Down the line

47 - Envelope

Lewis POV

"We're getting married tomorrow aren't you excited?" Ali smiles as I throw my apple core into the trash. She was making some sort of omelette on the stove.

"Of course I'm excited." I turn around and wrap my arms around her. Resting my chin on her shoulder as she poked the food inside the saucepan.

"I've been thinking... We should try for a kid again." Ali suddenly announces taking me by surprise.

We had tried for a kid once before about a year ago. It was a spontaneous action, I didn't know if we'd make good parents or not. We tried a couple of times but to no avail.

"Are you sure? I mean last time..."

"Let's not talk about last time. I'm sure it can be done." Ali looks down at the omelette.

"We'll be fine. I promise." I smile on her cheek and peck her gently. I didn't want to think about the possibilities of being infertile. It could be me, it could be her. We'll probably never know, hopefully we were wrong. Miracles happen.

"Did you get your brother in that suit?" She asks. I eventually end up nodding as she slides her lunch onto a plate. Ali was probably getting annoyed that I was stuck to her, still resting my head on her warm shoulder. But, she probably didn't mind.

"It's going to be fine. My mom set up most of it. Your sister did the rest, we have trust. But anyway, where's my omelette?" I look at her as she sits on her leg on the couch and I come and sit beside her.

"Get your own." Ali chuckles as she begins to eat the damn thing in front of me.

"Come on, one bite." I lean on her as she picks up some on her fork.

"Okay, one. That's it." She laughs as the fork comes towards me. I take the food off of the fork and chew. It was good food. Ali was a good chef and I wasn't afraid to spend the rest of my life with her.

"Alright, I'll allow you to watch your shows now. Mom said she wanted to speak with me before tomorrow." I kiss Ali as she chews on the omelette.

"As long as she doesn't put you off marriage." She chuckles as I pull my jacket on. It was a blustery summers day, I was hoping the weather would be better tomorrow.

"Mom's all for marriage! She'll be having more fun than us." I wave to her as she holds the remote. She really was beautiful, on our run yesterday she let her hair down after like usual. It was getting longer and looked prettier every time.

I was hoping tomorrow she would have her hair down, or done really nicely. She refused to tell me anything, about the dress or her hair. But that was fair enough, I was just too excited to see it.

I felt a lot more buff since me and Lee had been visiting the gym together. Yes, we have a gym. A treadmill, rowing machine, bench presses and even a mirrored wall. It was a community gym, our idea.

Lee's girlfriend Emma liked his 6 pack. That was all I knew. Well, I knew about them together. It's been about 6 months since they started seeing each other and she seems to be a really nice girl. I don't clearly remember but I think she was in my class at the school. Maybe she's the right one for Lee?

"Hey Nick." I smile as I walk past my older cousin.

"Oh Lewis, what time is it again tomorrow?" Nick sincerely asks.

"The ceremony is at 11am. Just outside the walls, they should be setting it all up tonight." I grin. The thought of getting married excited me still.

"It's pretty difficult getting Alfie into a suit." He chuckles, I join in and shove my hands in my pockets.

"He can come in jeans and a T-shirt if he desires."

"Well, he'll probably be bringing his sketch pad. You know what he's like." Nick rolls his eyes. It was true, Alfie was an art freak. He took his sketchpad everywhere and pretty much attempted to draw a picture of anyone and anything. He was only 10.

"That reminds me, the sculpture still looks amazing! It still surprises me whenever I walk past." I gleam.

A couple of weeks ago Nick had revealed this massive sculpture he had been working on for a long time. It was to remember the lost souls in the Wellington battle. It sat out outside the office block. The desolate building full of the eerie sense of death. It was of a man standing tall with a rifle swung around him, to show our brave soldiers off.

"Thanks Lewis. I tried my best" Nick gives off a little wave and we part directions.

I walked all the way to Mom's house, knocked on the door gently and then opened. Mom was sat at the table flipping through pieces of paper.

"Lewis! I was hoping you'd come soon. I needed to ask you about something. I should have asked you a long time ago, it's a bit out of date now." She turns on her chair and looks at me as I hang my jacket on the hook.

"What is it?" I go and sit beside her at the table. I quickly scan the pieces of paper on the table, nothing I could see of relevance. I end up looking at her.

"I know about the diary."

"What?" I was a little confused.

"Your dad's diary. I found it years and years ago. I've decided I want to read it now." She sighs finally admitting.

I hadn't picked up dad's diary for a long time. It had been collecting dust in my drawer at mine and Ali's house. We hadn't spoken about or mentioned dad in a long time.

"You want to read it?"

"I think I've learnt to accept it. I don't want to leave this world without knowing his thoughts. How long do I have left? 10 years maybe?" Mom morbidly states. I grab her hands.

"No, Jesus Mom! You have a long time yet! A very long time!" I panic. She wasn't fucking dying on me.

"I know, it's just precaution. I don't want to get sick and not be able to read it. Now is the right time." She tries to convince me. I knew she was right.

"Okay, you can have it. Just don't get upset over it, I don't want it to make you cry." I honestly didn't want her to get upset over the diary.

"You know your dad. It'll probably just make me laugh." Mom let's out a little smile.

"I'll admit, it is pretty funny." I grin back.

I glance back to the papers and envelopes on the table. I was slightly curious as to what the hell they were.

"These? Oh, these are important." Mom answers my thoughts as she sees me glaring at them.

"What are they?" My curiosity got the better of me.

"Well, it's a little thing me and your dad did a very very long time ago. We saw it in a movie once. I think we wrote your one when you were about 2 years old." She chuckles lightly at the paper in front of her as she tries to find a specific sheet.

"What exactly did you do?" I question, still staring at the paper. She finally pulls an envelope out of the pile and grins.

"We wrote letters to you, for significant events in your life. But to be fair, we only ended up doing a few. Lee got one when Charlotte came into the world. I was surprised they didn't get destroyed completely in the fire." Mom looks at the envelope in her hand and examines it.

I didn't know Lee got a letter. A personal letter from Dad. It would be like he was still alive.

"So does that mean I get a letter?" I asked hoping maybe I could reconnect with dad even just a little bit more.

Mom suddenly passes me the envelope in her hand. I take it from her.

The paper was crumpled and the writing on the front had faded slightly. But it was definitely Dads writing. I read the front and smiled.

'To Lewis, on his wedding day.'

*********

Keep asking me these questions, I want a too amount :) more! More! More!