Part Dix-sept
First things first... here it is, and without any extra chatter, let's... start the scene...
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Even though it had been a late night with everyone staying up to watch both the sequels to 'Pirates of the Caribbean' (not 'On Stranger Tides' yet), Julie was awake early Saturday morning.
There was a nagging feeling permeating her chest. It was a mix of anxious excitement and nausea, and she had no idea what it was about. But something about it told her she needed to get up and go downstairs.
She yawned as she climbed out of bed and threw on her big fuzzy purple robe and her slippers. There were faint sounds of the TV drifting up from the living room, so she idly wondered who else could be up this early. It was 8:00am when she shuffled into the kitchen, quietly raising an eyebrow and asking Carlos, who was sitting on the living room couch, what he was doing up so early.
"Reggie and Alex were telling me about Saturday morning cartoons, I figured I could at least try to capture the idea." He grinned, and Julie felt a tug at her heart. She had missed her brother's carefree attitude, they had all been sleep-walking through life since her mom passed away, but the guys had dragged them back to living.
"Do you want any cereal Carlos?"
"Sure, Rice Krispies?"
Julie's face split with a smile, "Sure, buddy." She got them each a bowl and brought them over to the couch, sitting down next to him.
Then the doorbell rang.
"I got it!" Carlos was up and scampering over before Julie could say a word. Or identify why her heart was suddenly in her throat.
"Um, hello. Is- is Julie Molina here?"
"It's for you Julie!"
Julie was at the door before Carlos even finished speaking, her heart racing, she knew that voice. This must be why she somehow knew she needed to be up this morning.
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Hello... Emily."
Julie and Luke's mom stared at each other in the doorway. Carlos picked up that something was weird and excused himself, grabbing his bowl of cereal and retreating to his room upstairs.
"Please come in. Can I get you anything, a glass of water?" Julie led her inside to the table and they sat down across from one another.
"N-no, I just wanted to talk to you."
They eyed each other for a long moment, neither sure what the other knew or suspected, or who would be brave enough to break the silence.
Finally Emily sighed and glanced away, looking back with unshed tears in her eyes, she spoke. "I don't know why, but I've had this unsettled feeling ever since you came over and brought Mitch and I Luke's song. You spoke as if you knew him, and I swear I could almost hear him singing the words as I read them. I don't have a lot of regrets in my life, but not listening and supporting my son is one that has haunted me for 25 years. I saw you and your band in a video on YouTube. The lead guitarist, I would swear it's my baby Luke." She paused to take a deep breath and sniffle. "Am I crazy Julie? Please be honest with me."
Julie wasn't sure what to do. Did Luke want his mom to know he was a ghost? Was it even fair to tell her? But... the guys had been solid for at least a week, and seemed to be coming more alive every day. Wouldn't it be cruel not to tell her?'
As Julie tried to sort through what might be the right thing to do, it was taken out of her hands. Luke walked through the kitchen door, rubbing his eyes and yawning, obviously seeking her out to say good morning.
He froze mid step, as his gaze fell on the person at the table facing away from him, only his eyes moving to meet Julie's over Emily's head as they grew impossibly wide in shock.
"I honestly am not sure what to say to you right now." Julie finally replied to Emily's query, her eyes meeting Luke's.
"I am."
Emily stiffened, almost robotically shifting to look over her shoulder, as Luke approached infinity slowly, tears gathering in his eyes as they locked onto his mom, the chance to speak to her crashing into him.
She inhaled on a gasp of sheer disbelief, "Baby, is it really you?!"
His tiny smile was fragile and unsure, "Yeah mom, it's me."
Emily stood up, sliding her chair away, and reached out with one hand to touch his shoulder.
She hesitated, her hand hovering, just above it.
Then she took a deep breath and set her hand on his shoulder...and it passed right through.
Both of them crumpled to the ground, sobbing in anguish and devastation.
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"No. No way. Nope." Julie had tears streaming down her cheeks, this was NOT OKAY.
She got up and moved around the table, determined to FIX IT.
Julie dropped to her knees next to Luke and grabbed his left hand with her right, he was solid to her, and she was emphatically determined to make this work. She wrapped his arm around her shoulder and reached her other hand out to Emily's left hand, and clasping it in hers, she practically yanked the two of them together, using every ounce of focus she had to will them to feel each other.
And it...worked.
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The three of them were a bawling mess on the floor for what seemed like ages. And then it got crazier.
Reggie and Alex stumbled through the kitchen door, having left Willie to sleep, and once they registered what was happening, they both threw themselves into the pile, crying as well.
Needless to say, when Ray woke up he came downstairs to one hell of a situation.
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"-"
"Um, Julie? Guys? Would anyone care to introduce me to the lovely lady you're all crying on?"
"Anyone?"
"Oo-kay. Uh, who wants breakfast?"
"No? Not even food? Huh."
Ray shrugged and stepped around everyone to get a cup of coffee in the kitchen. He wasn't dumb, he could see Julie smiling, so he figured he'd let them get it out.
He was leaning against the counter and almost done with his first cup of coffee before everyone finally started to calm down.
Julie carefully pulled back first, unsure if Luke and his mom would still be able to touch if she let go, but it was okay. She let out a soft sigh as the two of them clung together even closer, Reggie and Alex slipping away from the group along with her.
The three of them got up, all instinctively heading to Ray for a reassuring hug. He was happy to provide it, putting his coffee down and pushing it back on the counter out of the way. Julie wrapped her arms around his middle, Reggie and Alex on each side. He held them close for a long moment, then asked again, hoping for an answer this time, "Who is she?"
"Luke's mom." Julie stated it simply, her face still pressed against Ray's chest.
"Oh. Oh." For a split second he had been puzzled by the extreme emotional reaction, but then the coffee kicked in and his brain engaged, and he remembered 'Unsaid Emily' and that it had actually been 25 years, the boys were dead, ghosts. It was so easy to forget that when he was chatting with Reggie about his photos, or applauding Alex when he stayed on Willie's skateboard for a whole 10 seconds after an entire day of lessons with Willie trying to teach him. And especially when Luke stumbled into the kitchen in the morning just to say 'Hi, have a good day at school.' to Julie, making her smile bigger than he had seen since her mom passed away.
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"Baby, I'm so sorry."
"I'm the one who's sorry Mom, I should never have left like that."
"I love you, baby, always."
"I love you too Mom, so much."
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Ray decided it was another pancakes type of day, and he swiftly got everything going. Luke and his mom reluctantly picked themselves up after their whispered conversation of apology.
"Ray, this is my mom, Emily Patterson."
"It's nice to meet you Emily. Do you want chocolate chip or plain pancakes?"
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For everything, even if I don't know what any of it was yet." She smiled at him unsteadily.
"Well, you are very welcome." He smiled back, his eyes reassuring and understanding.
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They ate breakfast, it was a bit subdued, but Carlos had finally wandered back downstairs, and he was great at breaking the tension, helping to tell the story of the boys being ghosts.
The pressure ratcheted up when breakfast finished, though. Luke may have made up with Emily, and she may have accepted the fact he was a ghost and everything, but there was still his dad, Mitch, to contend with.
"Just come home with me, we can explain, and everything will be fine!" Emily was pleading with Luke, but he wasn't budging.
"Mom, I can't. He won't just believe like you did. And, well, I don't know if I'm ready. Today was a lot, just seeing you. I could come over tomorrow with Julie, though?" He glanced over this shoulder from his position at the front door with his mom, his eyes asking if she would be willing to do that.
"Of course." Julie moved up beside him, her hand sliding into his and entangling their fingers, squeezing gently in solidarity.
Emily's eyebrows raised slightly at the action, but she didn't mention it. She sighed out a deep breath, "Okay. It has been a big day, I suppose. And Mitch was always more upset because I was upset, so it might be better if I try to ease him into things. I expect you to be there tomorrow, though!"
"Yes, Mom."
"We will."
"Fine." She reached out and tugged Luke into another tight embrace for a long second, before stepping back and quickly wiping her eyes. "Love you baby, see you tomorrow."
"Love you Mom."
"We'll see you tomorrow." They watched as Emily got in her car and pulled away, then Julie shut the door and led Luke up to her room, communicating with her dad in one look. He just gave her a nod. This wasn't a time to worry about Luke being in her bedroom.
"So Alex, Reggie, what do you say we marathon the Indiana Jones movies? I'll make the popcorn and you go see if Willie is done sleeping in, we should be able to finish all four!"
"Yeah! Wait, four?" Reggie questioned, turning to Carlos.
Alex shook his head and popped back to the studio to wake Willie up. Maybe he would ask for a hug, it had been a intense morning.
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Luke and Julie curled up on her bed, facing each other, their arms wrapping them close in a tight embrace.
"Tell me about her Luke."
He closed his eyes and breathed her in, relaxing at the feeling of her hair brushing against his nose. "She was the best, but she didn't understand how important music was to me. She wanted me to go to college, get a business degree or something first, and there was just no way I was going to do that."
"Mmhmmm.." Julie hummed, just to remind him she was listening, and that he could talk as much as he needed to.
"I actually am kinda excited to see my Dad, we were really close before. We used to go to the beach and listen to all the random musicians playing for tips that we could find. He kinda got it, he knew I should be playing, not going to college. He told me once that if things didn't work out I could always go to college later, but he couldn't really argue with her, not when our fights started getting more and more volatile. I think he knew it was just a matter of time before I ran, and he would have to be there for her. Of course, no one thought I would die before we could make up."
He tugged Julie impossibly closer, his voice breaking a little, "I was going to go see them after the Orpheum, I figured we would be big news the next day and it would make her finally understand. And... we were big news, just for dying, not for playing a breakout show to a sold out crowd."
Julie tilted her head back to catch his eyes, "Why don't we take a nap, and then we can call your mom and tell her we want to go over for dinner tonight instead of tomorrow? I think your dad might take it better than either of you think."
He lips turned up sweetly, in a smaller version of the grin she had concluded was only hers, and she blushed a little and buried her face back in his chest.
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It was late afternoon by the time they woke up, the emotion of the morning having exhausted them.
Julie sent Luke to the studio to use the shower, and change into something for dinner, and she got ready herself. A quick text exchange with Emily, and then she went to talk to her dad.
"Papi, I'm going to go with Luke to his house for dinner tonight, instead of tomorrow."
Ray looked up from 'The Last Crusade' and shared long look with his daughter. "That's fine, mija. Just call me if you need anything, got it?"
"I promise Dad." She leaned over him in his chair and hugged him, "I love you, Papi."
"I love you too."
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Julie met Luke in the driveway in front of the studio, and started to hold out her hand, but then abruptly yanked it back, "Are you gonna teleport us there like last night? That was so weird, and we really do have to plan a time to discuss all of these changes that are happening with you guys."
"Do you trust me?" And there was that special grin just for her.
"I hate that you know that." She giggled a little, not really mad at all. He had found her entranced by the new live-action Aladdin when he woke up from his nap with her when he was sick. What could she say? That had been her favorite animated movie when she was little, her mom had liked that Jasmine was always trying to stand up for herself.
"You love it." He took her hands and concentrated, and suddenly they were behind the bushes by his house, where Julie had watched with Alex and Reggie on Luke's birthday.
"Her car isn't in the driveway." Luke fidgeted and bounced a bit nervously.
"Luke, I have a feeling this is going to go so much better than you think. I'll go ring the doorbell. You just wait until I wave you over."
"Oo-kay."
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Julie walked up the steps and pressed the doorbell. Footsteps were heard behind the door and then it opened to Mitch's smile of greeting. She smiled back at him, noticing that this was where Luke got his grin, and his hazel eyes.
"Welcome Julie! Emily just stepped out to grab some cinnamon at the store, she wanted to make Luke's favorite apple cider for after dinner tonight. The food's almost done, though, and she should be back any moment." His eyes lifted from hers and glanced behind her, searching. "Is he here? Just invisible or something? I knew it was him the second I saw the video, Emily left the tab open on the computer. She probably thinks, and Luke maybe agrees, that I would be skeptical, but they're both wrong. They both have the same stubbornness and passion that can get the better of them sometimes, too alike when it comes to that. However, I know Luke, and I think I knew the second you came over to give us the song, that you somehow knew him too."
Luke had been waiting just out-of-sight, but this was too much and he flew past Julie and burrowed into his dad's chest, wrapping his arms around in a desperate hug. To his credit, Mitch was barely fazed at all, he just caught Luke and held him close, one hand coming up to run his finger's through his son's hair, in a familiar soothing gesture.
Julie blinked, wait, she had realized that Luke loved it when she did that, but she had always assumed it was something his mom had done. Thinking back, though, his mom had brushed his bangs back that morning, but not this. This was completely a Mitch thing to comfort his son, and it made Julie ache as she suddenly knew why he wrote 'Unsaid Emily' and didn't really mention his dad, because he didn't need to, he knew his dad understood. This hug wasn't really about forgiveness, this was about missing each other. Sure, he had said both parents regretted buying him the guitar, but it was suddenly fairly clear his dad had probably only been upset by the rift between Luke and his mom, and he really knew Luke belonged out there playing music.
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The sound of a car pulling up a few minutes later alerted them to Emily's arrival home, and Mitch motioned Julie inside with him and Luke, the two of them still holding each other. They reluctantly parted, and met Emily as she bustled into the kitchen, telling Luke and Julie to take a seat at the table. She got everything out and ready to serve, then she and Mitch brought it over. The four of them spent an enjoyable time eating and talking, catching up on Mitch and Emily's lives, and explaining about Luke's after-life. Julie was even persuaded to share a few small stories about her mom. Time seemed to fly by, and they were lingering over a second mug of hot apple cider, when Julie's phone buzzed.
"Oh, my dad is wondering where we are. Wow, it is quite late."
"We better go then, Jules. Mom, Dad, I'm so glad we got to talk, this has been absolutely amazing. I promise we'll let you know about our next performance."
"You're not going to stay here Luke?" Emily said with obvious disappointment.
"No mom, I'll come visit soon, though, I swear."
"Then we will be happy to see you then. Love you bud." Mitch cut off any objections from Emily and gave Luke a quick hug, before also tugging Julie into one, while Luke nodded and embraced Emily quickly before stating clearly, "I love you both." Then he caught Julie's hands and pulled her out the door and out of eyesight, popping them home.