Chapter 55: Everything Beautiful in its Season
‘S hard, bouncin’ back from summin’ like that, you dig? I think Magpie had one doozel of a trip, away fr’m home, an’ pals, an’, like, big entertainments. So all’sat’s left to him...Man, that may notta been the cool thing, the trip, I mean. Least not without more prep; that was kinda a selfish call, but, like, one f’r the chick I’m totally gone over, so maybe it aint that selfish? Nah, still probably was, but I’ll own it, y’dig?
“Oh, the sorrow! Oh, the despair!” Magpie wailed inta Mom’s shoulder.
“Is this about the lack of a good easel?”
“This is about the lack of a good easel, and also the ongoing condition of men, too soon to pass, with so much undone!”
“Ah, yeah. That’s why I don’t put up with that whole dying stuff...Doesn’t make losing them much easier, though,” Mom told him. “C’mon, I’ll beat you in horseshoes, that’ll make you feel better.”
“...It likely will,” Maggie said, an’ I hope he aint just sparin’ her.
The next day, we jetted on out into the big woods, Kace an’ me. Got lost a while, ‘til Kacie found somethin’ in the shrubs an’ vines.
“Kite! Kite! There’s something over here.”
“Aint there somethin’ all over the place, man?”
“Yes, but this is better, because I found it! It’ll be fun to see!”
“Whew. You aint lyin’; far out, man!” This is a thing that coulda been a
thing, y’know? OK, like, it was someone’s thing: it was their pad, f’r one, though I didn’t get, like, a good look at the cat. We checked out what was happenin’.
What was happenin’ was: The wind was delivering a smooth riff through the trees, man. Wild herbs gobbled up sunlight, smellin’ sweet as daisies. ‘Course, some of ‘em were daisies. Waterfall layin’ out a cool beat, sendin’ up rainbows. All the happenin’ a scene needs, you dig? Once y’add Kacie and me, sittin’ ‘round a fire.
“It’s nice to finally get away from everyone for a while.”
“Aww, but they’re cool cats.”
“I like them too, but it can be crowded,” Kacie laid it out for me. “There’s always someone around, but right now, I’ve got you all to myself, and you’ve got me all to yourself.”
“Aint you got you to y’rself, too?” I asked her, kinda teasin, but. Havin’ you f’r you’s the kinda thing I’d want f’r her, you dig? It aint the kinda thing I can get a hand on, but I don’t mind too muchly.
“I always have that. I will allow you to share me.” She goes magnanimous with it.
“That’s pretty hip of ya, Kacie,” I tell ‘er. “Lettin’ me share the best thing in the world.”
“Well...It can be tiring, being the only person who has you,” she’s got a flush on from that; don’t think I didn’t catch it, man. “This is a lovely break: just a small number of people having each other, for a little while, before going back into the fray.”
“Yeah, I dig it. A fray’s got me frayed, you dig? Rat race’s a total drag sometimes,” I lean back f’r a tick an’ took it easy, feelin’ her warm by my side.
“I’d love it if we could decorate with more flowers, that sort of thing. Maybe keep a few things just...For posterity, I suppose. When I was little,” she said, sitting back, “The apartment was always a different one. What I could grab on the way to school was my best decoration, and could change just as fast!”
“Yeah? That’s what a pad needs, y’know, t’be a pad. Somethin’ you put on y’r own way an’ all.”
“I like that,” she said, smiling. “Sometimes, though, it’d get hard to hold onto, and it wasn’t like I was especially interested. Now, though…” She gave me a nudge. “Now I want to plant things and see what they come from. I want a more beautiful world, my world, for my kids and grandkids and...Well, you.”
“Yeah. There’ll be flowers pokin’ outta the snow, an’ flowers blossomin’ out of every corner. The yard’ll be fun t’lie on, run in, an’ all that -- after, grab an apple from a fruit tree, juices on a chin. In winter, flowers pokin’ little heads outta the snow; in summer, just a riot a’ color. An’ everythin’ beautiful in its season, man,” I told her, feelin’ a summer all its own, here. I’d wanna see what she could bring t’ it, somethin’ I could hold and watch f’r ever.
“...Yes, yes. That’s just my sort of picture. I can’t wait to get my hands dirty for it!” She clenched her fists in excitement -- an it’s, like, a different sorta vibe from mine, but I like watchin’ it, man.
“Sounds like a far out thing, Kacie.” We smile together f’r a while, an I add, “You really got the gardenin’ bug off me, huh?”
“Apparently! It’s one of those you transmit by kissing, like a much more fun mono!”
“Trip, man, I was thinkin’ more, like, a little ladybug, mainly. They help gardens, so no hipper pick than that. Just livin’ with the plants, and that’s their thing, y’dig?”
“Like a little bug? Does it have a costume? Overalls, maybe, a broad-brimmed hat?”
“Could have a hat,” I tell ‘er. “But maybe it just chills in the shade you’re bogartin’ there.” I bat at’er hat. “An’ you can feel it crawl, can’tcha?”
I commence th’crawling, all fingers up an’ down her sides.
“Oh, no you don’t, mister,” she puts on, but she’s laughin’. “If I have it, then you do, too, crawl-crawl-crawl!”
Trip, man, but I aint just tellin’ you this ‘cause I wanna tell you ‘bout her, or even cause it’d be just radical t’ get you bright from the story. I’m tellin’ you this, this riff, ‘cause it matters, you dig? Cause we’re sittin’ there in the sun, an it hits me. As she’s laughin… I know. I know everythin. I mean, I guess it aint a surprise. What it was gonna be. But I didn’t dig the jam here until then, deep-down, man.
I pull ‘er up.
“Hey, Kacie… I got somethin’ to, like, to lay on ya.”
“Oh. Oh, I didn’t --” she almost starts, but I gotta shake out some words ‘fore my heart jackhammers outta my chest.
“I aint the sort t’ care on books or papers or that kinda thing, but… Trip, man!” I laugh, a little helpless, ‘cause knowin’ what the future could look like’s scary, man, y’dig? Diggin’ y’r thing, just f’r you? Scary, scary, scary. “Stuff like cakes or parties ‘r, like, freaking joint tax returns, those don’t mean nothin’ to me. But
you mean just the whole world. I love you wild, babe, an’ I don’t wanna be a drag on you, man, or a ball’n chain, like, that kinda thing, but… I want t’ always have you with me, always live in the warmth of y’r heart, share the whole thing of the world with you. I think that would be, just, y’know… A little slice of the world livin’ in peace.
“So, like, I gotta ask, man: you down t’ marry me?”
She had everythin’ in me in her grip, just then. Smilin’, almost cryin’, catchin’ her breath on her throat.
An’ then Kacie takes the ring an says, “I really didn’t think...You cared enough about that sort of thing.” But she says it so happy it throws me out into the stars. “Heeehehee. I take you, Kite Avyan, to be my beloved husband, to love and honor…”
“Trip, we doin’ this now?”
“Is there a better time in the world?”
“…Yeah. Hold on.”
“That waterfall’s real nice.”
“I love you, you crazy hippie.”
“Like, see, man? What an outta sight vow.”
“Stop it, you… I had a dream, okay?”
Gotta put a lady down f’r her dream, course. You can’t be so big a drag on that, man.
“I take thee to be my beloved husband, to love and honor, in sickness and in health, as long as we both shall live.”
“Nah, babe. ‘m lovin’ you much longer’n that.”
“…That sounds just right, then. How long is that going to be?” She asks, so warm an’ shinin’, she’s the one throwin’ rainbows in the mist.
“…I could love you til there aint no stars left, an’ it wouldn’t be enough. I’ve got a whole universe with you, one I’m going to keep inside me forever. Second I saw you, stars just, like, aligned, you dig? I thought you were just… I flipped my lid. Cause you were the prettiest thing I ever saw, an’ I wanted nothin’ but to see you get prettier every day, get happier every day, be wonderful an’ brave an’ smart, ‘cuz you are.”
“…I don’t think anyone ever loved me like you, or believed in me like you. I became a better person… Because you believed. And I just…can’t let go. I can’t let go of just being able to say something, and have someone hold it in their heart. I can’t let go of being beautiful to someone. I… I can’t let go of being around the most beautiful, wonderful man in the world. My prince. My funky, groovy, far-out prince.”
“Then don’t let go; you don’t ever gotta. That’s what makes us man an’ wife.”
An’ then we pause. “…Neither a’ us got a ring, huh? A second one, anyhoo.”
“We’ll have to wait until we get home…” She shakes her head at, like, the whole thing, y’dig?
“But that’s married ‘nough, huh?”
“For now, anyway. I’m sure your mom will want a party -- I know I do -- so we can pretend ‘engaged’ for now… After you kiss me, my husband.”
Let it never be said your ol’ pal Kite don’t aim to please.
‘Course, we didn’t, like, get down to deliver the good news b’fore Mom got the total bummer t’ end all bummers on the newsfront. ‘Cause Ka-san got her first notice then, an’ all.
“…You’re not even lying, are you.” She held the words ‘tween her teeth, like maybe -- maybe if she put it like that, it’d be true, an’ Ka-san’d just be yankin’ her chain.
“I wouldn’t, you know that.” Ka-san smiled bravely. “But hey! It’s ok! Let’s just enjoy the moment, alright? And pressure those kids, ha ha! I want to meet a grandbaby!”
“…Yeah. Let’s just. Have a nice time. We’ll go on a date tomorrow.”
That got some real brightness onto Ka-san, now.
“Sounds perfect. You really are my soul mate, you know? It’s a red thread of fate, so it can’t ever be broken,” she declared.
“I know.”
“Don’t you Han Solo me, Mrs. Avyan!”
An’ the ‘rents had t’ take all the comfort they could together.
Trip, man, but I wasn’t far removed from them, there; Kacie came down t’ breakfast glowin’ the next mornin’.
“Kite! Kite!”
“What’s happenin, Kacie?”
“We’re expecting! I’m expecting!”
“Far out! You aren’t putting me on, are ya?”
“No, not at all! Honestly, I’m so nervous. And excited, too, of course. I don’t know anything about parenting, I wasn’t
really parented!”
“Babe, babe, ‘s cool; We got this! We got all sortsa folks t’ help, an anyhoodle, y’learn more from your drags than y’r ups, right? So, like, you can dig some good tips on the renting, just, like, backwards, y’dig? Turn it around an’ see it all over.”
“...So don’t buy all the birthday presents a month in advance and resell them every time the kid’s loud up until their birthday?”
“...Trip, man. Yeah, see, that’s. That’s a start.”
An’, like, sure, she’s worried, but she’s hip to what Norma needs, lookin’ out f’r her, all that jazz. ‘S Sweet to watch. She’s gonna do
great.
So, it’s, like, Summer Solstice day, an’ the folks up with the crackin’ were doin’ the roast festive, you dig?
“So, Kacie an’ I are gonna get married. Have a kid,” I drop into the riff.
“Nice, nice,” Mom grinned. “Generation 3 will be along shortly.”
“Congratulations! Do you have plans for the ceremony?” Magpie asked, leanin’ forward. “I have been thinking color swatches for some time now!”
“Eh, I think Kacie might, man, I’m just gonna go with the flow.”
“Ah, so I should go to her about my plans.”
“...Sure, bro. Thanks.”
“Congratulations, Kite,” Mom said. She ran the words over in her head a while, like she was still takin’ in what I learned a bit before. We were all kinda staggered, but -- Mom aint that style. Not, like, when she’s in her groove, y’dig? “Be sure to tell your mother, alright?”
“I dig, I dig.”
‘Course, like, that would be assumin’ I got the chance f’r it first.
An’ the chorus a’
“Oh, goody goody goody! My first baby and my unofficial third baby are having my grandbaby!”
“Oh. Um. Well, thank you,” Kacie said, probably kinda diggin’ bein’ Ka-san’s, well, you got the line. “I hope we’d be able to get the wedding done not long after we return home. Before this little one gets too big.”
“Oh, you’ll just be glowing! Oh, how wonderful! Are you hoping for anything in particular? Besides a baby, of course.”
“Definitely a baby,” Kacie said, laughin’ at the bit.
“Ka-san, hey.”
“Ooh, yes?”
“We kinda, like, did the marryin’ thing already. Kinda, like, y’dig?”
“Oh, how sweet! Just the way you’d want it, huh? I’m glad I’m still getting to see a full-on white dress and all! Oh, and a flower crown, don’t tell me you don’t intend to wear one~”
“‘Course I’m gonna. I aint that square.”
Man, Ka-san just digs it.
It bein’ summer solstice ‘n all, we thought maybe Aurora’d, like, swing by f’r grillin’ things, spread the news, that kinda thin’...But, trip.
“It’s a nice cabin. This is certainly a family with some money,” she said.
“Like, thanks, I guess; Mom says this, just, like, kinda collects an’ all; I’m not, like, the rat-race fan ‘nough to sweat it, dig?”
“...Sure,” she said, givin’ me like a drag of an eye. “Well, I think it’s a thing worth keeping track of, futures and all. Kacie needs to think about her future.”
“I have been, lately. We’re getting married and having a baby -- how’s that for a future?”
Trip, man, the bad vibe merchant dropped by. Air went cold.
“You’re doing what?” She asked.
“Mom, we’re getting married, not selling the house for a yurt.”
“I could dig a yurt, man.” Gettin’ a full set a’ eye-arrows f’r the trouble. “Ahahaha, well, y’know, we were sorta, like, thinkin’ somethin’ like it, uh, like, f’r a while now, y’dig? Y’r invited to the bell-an-arch-an-all, course.”
“Kacie, you can’t be serious. You let this slacker knock you up?” She groaned. “You’re doing the same thing I did. Just out of high school, and already knocked up. Don’t throw your life away, Kacie.”
“I won’t be. I’ll be making my life better,” Kacie said, flat-mouthed angry, pullin in a breath. “There’s nothing throwing your life away in having a family.”
“You say that now, but when you’re alone and the screaming’s keeping you up and this deadbeat --”
“Don’t you start on him!” Kacie shouted, wig officially flippin. Man, this is not, like, what I planned, y’dig; it was such a downer, made a dude feel 2 feet tall.
“Hey, hey, let’s all, like, chill, y’dig? It aint like she got no right to be worried, but…like, I love y’r daughter, so, let’s not harsh the mellow an’ all.”
“...Well, it’s your funeral.”
“Wedding!” Kacie shouted after her mom, when she did us all a favor an’ headed to splitsville.
“...I think she knows, babe.”
An, like, as if the holiday wasn’t, like, kinda a wreck, the whole firepit burst to flames, man! Gotta get the toddlers out!
“There, see,
mom, I can handle myself! Just fine! Not everyone can put out a fire while pregnant!”
Y’tell it, Kacie. I mean, like, Justine was also pregnant, so, like, maybe ev’ryone can? I aint really seen, like, a fire department’re nothin.
The luck f’r fishin’s right out, which just added an extra bummer, but she at least felt better, an’ aint that all y’need? I relaxed after that kerfluff, too. We’ll prob’ly come back sometime, ‘cause there’s stuff t’do, cats an’ bears to see.
A couple a’ summer fireworks burst an’ flicker overhead b’fore we beat feet to pad ol’ pade. Maybe a little trip like that’s what we need t’really, like, feel the heart a’ home, man. Gotta a lot to do here.
