"Hey, honey? Do you want to go visit dad?" Beth asked Merida. They just finished watching the movie entitled The Half of It.
Merida looked at her mom and smiled. "You missed him, huh?"
"I always miss him. Let's have a picnic with him. What do you say?"
"I'll go dress up for dad."
Merida went upstairs to her room while Beth prepares some food for them later.
While cooking, Beth couldn't help but think about her daughter. She's so happy that somehow Merida is undergoing some changes. Yet these changes are terrifying and it might tear her daughter up. But who knows? These changes might open her daughters' eyes to see clearly what it is that she's been missing out.
"Mom, I'm ready!"
Beth turned to see her daughter making her way inside the kitchen. She smiled at how the dress perfectly fits Merida. "Awe! You look gorgeous."
"Who owns this dress? I saw it on my cabinet folded neatly. I liked the colour so I took it out."
"Harold picked that for you. He said it'd fit you perfectly when you change your mind and finally decides to wear a dress." Beth walked towards Merida and tied the laces into a ribbon in front. "When you were young, you never wanted to be seen wearing dresses. If we force one on you, you'd cry so loud."
Merida hugged her mother. "Thank you, mom, for every little thing."
"I'll always be with you," Beth said hugging her daughter tighter.
•••
At the cemetery, they sat down the trimmed grass beside Harold's tombstone. Merida then put down the red tulips that his father always loved getting her mother and her. He said that red tulips are most strongly associated with true love. Tulips signify a perfect love and it expresses genuine cosiness and comfort in all the right ways.
"Hey, dad! I hope heaven feels nice," Merida uttered. "Mom here misses you."
Beth laughed and blew away some small leaves in his tombstone. "Yeah, I miss you. Our little girl actually has a boyfriend now. We didn't see that coming."
"Mom!" Merida yelled, opening some plastic boxes where some egg rolls and sandwiches are at. She's hungry.
"But don't worry, Jacob's a good man and our daughter is a strong lady. She can handle anything for sure."
When Merida heard that, she felt down a little. Her mother thinks that she's a strong one. She doesn't tell her mother about the bullies at school. It's just, she doesn't want to give Beth more problems. It would hurt her mother. Beth will think she's a bad mother, so it's okay.
"Mom, do you think dad is watching us from above?" A kid kind of question to ask but who cares?
"He is."
They continued to talk and enjoy their day together. It will not be every day that they get to laugh and smile like this. Especially that in the next few weeks, Beth's schedule is full and she might be transferred to another city hospital.