Post by Ace Anderson on May 17, 2006 18:36:46 GMT -5
As I now realize, one of the most fearful times in a lover’s life, is when they bring their partner to meet their parents. Or in my case, their parent. I know Mom will very much approve of Katelyn, but it’s still reason to feel even the least bit nervous. It’s been long enough since I’ve seen Mom, and now that I’ve rid myself of the bane that was Ace Anderson, I feel this is the best possible time.
While I had Ace Anderson’s motives lurking in the back of my mind, I never really liked to see my mother, because then I’d be accused, by my own mind, of being weak. Like I’ve said before, I had to sever all connections I had with anything resembling humanity. It didn’t really bother ol’ Mr. Anderson, because he was just a figment of my imagination that ran on victories and causing pain alone, but it tore me apart. It has just occurred to me that I am crazy, or at least I was crazy, but I’d like to call myself self-cured, or at least Katelyn-cured. I’ve missed Mom, and I’m sure she’s missed me just as much, if not more.
So as I approach my West Newbury home, while I’m pulling in the driveway, I can’t help but squeeze Katelyn’s hand, which I’ve held for almost the entire ride, and squeeze it tight. I shut off the car after sitting idly in the driveway, and I don’t move a muscle.
“Don’t worry, she’ll be happy to see you.” Katelyn reassures me. It’s a good thing too. I don’t know if I could go through with this without her by my side. She really did jump at the chance to meet Mother, and I didn’t really deny her. I would always think about Mother, but then that would be shoved aside by a selfish thought from my bitter half. I just didn’t think that it would be this God-damn hard to make my way up the driveway. I thought I’d at least be able to get out of the car.
“I suppose it’s better now, than later on. I can’t wait to surprise her.” I give Katelyn a look, one that says ‘kiss me,’ and she reads it perfectly. She leans across and gives me a kiss on my cheek, and we both exit the car. I walk around to the front of the car to meet her, and I take her by the hand. I take her in a hug, and as we break free from each other’s arms, I look her in the eyes. “I can’t believe I’ve waited this long. Waited this long for you, and waited this long to see my own Mother.”
“Well yes, but you and I are together, and we’re right in front of your Mother’s house, are we not?” She couldn’t have been more right. Why dwell on things that are within my reach now? Why worry about what I am taking care of, allowing myself to evolve as a person, stepping outside the realm of competition, in the ring and at the card table. It’s strange to think that Katelyn is the first girl I’ve ever really been involved with. I’ve been with women before, a long time ago, back during the start of my wrestling training, but I have never felt this way, or wanted to feel this way, ever. Not until I looked at her the first time, and felt that familiar feeling. The one I feel, when she smiles.
“Have I told you yet today how much I love you?”
“Only three times, that one makes four.” she jokes as she pokes me in the side, near my ribs. Her sweet spot, as I like to call it. She always seems to reach for it when she’s ‘ribbing me.’ Only appropriate, I guess.
“Maybe we should knock, it would make an even better surprise.” I tell her as we walk up the front step, and stand directly in front of the doorway of the house that I lived in when I was very young. When my parents moved to Boston, they never sold it, and after my Father died, Mother decided to move back into it. She wanted to keep the good memories intact, and they existed in this house. I try to decide how to approach this, but before I can, Katelyn reaches out and rings the doorbell. She looks up at me, with soothing eyes, and I agree that waiting would only make it harder on me.
I can hear Mother’s footsteps approaching the door, and even before I see her face, I can feel the tears clogging my throat. I clear my throat in an attempt to make them go away, but they decide to stick around. It is when the door opens, that I see the face of motherly love, almost as if she knew, looking right into my chest.
“I wasn’t expecting compan–“ she pauses. Right there in mid-sentence. Her eyes trace a path up my chest, across my face, and my own eyes lock with hers. Immediately, I see a single tear, the smallest droplet of liquid joy, form in her eye. “Jason..oh my.” And then it comes. Like Angel Falls in Venezuela, I could swear at this exact moment not even the strongest of man-made structures could trap the waterfall of tears that I am certain will flood the porch. Katelyn just kind of stands off to the side, I know she understands.
I take Mother in my arms, and embrace her in the most loving hug I can dig down and find. It’s right there, next to my heart. I was saving it for this exact moment. We are both blubbering quite profusely, and not even for one second do I care. This is why I had to wait for Ace to be gone before this reunion could really be made. I wouldn’t be able to live this down in my own mind if that side of me was still present, but it isn’t, and now I can finally take my Mother in my arms. Hold her after showing up on her doorstep, totally out of the blue, and hug her like a son should hug his Mother.
“Forgive me..it’s just been so long since you’ve shown up so unexpectedly like this. I can’t remember the last time, to be honest.” she tries to say through teary eyes, and I begin to feel worse.
“That’s because I’ve finally realized that I’ve been wrong all this time.”
“I knew you’d come around, I just knew you would. I never lost hope in you, son.”
“And I’ve never stopped loving you, Mom.” as she lets go of her hug, her attention immediately turns to Katelyn.
“Who is this? Pardon my manners. I’m Shirley McDonald. Pleased to meet you.” Mother says as she pulls a tissue out of nowhere to dry her eyes. I wipe my eyes on the sleeves of my long sleeved shirt, the first long sleeved shirt I’ve worn in more than six months. Katelyn extends her hand to my Mother, but my Mother simply pulls her into a hug.
“I’m Katelyn. I guess you could call me Jason’s girlfriend.”
“You guess? Of course you’re my girlfriend sweetheart.” I say as I wrap my arms around both of them, taking, for the first time, the two most important people in my life, and holding them. Expressing all of the love that I possess.
“Please, excuse me once more. So much emotion. Please, come inside.” Mother beckons. We don’t object, and we follow her inside the house. I wasn’t old enough to remember anything whenever I lived her, so long ago, but I imagined everything would be this way in my dreams. This seems like the perfect place for my Mother and Father to express the great love they shared for each other. Mother leads us into the living room, and we sit down on the couch. She shuts off the television, which was tuned in to some talk show, although now the screen only displays blackness. She sits down in an arm chair across from Katelyn and myself, as I take Katelyn’s hand in mine.
“Mom, I want to apologize for all of the times that I could have come to see you, and haven’t. I just didn’t feel that I could bring myself in front of you with the things that were going on in my head. That’s all sorted out now, though. Here I am.” I let it all out. It’s hard to say, but I feel I must.
“Well, no sense worrying about that now. I’m just happy that you are here.” she retorts, to my pleasure, although I still feel guilty. I’m just glad she doesn’t come right out and say she was upset with me. I felt bad enough in my heart, hearing it from her would have killed me.
“I love your house, Mrs. McDonald.” Katelyn decides to break the silence, and lighten up the mood. That is one of the qualities that I love about her. She can make any situation into an easy one, just by saying anything. Her voice is too sweet to resent.
“Why thank you dear, but please, call me Shirley, or Mom. I don’t do much work around here, however. It just seems to clean itself sometimes. By the way, how did you two meet each other?” Mother enquires, and I figure it would be a strange story to tell, but a story none-the-less.
“Well, it started at the grand opening for the Foundation in Dad’s honor. I saw her, and I looked into her eyes, and I was hooked.” I confessed. Katelyn gave me a smile.
“When I first saw him, I recognized him from the television. I was curious. Curious to know if he was actually as rude in real life as he is on television. Thankfully, he is much, much less rude when he’s isn’t in front of a camera.” Katelyn adds to the end of my sentence, and Mother just nods her head up and down.
“I always had a feeling that eventually my Jason would find the perfect woman, and I believe he’s found her. Jason, I haven’t seen you look so happy in all of my life.”
“That’s because you’re right, Mom. I haven’t been happier in all of my life.” I reply, as I place my other hand on top of Katelyn’s, and rub the top of her hand with my own.
“Let me go make some tea, I’ll be right back. You two just make yourselves at home. Maybe you could show Katelyn the old photo albums, Jason.” Mother says as she stands up, walking in the direction of the kitchen. As Mother leaves the room, Katelyn turns to me.
“She is so sweet. I think I love her!” she exclaims.
“I knew you would.” I assure her, as I stand up and take her over to the fireplace, where many pictures of old sit. We begin to look at old pictures, of Mom and Dad, a long time ago, before I was even born. The pictures were taken back in Rhode Island, before they even moved to West Newbury. They had moved here because of plans to have me, I knew, and I was grateful for it. If I had not grown up in Boston, I would not be the man I am now.
“You were so cute!” Katelyn yells as she sees pictures of me when I was younger. Back when I was all pudge.
“Cute like a beluga whale.” I sarcastically say.
“Well, my beluga whale wouldn’t be anything but a cute one.” she says, as she goes for that spot again. I laugh a bit, and I look down at the floor. Propped up against the fireplace is an old photo album. I pick it up, and I inspect the cover.
‘Rhode Island, 1974'
I open up the album, and on the first page I see another picture of a younger Mom and Dad. As I continue to flip through, I find pictures of Dad and a strange man I have never seen nor heard of in my life.
“Hey, I’ve never seen this guy before.” I say to Katelyn, as I inspect the photo.
“Looks like him and your Dad were good friends.” she observes, and I begin to think she is right. In almost all of the pictures they are goofing around or smiling, or just plain looking like they’re having a good time.
“What I wouldn’t do for a friend like that growing up.”
“Hey, don’t worry about it. It was everyone else’s loss, not yours.” Katelyn tells me, as we continue to inspect the pictures of Dad and the mystery man. As my Mother comes back with two glasses of tea, I take the photo album in my arms as Katelyn and I return to the couch. I usually wouldn’t drink tea, but I don’t really care all that much now that Ace Anderson is gone.
“Hey Mom, who is this guy in all of these pictures with Dad?” I ask her, as I take a sip of the tea. It’s hot. I inhale some of the air to relieve the burning sensation in my mouth.
“Oh, that was one of his friend’s from back in Rhode Island. Don’t know what happened to him, can’t really remember his name. I don’t open that album too much. Check the back, maybe you can find his name there.” Mom explains as she sips her own tea now. I find the crease in the page of the photo album, and I remove the picture with a delicate hand. I turn it over. On the back, it reads:
‘Jason & Eldarin’
It doesn’t say anything else.
“It says Jason and...some weird name. Eldarin maybe?” I say to Mom, puzzled.
“Yes, Eldarin. That was his name. He was a bit eccentric, but your Father loved him like a brother. It was a pity things weren’t going so well for his love as they did for your Father and I. Although I’m sure they worked it out. Eldarin had a knack for making things work. I just always assumed he could do it with his relationships too. I think they were trying to start a family as well, although you could never be sure with those two.” Mother tells me, as though the name of Eldarin sparked her mind and she could remember everything like it was yesterday.
Something about that name sticks out in my mind. Like a puzzle on Wheel of Fortune you know you’re one letter away from solving. I couldn’t quite place my finger on it right there, and I brush it off as I continue to sift through the memories contained in the photo album. One of the pages has a cut-out scrap of paper in it, and on the paper it reads:
‘West Newbury, 1977'
I continue turning the pages, with Katelyn poking fun at the pictures of me as a baby. Mother laughs as she recalls the baby pictures being taken. I don’t see what is so appealing of taking pictures of babies. They don’t do much. Memories are memories, though, I suppose. I hand the album to Katelyn, as I stand up from the couch, holding the cup of tea in my hand. Mother gets up and goes to sit down next to Katelyn, to describe the many pictures to her. I walk over to the picture window, and I look out, onto the front yard. I must have played there often before we moved to Boston. I can almost imagine myself out there, getting dirty, rolling in the mud. The stern look that carries a hint of laughter as Mother sees me all dirty and tries to scold me, but can’t do it.
Then that name comes back to my head again. Eldarin. It seems so foreign, yet unknowingly familiar. What could it be? I disregard it once again, and I turn to Katelyn and Mother, having such a great time on the couch, sharing memories of my childhood. I wish we could stay here forever, but we just can’t. That’s reality.
“Katelyn, honey, we should get going soon.”
“I know dear, but we can stay another few minutes.”
“Alright, Mom, I’m sorry we have to cut this visit short, but I promise you as soon as we both get some time off, we’ll come for a longer visit.”
My Mother understands, and after another few minutes of her and Katelyn talking, they both stand up. My Mother comes over to me, and takes me in another hug. “Don’t wait another five months before you come back to me.” she whispers in my ear.
I squeeze her tighter, not too tight, but tight enough to really show my affection. “I promise you, I’m a different person now. I’ll never keep you waiting that long again.” I give her a kiss on her cheek, and I take Katelyn’s hand. We say our last good-byes, for now, as we exit the house. We get into the car, and there isn’t much to say. Only one thing really comes to mind. I turn to Katelyn, and at the exact same time, she turns to me. She says it before I can.
“I love you.” those three little whispers, once again. They leave her lips and I once again feel like melting. I give her a kiss, and then I start the car. The whole drive home is a silent one, and I don’t mind. I love how Katelyn and I can share that silence. We know that we don’t need to talk non-stop, we don’t really have anything to prove. We simply love each other, and that’s all we need to know.
After I drop her off at her place, she gives me another kiss before she gets out. I watch her walk away, her beautiful hair bobbing with each step. I drive away, and thoughts of the day fill my head. Mother, Katelyn, Dad, and his mysterious friend, Eldarin. For some reason, I felt like I knew that name.
As I approached my house, I started thinking about Lantlas once again. Now that Ace Anderson was out of my life, I could REALLY focus. No arrogance or greed getting in the way. I can really just go out there and wrestle. It’s what I love to do, really.
Like a sack of bricks, it hits me. Eldarin. Lantlas. Could it be? Could they be related somehow? Those are the only names that I’ve ever heard as weird as that, and the age seems to be about right. Could Lantlas be the son of my father’s best friend? Was this some sort of sick twist of fate that we happen to meet...could it be the will of our own fathers that brought us to face each other in the ring? I have no way to really know, and that should be the last of my worries. Son of my Father’s best friend or not, I have to defeat him. It is the only way I can think of remaining to achieve what I’ve always strived for, to go down in history as a legend.
I make my way inside my house, and I reach my bedroom. I begin to disrobe, and the big picture comes into perspective.
Now that I have my Mother’s blessing with Katelyn, although I never doubted it. Now that I've patched up my relationship with Mother, all that is left is to defeat Lantlas. Then, for the first time in the longest time, I can feel whole. A quest I’ve been on for quite some time now. An achievement that I can feel, at the very tips of my fingers.
While I had Ace Anderson’s motives lurking in the back of my mind, I never really liked to see my mother, because then I’d be accused, by my own mind, of being weak. Like I’ve said before, I had to sever all connections I had with anything resembling humanity. It didn’t really bother ol’ Mr. Anderson, because he was just a figment of my imagination that ran on victories and causing pain alone, but it tore me apart. It has just occurred to me that I am crazy, or at least I was crazy, but I’d like to call myself self-cured, or at least Katelyn-cured. I’ve missed Mom, and I’m sure she’s missed me just as much, if not more.
So as I approach my West Newbury home, while I’m pulling in the driveway, I can’t help but squeeze Katelyn’s hand, which I’ve held for almost the entire ride, and squeeze it tight. I shut off the car after sitting idly in the driveway, and I don’t move a muscle.
“Don’t worry, she’ll be happy to see you.” Katelyn reassures me. It’s a good thing too. I don’t know if I could go through with this without her by my side. She really did jump at the chance to meet Mother, and I didn’t really deny her. I would always think about Mother, but then that would be shoved aside by a selfish thought from my bitter half. I just didn’t think that it would be this God-damn hard to make my way up the driveway. I thought I’d at least be able to get out of the car.
“I suppose it’s better now, than later on. I can’t wait to surprise her.” I give Katelyn a look, one that says ‘kiss me,’ and she reads it perfectly. She leans across and gives me a kiss on my cheek, and we both exit the car. I walk around to the front of the car to meet her, and I take her by the hand. I take her in a hug, and as we break free from each other’s arms, I look her in the eyes. “I can’t believe I’ve waited this long. Waited this long for you, and waited this long to see my own Mother.”
“Well yes, but you and I are together, and we’re right in front of your Mother’s house, are we not?” She couldn’t have been more right. Why dwell on things that are within my reach now? Why worry about what I am taking care of, allowing myself to evolve as a person, stepping outside the realm of competition, in the ring and at the card table. It’s strange to think that Katelyn is the first girl I’ve ever really been involved with. I’ve been with women before, a long time ago, back during the start of my wrestling training, but I have never felt this way, or wanted to feel this way, ever. Not until I looked at her the first time, and felt that familiar feeling. The one I feel, when she smiles.
“Have I told you yet today how much I love you?”
“Only three times, that one makes four.” she jokes as she pokes me in the side, near my ribs. Her sweet spot, as I like to call it. She always seems to reach for it when she’s ‘ribbing me.’ Only appropriate, I guess.
“Maybe we should knock, it would make an even better surprise.” I tell her as we walk up the front step, and stand directly in front of the doorway of the house that I lived in when I was very young. When my parents moved to Boston, they never sold it, and after my Father died, Mother decided to move back into it. She wanted to keep the good memories intact, and they existed in this house. I try to decide how to approach this, but before I can, Katelyn reaches out and rings the doorbell. She looks up at me, with soothing eyes, and I agree that waiting would only make it harder on me.
I can hear Mother’s footsteps approaching the door, and even before I see her face, I can feel the tears clogging my throat. I clear my throat in an attempt to make them go away, but they decide to stick around. It is when the door opens, that I see the face of motherly love, almost as if she knew, looking right into my chest.
“I wasn’t expecting compan–“ she pauses. Right there in mid-sentence. Her eyes trace a path up my chest, across my face, and my own eyes lock with hers. Immediately, I see a single tear, the smallest droplet of liquid joy, form in her eye. “Jason..oh my.” And then it comes. Like Angel Falls in Venezuela, I could swear at this exact moment not even the strongest of man-made structures could trap the waterfall of tears that I am certain will flood the porch. Katelyn just kind of stands off to the side, I know she understands.
I take Mother in my arms, and embrace her in the most loving hug I can dig down and find. It’s right there, next to my heart. I was saving it for this exact moment. We are both blubbering quite profusely, and not even for one second do I care. This is why I had to wait for Ace to be gone before this reunion could really be made. I wouldn’t be able to live this down in my own mind if that side of me was still present, but it isn’t, and now I can finally take my Mother in my arms. Hold her after showing up on her doorstep, totally out of the blue, and hug her like a son should hug his Mother.
“Forgive me..it’s just been so long since you’ve shown up so unexpectedly like this. I can’t remember the last time, to be honest.” she tries to say through teary eyes, and I begin to feel worse.
“That’s because I’ve finally realized that I’ve been wrong all this time.”
“I knew you’d come around, I just knew you would. I never lost hope in you, son.”
“And I’ve never stopped loving you, Mom.” as she lets go of her hug, her attention immediately turns to Katelyn.
“Who is this? Pardon my manners. I’m Shirley McDonald. Pleased to meet you.” Mother says as she pulls a tissue out of nowhere to dry her eyes. I wipe my eyes on the sleeves of my long sleeved shirt, the first long sleeved shirt I’ve worn in more than six months. Katelyn extends her hand to my Mother, but my Mother simply pulls her into a hug.
“I’m Katelyn. I guess you could call me Jason’s girlfriend.”
“You guess? Of course you’re my girlfriend sweetheart.” I say as I wrap my arms around both of them, taking, for the first time, the two most important people in my life, and holding them. Expressing all of the love that I possess.
“Please, excuse me once more. So much emotion. Please, come inside.” Mother beckons. We don’t object, and we follow her inside the house. I wasn’t old enough to remember anything whenever I lived her, so long ago, but I imagined everything would be this way in my dreams. This seems like the perfect place for my Mother and Father to express the great love they shared for each other. Mother leads us into the living room, and we sit down on the couch. She shuts off the television, which was tuned in to some talk show, although now the screen only displays blackness. She sits down in an arm chair across from Katelyn and myself, as I take Katelyn’s hand in mine.
“Mom, I want to apologize for all of the times that I could have come to see you, and haven’t. I just didn’t feel that I could bring myself in front of you with the things that were going on in my head. That’s all sorted out now, though. Here I am.” I let it all out. It’s hard to say, but I feel I must.
“Well, no sense worrying about that now. I’m just happy that you are here.” she retorts, to my pleasure, although I still feel guilty. I’m just glad she doesn’t come right out and say she was upset with me. I felt bad enough in my heart, hearing it from her would have killed me.
“I love your house, Mrs. McDonald.” Katelyn decides to break the silence, and lighten up the mood. That is one of the qualities that I love about her. She can make any situation into an easy one, just by saying anything. Her voice is too sweet to resent.
“Why thank you dear, but please, call me Shirley, or Mom. I don’t do much work around here, however. It just seems to clean itself sometimes. By the way, how did you two meet each other?” Mother enquires, and I figure it would be a strange story to tell, but a story none-the-less.
“Well, it started at the grand opening for the Foundation in Dad’s honor. I saw her, and I looked into her eyes, and I was hooked.” I confessed. Katelyn gave me a smile.
“When I first saw him, I recognized him from the television. I was curious. Curious to know if he was actually as rude in real life as he is on television. Thankfully, he is much, much less rude when he’s isn’t in front of a camera.” Katelyn adds to the end of my sentence, and Mother just nods her head up and down.
“I always had a feeling that eventually my Jason would find the perfect woman, and I believe he’s found her. Jason, I haven’t seen you look so happy in all of my life.”
“That’s because you’re right, Mom. I haven’t been happier in all of my life.” I reply, as I place my other hand on top of Katelyn’s, and rub the top of her hand with my own.
“Let me go make some tea, I’ll be right back. You two just make yourselves at home. Maybe you could show Katelyn the old photo albums, Jason.” Mother says as she stands up, walking in the direction of the kitchen. As Mother leaves the room, Katelyn turns to me.
“She is so sweet. I think I love her!” she exclaims.
“I knew you would.” I assure her, as I stand up and take her over to the fireplace, where many pictures of old sit. We begin to look at old pictures, of Mom and Dad, a long time ago, before I was even born. The pictures were taken back in Rhode Island, before they even moved to West Newbury. They had moved here because of plans to have me, I knew, and I was grateful for it. If I had not grown up in Boston, I would not be the man I am now.
“You were so cute!” Katelyn yells as she sees pictures of me when I was younger. Back when I was all pudge.
“Cute like a beluga whale.” I sarcastically say.
“Well, my beluga whale wouldn’t be anything but a cute one.” she says, as she goes for that spot again. I laugh a bit, and I look down at the floor. Propped up against the fireplace is an old photo album. I pick it up, and I inspect the cover.
‘Rhode Island, 1974'
I open up the album, and on the first page I see another picture of a younger Mom and Dad. As I continue to flip through, I find pictures of Dad and a strange man I have never seen nor heard of in my life.
“Hey, I’ve never seen this guy before.” I say to Katelyn, as I inspect the photo.
“Looks like him and your Dad were good friends.” she observes, and I begin to think she is right. In almost all of the pictures they are goofing around or smiling, or just plain looking like they’re having a good time.
“What I wouldn’t do for a friend like that growing up.”
“Hey, don’t worry about it. It was everyone else’s loss, not yours.” Katelyn tells me, as we continue to inspect the pictures of Dad and the mystery man. As my Mother comes back with two glasses of tea, I take the photo album in my arms as Katelyn and I return to the couch. I usually wouldn’t drink tea, but I don’t really care all that much now that Ace Anderson is gone.
“Hey Mom, who is this guy in all of these pictures with Dad?” I ask her, as I take a sip of the tea. It’s hot. I inhale some of the air to relieve the burning sensation in my mouth.
“Oh, that was one of his friend’s from back in Rhode Island. Don’t know what happened to him, can’t really remember his name. I don’t open that album too much. Check the back, maybe you can find his name there.” Mom explains as she sips her own tea now. I find the crease in the page of the photo album, and I remove the picture with a delicate hand. I turn it over. On the back, it reads:
‘Jason & Eldarin’
It doesn’t say anything else.
“It says Jason and...some weird name. Eldarin maybe?” I say to Mom, puzzled.
“Yes, Eldarin. That was his name. He was a bit eccentric, but your Father loved him like a brother. It was a pity things weren’t going so well for his love as they did for your Father and I. Although I’m sure they worked it out. Eldarin had a knack for making things work. I just always assumed he could do it with his relationships too. I think they were trying to start a family as well, although you could never be sure with those two.” Mother tells me, as though the name of Eldarin sparked her mind and she could remember everything like it was yesterday.
Something about that name sticks out in my mind. Like a puzzle on Wheel of Fortune you know you’re one letter away from solving. I couldn’t quite place my finger on it right there, and I brush it off as I continue to sift through the memories contained in the photo album. One of the pages has a cut-out scrap of paper in it, and on the paper it reads:
‘West Newbury, 1977'
I continue turning the pages, with Katelyn poking fun at the pictures of me as a baby. Mother laughs as she recalls the baby pictures being taken. I don’t see what is so appealing of taking pictures of babies. They don’t do much. Memories are memories, though, I suppose. I hand the album to Katelyn, as I stand up from the couch, holding the cup of tea in my hand. Mother gets up and goes to sit down next to Katelyn, to describe the many pictures to her. I walk over to the picture window, and I look out, onto the front yard. I must have played there often before we moved to Boston. I can almost imagine myself out there, getting dirty, rolling in the mud. The stern look that carries a hint of laughter as Mother sees me all dirty and tries to scold me, but can’t do it.
Then that name comes back to my head again. Eldarin. It seems so foreign, yet unknowingly familiar. What could it be? I disregard it once again, and I turn to Katelyn and Mother, having such a great time on the couch, sharing memories of my childhood. I wish we could stay here forever, but we just can’t. That’s reality.
“Katelyn, honey, we should get going soon.”
“I know dear, but we can stay another few minutes.”
“Alright, Mom, I’m sorry we have to cut this visit short, but I promise you as soon as we both get some time off, we’ll come for a longer visit.”
My Mother understands, and after another few minutes of her and Katelyn talking, they both stand up. My Mother comes over to me, and takes me in another hug. “Don’t wait another five months before you come back to me.” she whispers in my ear.
I squeeze her tighter, not too tight, but tight enough to really show my affection. “I promise you, I’m a different person now. I’ll never keep you waiting that long again.” I give her a kiss on her cheek, and I take Katelyn’s hand. We say our last good-byes, for now, as we exit the house. We get into the car, and there isn’t much to say. Only one thing really comes to mind. I turn to Katelyn, and at the exact same time, she turns to me. She says it before I can.
“I love you.” those three little whispers, once again. They leave her lips and I once again feel like melting. I give her a kiss, and then I start the car. The whole drive home is a silent one, and I don’t mind. I love how Katelyn and I can share that silence. We know that we don’t need to talk non-stop, we don’t really have anything to prove. We simply love each other, and that’s all we need to know.
After I drop her off at her place, she gives me another kiss before she gets out. I watch her walk away, her beautiful hair bobbing with each step. I drive away, and thoughts of the day fill my head. Mother, Katelyn, Dad, and his mysterious friend, Eldarin. For some reason, I felt like I knew that name.
As I approached my house, I started thinking about Lantlas once again. Now that Ace Anderson was out of my life, I could REALLY focus. No arrogance or greed getting in the way. I can really just go out there and wrestle. It’s what I love to do, really.
Like a sack of bricks, it hits me. Eldarin. Lantlas. Could it be? Could they be related somehow? Those are the only names that I’ve ever heard as weird as that, and the age seems to be about right. Could Lantlas be the son of my father’s best friend? Was this some sort of sick twist of fate that we happen to meet...could it be the will of our own fathers that brought us to face each other in the ring? I have no way to really know, and that should be the last of my worries. Son of my Father’s best friend or not, I have to defeat him. It is the only way I can think of remaining to achieve what I’ve always strived for, to go down in history as a legend.
I make my way inside my house, and I reach my bedroom. I begin to disrobe, and the big picture comes into perspective.
Now that I have my Mother’s blessing with Katelyn, although I never doubted it. Now that I've patched up my relationship with Mother, all that is left is to defeat Lantlas. Then, for the first time in the longest time, I can feel whole. A quest I’ve been on for quite some time now. An achievement that I can feel, at the very tips of my fingers.
