Chapter 5

"Yes," Mandy thought, "That had been a fantastic Christmas Present ... For both of them."

Drifting back to reality from her reminiscing, Mandy looked at her fingers resting on Bob's shoulder. Absentmindedly picking up a small piece of lint there she let it flutter to the floor beside her. She gave his shoulder a quick affectionate brush and smiled.

Returning her hand back to his shoulder she thought how sometimes life changes radically in an instant. "Sometimes for the good, sometimes for the bad. And every once in a while, changes for the BEST!"

That's how it had been ever since she'd met, Bob. Her life had changed overnight. She had lived the 'Rags to Riches' transformation because of him. Thinking about it caused a teardrop to form at the edge of her eye and started to trace down over her cheek.

"I wonder," she silently cried, "I wonder how I'll find another dirty red pickup truck window to tap on to help me through this?" Then the sorrow and tears she had been holding back for days, crept up behind her eyes and tried to push out.

Clamping her eyes shut and rubbing her lover's shoulder with all her might, she captured the torrent within her with the exception of a single glistening tear that crept out and started rolling down her cheek.

The tear slid off the edge of her chin, landing with a miniature splash on the thickly lacquered mahogany rail separating her from her lover. It was one of those unknown and unrecognized things that happen within our ken, yet go unnoticed.

Mandy knew in the depths of her heart that if she dwelt upon the present, the rainstorm brewing behind her closed eyes would flow out. The agony of the present, contrasted with the ecstasy of the past would eventually need to be resolved. Sorrow would eventually win. Tears would flow. "But not now," she silently prayed.

She tried with all her might to bring back the strongest and happiest moments with her lover. Her partner in life. The father of the one in her belly. The magnificently wonderful husband of hers ... Bob.

But to no avail.

She knew the time was very near and her body would release her sadness. She could feel it coming. Welling up inside of her. As it approached she dreaded the moment. She had never felt so sad in all of her life.

Never had she felt this helpless. Not even the times she spent with Bob before she trusted he would not just, "Throw Her Away."

Another tear seeped from the edge of her eye to trace its path down her face. She could feel the pain of sadness creeping up through her.

Lost in the moment as she gripped Bob's shoulder tightly and steadied herself with her other hand on that dreaded mahogany railing, Mandy didn't hear the soft sound of a door opening and then latching quietly behind her. The footsteps approaching her were silent.

With a huge gasp and a cry of sorrowful pain, Mandy could no longer hold them back and the tears flowed freely down her face. The only thing she had ever wanted, the best thing that had ever happened to her, The Love Of Her Life ... Was lost.

Who was going to be there when their child was born?

Mandy doubled over sobbing, unable to contain herself any longer. Leaning over the railing, she pressed her face against her love's as he lay there in his final resting place, a white, satin lined, casket.