Sodapop sat up on his bed, breathing hard. He tried to calm himself and not make any noise so he wouldn't wake his wife up. But as always, she sensed the movements and sat up only a few second later.
"Are you okay?" She asked gently. Cherry was used to waking up several times at night when Soda woke up. His arthritis had gotten worse these days, and some nights he barely slept at all.
"Yeah...I'm fine" He breathed, rubbing his swollen left knee with both of his hands.
"Are you sure…" Cherry placed her hands on top of his, her voice concerned. "Do you want some Tylenol? Or do you want me to give you a massage again?"
Soda couldn't help but smile. That was Cherry , his wife, the woman who always put him first. It was probably three in the morning, and instead of being annoyed at him for ruining her sleep so often, she was offering a massage.
"I don't think I need anything tonight, honey." He said, taking her hand and kissing it. "Lets go back to sleep."
The sun was shining bright into the kitchen the next morning, as Soda walked in. Cherry and his daughter-in-law, Michelle were in front of the stove making breakfast, while his son Jason and his two grandchildren were sitting at the table. "Good Morning Dad…" His son said, getting up to pull out a chair for him, and then helped him sit down. Jason always reminded Soda of Darry in a way, although he had named his older son Shayne and expected the eldest to be more like Darry. Perhaps it was the way Jason always put his family before everything else, the way he cared about his two older brothers, the way he still lived with his parents because he was concerned they wouldn't be able to take care of themselves at this age. That seemed to Soda like something Darry would have done had their parents been alive. Even Michelle was like Darry's wife in many ways. The way she always respected her husband's decisions and accepted his family as her own. That was exactly how Rachel was; she had always treated Soda and Pony like her own younger brothers, and when they got married, she treated their wives like sisters, and then treated their kids like her own kids, since she and Darry never had any. And although Soda and Cherry both loved the three of their sons and daughter-in-laws equally they couldn't deny that their two oldest sons and daughter-in-laws were different than Jason and Michelle. Shayne and John both left the home and moved away soon after marriage, and contacted the family about twice a year. Shayne was the first to leave because his wife hated it here, and when Soda tried to reason and tell him that he wanted the family to stay together, Shayne and his wife, both had been very disrespectful. A few months later when John announced the same thing, it broke Soda's heart to hear Cherry cry to sleep each night for the weeks before they actually left, but he did not say a word to his middle son. And then, a while later, when Jason and Michelle made them sit down on the couch and said they had to talk about something, Soda felt a sudden pain in his chest, and Cherry let out a sob. Jason and Michelle were genuinely surprised at the reaction and it turned out that they wanted to tell their parents that Michelle was pregnant with their second baby. That night, while Soda and Cherry were sitting on the bed, Cherry rubbing some ointment on Soda's arthritic arm, Jason and Michelle came into their room. They both kneeled down in front of Soda, and he noticed that his son had been crying.
"Dad…Mom…" He started softly. "Michelle and I spent a while trying to figure out why you guys reacted the way you did when we said we needed talk. And then we realized it was kind of obvious. You guys thought we were gonna say the same things that they did right?"
Cherry and Soda had both looked at each other, embarrassed.
"We can't blame you for thinking what you thought…" Michelle said hesitantly. "It was the natural thing to do. But we just want you to know that its not even possible for us to do something like that, we love you too much."
"Yeah…we promise…" Jason had added.
"Dad are you okay…?" Michelle asked as she placed breakfast in front of Soda.
"Yeah…honey…" He replied breaking out of the daze.
After breakfast, Cherry helped the kids get ready for school while Jason and Michelle got ready for work. Once they left, Cherry turned the TV on and then started clearing the table. Soda at and watched his wife as she worked around the house. Cherry's bright red hair was mostly grey now, and the lines around her eyes were becoming more visible. But she was still the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen. She had aged over the years but not nearly as much as he had. He had aged even more than Darry and Pony had. They were always more fit than him, with exercise, football, track, and all that, but it was his nasty arthritis that made him seem and feel so much older, as if seventy-six wasn't old enough to begin with. A little later, Cherry came and sat next to Soda, asking if he wanted a second cup of coffee. The husband and wife were both used to drinking several cups of coffee in the morning; they needed it after staying awake most of the night because of Soda's pains.
"Cherry…" Soda said hesitantly.
"Yeah…"
"I wanted to tell you something. Last night when I woke up it was for a different reason…" He mumbled not sure how to place his words.
"What happened?" Cherry looked concerned, she knew how much Soda went through most nights, if it was something worse, it had to be terrible.
"I woke up like that because I had this dream. I saw Mom and Dad in our house in Tulsa…and they were asking me, Darry, and Pony to go visit them." Soda replied distractedly.
Cherry thought for few seconds.
"You wanna go to Tulsa…?" She suggested.
"I don't know if they'll be able to come. Darry's always free, but Pony might have other programs," Soda said. Darry had retired and mostly stayed at home now, but Pony was a writer, and he usually had appointments with editors and publishers.
"Call him up and ask." Cherry offered reaching for the phone already.