Good-Bye, Love

"It's been awhile since we've talked, hasn't it?" A man voice says softly, as he knells in front of the love of his life.
"How long has it been? A week or two? I'm sorry about that, I was chaperoning our Baby Girl's field trip. 4th grade...can you believe that? She's so big now. She has your eyes. They're a beautiful soft brown."
There's a long silence as the man let's it sink in.
"She asked about you today. I told her all about you. How you could solve the most complex math problem in a single minute. How not even Aphrodite could compare to your beauty. How you could instantly light up a room, with a single comment. Even how you didn't have a single serious bone in your body." he whispers, a faint smile playing on his lips.
"You know what she said? She said, 'Momma sounds amazin!' I just laughed and said, 'She is Baby Girl. She is.' She then smiled and asked if I missed you, and..."
The mans voice cracks as he trails of, looking down at his worn-out sneakers.
It stays quiet for a long while before speaks again.
"I really do. I can't even explain how much I miss you. every day, I wake up hoping you'll be there next to me again, with that one grin of yours saying, 'Good morning, baby.' I just...it isn't fair. You should be here, next to me and our baby. We weren't the ones that were drinking. But you're the one that has to pay."
His voice cracks again, his face wet with fresh tears.
"I-I can still hear that...that sound, from three years ago. You remember that sound? The screeching brakes, the screams, even the quiet melody of Beethoven's 6th Symphony."
He allows a quiet, short laugh to escape his trembling lips.
"You always loved classical. I never got to find out why. You'd always listen to it. Never pop, or Rap, or Country. Always Classical. I guess that it caught on with little Mary-Jane, she asked for classical today, on the way to school. More like you every day."
He smiles and draws small circles on the cold stone in front of him with his index finger.
"That reminds me. I brought you a few things...They made your favorite movie into a book, I'm sorry we didn't get to see it together, Mary-Jane wanted to see it. Anyways here it is. 'Goodnight, Child.' You would read a chapter every night before you went to bed, no matter what. To think that you said I forget things. Anyways, it came out on dvd today, I got it for you as soon as I saw it."
He places the movie case in front of her. His hand shaking, he reaches back into his bag.
"Mary-Jane also wrote you a letter. She got me to promise that I wouldn't read it. Just as stubborn as you are she is, yeah? She said it was special. Your eyes only."
He places a small white envelope next to the movie.
On the front of the envelope, in scrawled red crayon was, 'To mommy, Frm Mary-Jane"
"Only one misspelled word this time. She's doing better and better, yeah?"
He pauses to look at his watch.
"2:30 already? I guess I need to go and pick up our baby girl then. I'm sorry I've been away so long."
He gets up to leave, dusting of his jeans.
"I love you. I wish you were here with me Baby."
"Good-Bye, Love."
He turns, and leaves the cold stone behind.
                                                                                                  Beatrice Monroe
                                                                                        Beloved Mother, Wife, and Daughter
                                                                                                          1985-2011