"Let us pray for our brother to our Lord Jesus Christ, who said: 'I am the resurrection and the life. The man who believes in me will live even if he dies, and every living person who puts his faith in me will never suffer eternal death," a priest prayed.
At the Evergreen Cemetery, which is also known as Newport Cemetery, a small number of people in black attire was gathered for a funeral. There were at least thirty, many of whom were relatives of the deceased.
Beside the priest in front of the brown coffin were close relatives of the deceased, Eric, his sister and their grandmother who were all in white.
The sudden death of Eric's grandfather brought sadness to their family. He didn't die in a hospital unlike Eric's father. He died peacefully as they found him sitting comfortably in a rocking chair at their porch just hours after he had some conversations with Eric regarding his broken heart.
Eric has just resigned from his work. It's not that he wasn't happy anymore at the station because he felt at peace with them. They were like his second family in Cincinnati. Rather, he received an offer to work on a national radio station network in New York. Eric hesitated at first but after some consultations with his mentors at the station, he hesitantly accepted it.
He was given a month off to prepare himself for the work. Instead of enjoying it, he found himself bothered on what happened in Bremerton. Seven months have passed but he couldn't forget it. It was as if happened just the other day. Eric couldn't forget the day his grandfather passed away since it was the day, his grandfather noticed his discomfort and gave him some pieces of advice.
He wouldn't forget what his grandfather told him, "In life, there are dreams that visit us in our sleep and leave us upon waking. There are dreams that give us a smile on our faces and make our life worth living. Then again, dreams would only be dreams when we don't take any action to make them a reality."
After the funeral rite, one by one people started to express their condolences and leave. Just when the last relative left, Eric noticed a small group of people from a distance stepping out of a car and walking in their direction.
He knew he wasn't just seeing things. "Could you wait for me at the car? I would just talk with some people," Eric said to his sister and grandmother.
Excitedly, he didn't wait for their answer. He walked instantly toward the people who just arrived. He breathed in and out. Concentrating on the faces of the people he would about to meet.
One of them offered a tentative smile, "Hi!" she greeted.
Eric nodded, his expression unreadable. The same person cleared her throat, "We heard what happened," she said.
"Thank you for coming." Eric gave a smile as he saw familiar faces he hasn't seen for months. Elizabeth. Mr. Clements. Mr. G. C. Melody. And Clayton. All the people, he longed to see again came.
Seeing Eric smiled had help, Melody thought. A little anyway. She was still anxious on what to say but it had lessened. Or rather, his gaze on her gave her comfort.
Eric couldn't still believe who were standing in front of him.
"Melody actually wanted to talk with you." Mr. Clements revealed while sitting on a wheelchair.
Eric's mind began to clear as he noticed that Mr. Clements was gaining some weights and having some fairer skin tone.
"Is something wrong?" Eric worriedly asked if what she wanted to say. "By the way, you're looking great."
"I think we should leave the two of you alone," Elizabeth said.
As they were about to walk toward Eric's grandmother and sister, "Wait!" Melody expressed while her eyes remained focused on Eric. "Could you leave Clayton with us for a while?" she asked.
"What is it mom?" Clayton asked as the rest started walking.
She squeezed his hand, looked at him and said cautiously, "It would just be for a minute," she looked back at Eric, "Clayton, this is your dad," she said.
Clayton shook his head. "Mom! I already have a dad."
Eric could feel his heart hammering in his chest.
She glanced back at Clayton. "I told you, Keith is not your real dad. This man in front of us is your real dad." She explained as she tried to calm herself and not wanting to raise her voice on Clayton.
Eric cleared his throat. "Hi Clayton!" he greeted. Eric was not shocked. He already heard from Mr. Clements the truth about Clayton but still his heart pounded heavily as Melody explained to Clayton the truth.
After some seconds for the first time, the father and son were hugging each other tightly. Eric's tears fell like a flash knowing that what was happening wasn't an illusion or a figment of his imagination. He had already given up hope before this to happen when he made the letter to Melody.
He held Clayton until both finally fell silent and spent. Then after releasing him, Melody asked Clayton to follow his grandparents in order for her and Eric would be able to talk privately.
When they were already alone, "First of all, I want to apologize for what happened." Melody said without preamble.
"Where's Keith?" Eric interruptedly asked, as he knew what Melody was about to say.
Melody looked at him and met his gaze. She showed her left hand to him without any ring. "We weren't really for each other." She finally said.
"What happened?" Eric could see in Melody's eyes that she was about to say something revealing but didn't have any clue for what it was.
She took a deep breath. "He actually has a dual personality that I didn't know." She forced herself to smile.
Melody and Keith used to be happy. Used to do fun things together. Early on in their marriage, not a single day would she not smile because of Keith's surprises.
Everything changed when Lea, one of her best friends, talked with her at her shop and narrated everything about her secret affair with Keith. Melody's conscience couldn't bear to close her eyes knowing that Lea's baby would not be able to see his or her dad. She knew the feeling and she wasn't happy with it.
Such affair was just the start of the many revelations, Melody found out more about Keith. Days passed in their marriage, she couldn't bear anymore the dual personality that Keith has. Her intuition told her that something was wrong but couldn't pinpoint what it was. Other than that her thoughts kept returning to her conversation with Lea. To the knowledge that Keith has a baby with her. And to the other revelations she found out about his personality. Just after four months in marriage, she finally decided to let him go.
Eric didn't say a word. He just watched her face, as her expression shifted from hesitant to animated to expectant.
Melody gazed at him back, waiting for him to say something. Instead of a word or two, Eric took a few steps in silence and slipped his hands around her. She then received a passionate kiss from him. The scene seemed as if it weren't happening now, but taking place in Melody's dream.
After the kiss, Eric let her go.
"Why did you do that?" Melody asked.
"Do I need a reason to do it?" He smiled. "I just don't want to commit the same mistake again."
"By the way, I read your letter, your satisfyingly contrite letter." She said.
"Yes, contrite."Instead of getting mad at him, this time, it was Melody who returned the kiss.Eric and Melody's journey had been colorful just like a dust jacket of a book. They had gone through a lot of trials and pain. Yet, Eric knew that the dust jacket is just a preview of a story. Their story is just beginning. There's nothing more Eric could ask for. He was with the woman he loves and with the product of their love, Clayton, their son. Who could ever need or want anything more than that?
*THANK YOU FOR READING THE DUST JACKET