*Thank-you for the reviews on the last chapter. they were greatly appreciated. Thank-you all so much!
"To everything there is a season," the preacher begins, "and a time to every purpose under the heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die," he says as Nicki bursts into sobs as she sits in the front pew of a church. The words jumble in her ears as he speaks. Her eyes blurred and she looked through tears. John's grip on her tightened as she choked on her sobs, he handed her a tissue as the preacher went on. The entire funeral was a blur for Nicki. She thought of the good times she had with Judson in his short time on the earth. "It is not the time to ask why this happened but a time to heal. We know that Judson isn't in anymore pain. He is free from his cancer but we still mourn for the loss of this sweet boy. I understand that his mother has something she would like to say, Nicki," he says.
Nicki gets up from the pew and gets herself together so she can talk about how wonderful her son was. She took a deep breath as she reached the podium. She looked out at all the people that came to pay their respects. There were many WWE superstars in attendance, many family members and close friends dressed in black, holding tissues in their hands and their tear filled eyes looking at her with pity, sympathy and empathy. "December 15, 2005 was a day that changed my life for the better. My son Judson Scott made his way into the world. I was so excited to welcome my son into the world. He was born at 8lbs and 10 oz. He was a big boy from the start. He quickly became my entire life. As a baby I would often find myself waking up just to watch him sleep and to check to see if he was still breathing. He was everything to me. He was such a smart little baby and he was always so happy. His big brown eyes and his big smile were the key to brightening up any day I was having whether it was good or bad. He grew all too quickly into a toddler and like most toddlers was into everything," she stopped long enough to see Scott, his wife and their son walk into the church. The rage boiling inside of her was uncontrollable. She could feel the heat on her face and was sure it was turning red. She had gone from painfully sad to raging angry. She took a deep breath and went on talking about Judson as a toddler. "Judson, started kindergarten in 2010 he absolutely loved it. He made friends and would bring home lots of pictures he colored and wanted to be an artist. He was learning so much and enjoyed going to school every day just to learn something new. Then it happened he started to get headaches and his leg kept hurting. I thought it was just a simple head cold or him getting the flu. I heard him complain for 3 weeks about his headache and his leg hurting. He wasn't running a fever or anything and then he started to get so tired. He started to complain about his back hurting also and I knew it was time to go to the doctor. At first his doctor called them growing pains and told me to give him some medication. Then with the headache and fatigue the doctor told me it was probably a communicable disease. He was then prescribed more medicine but it wasn't working. Then I took him elsewhere. It was April 2012 when I got the news of Judson's cancer. Just hearing the C word broke my heart. He was just 5 years old. He was entirely too young to be sick but it never once broke his spirit. He was like any other normal child. He was happy all the time. I don't ever remember a time he wasn't happy. I don't ever remember a time when he thought about himself before anyone else. He was all about giving and he was the most loving child I have ever met. He was the best son I could have asked for. He wanted to be an artist or a wrestler like his idol John Cena. He was like every other child his age playing with legos, painting pictures, playing with action figures and watching Spongebob. He was amazing and never once lost his smile no matter how much pain he was in or how sick he was. He fought hard for two years proving to be the strongest boy I have ever met. He is my hero. He stood up against all the odds he could but it ended up defeating him. Even in his last days his smile was still there. He smiled all the time. My life will never be the same without his smile. My life will never be the same without his big brown eyes looking back at me. I'm going to miss his hugs and I'm going to miss being woken up on Mother's Day by him with microwavable pancakes, orange juice and toast. I'm going to miss getting his Mommy and me pictures and Mommy I love you cards. Every day he was here was a gift to me. He taught me how to live life. He taught me how to be happy when all I wanted was to be sad. He taught me what life was all about. Today we celebrate his life. I can't be sad anymore because my son is gone but happy he has graduated into his new life; a life where he's not sick or hurting, a life of paradise. I know he is watching over us right now and I know he is still smiling. Death ends a life but not a relationship. He will always be my son. I want to celebrate the fact he is not sick anymore or in pain. He has touched every single one of us in one way or another. While I am left with the sadness of losing my only child I am also left with happy memories of all the happy times we had together." She took a deep breath and walked back to her pew where John wrapped his arms around her.
The preacher preached on and then they were dismissed to head to the local cemetery to lay him to rest. It was a gloomy day. The sun was not in the sky and the rain was falling as they laid him to rest. There was a chill in the air on the cool September morning. The weather fit the mood of everyone gathered around. After Judson was laid to the rest the guests went to Bubba's restaurant to spend time together and celebrate Judson's legacy. Nicki was getting many condolences and many hugs. "Are you doing okay, Angel?" asks her grandmother.
"Mammaw, I am as good as I can be. It hurts you know," says Nicki.
"I know," she says, "but in time all pain heals."
"I guess," says Nicki as John joins her side. "Mammaw, this is John; my boyfriend."
"Hello, John," she says, "my name is Dorothy but everyone calls me Mammaw."
"Nice to meet you, Mammaw," says John with a smile as he shakes her hand.
"Nice to meet you too," she says with a smile. "I'm happy you found someone, Dear," she says to Nicki making her blush. "I'll be praying for you," she says before walking away.
"She seems nice," says John.
"She is," says Nicki. "My mammaw and I have always been really close. She likes you."
"How can you tell?"
"Because she introduced herself to you as Dorothy and Mammaw, if she didn't that would say she doesn't like you. She never let Scott call her Mammaw."
"Well, that's good," says John as he hugs her. "Are you doing okay? Are you feeling okay?" He asks her because she has been sick for a while. He believed the stress of everything had taken its toll on her.
"I'm okay," she says, "a little nauseous but I'm okay," she says as Scott walks over.
"Hello, Nicki," he says. "I'm sorry."
"Sorry for what?" asks Nicki.
"About Judson," he answers as John takes Nicki's hand into his.
"What about him? Are you sorry that you weren't here for 2 years or sorry that you didn't help him when you could?"
"Do we have to do this today?" asks Scott. "I just lost my son."
"You just lost YOUR son?" she asks. "YOUR son?"
"Whether you want to admit it or not Judson was my son, Nicki."
"No, Scott, he wasn't. A father takes care of their child and is there for them. You didn't do anything for him in 2 years. You had the chance to help him or try to help him but you didn't."
"He was still my son, Nicki," he says.
"All right what was his favorite food? What was his favorite color? Who was his favorite artist? What did he like to do for fun? How did he like his hot cocoa? Tell me how much you know about Judson and I'll tell you if you are his father or not," says Nicki. The same rage was building inside of her as at the funeral. Scott had a lot of nerve showing up at all after his selfish behavior.
"I don't know," he says.
"You're right you don't know," says Nicki, "Macaroni and cheese was his favorite food, orange was his favorite color, Picasso was his favorite artist and he loved to draw for fun. You can say you were his father but you and I both know the truth, Scott. You were never a father to him. NEVER!"
"You can't deny me my son," he says.
"I'm not. You denied him yourself when you refused to help him," she says before storming away.
John follows after her. "Nicki, are you okay?"
"Peachy," she says. "He has a lot of nerve showing up here."
"I know but he is right and whether he was there or not he was Judson's father. Judson loved him even if Scott didn't," says John. "It's okay."
"I don't feel okay. It just makes me so angry, John."
"I know," he says, "but don't be. Judson wouldn't want you to be angry. I'm here everything will be okay."
"Okay," she says as John wraps his arms around her. "I love you," she says. This is the first time she has ever said those words to John.
John's heart melts with those three little words. "I love you too," he says before kissing the top of her head.
*A/N: So what did you think? Please review and thank-you for taking the time to read.