Tristan's Last Birthday

"We had a good marriage after that. We raised three amazing children, buried his grandparents, later his mother. Then we started taking in the foster kids no one else wanted." Gram looked off to the side as if she were reliving everything, she was telling me.

"Like Melinda?" I asked. Melinda was the teenager daughter of an alcoholic, drug-addicted prostitute. Not exactly the type of kid most folks would want in their house. But then, she took me, an angry, pregnant drug addict, in too.

"Yes, like Melinda. And India, Marco, Jason, Jared and a few others. We've adopted many of them. You'll get to meet most of them at the family reunion next year."

"No wonder it seems like you're related to everyone."

"Well, we all came off the same ark, now didn't we. Anyway, As I said, Tristan and I had a great life. We worked the farm together. he worked in the prison ministry with my father. I taught self-defense and worked with recovery ministry. We still dealt with Logan and the like on occasion but overall, it was a good life."

"And then your husband died?"

"Yes, well... Before that we had a birthday party for him. A big birthday party...

"Thanks for coming, Tuna. Drive safe home." Gram had been busy sending off the guests that had come for her husband's birthday celebration with their friend Anthony 'Tuna' being the last to leave. His birthday was normally celebrated with just a dinner with close family but this year, she had gone all out by inviting all their friends, family and employees to celebrate with them. She even had their daughter and her family flown in from Japan for it.

She had set up a bonfire style cookout with a pig on a spit, steaks, grilled vegetables, salads and fruit. All of her husband's favorites dishes were served in abundance for him and the guests. And although the main birthday cake was his favorite German Chocolate cake, she had made sure there was a variety of cakes and pies for others as well.

It had taken her several weeks to plan and prepare for this party while keeping it a secret from him as best she could, but he was hard to fool. He had tried to talk her out of the party once he learned of it, yet he succumbed to her wishes in the end and had a good time celebrating with everyone.

"It was a fun party, Gram. Thanks for inviting me. Until next time." Tuna said as he dipped his head in farewell.

"See you." She said as she closed the door behind him. She took a deep breath as she stared at the door her hand was resting on. She had prepared herself for the questions that were sure to come from the man who was now staring at the back of head.

Thirty-seven years they've known each other; most of which has been spent as husband and wife. Together they've shared every aspect of life, raised their children, worked their ranch hand in hand. There were no secrets between them. No untold truths buried. She knew him. She knew he would know what was on her heart without her having to say a word. Still, she feared telling him what she felt in that moment. She didn't want to reveal what she feared to be true. But she knew it was true. She hadn't been wrong yet in her predictions, though she desperately wanted to be.

She could feel his eyes on her. Though he spoke no words, she could feel his sadness in his breathing. She squeezed her eyes shut trying to steel herself against the emotion that was building in her chest. Finally, his hand touched her shoulder causing her to lose her will to fight. She spun around and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in the crook of his neck. Her tears came silently soaking the shoulder of his shirt.

He rubbed his hand up and down her back to console her as she let out her bottled emotions. "It was a great party, Hun." She nodded her agreement without raising her head. "First time we had such a huge party for my birthday." He added as she nodded again. He knew his wife knew things most people wouldn't. IF she said something was going to happen, then it would happen without fail. She hadn't ever been wrong before so there was no reason to doubt her this time.

He sighed as a tear escaped its hold. "It's my last one, huh?" Again, she nodded, and he hugged her tighter, kissing her hair. "I figured as much."

"How'd you guess?"

"My birthday is usually just dinner between us, Gram not a bonfire barbecue with two hundred people. Do you know when?" She shook her head pulling away from him. Her liquid blue eyes gazing apologetically into his deep brown. "How?"

"No," she responded wiping the tears from her face. "I'm sorry. I pray I'm wrong."

"We both know you're not. Let it be as it should be. I'm ready any time the Lord calls me."

"I know. I am too. It's just..."

"I know it is. Let's go to bed. I want to love you as much as I can before I go home."

"Seriously? That's all you ever think about." She punched his shoulder.

"What can I say? It's my favorite pass time." He smiled mischievously. She smiled back with her soft violet eyes.

*

The morning after the party, the immediate family members sat around the dining table for breakfast. All held solemn expressions as they waited for their parents to start the conversation. Tristan and Gram behaved as if it was normal morning. "We should take the yearlings into the sale this week, Jimmy. I expect beef prices to drop in the next couple of weeks." Tristan mentioned.

Jimmy nodded, then added. "I think we should let Mackerel ride along. He's been working well with the herd this year. It'd be a good experience for him."

"Agreed. You can handle it with him. I'll stay back and help move the sheep."

"Okay, Pops."

"Pass the butter, please?" Gram asked no one in particular.

Jams passed the butter in her direction. "It was a great party yesterday, Moms. I'm surprised any of us have room left to eat this morning."

"Yeah, that pig roast was amazing! I ate so much of it, I had to waddle home." Laughed Jams' eldest son, Backus.

"Well, you are a growing boy, Backus. You need a lot of food to keep up with your growth spurts." His mother, May quipped. "At this rate you'll pass me up in no time."

"Would that be a such a bad thing?" He asked innocently.

She narrowed her eyes at him playfully. "Not at all, but you don't have to do it at such a young age."

The eldest daughter of Gram and Tristan spoke up next. "It's normal for sons to outgrow their mothers, May. Yet, you are so freakishly tall, I doubt he'll be able to do it completely." The rest of the family members snickered a bit at the joke.

"He's already as tall as me and only fourteen," Offered Jams. "If he doesn't pass her up, I'd be surprised."

"Height does run in their family, Missypants." Quipped Jimmy. "On both sides."

"Too bad you missed out on our family's tall gene." She stuck her tongue out at him.

"As did you, my dear sister."

Missy frowned at her brother. Both of their parents were well over six feet tall yet neither of the siblings had even reached the six-foot mark. "I'm tall enough for my legs to reach the ground." She snapped back. Unwilling to argue with her brother any longer she posed the question the others had on their silent tongues. "Are we going to talk about last night's party?"

"What's to talk about?" Tristan asked innocently. "I thought it was a great party. Did something happen I don't know about?"

Clearly frustrated she tired again to broach the subject, "No. I mean, I think we all know what that party was really about; but no one wants to talk about it?"

Tristan opened his mouth to respond but said nothing as Gram had put her hand on his arm to silence him, then interjected, "It was a simple birthday party, dear. Nothing more. True, we have never celebrated it so grandly before, but since he is the backbone, prayer warrior, and breadwinner of this family, I thought it was about damn time we made a big deal out of his day. Problem?" She folded her hands beneath her chin and offered her daughter a challenging gaze.

Missy gave her mother a subtle glare before dropping the subject. "Whatever you say, Mother. I'll plat along for now."

Gram didn't argue. "Good girl."

"Speaking of good girls," the patriarch injected; "I've a surprise of my own for the whole family." Everyone turned their attention to him. "I've booked a family vacation for us all to go to Israel next week. And don't worry; I've already taken care of everything."

"But Pops, what about the farm. We can't just take off in the middle of the season like this!" Jimmy protested.

"Harold will step in and take care of things while we are gone. He can handle it. Plus, he has his son Mackerel to help him as well as Tuna who said he would come help too. Don't worry, Jimmy. And before anyone else complains, just know that I already made sure you could have the time off from the precinct, George and Rikki told me he has already taken the month off and all the kids are done with school studies for the summer. So, no more arguments. We've never had a family vacation before and by golly I want one. This is my birthday present to myself. Got it?"

Missy leaned over to speak into her brother's ear, "Told you it was more than just a birthday party." To which Jimmy nodded while both sat looking mournfully at their father.

Tristan's younger brother, George, who had remained silent up to this point finally spoke. "Do we know how much longer we have to enjoy these types of vacations? Or are we going to keep pretending that we started saying our goodbyes to the patriarch of this family last night?"

The folks at the table turned silent and wide-eyed afraid to speak at all. Gram closed her eyes as she felt tears begin to burn. She sucked a deep breath to answer. "As usual, my friend; you have aimed for the heart."

"As long as I hit the target." He retorted. "No sense dancing around the uncomfortable. We all know you too well not to understand what that party was all about. So, tell us. What should we know?"

"That our plane for Israel leaves Tuesday morning. Nothing else needs to be said right now." Tristan said firmly, not willing to dwell on the subject. "Be packed and ready to go. Until then, we all have jobs to do. Let's get to them." With that, he took his wife's hand as he rose from the table and left the room.

While Gram and Tristan left most of the people at the table speechless, Jams spoke up with something, none of them thought of. "You know," he smiled, "It may not be so obvious. If you think about it, it could be any one of us."

"So why Pops' birthday, then?" Asked Missy. "Clearly it's the last birthday of his for us to celebrate together." She argued.

Her husband, who had been silent the whole time, mentioned, "If any one of us go before his next birthday, then this would have indeed been the last one to celebrate with all of us."

"Make sense." Offered Jams. "I think the point was not to bring despair upon our hearts, but to bring us to the point of appreciating who we have in our lives, while we have them. Regardless, I think we should love each other better from this day forward. Agreed?"

"Agreed," the other said in unison.

Taking a deep relaxing breath, Jimmy added. "Alright, off to work. See y'all at dinner."