone so you had to go. But I miss you, body & soul. So strong, yea you take my breath away. And I wish you were here in my arms right now because you take my breath away..." 

The response to the song, from everyone, was a positive one, but when I looked at Mom I saw that she was touched by the song. She was putting on a brave face, I could tell. I gave her a smile when she looked at me. "Guess Dad's proud of you." I smirked & she laughed hard as she put her arm around my shoulder.

Each song on Dad's album was supposed to be a paragraph of a love letter to Mom, so I was listening closely. I heard all the important messages to her. In his song, called 'Comeback' the message was pretty clear. "Comeback to me, I'll come back to you." The song, "Love Her" was a beautiful song about how to love a woman & it was generalized, but I knew he was thinking about Mom when he wrote it.