Just the fireflies by Suburban Thrills

The author

An aged man lying in bed, propped up on a few pillows stared at the lap top in front of him. He stared at the blank screen for a moment and closed his eyes. After a minute, he began to slowly type.

"Dad, I can do it for you." Another man, considerably younger, said.

"No, no. I want to do this myself."

"But Dad..."

The aged man gave him a look and quirked a brow. The other man sighed in defeat before leaving his father to type.

'I'm going to do this myself.' He said to himself. 'This is my story to tell.'

Lightening bugs were littered across the sky the night I saw her. The music was playing loudly, but everything faded away, leaving only her in my vision. How would I know that my fate would be sealed on this very night?

Ah...yes...this introduction could be more. I could say things about the way her eyes sparkled when she looked upon me and the way I just strode over there without a trace of fear...but then I'd be lying, you see. It didn't happen that way at all.

No...not at all.

The fireflies were in the air that night, but it was entirely too well lit to really see them clearly. I was at a party, my brothers' party. He and his wife were celebrating their first year together and they had decided to have a nice celebration with all of their family and friends.

I can't really say I wanted to be there, it was quite embarrassing. You see, my brother is younger than myself, by good three or four years, and I still haven't lived down how he had gotten married before me. Hell, I hadn't even had a girlfriend for a few months.

I was a raging workaholic and proud, damnit.

I had (and still do) money up the wazoo and I worked hard for every cent of it. What did I need a woman for? So she could spend my profits away? Two words my friend:

Hell. No.

I had just about enough of that party and all those people asking me questions about if I had found a possible significant other. For heavens sake, they actually asked me if I was a homosexual! (Of course, there isn't anything wrong with that at all.) I finally grabbed for a drink from a passing waiter, downed a glass or two and was headed to my car to leave when suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder.

Shit.

"Come 'ere, I want you to meet someone." My brother said as he pulled me to the opposite side of my destination.

He proceeded to drag me until we finally came to a stop by a small group of people talking about who-ha's and what-nots. He tapped a woman in a blue dress on the shoulder who had her back to me and turned to look at him and back to the group to excuse herself.

'Okay,' I said to myself, 'the side of her face is pretty cute.' This was when I started to picture a hideous mole or some deformation on the other half of her 'pretty cute' face.

I am a pessimistic man, what can I say?

When she finally turned fully around, I scanned every bit of her exposed skin, searching for that deformity. Needless to say, it wasn't there.

Damn.

I finally came back to myself when my brother made introductions and started to slowly back away.

"I'm gunna go see mom and dad." He said, "You two play nice, now."

Jackass.

My hands were going to find their way to his neck before you could say –

"So, you're his brother?" her melodious voice questioned.

"Yes, unfortunately." was my stoic reply. It surprised me, when she laughed.

"Yeah, he can be such a pain in the ass sometimes. I don't know what Kikyo really sees in the maniac. I see him every day at work, and that's more than enough for me." She smiled brightly as she looked right into my eyes.

That was intriguing. No one really looked me in the eyes anymore, not business associates, not friends...no one. She was different, and as much as I wanted to deny it, I liked that about her. We stood there and talked about things that mattered and things that really didn't matter at all. It was strange how easy conversation came with her. The words just seemed to flow out of my tight lipped mouth and I hadn't noticed it until the end.

"Oh, damn." She suddenly said looking at her cell phone.

"Is something wrong?"

"I'm so sorry to cut this short, but I left my brother at a friends' house so I could come here, and I have to get back to go take him home. It was a pleasure talking with you." She apologetically smiled up at me and we exchanged numbers before she was off.

I thought I had seen the last of the cute faced, brown eyed girl, but she had surprised me yet again when she called me a few days later, asking if I wanted to go out for lunch. "Not really a date, but still a date." she said.

Yeah, I couldn't help it...that made me smile a little.

Everything was fantastic. More than fantastic.

She was the most perfect person I had ever, ever met. (And anyone can tell you, that's saying a lot coming from me.) Sure she was a little childish at times, but that's what made her beautiful to me. She didn't try and be someone she wasn't when she was around me, like so many other people. She wasn't out to impress anyone but herself.

I liked that about her too.

We had been dating for close to two years and living together by the time I realized that I loved this woman with every fiber of my being. I had to have her for me and me only.

Yes. I'm a greedy bastard.

So the night before her birthday, (December 15th), with the snow still sprinkling from the dark sky, I went to the best jewelers and bought the best wedding ring. We went to bed that night, and I held that bundle of warmth close to me, waiting until she fell asleep. She finally drifted away to dreamland and I got up to make my preparations.

So this is where it gets a little more than cheesy.

I set the birthday cake up in the center of the coffee table with 6 candles and poured some champagne into the glasses. The presents I had bought her were put at the end of the table and the balloons I had hid in the hall closet were taken out and released them throughout the room. It was finally finished off with the streamers on the walls.

I looked at the clock. Twelve a.m. on the dot. Perfect.

After lighting the candles, I crept back into the room and slipped into the bed, waking her up with a kiss. She let out a muffled groan.

"What's the matter?" she asked sleepily.

Damn. She was so cute right then.

"Come with me really quick." I took her hand when she got out of bed and lead her half way down the hall before I put my hands over her eyes and lead her the rest of the way to the living room.

When we finally reached the living room, I took my hands from her eyes and smiled when she gasped.

"Happy birthday." I whispered into her ear.

She turned with tears in her eyes and hugged me for all she was worth. "Thank you, so much. Everything is so...so beautiful." She spoke into my neck.

I couldn't help but smile. "Come on, we have to blow out those candles before they drip all over the cake."

So we sat down and she blew out the candles, making her wish as she did it. We stuffed ourselves crazy with the cake before she tore into the presents I had gotten her. Needless to say, she was in love with her cashmere clothes. It slowly crept to 5 a.m. when she finally decided to turn in. I stopped her.

The festivities weren't over yet.

"I can't believe you got me something else. What have I told you about spending all that money on me? All this is enough." She chided me as I turned her around.

When she turned back around, I was bent on a knee with that velvet box in my hand. She stood and stared at me with wide eyes for a minute.

"Will you marry me?"

She blinked a few more times when the question finally hit home.

"Oh my..." she said with her hands over her mouth and tears shining in her eyes. "Oh my God, Yes!"

I had barely slipped the ring on her finger before she leapt on top of me and landed her lips on mine. That'll always be the greatest night of passion I will ever have a chance to experience.

We got married just a few months after, and a year after that, we had our son. He had his fathers dashing good looks and his mothers' dark hair. This child, our child, our pride and joy, brought more light into our already radiant world. It seemed like nothing could go wrong.

Oh how wrong we were.

Our son had just turned ten when we found out the news. I just couldn't keep the tears from my eyes when we were told.

She had cancer.

My beloved had breast cancer. We took her to the best doctors the world could offer, and each one said the same thing. The cancer had spread too far to be cured. My perfect world had crumbled around me. Oh how the mighty hath fallen.

She was just as devastated, I could tell, but she took the proverbial bull by the horns and endured it. She made the best of life and made life as normal as possible. We went out and had family days. She even went to our little boys' play.

He was the star, you know. A high achiever, just like his old man.

But she grew weaker and weaker; until she was bed ridden and could barely move. We paid the best money for homecare. I couldn't bear for her to be out of my reach when she was like this. Each day I talked to her, I know tears fell from my eyes. She never showed it, but I knew she was in pain and it killed me. I wanted to take that pain from her, to stop her from suffering. I cursed God and every other holy figure there was for making her sick. For making her hurt.

I felt I was becoming a bitter, old man.

Then the day came. I think she knew. I swear she did because she called me into the room and asked me to sit with her with that smile on her face. That smile that never faded. She told me that everything happened for a reason: her meeting me, her marrying me, her having our child...her dying. She said things and explained things... that I just couldn't grasp nor understand at that time.

She finally passed on just an hour later.

I was numb for her funeral. I couldn't hear any of the "I'm so sorry for your loss" or feel any of the pats on my shoulder. All I could do is stand there, grasping my thirteen year old boys' hand, holding on so tight like we were each others lifeline.

After a time of burying myself in work, I finally seemed to understand what she meant. She may have been gone now, but I still had our son as a remembrance to our love that still is pulsing within me with ferocity. I may not have her with me anymore... but I still had him. I went right home after my epiphany and hugged him with every fiber of my soul.

He was fifteen then, and we had a meaningful conversation about everything. I was amazed to find out just how much like he mother he really was. He held such wisdom and understanding that he could have only gotten from her.

That was a long time ago. He's a grown man now with a family of his own. I haven't remarried and I don't plan on it. There's only one woman in my life and she's waiting for me in that stunning blue dress from the night I first met her. It'd be hard to do any of that nonsense now that I'm on my way into the afterlife anyway. I'm close enough to 100 years old, and I think that that's long enough for me. I watched my kid grow up and get married and watched their kids grow up. That's enough for me. That's enough for this old man. Hopefully no one is going to grasp my shoulder to stop me this time.

Finally, after a week, he was done. He could have done this all within a day when he was younger... but he was an old man now. The man reclined on his bed and closed his eyes.

'I hope you're still waiting for me, Kagome. I'll be with you soon, so be sure to have lights too bright to see the fireflies and the good music playing, alright?'

His face was graced with a light smile as he could already hear the music and her sweet laughter.