PRESUMED DEAD

It's true what they say that goodbye is the hardest thing to say. More so, when you know that you'll never see the other person ever again. 

To me, it came as a shock, as I didn't expect such a misfortune would before me. At least, not in the soonest time possible. I had hopes Edward and I would grow old together, enough to see the births our grandchildren. Most especially since longevity ran in both of our families. 

I had just finished my morning shift at the call center where I worked and happily drove to the drug store.

Edward and I had been trying for a baby for months, having been married for over a year already. And this time, I was really sure I was pregnant. 

I took the test three times, in our bathroom back home for higher chances of accuracy, before I nervously, paced back and forth counting down the seconds.

Once it was time up, I picked up the three tests and with one eye closed, I inspected the results. I placed my palm against my chest, sighing in relief, when all three tests showed two lines each. 

I thanked the heavens for finally granting my wish and I couldn't wait for Edward to come home so that I could share the good news with him. It was what we both wanted. To have a mini me or him running around the house. 

I cleaned the house and cooked up all his favourite meals, before I showered and dressed in something more presentable, to wait for him. But for some reason, that night he was late and I was starting to get a bit uneasy as he never came home late. And if he did, he always made sure to call and let me know. 

The food was starting to get cold and I needed as much rest as I could get, so I ate without him, and prepared for bed. 

I hadn't even fully placed my head on the pillow when a loud knock erupted through out our small house. 'Could that be him?' I wondered, as I sat up and put on my house shoes to go down and open the door. 

I smiled brightly, as I pulled the door open, but my smile faded when, instead of Edward, two police men were standing in front of me. 

"How may I help you?" I asked almost immediately. 

"Mrs Shane, I'm inspector Deveraux and this is sergeant Everette. I'm afraid I have some bad news concerning your husband, ma'am."

"What do you mean?"

"There was a terrible car accident on Rover street and we suspect your husband was victim, ma'am." Sergeant Everette spoke this time, "We would like you to accompany us to the station so that you can identify his body."

"No!" I exclaimed in denial, "You must be mistaken! Edward's not dead. It can't be my Edward."

My voice cracked at the end as tears quickly welled up in my eyes before sliding down my face. How could this happen? Not when I had such good news for him. 

I later stood in the morgue, numb as I looked at the lifeless body of my husband before the zipper of the black body bag was pulled up once again and a police officer escorted me back home. 

Time is the best healer, they say, but even with time I did not heal. AllI did was learn to cope. And the birth of my son, whom I named after his father, really helped me a lot. He was really my source of hope, because without him, there was no doubt, I could have lost the will to go on. Mostly because, after Edward's death, everything seemed to go downhill. I ended up losing the house which Edward had apparently given as collateral for a loan he had obtained many months earlier and l knew nothing about. In fact, so many things suddenly came up, that I even wondered if I had really known the man I had been married to. 

As if I didn't have enough to worry about, there came my son's constant questions pertaining to why out of all his classmates, he was the only one that didn't have a father. I had tried my best to explain,in a simplified way for a six year old to understand, that he did have a father, but he had gone to a better place and one day, we would all be together.

He understood, but only for a short time as he now switched to asking me when his father would return, as he was tired of waiting already. 

One afternoon, I had picked him up from school and he started throwing his usual tantrums, saying his friends called him 'fatherless'. He asked me why I was lying to him about it and I was about to try and make him understand before he ran off on to the streets. 

"Eddie!" I called out as I hopelessly ran after him.

He crossed the road, and luckily there were no cars in sight and immediately a man got a hold of him, probably realising thinking that he was alone. I too crossed the road to where they were. 

"Eddie!" I said in defeat, "Please don't ever do that again."

The man turned around and upon seeing him, the whole world stopped. Edward? 

What was happening? How in the world was he alive? I had identified his body that night.

My curiosity took the best of me as I found myself walking towards him without even trying. 

"Elizabeth." My name sounded foreign, rolling off his lips and I felt like a tone of bricks had been dropped onto my heart. 

All my words seemed to have been caught up in my throat as I took my son away from him and walked away from that man as fast as I could. 

"Elizabeth!" I heard him call after me, but all I did was run, all the way home, hugging my poor oblivious child a little tighter. 

"Mommy, who was that man?" Eddie asked as we walked into our rented apartment. 

"No body." I said, "Why don't you put your books away and I'll make us something to eat?"

"Okay." He quickly said before he did as I asked. 

For the next few days, I tried to figure everything out. I even went as far as hiring a private investigator to help me look into the matter. 

Within as short time, I found out that, Edward only faked his death do that he could start his life anew with a woman who was a lot richer and the time she too was pregnant for him. And since it had taken so long for me to give him a child, he concluded being with me was a waste of time. And in fact, the house was not claimed to pay for a loan he had acquired, but rather he had sold the house to invest in the other woman's family business. 

I didn't even understand why he had to complicate matters when in fact, he could have just asked for a divorce and I could have gladly given it to him. 

When I was done with being angry, I decided to visit his new home in Texas where he was now living. He sure was surprised to see me at his door step. 

"Elizabeth?" He questioned, "What are you doing here?"

"This is not a friendly visit Mr Shane. I just wanted to alert you. For your own sake, you better be ready, because I will fight you in court." I said, "I will fight you for every last penny you have for everything you've put my son and I through."

I didn't give him a chance to respond, as I marched out of his home, not daring to spare him another look as I did so.