As a heads up. This will not be my last chapter! nope! there will be two more.
I walk down to the basement. Bourbon in hand I'm surprised to see that my boat has company.
"Hey Duck" I say, stepping down off the stairs and setting the new bottle of bourbon on the workbench. Dr. Mallard, my long time friend and college looks at me. His eyes are red. "What's the matter?"
"My mother passed away Jethro" He states grimly. I walk down to him.
"I'm sorry Donald" I state, placing an arm around the man.
"She was getting up there in years, yes, but I was hoping she would make it a little longer. Her birthday was coming up. And we know how much your team adored her" Ducky didn't make eye contact with me. I opened the bourbon and poured him a glass. He took it. "Thank you Jethro" He mutters and sips it a little.
"No problem Duck." I say.
"I just wanted to tell you, you should be the first to know. In these cases" Ducky shrugs. I smiles a bit.
"I wish it was like that with my team" I hand Ducky a paintbrush with waterproofing on it. I set the bottle of bourbon down next to us as we waterproof the wood. We're silent for a while. Ducky pours himself another glass of bourbon as he sips his first one away. They were both silent as they waterproofed the boat. Ducky wasn't telling any stories of his many adventures. He was silent. "Do you want to talk about it Duck?" Jethro asks after a period of silence.
"As long as you're not bugged by it. I did intrude didn't I?" The bourbons starting to go to Ducky's head.
"No. You know I don't lock my door for a reason Duck." I state, continuing waterproofing my boat.
"True. I suspect you've gotten used to the frequent home invasions" Ducky smiles a bit, I can't help but smile.
"Sometimes they bring bourbon" I shrug. Ducky stands up and pours another glass of the drink.
"A beautiful name for the boat you picked out Jethro" He says, I look at the black lettering on the starboard side of the bow. I nod.
"Yeah, I needed to start a new one ever since I gave Kelly to Franks" I state dryly. Remembering what part of my heart that name held.
"Maybe I should take up woodworking. I could build model planes." Ducky muses. "My mother always wanted for me to be a pilot. I don't know why, I've told her my plans to become a medical examiner many a time. But she insisted on my becoming a pilot." I don't say anything. I just let the good doctor continue with his ramblings. This is one of the few times I've heard him ramble on the present and not the past. "She finally got to think I was a pilot through the final months of her life." He picks up the brush again, but only turns it in his hands. "Yes. She was happy those final months." He looked and saw something unseen, as if he was looking straight through the concrete walls and on to another dimension. He smiles. "It was for the best I suppose. She was in pain an awful bit"
"I'll tell my team. We'll all attend the funeral" I try and console. Ducky shakes his head in disapproval.
"That won't be necessary, she's wanted a small funeral, and she'll be cremated." He says.
"We can be a small crowd" I try to push the subject, knowing how much my team liked Ducky's mother in all of her eccentric-ness.
"You don't have to do that Jethro. I am sure you are busy" Ducky holds his hand up as if telling me to say no more.
I do have an agenda I like to keep. By simply looking at me, you wouldn't be able to tell, but I'm emphatic. Abby, Ducky and the team have long picked up on this and usually try to not show what they're feeling around me. But it's an unspoken rule that I'll be in my basement, with my bourbon and boat sitting and waiting. That's a fact.
"I donated all of the money to charity" Ducky still looks at the paintbrush as it twirls in his hand. "I thought it would be for the best if I donated all of her will money to charity."
"That's awful nice of you Duck" I say, my voice soft as to not shock him out of whatever trance he is in. Weather it be from the bourbon or the grief.
"It was the least I could do." He says, still staring into the brush. I put my arm on his shoulder, a comforting embrace that breaks his trance. He looks at me; I smile as we share an understanding.
Life is often not fair. It too often takes away ones who we love, whether they were ready to go or not. But it also gives us such wonderful things, like all of the people we can meet and the places to go. New challenges rise to greet us and it is our job to meet them. And it is through these trials and tribulations that make us who we are.