A Late Goodbye

Walking though the silent cemetery, David carried an arm full of red roses. He wasn't sure if roses were her favorite flowers, but it was all he could think of in a pinch and it was much better then coming to visit her grave empty handed. After all, this visit had been thirty-seven years in the making and she had been the one to give him life, the least he could do for her now was bring her a small token of some sort.

After walking for a short distance, David finally came to the small grave marked, Nicole Smith-Foreman. It wasn't anything spectacular, her grave marker. Just a small bronzed plaque with her name, date of birth, and date of death. In a way, he was hoping to see this huge monument with a weeping angel and lots scrolled on it. It was the least the government could do for her since she was apart of that damn project. But no, she too was probably just another pawn for the government, and once she was dead she was completely useless to them.

Would it be that way when I die too? He wondered.

David kneeled down by the grave marker and placed the red roses on the soft green grass.

"I'm sorry I'm late Mom." He said softly. "But I'm not really into this kinda thing."

He brushed some of the old dead grass clippings off of her marker. At least this was a nice cemetery where they still tended the grounds. So many cemeteries he had been to in the past were left unkempt. So it was good to see at least the government did that right. As he brushed the old grass away, his fingers traced the death date, April 1, 1973. That was almost five months after he was born.

"I'm sorry I never got a chance to know you." He muttered softly.

David stood back on his feet and continued to look down at the silent grave marker. He didn't know what to say or do because he never knew his mother. He hadn't even thought about her in years, until suddenly one day he felt compelled to know who she was and where she was. So he made Hal find any information he could on her. It took him a good solid month to get what little information he got. All the information on her was either highly classified or destroyed years ago, but a little information was still better then nothing at all. According to Hal it was sheer luck he found where she was interred. Hearing the news that his mother was dead was sad, but kinda expected. But whether she was alive or not, he was determined to see her.

While he was standing at the grave, he noticed someone coming up behind him. Suspicious of who may be following him, David reached inside his jacket and reached for his gun. He was just about to pull out the firearm, when he noticed a short older gentleman standing right next to him.

"Wow, her first visitor besides me in a long time." The man said kindly.

David looked down at the man who was looking up at him.

"David?" The man questioned. "Oh my God, is th-that really you?"

"Okay." David said pulling out his gun and pointing it to the older man. "Who are you working for that you know my real name?!"

The older gentleman instantly raised his hands in the air and said, "I'm too old to be working for anyone. But I knew your mother."

"How?" He questioned not taking his gun off the man.

"I use to work with her years ago." He said. "She was a doctor you know. But if you need proof, I have something personal of hers."

"What?"

"Can I reach into my wallet and show it to you?" The man questioned.

"Okay old man." David said. "Just do it slowly."

The man reached one hand into his coat pocket and pulled out a brown wallet, and then he slowly opened up the wallet and pulled out a silver dog-tag and handed it to David. Leaving one hand on the gun, David took the dog-tag out of the man's hand and quickly looked at it.

"Read it." The man said raising both arms back in the air.

"Nicole Smith MD." David read. "Okay."

"Do you believe me?"

"Yes." David said putting his gun back into its holster under his jacket. "Sorry about that."

"No it's okay." The man said softly as he lowered his arms. "I completely understand about the precautions you have to take."

"So you knew my Mother." David said. "But that doesn't explain how you know my name."

"I took care of you shortly after your mother passed away." He said. "You sure have grown lots from the last time I saw you. I think you were a little less then a year old, just learning how to walk and crawl."

The older gentleman smiled, walked to a nearby marble bench, and sat down. David followed and sat down beside him.

"I never thought I'd ever see you again David." He said softly.

"Who are you?" David asked.

"I'm Richard Maggin." He said. "At least that's what I've been calling myself these past thirty years."

"Then who are you really?" David questioned suspiciously.

"My real name is Dr. Robert Maggin." He said. "But considering Dr. Maggin is dead, I just go by the name Richard now."

"Why the name change?" David questioned.

"At the request of Nicole, your mother, I abducted you from the military hospital." He answered. "We were on the run for six months when finally I placed you in the care of a good children's home. I knew I couldn't keep you with me as long as the government was chasing me down, so I staged my own death and let them think you had died too."

"I see." David said.

"I tried to look for you, to come back and get you once everything had died down, but I guess they figured out you were still alive, and so they moved you from orphanage to orphanage and they constantly changed your last name. When I had finally caught up with you, you were nineteen and in the marines."

"You know about that?" David questioned.

"I don't know very much about it." Richard answered. "Are you still in the military?"

"No." He said. "I haven't been in the military for a long time."

"That's good." Richard answered with a sigh of relief. "That's what your mother was worried about. It was the reason why she wanted me to take you away. She wanted you to make your own choices in life, not have the government dictate how you were going to grow up and live."

There was a moment of silence between them. A brisk wind came by and rattled the dying leaves on the trees. David zipped up his jacket and blew on his hands to keep them from getting to cold.

"You know." Richard said with a smile as he looked at David. "You look like her."

David said nothing.

"Yes." He said happily. "Not exactly like her, but your eyes and mouth, they're just like hers. Ha, despite all their cloning techniques, some of her features still managed to find their way into you."

David looked at her grave and then asked, "What was she like? What kind of person was she?"

"She was a good woman David." He said majestically. "She cared a lot about her patents, her husband, and when you were born she cared a lot about you. She loved you more then anything else in the world. When she use to hold you in her arms, she was hum softly. Not that she could sing well, but it was the thought that counts. She would also read stories to you, tickle you, and smother you with kisses; her devotion to you, even when she was at her sickest, was nothing short of remarkable."

"Is that so?" David said with a smile.

"Yes." Richard said. "Because your other siblings were taken from her, she showered all her love and affection to you. Did you know you were one of three boys?"

"Yes, I know." David said softly.

"I wasn't sure if you knew about them." Richard said. "They've all come to visit Nicole's grave at one time or another. I think the first to visit her was James."

"James?" David questioned.

"James, he was a little taller then you, with olive colored skin and blonde, almost white hair. He spoke with a British accent."

David was astonished, he never knew Liquid's real name, and it never really occurred that he had a normal name only because he seemed so fond of the name Liquid Snake.

"He was a strange one." Richard said. "He asked me if I had known Nicole very well, and I told him yes, then he asked if I knew you. I told him I hadn't seen you since you were a baby, then he started questioning what you were like as a baby. I don't know he was really odd. Then about two years later I met George."

"Former President George Sears?"

"Yes." He replied. "He came here to visit her shortly before he had won the presidency. He and I spoke briefly and then he left. I never saw him again. I saw James a few times more before he stopped coming. I even met your father."

"Big Boss?!" David questioned. "Big Boss came here?!"

"Yes." He said. "He much like you was the only one to bring her flowers for her grave. He and I talked for a very long time, the day he came to visit. I don't know much about how he was on the battlefield, but he was a really nice guy when I met him."

"I wouldn't know." David said coldly.

"Did you ever meet him?"

David paused for a moment and then said, "No."

"I had heard a rumor that he was dead now." Richard said. "Makes sense though, he would be pretty old by now."

"Is there anything else about my Mother I should know?" David said changing the subject quickly.

"She was an intelligent woman." Richard said with a smile. "Did you know her IQ was at 180?"

"No."

"Yes." He said happily. "She was the smartest and most beautiful woman I'd ever seen. To tell you the truth, I was madly in love with her, but she married Sergeant Toby Forman. They were married for 2½ years until he died in that motorcycle accident. A year after that I was going to ask for her hand in marriage, but then she was chosen for the Les Enfant Terribles Project. I was going to ask her to marry me again, but she got sick after having you and…"

"Did she die as a result of the project?" David asked.

"Yes." He said mournfully. "But I know now, given a chance to do it over again, I'm sure she would have still chosen to have you, all of you. Although I know too, she would have done anything to make sure you chose your path in life and not have it plotted for you."

"Hm."

"But know this David." Richard said patting him on the shoulder. "I know your mother would be proud of you no matter what choices you made in life. I know she would want you to be happy. She also told me to tell you, that she loves you."

David smiled and handed Richard back his mother's dog-tag. He took it and placed it back into his wallet and took out a picture and gave to David.

"I can't believe after all these years I still carry around her picture." Richard said. "But I don't need pictures. I have all the pictures I need of Nicole in my mind; besides, I know she would want you to have this."

David looked at the picture and smiled. His mother was a beautiful woman. Her long dark hair was tied up in a neat little pony-tail, and her dark eyes seemed to glitter. Her smile to was bright and pretty, she seemed vivacious and full of life.

"Thank you." David said graciously as he placed the picture into his own wallet.

"No problem." Richard got up from the bench and stretched. "Wow, these old bones have had enough cold air for one day."

David got up from the bench too and also took a stretch.

"I'm glad I decided to visit her today." Richard said. "Otherwise I would have never seen you. Now I can die a happy man."

"Are you sick?" David asked.

"No, just old and lonely." He answered. "All of my family are dead and I have no friends. I just come up here every once in awhile to visit Nicole. It was a pleasure seeing you again after all these years David."

"Thank you for the picture and the info."

"Oh please." Richard said. "That was nothing, just trying to fulfill my promise to Nicole."

Richard walked slowly off into the distance, while David stood at Nicole's grave for a little while longer. Many of the questions that he had about his mother were now answered. Even what she looked like was now answered thanks to Richard. Even though he did not know her, he felt a little more connected to her now.

"Thank you for the great sacrifice you made for all of us." David said. "I don't know if the others understood what you went though for us, but I understand. And while it's thirty-seven years late, I want to say I love you and goodbye Mom."

Another brisk wind passed by, but it was oddly enough a warm wind. That was really strange considering it was late October. Maybe it was his mother's spirit letting him know that she was happy he had finally come and she could now rest knowing all her children had been there to pay their respects. David smiled as the warm wind whipped all around him. It was a peculiar feeling, so gentle and comforting. Yes, he knew it was her spirit. Finally the wind had stopped and he began to walk away from the grave site smiling. The enigma that was his mother would no longer shrouded in mystery.