A/N: This chapter was a little hard to write, but as I got to the end, it was very well worth it. I really hope you liked it even though it's very sad in the middle. Anyone who has lost a pet or a relative can probably relate to this. I really have nothing to say but read & review and the next chapter of this story will be my last. Thank you all so much for taking time to read this story and review it. You don't know how much I appreciate it. :)
Fifi ended up living longer than the veterinarian anticipated. She was though now reaching her final days as she was getting older and couldn't do much anymore. She couldn't see Spike after dark anymore and Pepper was trying to cope with losing her mother. She still had her father and annoying brother, Spiffy, she was really going to miss her mother, but she thinks she can handle this. It will take time for her to live without her mother, but she still had Chaz, Chuckie, Kimmy, Kira, Tommy, Dil, Spiffy, Spike, Stu and Didi. They would all comfort her in ways Fifi won't be able to. Even Fluffy seemed sad about Fifi going to be gone in the doggy kennel in the sky, and even ignored a snobby cat that belonged to Savannah Shane and ended their friendship and Fluffy had then befriended Susie Carmichael's cat, Chowder, who saw Fluffy as a big sister, even though she was old like Spike and Fifi now. Chuckie was talking about a poem with Kimmy as they were coming home off the bus after their first year in junior high school, feeling this year was a lot better than the year before.
"Okay, listen to this one, Kimmy." Chuckie said as he held a nearly tattered up piece of notebook paper as they were walking into their home.
"No!" Kimmy groaned in annoyance. "Man, I'm sick of your poems!"
"Come on, Kimmy, Nicole and I are going to the park after Java Lava today and I really want her to feel special when I read her this one." Chuckie tried to get her to understand.
Kimmy sighed. She was happy for her brother, but she was annoyed at being his test subject for the poetry he would write and present to her on their various dates. "Fine... One more poem, but that's it!"
Chuckie cleared his throat and held the poem close as they stopped walking a bit so he wouldn't run into anything. No more than usual.
"My dearest, Nicole
Your eyes are as lovely as your heart and soul
You make my heart do a dance of a thousand men as it races when I'm near you
Your eyes make me melt like one of the smoothie specials we sell on a hot summer's eve
Your laughter fills my ears with dandelions as it tickles and I never want it to leave
You warm skin when your hand touches my own
I feel like I am the luckiest boy ever to find you to be known
Seeing you just makes me feel like I'm living in a dream
As you and I held hands, I knew there was no turning back, I mean
You make my whole body turn and shake
When we separate from class breaks, I miss you more than ever
It is only less than an hour I will see you again
To my heart, it feels a lot longer and I hope we hold each other in what feels like a plain day melted by rain
I really love you Nicole and I want to see you more than just in school
More than on a hot day with you turned cool
Even though you make my stomach feel funny
That is love, my dear, I love you, Nicole Boscarelli"
Kimmy blinked. "Wow..." she breathed, then cleared her throat. "I mean, wow, Chuckie... You're full of surprises... I'm sure she'll love it. That poem seems as long as Dad's poem he used to have taped to the refrigerator."
"'Children Are My Life', I don't think he took that down until he married Mom." Chuckie shrugged sheepishly. "You think Nicole will like this poem?"
"I think she will, gosh, for someone who's dating at age 12, you seem really attached to this girl, what's next? You're gonna marry her?" Kimmy laughed a little.
Chuckie rolled his eyes "Yeah, right! We're just boyfriend and girlfriend for now... Well, at least until we're in high school cuz her dad says she's too young to date."
Chaz came to the two as they were by the Java Lava entrance. He was sniffling. His eyes were red and puffy. "Fifi died..." he said in a very sorrowful voice and sniffled, still crying.
Chuckie and Kimmy instantly froze and felt sick to their stomachs in instant grief. Fifi may have been a dog, but she was like a member of their family since she had lived in the Finster home for so long. Same with Pepper as their puppy and Spike was important to the Pickles family. They felt very hungry today and were going to get an after school snack before officially working, but their stomachs were completely sick and no longer hungry as they lost their beloved dog. Chuckie and Kimmy dropped what they were doing and hugged Chaz instantly as he was silent after that.
It was a sunny and clear day, but now it seemed as though the sky was gray and was about to rain. Chaz decided to close the Java Lava for today until the family would get back on their feet. Kira was contemplating what to make for a small dinner since her family wasn't very hungry anymore now that they had lost Fifi. They all felt like they lost their best friend.
Pepper whined as she stared at her food bowl and didn't eat any of the irresistible kibble Kimmy had filled it with. She was just lying next to it and stared at the food. She completely lost her appetite just as well as the others. If she could speak with them, she would tell them that she missed her too, but they all knew that's how she felt as well. This was going to be a long process. Chaz was just like how he was when Melinda passed and now Fifi was gone.
For the next few days, Chuckie's poems had gotten grim and darker as the days went on since Fifi's passing. He didn't really feel like going to the pet funeral and he had locked himself in his room. The door to his bedroom knocked as he wrote another dreary 'doggone' poem.
"Go away..." Chuckie murmured.
"It's me," a female voice came from behind. Nicole had come into Chuckie's room. "Hey..." she greeted softly.
Chuckie merely glanced at her. "Hey..."
"I'm sorry about your dog," Nicole put her hand on his shoulder. "This must remind you of when your birth mother..."
"A little," Chuckie said softly, nearly cutting her off. "I was only a little baby when my mother died..."
"Oh, I never knew that... I thought your parents divorced."
"No, Kimmy's dad Hiro and Kira divorced... My mother died a long time ago... Funny thing though, I could always sense my mother in Fifi... I feel like I lost my mother again, only now I'm old enough to understand."
Nicole backed up a bit softly. "Do you want me to come back later?"
Chuckie slowly shut his eyes. "Please..."
Nicole nodded, respecting his privacy. "Of course, Chuckie..." she said softly, then left out of the boy's room.
Chuckie watched her leave and a tear formed in his eye. He didn't cry at the funeral, he didn't cry when Kimmy and his father cried, but now he was crying. His tears felt more forced and stinging now that Fifi was gone just like his old mother.
"Chuckie... Chuckie..." an angelic voice called.
"Huh?" Chuckie heard the voice. "Who's there?"
"Chuckie..." the voice called again.
"Nicole, I said I wanted to be alone!" Chuckie said, nearly angrily. He wasn't mad at her if she was there, but he really wanted to be alone now.
Some fog came into the room and the door opened, as though on its own.
"Tommy, if that's you making another surprise movie to enter in a film festival, stop it!" Chuckie snapped. "I'll admit, you did well on the special effects... BUT GO AWAY!"
"Chuckie... Calm yourself..." the voice droned.
"Alright, who's there?" Chuckie stood up, a little annoyed now.
"Chuckie... Don't you recognize me when you hear me...?"
Chuckie blinked. There came a ghostly white ball shape and it formed into a woman Chuckie once knew. Her strawberry blonde hair, her freckled cheeks, her loving eyes, her rose petal colored lips. She only had on a tattered white gown with a golden halo.
"Mom...?" Chuckie breathed. He wasn't talking about Kira now, he meant his real mother. The woman who had given him life. Melinda Cavanaugh-Finster.
"That's right, Chuckie," the woman smiled, grateful she got to talk to her son like she had always wanted to. "I understand you're sad and angry because of Fifi..."
"Oh, Mom, I really missed you," Chuckie wanted to hug her, but he saw that he could, even though his mother was a spirit now and not a living soul. "I wish you could've met her, Mom... She was like the best dog ever..."
"Chuckie, I know about Fifi... I was her."
Chuckie's eyes widened and he stepped back. "Y-You were? How!?"
"Chuckie, have you ever heard of reincarnation?"
"Yes," the boy nodded. "It's the religious or philosophical concept that a soul after death begins a new life in a new body... W-Wait, you were my own pet dog and I never knew about it?"
"I didn't know myself for the first while," Melinda told him. "I woke up in Paris, France. I had always wanted to go there and take a cruise for my honeymoon with your father..."
Chuckie remembered that he and Chaz had gone to Paris with Tommy's father and that they took a cruise for Chaz and Kira's honeymoon. Chaz must have had those happen with his new wife since he never got to experience them with his former wife.
"I wanted to have a new life because I missed being a living soul, but I still wanted to watch you with my Heavenly eyes," Melinda continued. "God allowed me to become a poodle and see you and your father again. I'm glad your father had fallen in love again and remarried and now you have a sister. I know your grandparents are happy to have two grandchildren now."
Chuckie smiled, sniffling. "They really are, Mom..." he nearly grew emotional when he called his mother that, not remembering being able to when he was a baby.
"Mom... I really miss you."
"I miss you too, I'm afraid I have to go now..."
"M-Mom, will I ever see you again?" Chuckie didn't want her to leave now. "Mom, come back!"
Melinda was starting to fade away and was going to go back up into Heaven where she truly belonged. "I promise I'll come back, Chuckie... Just follow your heart and don't worry, be happy... I'll miss you, my special little boy." she was then her eyes now and she completely faded back into the golden gates of her new residence.
Chuckie blinked. It couldn't have been a dream because he was still standing. However, he looked outside and went close to his window. It was now a bright and sunny day with the birds chirping and it all looked peaceful now. Chuckie decided to get some sleep now, a quick nap.
After Chuckie's nap, he felt a lot better. He yawned and woke up to look out his window again. Soon enough, the others still missed Fifi, but they had moved on after the death and got on with their lives. Chuckie looked out the window to see Tommy, Phil, and Dil walking down the street.
"Hey guys, what're ya doin'?!" Chuckie called out.
Tommy heard him and looked at him with Phil and Dil. "Aw, we were just gonna go to the mall and see a monster movie... Ya don't wanna come."
"Are you kidding?" Chuckie laughed, then rushed downstairs and came out the door to be with them. "A movie with my best friends in the whole wide world? I wouldn't miss it for the world!"
The other boys smiled. They then pulled Chuckie into a hug and they all laughed together.
"Good to see you're feeling better." Phil smiled fondly.
"Yeah, you were like a zombie the past few days, I thought aliens took away your brain and made you into some other Chuckie and I was the only one who knew and Fifi was their alien overlord," Dil added which earned him weird stares. "What? It could happen!"
"Yeah, in the weird planet of your mind..." Tommy rolled his eyes at his younger brother.
Chuckie glanced at them, then bumped into his girlfriend. "Oh, Nicole, I'm so sorry! I was thinking of-"
"No, no, it's my fault, you know how I space out," Nicole stood up and dusted herself. "Oh, were you guys going somewhere?"
"Just a monster movie." Phil told her.
Nicole smiled. "Mind if I come? I love monster movies!"
Dil blinked at her. He then went to Chuckie's side. "Where did you get her and where can I find one of them?"
Chuckie scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Come on, guys, let's go see that movie."
Chaz and the boys went off with Nicole. It was his first movie with Nicole and it was especially special that afternoon. That was also the very movie that Nicole and Chuckie shared their first kiss. From anyone for each other. Chuckie's first kiss ever as well as Nicole's which surprised the others.
Chaz watched Chuckie go off with his friends. He had taken a nap too and felt almost nothing could cheer him up. He then saw an autumn leaf fall. Another one did. But, it wasn't fall. Why was it falling leaves? A bunch were falling randomly.
"What in the world?" Chaz muttered, then went to the front yard. "I'm gonna have to rake early, I guess... Next thing you know we'll be shoveling snow in July, sunbathing in December..."
Pepper saw something that Chaz didn't until she barked.
"What is it, girl?" Chaz asked her.
Pepper barked and pointed to the leaves.
"Pepper, I know there are fall leaves, but there's no excuse to-" Chaz said, but then looked at the leaves. He took off his glasses and cleaned them to see if he was really seeing what he was seeing.
The leaves were true. They had written out: 'Dear, Chaz, I'm glad to see you almost never changed, even after my unfortunate passing. I know you're a great father and great husband, not to mention a dog-owner. I'm very proud of you and Chuckie to live on without me and I hope to see pleasant futures for you both as I watch over you in Heaven. Love and always will, Melinda Cavanaugh-Finster.'
Pepper yipped happily.
"M-M-M-Melinda...?" Chaz breathed.
He looked all around. He then saw the clouds open up above the sky and angel was going back to them. It was Melinda. She looked back at Chaz, blew a kiss at him and went back up to the gates of Heaven.
