She kept talking since she wasn’t sure how much time they’d have speaking. This was a long time coming, and she only hoped she’d see him more.
“I see your babies, and I’m so enchanted by them,” she admitted. “Your Charlie is a sweet one.”
He laughed.
“Sweet or just like her mother?” he asked. “She’s so precious to me, but she scares me. She’s going to fight the world, just like Elizabeth one day, and I don’t know if I’ll be able to hold back the evil that’s out there to keep her safe.”
Catherine smiled.
“Oh, both. She looks like her, but I see her gentleness that was from you. It’s clearly there. She’s going to do great things, and you don’t need to hold back the evil, Ethan. Some people attract it because their souls are meant to do battle with it. Charlie is meant to be a warrior. She’ll be okay.”
Well, that scared and soothed him.
Catherine continued.
“Oh, and then there’s CJ. I love that you named him after your brother. He’s devilish like you with that grin. The ladies are in so much trouble.”
That made him laugh.
There was no doubt there.
Hearing her talk was calming him down.
“You’re a lucky man, Ethan. You’ve been blessed tenfold. You have people who love you, and you have so many moments of joy.”
He was aware.
He was blessed.
When she reached her headstone, she saw the flowers there, and pointed.
“Your wife has been here. She came to speak to me yesterday after she got off that case she’d been working. She came, prayed a little, and found some peace. She was seeking strength. I have to say, I love her for you, Ethan. You chose well.”
Ethan stared at the white roses.
“She never ceases to amaze me,” he admitted. “I can’t manage one thing, but she can hold fifty things up and not drop one. I stopped thinking I chose her a long time ago, Mom. She absolutely chose me, and I’m glad she did. She saved me.”
Catherine kissed him on the cheek.
“She is a good wife. I wish I were as good a wife as she is,” Catherine admitted.
Ethan looked over.
“You were.”
She shook her head and sat on the tombstone to have a talk. This was a long time coming.
“I wasn’t, Ethan. It takes two people to destroy a marriage, and I had my hand in it. Yes, your father cheated on me, and he broke my heart, but I didn’t forgive him soon enough. I didn’t take into account that he, too, was damaged. He was always looking for that female contact to replace the pain he felt when Naomi died. As you would say, mommy issues.”
Ethan sat on the grass, and stared up at his mother.
“You didn’t do anything wrong,” he said. “You were the best mother in the whole world.”
Oh, but she had.
Children always saw the best in their parents, but she knew she was lacking.
So, she explained.
