Chapter Forty-One: We Need To Say Goodbye

Irish wants to make her father proud, and she knows that she's been a bit of a recluse lately.  Okay, maybe a lot. She's just not the confident type, that's Isa's role. But she's not really shy either, maybe she just needs to practice a bit?
"I really would like a boyfriend, Isa already has one. I don't really wanna be a crazy old cat lady." Irish sniggers, she hates cats. "They're just too fuzzy, and furry, and...and, too snobby." She thinks with a smile.

Irish starts to practice a speech she has to do for school, but she gets sidetracked.
"Hakuna Matata! What a wonderful phrase! Hakuna Matata! Ain't no passing craze!" Her voice off-key, she continues to sing, feeling the sun shine through the window and tasting the salty breeze on her tongue. "It means no worries, for the rest of your days. It's our problem-free philosophy! Hakuna Matata!"

 She stopped suddenly, hearing a light chucking from the other side of the room. Her mouth forms a perfect O, her cheeks flushing a light red. Tyson struggles to keep a straight face, but his lips keep twitching.
"Dad! I-I-I was just-" Irish stammers, what kind of person just randomly sings when practicing a report?
"Save it Irish," Tyson says with a smug grin. "I was right!" Iris opens her mouth, then shuts it.
"What?" She asked, confused. Right about what?
"That Roxanne's horrid singing would be passed down to one of the children!" Irish merely grins, she knows her singing voice is a little off. Isa once said it sounded like chickens being slaughtered.

"And that you're letting go of that control freak thing you've got too. Maybe we should sneak into the local Karaoke bar, I'm sure that you'll scare all the pervs away with your voice." Irish laughs as Tyson runs off, a glitter of happiness in his eyes. She's pleased that bettering herself has made her dad so happy, and she feels a bit freer too.

 Her confidence back now that Tyson has left, Irish practices her sexy bitch face. "Nuh-uh! You ain't messing with me and my man!" Irish sneers, then she starts to giggle uncontrollably. Now she just has to get a man!

Nathalie is running around the neighbourhood, her heart is thumping heavily as shoe hits pavement. The air is fresh and crisp, with just the right salty tang of ocean breeze. She feels completely free from the constraints of her grief, she is free to run and laugh and be with her grandchildren.

The only thing that was ruining this lovely dusk jog is an aching pain in her stomach. Nathalie isn't sure what it is, only that it seems to be getting worse. Maybe she'll just take it easy when she gets back home? She's getting pretty old after all.

"Ow!" She groans as she suddenly is forced to stop. "It-it's like I-I'm being stabbed!" Nathalie screams as the pain grows more intense, more agonizingly horrible.

Curled up in a bush, she knows she's going to die. She didn't plan on dying like this, she planned on passing on in her sleep, knowing her family was close to her. She wants to see her grand-babies one more time, give one more kiss to her son. No, Nathalie knows that she's going to die alone, only 100 feet away from her home.

She falls into the grass, soft blades tickle at her aching skin. The ground is cold. She fights weakly, her voice caught in her throat. If only she could scream...Her breathing stills as the stress of the stomach pain stops her aged heart. She lets out one last breath, praying to every deity she knows that her family will be alright with her. Her world goes from green and blue to pitch black.

Tyson finds her several hours later, long gone from the physical world. He decides to hide her blue, withered body in the local cemetery, along with Ned's urn. He cries as he lays Nathalie into the ground, hot tear dropping on the muddy ground. He knows that he can't tell the family that Nathalie died completely alone. It would devastate them, just like it has devastated him. Late at night, he can't sleep, thinking of Nathalie blank blue eyes staring up at him in horror. Tyson looks through the telescope, a little sad but happy that Ned and Nathalie can finally be together for eternity.