My Heaven

(by Deyse)

Roma was in the kitchen holding a small plate with oatmeal porridge. Next to her, were Reilly, comfortably sitting at the table and colouring her many drawings, and little Monica, sitting on her push chair and with her face a bit dirty with the food her mom had been giving her in the last minutes.

"Look mommy, I finished this one!" Reilly happily announced, showing her one more picture.

"That’s very beautiful, honey, I’m sure your teacher will love it!" the actress replied, surveying her work.

"That’s you, daddy and wee Monica! And I think it’s better than the other..." she giggled as she looked at her 6 month little sister, "... but I forgot to draw the porridge on her face! She always gets dirty!"

"Yes... this wee one makes a little mess with her food, right sweetie?" Roma cleaned the baby’s mouth, who looked exactly like Reilly, 7 years earlier, and who also looked exactly like her: brown hair and eyes and a dimple on her chin.

"You want me to try to give her food? She won’t make a mess, I can teach her..." Reilly offered and before the actress could reply, they heard a car crossing the gates of the house and Roma stood up, looking through the window and watching as John’s pick up was parked in front of the house. "Hum... What’s he doing here so early?" she frowned a little, as on that day, the blond actor would film a commercial for tv and would only get back home at the end of the afternoon.

"Is it daddy?"

"Yes, honey..."

"I’ll open the door for him!" Reilly jumped from the chair and rushed to the entrance door.

"You’re early!" she announced, greeting him with a smile and with her tiny arms wide open, asking for his embrace. And one could easily see that John had a very sad expression on his face, which was only softened by the sweet little girl he had started to officially call ‘daughter’ about a year before.

"Yes, my little princess! I was missing you, your mom and your little sister terribly, you know..." he took her in his arms and kissed her cheek, but Reilly was a smart little brat and it didn’t take her more than a few seconds to notice there was something wrong. "What is it? Are you sad?"

A little taken aback by that question, he stammered, "Oh, well, I... I was, but now that I got here and saw you, I’m not that sad anymore..."

"John?" Roma called, walking over up to him with little Monica in her arms. He smiled as soon as he realised his family was surrounding him and wasted no time in shortening the distance between them and kissing her lips softly. "Hey, honey..." his sadness was also evident in his voice, and then he turned to the baby, who was already trying to get his attention, and kissed her forehead, "... hey you, my other little princess!"

"Daddy’s sad, mommy..." Reilly announced, worried about the one she had always loved as a real father.

"Sad? Why? What happened, honey? What about the commercial for tv?" she wanted to know, as worried as her daughter.

Sighing deeply, he placed Reilly on the floor and took her hand, "Honey, can I ask you to do something for me?"

"Yes..."

"Could you please, stay here taking care of your sister for a minute? I have something to talk with your mom..."

"Sure... Is everything alright?"

"Yes, sweetie... everything is alright now... we’re all here together, aren’t we? I’m always happy when I’m with you all..." he kissed her tiny hand and waited until Roma placed the baby on the push chair. Then, John took his wife’s hand and they headed to the study.

"I thought you’d be here only by 8, what happened John?" she insisted.

He never released her hand and guided her to the sofa, "Please, sit down, honey..."

"John, what is it? You’re scaring me..."

The blond actor quickly brushed a loving kiss on her forehead, "I’m sorry..."

"Tell me... are you feeling sick? Did something happen during the filming?"

"No... Roma, you remember the last time you spoke to Charles?"

"Yes... it must have been a bit after we came back from our honeymoon, he phoned us, remember, you were at home... Why are you asking me this?"

"Well... today, right after I got at the studio, I heard about him..."

"Really? What was it? Did he phone you?"

Still gathering all his courage to tell her the sad news about his co-worker’s death, John inched closer and opened his arms to her, "Please, hold me, Roma... I need you to hold me..."

Roma felt her heart beating faster and at that moment she knew some bad news were about to come, "Oh, John... What..."

With instant tears falling from her eyes, now that she could easily read the look in his own green emerald pools filled with sorrow, she threw herself in his arms and started to cry.

"I wanted to tell you before you heard it on TV or on the radio... I wanted to be here with you and hold you like this..." the blond actor spoke, softly running his fingers through her auburn hair, trying to calm her down.

After John had told her about what happened, they spend long, silent minutes just holding each other.

"Oh God... that’s so sad... so sad..."

"He’s at peace now... Maybe now he’s got the peace that he couldn’t find while he was on earth.... He’s with God, Roma." he spoke, kissing the top of her head repeatedly.

*

The two actors spend the rest of the day at home and the pain for the loss of a friend and co-worker was softened not only by Della’s comforting words on the phone but especially by the two little girls they had with them. Reilly knew they were sad but her loving and cheerful manners was a breath of fresh air in their distressed hearts.

At night, they gathered together in the living room and, instead of watching the news, they spent the last hour watching a Disney movie: Roma holding Monica and John with Reilly snuggling close to him. But, before it ended, the two little girls fell asleep in their parents arms.

"You know something, honey..." he said, running his fingers through his wife’s hair, "... I’ve offered my prayers to God to keep Charles soul and we’ll never understand why he did that... But when I look at us... when I see you, standing right here by my side, loving me... when I see our two girls... I feel the most blessed man in the world, you know..."

Roma’s eyes were instantly filled with tears of emotion and with infinite love, "Oh, John... Blessed is exactly how I feel when I see you here... when I think about my past and what I’ve been through... And I always see you with me..."

He kissed her forehead twice, "I even feel guilty, you know, for having so much happiness while..."

Roma quickly covered his lips with her delicate fingers, "No... don’t feel... You were like an angel to me, John... a real present from God and if today we are here it’s because you fought for our happiness; it’s because you were always there by my side, helping me to face hard times, always holding my hand..."

John inched closer and kissed her lips softly. Then, he stroked her cheek with gentle fingers and looked deep inside her eyes, "And I’d do it all over again, as many times as necessary because every moment by your side is precious... You know, Roma... you’re right, I shouldn’t feel guilty... Charles has found peace, that’s true... And... when I look at us, like this, honey... I’m sure that I’m in Heaven too... My little piece of Heaven is right here with you and the girls."

Deeply moved by his words, she reached up and caressed his handsome face, "I love you, John..."

"I love you too, Roma..."

They shared one more kiss and remained there, holding each other, with John permanently caressing Roma’s hair, and both watching as their two little daughters slept peacefully in their arms.

The end