The next day Lyon was invited to Mackenzie's place for afternoon tea. Both Rad and Lyon arrived at Mackenzie's house. As both dogs got out of the vehicle, they went up the front door, and knocked on the door. Mackenzie's dad opened the door and greeted both father and son. "Nice to see you two again. Come in," he said warmly.
"Good to see you again as well," said Rad. They went to the living room and saw both Mackenzie and his mother; Mackenzie was playing on his parents' tablet while Charlotte was ensuring the living room was in tidy order. "Ah, you both came for afternoon tea," said Charlotte.
"Hey Lyon," said Mackenzie as he set the tablet down to greet his friend.
"Hello Mackenzie," greeted Lyon back.
All five dogs went to the kitchen and sat down with lemon and basil mini sandwiches set alongside the tea. They chat and dine at the same time; the adults conversed over usual grown-up topics while the two kids were eating their meals.
"So, you work at an oil rig," asked Scott.
"That's correct. I used to work overseas, but moved closer to the one near Brisbane now," explained Rad. "What is your current occupation?"
"I work as an accountant. Sometimes I work from home, and other times I'm sent to the office," said Scott.
"I work part-time as a receptionist at a marketing company," said Charlotte.
"Those are very interesting occupations," said Rad while sipping his cup. Lyon finished his lunch and wiped his mouth with the napkin. "I'm finished," he said to his adoptive father.
"Yeah, me too. May we go outside, and play," asked Mackenzie to his parents.
"Yes, that is fine," said Charlotte. Both boys hurried to the backyard and left the adults to finish their conversation. Mackenzie's yard had a sand pit and tire swing attached to the tree. "So what do you want to do," asked Mackenzie. "We could play in the sand pit or the swing."
"How about the sandpit? We can make a castle," suggested Lyon.
"Oh, good idea," praised Mackenzie. They both ran to his sand pit. There were a couple of pails and shovels. They were filling the pails with sand and placing them upside down. They came out as pillars of the sandcastle, and they added details by using their fingers to draw on the pillars. They patted down the walls to keep them connected to their pillars and added some pebbles on the walls as decoration for the castle walls.
"We visited my parents' graves yesterday to leave them flowers. It was the first time I had seen them since the day they were buried," said Lyon.
"How did that go," asked Mackenzie.
"It was alright. We stayed there a while. I cleared away the dead leaves and was able to find the time to say words for them."
"It's always nice to visit them. I wish it was easy for us to see my grandad often," added Mackenzie.
"He's not buried here in town," inquired Lyon.
"No, he lived in New Zealand. We make a few visits there each year to visit his grave. My mum's sister, who is my aunt, used to take care of my grandad."
"Ah, that makes sense," said Lyon while adding tiny flags to the pillars. There was silence as both boys finished their sandcastle. It had four sand pillars on each corner of the pit, and the walls were connected to them.
"We should bring my tiny soldier figures. They're in my room," said Mackenzie. Both boys ran inside to find toy soldiers for their castle. When they passed through the hallway, Lyon stopped and saw a few portraits on the walls. He saw one photo that seemed like a group family photo. He saw Mackenzie and his parents alongside a few more other border collies. The one that stuck out was an elderly one with a cane in his right hand. He was also a Red Merle just like Mackenzie's mother. He had a black fedora hat, greyed-out red fur, and smiled warmly. Mackenzie noticed Lyon wasn't behind. "Hey Lyon, what are you doing," he asked.
Lyon snapped out and saw Mackenzie. "Oh, sorry. I got distracted looking at your family photo," said Lyon. "Is that your grandad?"
"Oh, yeah that was him. This photo was taken when I was four," added Mackenzie.
"He looks friendly," said Lyon.
"Yeah, he was a great grandad. I used to go to his farm during the holidays, and we would round up his sheep, fish in the pond, and go to downtown for ice cream," reminisced Mackenzie with a slightly sad smile.
"That must have been fun," said Lyon.
"Yes, it was." Mackenzie stared down recalling the day he lost his grandparent.
Past:
The Border Collie family was sitting in the waiting room. A five-year-old Mackenzie sat patiently with his mum and dad. Charlotte was anxious to hear any updates regarding her father while Scott did his best to comfort his wife. Mackenzie was quiet during the period, not wanting to be a bother to his parents. Another border collie came in the room who looked similar to Charlotte. She was Charlotte's older sister; she went up to see the family.
"Any update yet on dad," asked the sister.
"None. He looked worse than yesterday. The doctors say it's hard to tell at this very moment," said Charlotte all stressed out.
"Hi Aunt Ivy," said Mackenzie.
"Hello Mackenzie," said his aunt.
It's getting late. Mackenzie, why don't you go with your aunt back to the house," said Scott.
"No, I want to stay here. I want to see grandad," said Mackenzie with a determined look.
"But it's late. You'll get tired if you stay up late," added Scott.
"I don't want to! Please, let me stay with both of you."
"Scott, it's fine. I think Mackenzie would appreciate staying with the both of you," said Ivy.
Scott sighed, knowing this wasn't up for debate. "Alright, I guess there's no way to convince you." All four border collies sat together while waiting patiently for the update on the grandfather's condition. Mackenzie looked up at the ceiling and counted the ceiling tiles to keep him entertained. While his grandad was still fresh on his mind, he did everything to keep himself distracted from the tension. After that, he slept on his aunt's lap since it was past bedtime. Please be okay, he thought to himself.
After a couple of hours, it was dark in the hospital. There were fewer dogs in the waiting lobby, and the room was dim. There were still workers who helped during the night shift. Mackenzie's mother was still anxious with her husband by her side; her sister was also filled with overwhelming concern, but she felt comfortable with her nephew sleeping next to him. Soon a doctor came out of the two doors; a black Belgian Shepard with rounded glasses, a white coat with two pens in his pockets, and a stethoscope around his neck.
"Border Collies," he called out. The adults ran up to the doctor; Ivy gently laid Mackenzie to the chair, following her sister and brother-in-law.
"Yes, that's us," said Scott.
"So, how is he," asked Charlotte impatiently.
The doctor had a serious look on his face. He messed with his glasses and sighed. "I regret to inform you that he did not make it. The symptoms were too much for him to handle. He is no longer alive."
Charlotte knelt down to her knees with tears in her eyes while her husband held his shoulder to his wife comforting her. Ivy's paws were hiding her mouth, trying to stay calm. Both sisters were devasted to hear that their father has died from cancer. Mackenzie slowly opened his eyes and saw the three adult collies huddled together. He slowly got off the chair and walked up to them. Ivy noticed her nephew awake from the commotion.
"Aunt Ivy," asked Mackenzie all worried.
"Oh, Mackenzie," sighed his aunt.
"What's going on? Is grandad okay," he inquired.
Scott then noticed his son asking his aunt. "Mackenzie, mate. Let's sit down for a moment," said Scott. Both father and son sat down; Scott was prepared to reveal what truly transpired. "This isn't going to be easy to hear, but….. your grandad has passed. We were told that just now." Mackenzie's eyes widened with horror to hear the news. "But…we were told he was getting better. Please tell me you're fibbing," Mackenzie's voice cracked.
"This is no fib. I'm sorry son, but he is no longer with us."
Mackenzie's eyes were filled with tears to learn about the passing of his grandad. He reached to embrace his father for a hug. It was probably one of his worst nights he experienced. Five year old Mackenzie kept sobbing only to be comforted by his aunt and mother as well. "He may be gone, but we still have each other," said Ivy while stroking Mackenzie's fur.
The four followed the doctor to the elder dog's room; they saw him lying still in his bed. Mackenzie felt a sense of agony knowing he wouldn't be able to spend time with him at his farm anymore, and dread to see the body in its lifeless state.
Present:
Mackenzie snapped out and returned to his senses after recalling that memory.
"Mackenzie," asked Lyon worriedly.
"It's nothing," retorted Mackenzie. "Let's just go find those toy soldiers." The two boys went in Mackenzie's bedroom; his bedroom had brick walls with hardwood floor, and a big green rug in the middle. The bed was beside the window, and there were glow in the dark stars hanging around the window. His bed had a tiny planet pattern on the sheet, and the toy chest was the front of the footboard. Mackenzie had plenty of toys in his chest. "I'm pretty sure they're in here," he said while digging into the chest. He took each item out of the chest and threw them to the floor.
Finally, he reached out for the toy soldiers beneath the chest. "Found them," he said.
"Shouldn't we clean up the mess," asked Lyon pointing out to the rest of the toys around the room.
"It's fine. I'll clean it up later. Let's go back outside." The boys rushed out back to the sandpit to lay down the soldiers inside their sandcastle. They were laid down in a straight line with the general in front of them.
"I'll pretend to be the general, and you can play as each soldier," explained Mackenzie.
"Alright," said Lyon. Mackenzie cleared his throat and projected his voice into a gruff general's tone. "At ease soldiers. We must defend the castle from an evil giant."
"Yes sir," said Lyon doing the same with his voice as well.
"Each of you will be at your posts guarding the castle to prevent the giant from getting in. Two soldiers will block the door while the four will defend the exterior. Four more will be at the pillars readying your ballistae. As the giant approaches, be ready to aim at the giant."
"Affirmative," said Lyon. "Who gets to play the giant?"
"Um, I guess I can be it," said Mackenzie. He ran from the sandpit to the door, preparing his giant persona. "Grrr, I'm a big scary giant, and I'm going to destroy that castle." Mackenzie stomps on the ground to maintain the mean giant personality. Lyon grabbed the toy general. "Men, we must protect this castle at all costs. The giant is going to get in and demolish everything," he said using the same gruff voice Mackenzie used. He readied the four front soldiers in front of the castle's exterior and placed them in front of the giant Mackenzie.
"You shall not pass," said Lyon.
"Really? And who's going to stop me?"
"We are. We serve the king, and we swear to defend the castle with our lives."
"Haha, well it won't work." Mackenzie grabbed the four soldiers and tossed them in the sandpit.
"Oh no. Four men down," cried out Lyon.
"That's right. I'm unstoppable," laughed Mackenzie.
"Not for long," said Lyon pretending to be one of the soldiers on top of the castle's pillars. He imitated shooting noises from the pretend ballista aiming at Mackenzie.
"Men, we must aim at the giant. This is our only hope to keep the castle and king safe." Then Mackenzie pretended he was shot by the ballista's arrows. "Ahh, no. I've been hit," he shouted, pretending to cry in pain. He fell down, pretending he was defeated by the ballista. Lyon then held the general once more. "We protected the castle from the mean giant. You've done well archers," he said praising the soldiers on the castle's pillars. "Thank you sir. It was a team effort. The king, and the castle will remain secure for eternity."
"Everything alright you two," asked Scott from the patio.
"Yes, dad. We were playing castle," called out Mackenzie.
"Must be a fun game," said Scott.
Mackenzie stood up from the ground dusting himself off from the grass. "Want to play in the tire swing now?"
Both boys agreed and went to the tree connected to the swing. "You can have a go," said Mackenzie.
"Thanks," added Lyon. He went through the tire's hole with his belly on top of it, and Mackenzie pushed his friend behind. The two boys enjoyed their time swinging through the rest of the afternoon. Then Lyon recalled back inside when Mackenzie didn't say a word when they both looked at the family portrait.
"So, Mackenzie. Do you miss your grandad," he asked.
"Well, yes. I still do sometimes," explained Mackenzie while pushing Lyon. "I guess it was obvious when you noticed my silence back there."
"I'm sorry. I must have made you remember him by looking at that picture."
"No, it's not your fault. It happens sometimes when I have reminders of the past."
"I know, but I should have not looked at that family picture." Lyon looked down sadly; Mackenzie then stopped pushing.
"Lyon, I said it was okay. It's true that when I looked at the photo, it reminds me of the good and bad times. But I can't fault you for making me remember him. When I have those sad thoughts that he's no longer here, I remember the good times I made with him, and that I still have my mum, dad, and Aunt Ivy."
"Yeah, I guess you're right. When I looked at your grandad, it just reminded me of my parents. I still think about them."
Mackenzie thought of the good advice he received from his parents and passed it on to Lyon. "You know, there's a trick my mum and dad taught me when I feel down. Whenever I am reminded of grandad, think about the good times you had with your parents. Try to remember the last time you were happy with them. For me, I remember the days I spent at grandad's farm in New Zealand."
Lyon then pondered the last good memory he had with both parents. "Well, I think the one time we had fun were holiday trips. We would go to Sudbury, Ontario where we would spend time at the ski lodge. I loved playing in the snow when I was three. Dad and mum would ski around the lodge."
"That's a great memory," said Mackenzie. "You can also share it with your new dad. I often talk about these moments with my mum to keep grandad's memory alive. How do you feel now?"
"Better. I feel good after sharing the ski holiday trip with you," said Lyon relieved.
Both boys smiled at each other; Lyon appreciated Mackenzie's help by providing a good coping technique. Lyon sensed a mutual trust. This was the first time he received help from a friend.
"Thanks, Lyon."
"Don't mention it. I'm glad I was able to help," added Mackenzie while wagging his tail.
The three parents soon came out to check on the kids. "Having fun you two," asked Rad.
"Yes, we were playing with the swing," said Lyon.
"How about we play some touch football before the sun sets," said Scott with Mackenzie's football in his arm.
"Yeah, come Lyon. I'll teach you how to catch a football," said Mackenzie.
"Okay," said Lyon with anticipation. The two dads were tossing the football with their sons while Charlotte was looking at the four happily. Mackenzie instructed Lyon on how to hold the football as well as catch them while Lyon listened attentively. The same would go for Rad since he still remembers how to play touch football back in his youth. Rad and Lyon have gotten along with the Border Collies since Lyon met Mackenzie at school. All is well in today's afternoon tea and playdate as the afternoon sun descended from the sky.
Note: This chapter slightly focuses more on Mackenzie's past, and how he overcame his grief with his grandad, and passed it on to Lyon. A perfect way for both boys to bond over their friendship.