First Class Farewell by Aj Harmon Page B

carrying two glasses. He handed
one to her.
    “This is water,” she frowned. “Do we need to get your
hearing checked?”
    “I’m not getting you any wine.”
    “Why not?” she said, irritation in her voice.
    “Did Paul and Nic go to bed?”
    “Yes,” Beth scowled as she sipped the ice water.
    “Beth? I have something I need to tell you.”
    “That sounds ominous,” she replied. “Lay it on me,” she
sighed.
    “You can’t have any wine, or any alcohol, for the
next little while.”
    “What?”
    Tim grinned, unable to keep a blank expression on his face.
“Dr. Ringer called today.”
    “What?”
    “Dr. Ringer called. We’re going to have a baby!”
    *****
    “What the hell?” Matt exclaimed as he sat up straight.
    “Somebody screamed,” Janie said jumping from the bed and
grabbing her robe.
    “Stay here!” Matt ordered as he ran from the room and down
the stairs, Janie following close behind him.
    At the foot of the stairs they met Mark and Katy who’d also
heard the noise. They were then joined by Andrew and Rory.
    Peter stood at the top of the stairs. “What was that?” he
barked.
    “I don’t know,” Matt said as he picked up one of the
children’s cricket bats that lay near the stairs.
    “That’s going to defend us all,” Mark chuckled.
    Matt ignored his brother and stalked through the darkened
house towards the children in the family room. All was quiet and all the
children were accounted for. As he turned, he saw a silhouette on the patio. He
tiptoed in that direction. A squeal came again and then laughing. Matt drew
back the bat and stepped outside through the open doors.
    “Oh, it’s you!” he sighed with relief as he saw Tim and Beth
in each other’s arms. “We heard a scream and…”
    “Sorry,” Beth grinned. “That was me.”
    “Are you alright?” Matt asked, concern immediately back
again.
    “We’re fine!” Tim smiled. “All three of us.”
    *****
    The next morning was bittersweet. It was the day that had
been set aside for Ray’s ashes to be washed away in the clear turquoise water.
But the excitement and joy that filled the house was palpable. The news that
after years of disappointment Beth was finally pregnant lifted the sadness that
had encircled the Lathems for the past four weeks. As they said goodbye to Ray,
they also rejoiced in the coming arrival of another precious baby.
    At eleven o’clock, the family met together at the water’s
edge. Matt held a silver urn in his hands as he solemnly walked a few feet into
the warm water and quietly said his goodbyes. Tears were shed, memories were
remembered and the ashes washed away quickly into the ocean.
    Several minutes went by before Matt could turn and face his
family. His tear-stained cheeks spoke volumes. It was hard to say goodbye. But
he had and it was time to let Ray go.

11.
The Wake
    Several years before, Matt and Ray had attended a funeral
for a member of the security team at MEL Holdings. He’d died in a motorcycle
accident that had shocked the company and blanketed them in grief for several
weeks. He’d been a well-liked and beloved member of the work family and the
church had been overflowing with those people whose hearts he’d touched during
his short thirty-two year life.
    The two men had sat on the bench of the church grieving with
everyone else when Ray had turned to Matt and quietly whispered, “This is
depressing. I want my life to be celebrated when I die.”
    At the bar later that day, as the men he used to work with
toasted him, Matt and Ray again had a conversation.
    “I want there to be party when I go,” Ray had said. “I want
people to miss me, sure. But I also want them to be glad they’d known me and to
celebrate it. I don’t think I could stand it if it was a morose affair.”
    “My parents and my tailor will be the only ones to miss me!”
Matt had joked.
    “That’s B S and you know it!” Ray had replied. “You’ll find
a woman that will make that heart of yours