In the back garden Theresa was surrounded by laughter and joy, it was not the mood you would expect from a group that was about to grief over the loss of family member, currently she was holding a nest with two little chicks that still had spa.r.s.e yellow stubble, on the edges of the nest two fist sized birds were proudly presenting their greatest achievement to her, chests out and melody after melody of sweet chirping to fill the garden.Theresa has been rejecting all manner of life extension methods for as long as she stayed in the portable home during her retirement, close to twenty years worth of idling and having a quiet time by day and a ball by night, she refused to train, to gain divinity or use the power of faith to extend her life, simply because she didn"t want to live for too long, she had a successful life, she had nursed many kids and watched them grow, her crowning achievement was Yunan and she spent her retirement days watching him live out a happy good life.
She was so proud of him, he was a king yet still worked hard, he had endless amounts of riches but still aimed to be better, grew stronger by the day, loved his wives, played with his friends, and most importantly he gave her a reason to smile when she was old and started getting senile. She knew her son well enough to see him thinking about how to force Death to give her up, she liked that her son fought death for her, not a single person in this back garden feared death, but not all of them would go b.u.t.ting heads with him.
"You should stop thinking too much, son, I agreed to eat the super food and that has already given me too many years, i know, i can feel it, sadly i did not get to hold my grandchildren, just promise me you will make several of them and tell them how much i would have loved them and doted on them" her whisper did not go unnoticed because the little feisty bird wasn"t happy with her words, she proudly presented her offspring again for Theresa who picked them up in her hands and gave each a doting kiss. "There, i doted on them too, happy?".
Seeing it was not going to lead to anything, Yunan decided to just give up, maybe it was for the best for his mom to pa.s.s away on her terms, because aside from missing the birth of her grandchildren, she had no regrets, dying without regrets was only a cliche in books and novels, and dying with a regret that revolves around the family was a hard thing to come by, it was a better thing to die thinking about your family than about your life span or riches, neither of those last two was a factor for Theresa.
The family played games, brought in a theatrical band to watch plays and listen to music, the wives made her choose baby names for her future grandchildren, they ate together, bathed together, and most importantly they cried together, it started with Dustan suddenly hugging mother and saying with a sobbing voice "i will miss you ma" and that was all it took for the rest to drop tears and start sobbing too, and then it has fallen to Theresa to calm them down.
"You are still a cry baby after you got this big, there there, don"t worry, after i die, i will look after you from heaven, if anyone is bullying i will give them bad dreams until they stop, no sweetie like you should ever be bullied, okey, why are you guys sad already, i am the one dying, i need the comforting, why do i have to comfort you lot". No one could stop them from smiling as the tears flooded their faces, they knew she was right but who could help not getting sad when losing a loved one.
When night time arrived, Yunan and Reina brought Theresa back to her room where she lay in bed to sleep, Reina sat down beside the bed while Yunan sat on the bed with his hand holding onto hers, "listen both of you, this is going to be my will, no one shall witness my last moments, i want you to be at peace, and i also want to sleep well on my last night, i have an eternity to watch over you guys, so some sleep would be appreciated"
"Yunan, you are my child, i raised you to be strong, however, on this time you are allowed to be weak, three nights, no more than that, otherwise i will be cross with you" she waited until Yunan nodded his head before she continued "your wives, marry each of them properly, give each one of them a good wedding, they deserve one, even that old fox Luna would love it, i don"t want my grandchildren to be called illegitimate or b.a.s.t.a.r.ds because you were lazy".
"Your family is bigger now, you have teachers and pets and friends, make sure to always look after them as well as care for them, i like them because they like you, especially your pets, they really need you to be the best man, so be your best for them, i know this is what you already do, but i have to leave a will behind to motivate you. Keep doing your best and i would be very happy in heaven" she then looked at Reina "the rest of you have only one job, keep loving my little boy, if anyone stopped loving him, you will remove that person, i don"t want my child to suffer heartbreak, so essentially your job is to keep his heart whole and full of love".
After a sigh she kissed both on their lips as if giving them her last breath, "now go and make a grand feast to guide me to heaven, i want to hear you all the way from up there, no crying tonight, i hate tears, just laughter, after dawn you may cry rivers in my name if that is your wish, go now, good night~" both Reina and Yunan left the room, it was already midnight and every one was waiting for the two in the living room. "Tonight we party until dawn, Balin bring out your secret stash, tonight we go all out"