Chapter 44: Chapter 44: Final Push

Chapter 44: Final Push

As Bonnie lies crying on the big L, grandpa Thinker has a heart-to-heart with Shannon. She tells him about everything. The fact that she is a reincarnator, her two dead husbands, even about Tamara.

And he listens, as is his habit. For, in the long years after he got reformed, he has learned to listen to others, and not judge.

That was all Shannon needed.

I push the door open, and I see her. Lying on the big L, with her arm dangling out. I can see that her face is wet, even in the dim light of the Yule lights. I go to her, and check for a pulse. It is normal, steady, full of hope.

Now, I don't understand why I am doing this to myself once more. With Tamara, it was all about the sex. I was a single mother, of a good little boy. I needed to unwind. Furthermore, I am thankful that no children are involved in this mess this time.

"You came back?" Bonnie's voice is weak, and she sniffs then. I can see that she is one more sniff away from sobbing.

"I am sorry," I tell her, and hug her. "It was unfair of me to put you on a pedestal. To expect that you will be strong, even when you are on your lowest."

"Well, you deserve a shining knight," she tells me, as she props herself up in the big L. "And that is not me."

"Don't say that, Bonns. You have your strengths. You can joke, even when you are in the dumps," I say, taking a hold of her hand. "Come on, let us go back to the bed. Do you want to get a shower?"

"With you?" She sounds hopeful, and I nod, tears streaming down my face. All Bonnie wants is to be with me. And me? Well, I am a bit more selfish.

I will be the first to admit that it ranked at me, when I found that Alek and Joe had full lives. Joe even had two, and ended up with his sweetheart, in the end. On a tropical island, with a red beeping sword which tries to remind him he is meant to be a hero. To combat his sweetheart.

Yet, he doesn't do so. I bet he is simping after the former demon lord. I bet he is happy.

 And Alek… well, I knew he was a cradle robber even when we were together. Yet, I will not judge. I checked and double-checked, and his new husband was 18 when they got hitched.

And me? I am together with an addict again. It is almost love. Yet, I know that what I feel towards Bonnie is an attachment. A way to atone for not being strong enough, to deserve Tamara's unconditional love.

"Doll," Bonnie rasps, when I lower her in the hot tub. "I am going to do it!"

"Do what?" I like her spirit, but can't place a finger on whatever she will not let it die.

"Get through the month without any troll's thumb. Finish the cold turkey," Bonnie tells me, and then relaxes in the bathtub. "And when I am clean, when I no longer so much as look at the stuff when we go shopping, will you marry me?"

I pause, before answering. I really need to collect my thoughts. Bonnie needs a hook. Something to work towards. She has always been like this.

There are so many things, which have to be taken into account. Our day jobs, which pay minimal wage. Just enough to get the rent for the apartment, and food, but nothing else.

Now, if I only come clean about me being an Ultimate Hero of Fate, I will be sent after a demon lord, and get money from the king for it.

Yet, why can't I take a leaf from Joe's book? He has always been smarter than I. He doesn't need anything, on that tropical island. Likewise, he has everything he requires. The love of his darling, and… coconuts.

Hm, maybe we can survive off fish?

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"What are you thinking about, Shann?" Bonnie asks, and I smile down at her.

"How about we run away together? To the Island of the Forsaken?" I half-joke, half-propose.

"Hm, I'd love a seaweed skirt," Bonnie jokes, and I bark a laugh. "You can get clamshell bra."

"You pervert," I say, knowing full well that only my nipples will be covered.

"Or, you know, we can go in the nude? It will be warm in there," she winks at me, and I feel my cheeks heating up.

"There are already two men living there," I say, and she sighs.

"Oh, of course. We can't even have a shark infested island to ourselves. What is the rent over there? Pictures for coconuts?" I shake my head at her, and she looks at me expectantly.

"They are gay," I tell her, and she nods. No less serious.

"And one of them used to be my husband," I continue, and she nods once more.

"And I am a Hero of Ultimate Fate, but before that, I was a fish," I continue, wanting to learn how far I can expose myself to her.

"A fish?" She shudders then. "Swimming in the cold water all day and night long. Must have been hell."

"Oh, it was," I say, and then begin to tell her all about the close encounters with sharks, and other fish, who tried to eat me. "And then, at the end of the journey, I squirted out some eggs, and died. Didn't even see the bear, which pulled me out of the water!"

"We can go anywhere you want. Just as long as there is no troll's thumb growing there," Bonnie tells me, and then I see that her eyes are clearer.

"Did the shakes stop?" I ask her, and she nods. Her smile widens.

"Come on, doll, let us go to bed," she tells me, and then I help her out of the bath.

The thing about grandpa Thinker is that his words have power in them. By talking Shannon into giving Bonnie another chance, he embedded his magic into her. That night, as she gave Bonnie a bath, the magic connected them.

Well, one can't ever say that the spirit of Yule was a homophobe.

The two moved to the deserted island the very next week. Brought there on a ship, which dumped them on the sandy beach together with their Yule decoration, some clothes, and a bottomless bag filled with camping equipment.

Their savings evaporated.

They have never been as happy.

End of Tuesday Short Story. 

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