Starting Over

Chapter 94- Laid to Rest

"Luke, get up!" Bridget shouted at me as she threw her wet towel in my face as I laid in bed.

"I am. Geez, Bridge. Calm down," I said as I threw the towel on the floor and set up realizing my wife was standing at the foot of the bed without any clothes on.

Under normal circumstances I would grab her around the waist and run my hands all down her bare body until I got my way, but we had been up most of the night. Bridget wasn't taking any of this well at all. She was the oldest of the grandkids and spend a great deal of her childhood at her grandparents. She had always been really close with her granddad. We spend over twelve hours at the funeral home yesterday and never once did she walk up to the casket. She stood no closer than five feet away at all times. She just couldn't do it. I know she didn't want to, but I knew she was going to have to at some point. The way it's going it will be during the funeral services.

"Get up!" Bridget yelled at me again when she turned around realizing I was just sitting in the bed, "We have to go soon."

"I'm getting up," I said as I finally planted my feet on the floor and started towards the bathroom to get a shower.

"I've got to help Tia get the kids ready and you need to too. I'll lay your clothes out as soon as I'm done," Bridget informed me as I turned the water on adjusting it to just the right temperature.

Bridget disappeared from my view as I stripped of my clothes and stepped into the shower. I could hear her rushing around the bedroom getting ready. It was clear to me and anyone else who truly knew her that she was not doing well at all. I didn't know what I needed to do to make her just relax for a minute. This was different than any other loss she had ever experienced. This one was unexpected.

"Hey baby," I shouted as I wrapped myself in a towel, "Where is my trimmer?"

"It's on the bed. I just pulled it out of your suitcase," Bridget told me just before I heard the bedroom door open and close signaling that she had left me alone.

I walked from the bathroom to the bedroom dropping my towel at the foot of the bed admiring the way Bridget had carefully placed my outfit for the day across the bed; jeans and one of my plaid shirts. It was strange. Did she lay this out by mistake? She had to. She's just so upset she didn't realize what she was doing. That had to be it. Jeans just isn't proper attire for a funeral.

"Bridget!" I yelled as I slightly cracked our bedroom door.

"Daddy! Daddy!" Keegan squealed as he pushed me back and the door flung open.

"Shit!" I exclaimed as I tried to catch my balance and close the door at the same time.

"Keegan! No! Daddy's gotta..." Tia scolded as she came into view just as I was making contact with the door.

"Well, that was embarrassing," I said as the door finally closed, but only after Tia got a full view of my naked self.

"I'm sorry," Tia apologized from the other side of the door as Keegan jumped up on our bed.

"It's okay. Can you send Bridge in here please?" I asked as I walked over to the bed grabbing my boxers and quickly slipping them on. I didn't hear anything else from her. I sat on the side of the bed playing with Keegan until Bridget came back into the room.

"What did you need?" Bridget asked as she came in, "Luke, why aren't you dressed?"

"I was thinking that this wasn't what I was supposed to put on but seeing as you are wearing something similar I guess I was wrong," I told her as I noticed she was wearing jeans with a blue top and black leather jacket.