Bottom of the Cliff and a New Beginning

CJ/Danny, others

PG

Angst -- death. You may need Kleenex. But if my muse did her job correctly, you'll also smile.

Though end of series. Also, major spoilers for "Holding Hands on the Way Down". This is an expansion of something I posted earlier.

Not mine, never were, never will be, but they consume my soul

Feedback and criticism always welcomed, as are reviews

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Santa Monica, CA; early February sometime between 2040 and 2045

The sun streamed through the stained glass of the church windows. The unseasonable, record cold snap had been broken.

The Weather Channel said that it hadn't been that cold in southern coastal California for over 60 years. It was cause for wonder.

It was also cause for the windows of the house in Santa Monica to be closed tight against the chill. It was cause for the lethal buildup of carbon monoxide in the house. It was cause for the funeral mass being celebrated today.

Favorite hymns had been sung. Favorite scriptural passages had been read. Bread and wine had been transubstantiated into Body and Blood, as it had been for over 2000 years and would be so done until the end of time.

In defiance of liturgical guidelines, many people had spoken of their memories, including former presidents Samuel Norman Seaborn and Donnatella Moss Lyman.

Padraic Talmadge Concannon, named for his two grandfathers, now thirty-something, with his mother's height, eyes, and hair, and his father's smile and wit, came to the lectern.

"We see today how good God is," he said, and waited for the few murmurs to die down. "Any sentient being that spent more than ten minutes with my parents could not help but be totally aware of how much in love they were. So how could the all-knowing God who knew them before He made them in their mothers' wombs not know how much they loved each other? How could such a God, who also claims to be an all-loving God, not realize that the most wonderful thing He could do for them would be to call them to Himself as He did? According to the medical examiner, my parents died in their sleep, in each other's arms. According to the medical examiner they had made love with each other" more gasps "sometime that night. No death is truly welcomed, but I am sure that my parents are somewhere in heaven, very happy with theirs.

"My father would talk about the first time he tried to propose to my mother. He asked her to hold hands with him on the way down as he jumped off a cliff and she was pushed. That proposal was interrupted by a nuclear disaster, but a few months later, he tried again and she said yes. A few days ago, still holding hands, they reached the bottom of that jump, picked themselves up, and, still holding hands, walked through the gates of Paradise at the bottom of the cliff."

He looked down at the two urns, dappled in the colors of the stained glass. "The internment of their remains will be private and will take place tomorrow. For now, my sister and I," he smiled at the red-haired feminine image of his father "our spouses and our children invite all of you back to their house where we will raise glasses of my cousin's illegal, pot-still whiskey to the memory of CJ and Danny Concannon and continue to celebrate their lives and their love."

Later that evening, Padraic Talmadge Concannon and Caitlin Delores Concannon Ziegler left their parents' wake. What they were about to do was illegal and went against church law. Their consciences were clear. They had discussed it with Father Tim, their dad's old college roommate. They had the backing of two former Democratic presidents and the assistance of the current Republican one, Clifford Calley. While Special Forces personnel kept watch, they walked into the funeral home. They opened the two urns. He poured the ashes of his mother's body into the urn containing those of his father; she sealed it. She then took the bag that contained the ashes of a poor stray that had wandered into freeway traffic and put them into the urn inscribed with their mother's name. Tomorrow, the two urns would be buried side by side in the section of the cemetery reserved for cremations. A double marble marker had already been ordered.

They knew that God would separate ashes and make their parents whole again at the end of time.

But until that day, their parents would be no more separated in death than they had been since they grasped hands and took that leap of love.

A few days earlier

"Thank you, old man. You still got it." She reached up and ran her hand through his snow-white hair.

"Long as we can afford these pills, that hormone cream, and that lubricating lotion, old woman". He took the hand, kissed the delicate web of wrinkles. Lately, they had begun to channel the roles Will Geer and Ellen Corby had played over half a century ago on "The Waltons".

"If necessary, we can pawn all those Pulitzers sitting in the den. Someone could probably use all six of them."

"And that Nobel Peace medal of yours is made of gold." He reached over and pulled her close to him. "Oh, Jeannie, I think I still love you more and more each day, and it's been over 35 years."

"Sometimes, it seems like only yesterday that I came to your door -".

"The time in November or the time in January?"

"Both, I guess." She shivered and he pulled the blankets closer around them. "It's cold enough to be either of those nights," she continued. "I'm glad you put that plastic up on the inside of all the windows; it sure helps."

"Pat helped. He and Maggie were thinking of going down to Cabo next week, wanted to know if we could go over there and be with the kids. Gloria will be there during the day and could stay the night if necessary, but they'd like the kids to have more than just the housekeeper."

"Caitlin called. Do you want to feel really old? Abbey got her first period today. We could theoretically be great-grandparents nine months from now! And it's warmer in Pittsburgh than it is here."

She yawned and he yawned. For some reason, she didn't turn around to spoon against him but snuggled down against his chest.

"Love you, Fishboy."

"Love you back."

And neither of them remembered that they had turned on the portable kerosene heater when she had responded to his kiss in the way he knew she would.

-----

They looked at each other. She noticed that his hair was once again the color of their oldest granddaughter's but didn't find it strange. He noticed that she was wearing the gray silk dress she wore for the Indonesian state dinner almost 50 years ago, but didn't find it strange.

They sat up and looked up. Off to the right was a sheer wall of rock, reaching up as far as the eye could see. The ground was hard, but they weren't sore from lying on it. In fact, they each noticed that the little aches and pains that had bothered them for the past 10 years had disappeared. He helped her to stand. There was a light off in the distance and, hand in hand, they started toward it.

All of a sudden, they heard a bark and a beautiful black Labrador retriever came bounding through the light, knocked Danny to his knees, and began to lick all over his face. "Pistol!" he exclaimed, running his hands on the dog's coat, kissing his nose.

CJ looked up and saw a wondrously clear crystal bowl with gossamer wings attached floating toward her. Inside the bowl, the iridescence of a goldfish swimming back and forth excitedly caught her eye. "Oh, Gail!"

As Danny stood up, they heard the running of feet; two gorgeous little boys with light brown curls and deep blue eyes stopped and reached up their arms, demanding to be lifted.

"Which one are you?" CJ said to the child who wrapped his arms around her neck.

"I'm Damian," he kissed her cheek.

"I'm Cosmas," said the little boy in Danny's arms. "I'm so glad to see you, Daddy. Can we play catch later?"

"Excuse me," a little girl's voice said.

They looked down to see a child with bright red braids and golden brown eyes.

"You never knew me. That time you were ten days late and had the really heavy flow? That was me. Something happened wrong and I couldn't stay, but I've wanted to meet you for the longest time. They call me Danielle."

They reached down and somehow, between the two of them, managed to hold all three children in one big embrace.

A slight cough.

"Claudia Jean, would you like to introduce your mother and me to your young man?" Kathleen and Talmadge Cregg, his mind restored to all its brilliance, greeted their daughter and the son-in-law they never met.

"Ah, Danno, me boy, she's not the worst of them!" Padraic and Caitlin Concannon hugged their daughter-in-law and their son.

"I'm glad she finally learned to take protection from a man." Simon Donovan held out his hand to Danny before enveloping CJ in a big hug.

"Any more breaking exclusives, Danny?" "How ya doing, kiddo?" Percy Fitzwallace and Leo McGarry grinned at the two of them.

"How's our fourth daughter?" Jed and Abbey Bartlet, he walking straight and proud, she glowing and radiant, came to them, arm in arm, and kissed their cheeks.

Then the light got closer and infinitely brighter; a rich, beautiful, eternally female voice called out their names.

"Lupé?" CJ asked.

"Mariah!" Danny exclaimed.

"Venga encuentre mi Hijo. Come meet my Boy."