Loving You

Chapter 29 | Healing from the past wounds

He began to cry. "William! Don't cry. I am sorry for asking you such a question. I love you William. You say you are imperfect. But for me, you are everything I could have ever asked for."

"Cathy. No, I am not crying because of you. I am crying... because of my mother."
Cathy had always heard him praising his mother. But she had never asked him about his family. She couldn't believe that her mother could have done anything to him, to make him cry.
"What is the matter William?"

William trusted her. Out of anyone he had ever met, he knew that she could understand his feelings. Afterall, she had gone through the same pain as his.
"My parents. They were so much in love. Back in Italy, my parents were called the Romeo and Juliet of the decade. They were so much in love. We were such a happy family. We used to travel around the world. I remember seeing the great lake and promising my mother I would sail through the waters when I grow up. She wanted to travel beyond the oceans."
She rubbed his back as he continued speaking.
"My mother had taught me so many great things. I have learnt so many values and skills from her. She used to write short stories in the local papers. She introduced literature to me. She introduced the world to me. Meanwhile my father... he had been acting distant since my eight birthday. Something changed in him. He would stay away from home and return really late. He and mother would have constant arguments and fights. The atmosphere of the house changed overnight."
He let out a sigh. She squeezed his arm in assurance as he gave her a pleading look.
"One fine Sunday morning, I woke up to my mother's hysterical cries. She was on the floor. I walked down to console her. She told me to go into my room. But I was adamant. I didn't leave her side. But then, father came back. He had two large cases in his hands. He said that he was leaving. Mother's cried became louder. She begged him not to go. But he wouldn't listen. She told me to go to the kitchen and not come back untill she told me to. I could understand the gravity of the situation so I decided not to disobey her."

He became silent for a moment, his eyes following an invisible scenario. His lips quivered in an inaudible cry. "William, please don't stress yourself. Calm down."

"No, I am fine. She begged. She swore that she loved him. But he wouldn't listen. He told her that he had made a mistake marrying her. That he was upset to have a son like me. He said that he had fallen in love with a lady names Elizabeth Cunningham. He had met her in Paris. Well, my mother knew her. She was one of the famous harlots of Paris. She told him that they could work this out. But what really broke her was when he told him that he had been in an affair with her, for the past month. She stood there motionless, as he saw him go away. Then I heard a sharp cry, followed by a thud."

He started screaming and crying. Cathy pulled him into her embrace and rubbed his head vigorously, as she patted his back. "William, please calm down. I can't see you like this." She broke into tears. His story sounded like hers but she could interpret what would follow, would be worse than hers.
He hugged her tightly as he let the tears fall down his delicate face. "She killed herself! Cathy, I saw her lifeless body on the floor!"
He was screaming and hugging her tightly. It was hurting her but she did not say anything.

"William, look at me. Please look at me. Don't cry. It is alright. She is in the abode of Jesus, taking care of him. She is in a better place. She is out of this miserable world."
She couldn't imagine how terrified he might have been as a child to see her mother's bloodied, dead body. She cannot imagine the pain, the anger, that might have built up in him and scarred his tender heart.

"I still haven't forgiven that man. I don't know where he is now, but he is a bloody murderer. He forced the person who loved him the most, to kill herself! She was my everything. She was there to guide me every time I was unable to find my way! But Cathy, you fill up that void with your love. The child who grew up without the love of his parents. I need you Cathy. I love you a lot. Without you, I would have probably ended my life in misery."

She covered his mouth with her palm. "Don't you dare talk about your death, ever. I love you too William." She nuzzled up against him, taking in his manly fragrance, as it cooled her tormented heart. "William, trust me. Heaven is a fine place. A woman who had always been loyal to her husband till her last breath will surely earn a special place in heaven for she has fulfilled her marriage vow. She is in a safe place."

"Thank you so much, for listening to me. For taking care of me. Cathy, I don't know what I would have been without you. Please don't leave me. I need you." Seeing a grown man like him, crying like that, without the fear of being judged was enough to tell her that he trusted her a lot. She placed a kiss on his forehead.
"I will never leave you William. I am ready to fight the world only for you."

She knew what it was like to grow up without parents. But she had the Dudleys to take care of her. But for him...he had no one. That poor little boy must have gone through a lot. Loneliness can either make or break a person. He took the correct path and did not let it affect him adversely. If he could have been strong, then why couldn't she?

She assured him that they were going to be fine. He let out a sigh of relief. He felt so light after opening up to her. He had never felt so free before. It was, as if, someone had removed a big congestion from his tormented heart. He couldn't have ever imagined that it would feel so nice to open up like this. He was assured that her mother was happy. He knew that the scars inflicted on him by his horrifying past would heal up soon.
It had been more than two months since they had been together and his decade old wounds had started to heal due to her soothing touch.
She knew what to say to calm down the storm in his raging heart. No one could understand him so well except her.
"Cathy, I love you."

"I love you too William," she said, as she smiled softly and wiped his tears with her palm.  "I love you so much." Pulled away from him and pulled him towards his bedroom. She tucked him in his bed. "Go, get some sleep. We'll meet tomorrow. It already late. Have sweet dreams William." She placed a kiss on his forehead.

~

"Mother, I have missed you so much. Where were you?"
"Oh my dear Will. Come here." The lady hugged her and placed a kiss on the little boy's cheek. "Mother had been serving the Christ. Oh, the heaven is such a beautiful place. I couldn't have asked for anything more than this."
"But mother, I want you here. I feel so lonely."
"Oh my dear. Mother cannot betray the Christ. But mother can send a fairy for you to play with."

"Fairy?"
"Yes, a beautiful fairy, her face as bright as the brightest star in the night sky, her eyes so full of life, her lips as soft as the petals of a rose. But be careful. She's a delicate little thing."
With that she ascended into the sky.

Now the little boy had grown up. Cathy was carrying a child in her arms, as she sang a lullaby to that little being. She smiled at the now grown up boy and placed a kiss on his cheek.
"Isn't he beautiful. He looks just like you Will."

He smiled softly and nodded in agreement.