Chapter 20 I'm Back
In the early morning, when the first ray of sunshine entered the hotel room, there was no one on the bed in the room. Only a young and beautiful woman in the bathroom was turning on the faucet and washing her face. She wiped the water off her face and looked up at herself in the mirror. Her face was still pale from the hangover, and her long black hair was casually tied up on the top of her head. She dried her face with a towel and applied some skin cream. She put down her hair, combed it neatly, and tied a low ponytail. Then she took out a black long dress from the suitcase and put it on. After a hesitating moment, she took out her makeup bag from the suitcase, applied some powder to make her face look better, and put on some lipstick.
She wanted to go to visit her parents beautifully, and wanted them to see that she had grown up, so they didn't have to worry about her in heaven.
After Queenie cleaned up, she opened the door and walked out. Outside the door, Timothy was already waiting with a bouquet that he had bought. He bought some sunflowers, her mother's favorite. When he first came to visit her parents at home, he had asked Queenie what kind of flowers her mother liked. Queenie thought about it and found that she didn't know. After all, her father had never sent her mother flowers in all these years, and maybe even her mother didn't know what flowers she liked herself.
So she went home and asked her mother, "Mom, what kind of flowers do you like?" "Flowers?" Her mother Ruby thought for a long time and said, "I like sunflowers." "Sunflowers? Why?" Queenie asked with confusion.
"Of course, it's because of their seeds!" Kelvin, Queenie's father, said with a smile, "There are wild sunflowers by the river behind the village. When your mother was young, she often held a large sunflower, sat on the riverside and ate the seeds. She looked quite silly."
"You're silly. Didn't you pick it for me? The seeds weren't ripe yet." Her mother patted her father's arm angrily and complained.
"Well, I was afraid that it would be picked by others when it was ripe." Her father Kelvin quickly smiled and flattered her mother, "I did it for you!"
Ruby laughed and Kelvin laughed too. Queenie told Timothy, "My mother likes sunflowers."
Later, Timothy visited them with a gift and a bunch of sunflowers. But Queenie saw that the sunflower that Timothy brought was the kind of ornamental sunflower, and there were no sunflower seeds in it. She was worried that her mother would not like it. But when Ruby saw Timothy, she smiled happily and kept saying that she liked it very much! She was very happy!
Since then, Timothy would send her mother a bunch of sunflowers at every festival about mothers, which made her father less valued in the family. He complained that Timothy was very cunning.
Timothy was also wearing a black suit today. He looked handsome and straight with deep eyes and a calm expression. He said calmly, "Let's go and have some breakfast first. The cemetery is a little far."
"Okay," Queenie replied softly, " We need to buy some sacrificial candles. Do you know where can we buy them?"
"We can buy some in the cemetery directly," Timothy replied gently, "I have preprared sacrificial wine, fruit and some desserts. I put them in the trunk."
Queenie nodded and followed Timothy in a daze. After walking for a long time, when they reached the parking lot, she suddenly grabbed Timothy's clothes and said pitifully, "Timothy, I'm a little scared."
"I..." Queenie wanted to say, "I don't want to go there."
But how could she say that? She didn't know how to express her timidity now. She had come so far, but she didn't dare to go. She had thought she had been ready to do this, but she was wrong. She had wanted to visit her parents beautifully when she looked in the mirror in the morning and wanted them to stop worrying about her. But now she was just afraid and didn't want to go.
Queenie bit her lips hard and burst into tears. Timothy glanced back at her, grabbed her hand on the hem of his clothes, held it firmly, and said in a soothing voice, "Quira, Mom and Dad have been waiting for you for a long time. Let's go visit them, okay?"
Queenie nodded vigorously, wiped her tears, and said, "Let's go!"
Along the way, Queenie sat in the back of the car, looking out of the window at the scenery and shedding tears. She kept raising her hand to wipe her tears off, and finally gave up, letting the tears wet her collar.
Forty minutes later, the car was parked in the parking lot of the cemetery, and the two walked up the mountain sacrificial stuff. Finally, they stopped at the mountainside of the cemetery. Timothy let go of Queenie's hand and slowly and carefully placed the sacrificial fruit and candles carefully before the grave. Queenie stood to the side staring blankly at the photos of her parents on the tombstone and bowed slowly with tears in her eyes. She touched her parents' tombstone, crying, "Dad, Mom, I'm back! Your daughter is back! I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!"
Timothy's eyes became red, and he finally couldn't hold back his tears anymore. He didn't comfort Queenie and just let her vent her grief. He looked at the photo of her father, and couldn't help remembering the last time he saw him. At that time, her father had been ill for ten years and Albert was ten years old while Queenie had been missing for sixteen years. Albert had been a rebellious child, which made Timothy at a loss of how to discipline him, At this moment, he received a call from the police station, saying that there was a homeless old man with his phone number in his pocket. The old man had Alzheimer's disease. In the winter, he spent the night outside on the street and was sent to the police station by a kind passer-by.
After receiving the call, he immediately bought a ticket and went to pick up Kelvin in a city in the northwest. At that time, he and Kelvin had lost contact for four or five years. After Kelvin handed Albert over to him, he had been focusing on looking for Queenie. He didn't have a fixed phone number or address, and he didn't take the initiative to contact Timothy. Gradually, Timothy couldn't get in touch with him.
When Timothy arrived at the police station, he saw Kelvin sitting on a chair of the police station waiting for him. When Kevin saw him, he couldn't even recognize Timothy. A policeman asked Timothy, "Are you his son?"
Timothy shook his head and said, "I'm his son-in-law."
The policeman glanced at him and sighed pitifully, "Even if you're his son-in-law, you can't let a sick old man go out by himself! You have to be more careful in the future. Luckily, a kind passer-by sent him here. It would be very dangerous if no one sent him."
"I will. Sorry for your trouble, officer." Timothy nodded repeatedly, and supported Kelvin, "Dad, let's go."
"Who are you?" Kelvin looked older than he should at his age, and he looked at Timothy blankly.
"I'm Timothy! I often went to your house for dinner, remember?" Timothy explained patiently. Kevin shook his head again and again, "I don't know you. I don't know you."
"I'm looking for my daughter. Look, this is my daughter. Have you seen her?" The seventy-three-year-old old man took out a missing person notice from his handbag with trembling hands and showed it to Timothy.
Timothy looked at the photo of Queenie on the missing person notice, and he felt so sad. The policeman said pitifully, "This old man can't remember his name or where he lives, and he only remembered to look for his daughter. We checked his daughter's household registration information for him. My, her social security card has been canceled..." Timothy's nose felt slightly sour. He looked at the old man's wrinkled face with red eyes and said softly, "Dad, of course, I have seen her. She is my wife. Did you forget? She's at home. Quira is home already." Kelvin nodded again and again, "Yes, Quira, my daughter's name is Quira, Queenie." "Yes, her name is Queenie." Timothy nodded.
Kelvin was suspicious, "She's home?" "Yes, she's at home." Timothy lied softly.
Kevin smiled and said happily, "It's great she's at home. Let's go. Take me home. I'm going home too. I'll go home to see Quira."
"Okay, I'll take you home." With tears in his eyes, Timothy walked out of the police station slowly holding Kevin's skinny hand.
Then Timothy brought Kelvin home. But Kelvin, who was seriously ill, passed away after two months. "Dad, I'm not lying to you this time. Quira went home." Timothy chuckled, looking at the old man in the photo. He looked deeply at the photo on the tombstone, and Kelvin in the photo seemed to be looking at him with a smile.
After Queenie paid respects to her parents, she followed Timothy to worship her in-laws. Queenie hadn't had much contact with her in-laws. When she first got married, she was even a little hostile to her mother-in-law, because her mother-in-law was not very satisfied with her, and even said to her, "You can date my son, but you have to wait until he's 30 years old to get married when he gets his Ph.D. degree and finds a stable job."
At that time, Queenie had just graduated from college, and she was very proud. She felt that she didn't want to get married so early. It was Timothy who wanted to get married as soon as she graduated. It looked like she was rushing to get married. She suppressed her unhappiness and said with a smile, "Yes, you're right. I think so too. Timothy, listen to your mother!"
Timothy just stretched out his hand to hold her hand tightly, looked at his mother Tina seriously, and said, "Mom, it's not that she wants to get married. It's me who wants to get married. I really can't wait that long. After graduation, many college couples would break up because of different environments, people, and opportunities." "Quira and I are confident that this will not be the case for us, but I don't want to take such a risk. Mom, I like her. I just want to marry her when I love her the most. I will always remember how happy I feel now for the rest of my life."
Tina frowned, still somewhat resistant, "You are young and impulsive now. What if you regret it later?"
"Why would we give up our present happiness because we are afraid of the uncertainty of the future?" Timothy held Queenie's hand slightly harder and they looked at each other with a smile. The love and sweetness in their eyes were unbreakable. "I'm pretty sure that I want to marry her at this moment, and I'll only love her in my life."
Queenie looked at Timothy. She was so happy that she forgot all about her self-esteem and temper. Even if Timothy's mother didn't like her, she was willing to forgive her. She held Timothy's hand firmly and said solemnly, "Mrs. Carter, I'm also sure that I want to marry your son, and I'll be nice to him, I swear."
Tina was still hesitant and didn't want her son to get married so suddenly. Later, his father Robert came over and persuaded him, "Young people can decide themselves. Their happiness is more important than anything else."
"Well, I'm not saying that they shouldn't be together. Marriage is a big deal, and they need to be old enough to think about it!" Tina said.
"If there are too many things to think about, they probably won't get married. Look at those young men who are not married in their thirties. They couldn't get married probably because they've thought too much about it." Robert said.
"Okay, whatever you love. Just don't regret it in the future." Tina finally compromised. Although she felt that her son could find a better wife, her son was too determined to change his mind. Well, if he liked this girl so much, she would just let him do whatever he liked!
Since they got married, Tina had never interfered in their family affairs, and even rarely called them. Only during the New Year did they have dinner together politely. Queenie quite liked her mother-in-law who, though distant, never picked on her.
Usually, when Queenie bought something herself, she often remembered to buy another for her mother-in-law too. After her mother-in-law receives it, she would just transfer the money to her without even giving her a call.
Queenie stood in front of the tomb and bowed seriously. She folded her hands and closed her eyes, and said softly, "Mom, I will take good care of Timothy, and I won't make him sad anymore. I promise!"
Timothy stepped forward and bowed too. After it was over, Timothy fetched a bucket of water from the cemetery bathroom, took out a rag, and carefully wiped the dust off the tombstone. Queenie squatted on the edge pulling the weeds while looking up at Timothy. He skillfully wiped all the tombstones. The black tombstones reflected white light in the noon sun. They could only hear the sound of the wind blowing and the occasional chirping of birds passing by. It was so quiet in the cemetery.
Seeing Timothy's serious expression and smooth movements, Queenie realized that he had come to visit the graves frequently over the years. Over the years, he had said goodbye to the four old people one by one. He must be very sad!
Thinking of this, Queenie felt sorry for him again. She silently watched him put the flowers they had brought into the small vase in front of the tombstone. After a while, he turned his head to look at Queenie and asked, "Are we going?"
Queenie nodded, "Let's go!"
Timothy stood up and patted the dirt on his knees. He suddenly pointed to a tomb nearby and said to Queenie, "Oh, right, that's our tomb."
"What?" Queenie's eyes widened. She hurriedly walked over to take a look. There was no word on the black tombstone, but she could tell that it was a double tomb, "Our tomb?"
"When I bought the tombs for our parents, I bought it by the way." Timothy also walked over, looked at the tombstone, and said, "At that time, it was possible to buy a tomb in advance, but now it's not allowed."
Queenie stared blankly at the tomb right in the middle of the tombs of her parents and her in-laws. They were tightly connected, like a reunited family.
Queenie suddenly smiled, feeling very satisfied. When she thought that she could be buried with her parents and her beloved man after she died, she felt so safe and secure. In this long life, even if she was left alone, she wouldn't feel afraid anymore.
Queenie turned her head happily, patted Timothy on the shoulder, and said, "Very good! A family is just meant to be together!"
Timothy looked at her without saying anything. There was a smile in his eyes. He knew her too well. When the salesman was introducing the cemetery, he was thinking that if Quira was there, she would buy it because she would want to stay with her parents forever. So he didn't hesitate and bought it directly.
"But..." Queenie suddenly got closer and held Timothy's hand, "Since we even bought the tomb together, should we go and get the marriage certificate again, otherwise how will we be buried together? What do you think? ? Let's make it legal!"
"Let's talk about it later!" Timothy quickly pulled out his hand in fright and quickly headed down the mountain.
"Okay, okay, let's go back to the hotel and talk about it." Queenie teased meaningfully. "Behave yourself in the cemetery." Timothy glared at her.
Queenie covered her mouth with her hands and looked sweet and obedient. Timothy ignored her and walked on. Queenie looked at his blushing face with a smile, turned to look at the tombstones of his parents and in-laws, and then turned to catch up with him. The sad mood on her way here seemed to be slowly easing. At least she still had Timothy by her side. Even if he died before her one day, she would not be afraid. Anyway, they would be buried together eventually. Not even death could do them apart.