4. Susan
"Do you guys care if we make one more stop before we leave Fairview?" asked Susan, as she really did not want to upset her two children.
"I guess so." said M.J. as he crossed his arms and made an upset face. Susan could obviously tell that her son was very displeased.
Julie turned around and glared at M.J. She was always tired of how ungrateful, bratty, and childish M.J. could be - but what bugged her even more was how Susan always let him get away with it.
Susan turned down a long road, and they entered a cemetery. There were tons of gravestones, and Julie stared at Susan. She saw the grief, the sadness, and the loneliness in her eyes. Julie wished that she could do something for her mother, to help her assuage this pain, but she realized that there was nothing that could be done. Time was the only solution, and even then, it wasn't much of a solution.
"Do you guys care if I go really quick?" she said, "I kind of just ... want to be alone." Susan declared.
M.J. nodded, and Julie put her hand on her mother's shoulder. Susan touched her hand, and then took off the seatbelt and sighed. She opened the door and shut it.
Susan walked over to Mike's grave. She sat there, and stared at the dark gray stone. She touched the smooth stone and embraced the cold touch she felt. She started to speak, softly, as tears streamed down her face.
"I miss you so much," she said, "Life without you ... it's dull. It's bland. And I despise almost every single second of it. You were my one and only; there is no one out there who completed me like you. Michael Delfino, I love you with all of my heart. And there will never be anyone like you. You were perfect. And the right one for me. Through our ups and downs, we always stuck by each other. No matter what. And that is what love is."
Susan breathed in and out, and she wiped the tears off her face, before continuing to speak.
"I'm actually leaving Fairview now. I sold the house to some Jennifer woman, with a family of two - herself and then her husband. I hope things work out for them. They'll like it over at Wisteria Lane. But as for me, I'm done there. It's just too painful. Every morning I'd wake up and make myself a cup of coffee. I even had those mornings where I made two cups of coffee - one for me... and one for you. And then I would look out that window, and recall every single second of that tragic afternoon. Where you were murdered. On that front porch."
Susan began crying even more. "Well Mike, Julie gave birth to a baby girl. She named it Michaela, after you. And I think the doctor, Mark Bradley, wants to go out on a date with her. So life is going to be good again. But whatever challenges I go through in life now, and the things I deal with, they just won't be the same. I'll be at M.J.'s graduation, and thinking of you sitting right beside me, clapping at how far our son has come. I'll be at Julie's wedding, fantasizing of you saying some sort of special speech. I'll be at Michaela's swim meet, or something, and dreaming of you cheering our granddaughter on. I'll be laying in my bed, and contemplating of you laying there beside me. Life just won't be the same. But I must move on... and try to live what life I have left. Because that's what you would want me to do. And since that's what you want me to do, well by all means, I will do it. I love you Mike. I love you so much. I hope things are nice up there... and say hello to Adele for me."
Susan placed her hand on Mike's gravestone once more, and she blew a kiss to it, thinking of Mike. She walked back to the car, and she and her family drove off. As Susan drove down the road, she glared at the cemetery in the rear view mirror. She thought of her future, and her hopes that things would eventually, at some point, get better.
"I'm ready." said Susan, spontaneously.
"Ready for what?" Julie asked.
"Ready to finally live that happy ending that I've always wanted. I'm ready for life to get better. I'm ready to finally know what it means to live. And I'm finally ready to say goodbye to Mike. I'm ready to go off to a better place - where there are new memories to be made, new people to meet, and new lives to live. I think I'm ready. I'm ready. I am ready." Susan stated, as she attempted to be positive.
Julie nodded, and Susan looked at her. She placed her focus back on the road, and off she drove. As she drove out of Fairview, she slowly smiled and she knew that in time it would get better. And things would fall into place, and she would be happy again. . .