By Paula Bianchi –

“I don’t know what else I can do.”  Lucy threw her hands up in defeat, then, she fell back on the couch feeling drained.  “Weeks have gone by, and Michael has ignored all of the signs I’ve been leaving for him.  He always comes up with an excuse to explain it away.” She was beyond frustrated with her husband.

“So, hugging him doesn’t work?”  Ava asked, taking a seat next to Lucy.

“No! It doesn’t.”  Lucy sounded stymied.  “I had to stop hugging him because Michael was beginning to think there was something wrong with his heart. Apparently, my energy causes it to speed up and makes him feel light headed.”

“I’m so sorry.”  Ava patted Lucy’s knee. “I know this has to be very frustrating for you.  Especially, since your sign to Emma, was such a success. Have you come up with another sign for Michael yet?”  She sounded hopeful.

“Not yet.”  Lucy said.  “I was lucky Emma was open to receiving a sign, but Michael has a hard time excepting the unexplainable, which makes it so hard for him to believe it’s really me.  I guess he’ll always be a skeptic.  I wish he would open his mind just a little bit, so I can get through.”  She knew her husband so well because he used to give her such a hard time, when she was alive, for believing in psychics and ghosts.

“It’s very heartwarming to see how Emma has embraced her sign from you.  She faithfully recites the prayer for protection and never takes your necklace off.”  Ava smiled, hoping it would lift her friend’s mood.

Just then, Emma came down the stairs to join her dad in the kitchen for breakfast.  Lucy got up to follow her because she loved spending time with them.  Even if they couldn’t see her standing right there with them.

“Morning, Dad.”  Emma gave her father a kiss on the cheek before she hung her backpack on the back of her chair, then, she got a couple of plates and forks out for them to use.

“Morning, Honey. Bacon and eggs sound good?” Michael was standing over the stove, with the sleeves of his tailored shirt rolled up, cooking breakfast.

It seemed like the two of them had settled into their own routine around the house with the cooking and cleaning, but neither of them was very good at doing the laundry.

Emma took a seat on one of the bar stools at one end of the island. She put some bread in the toaster, which sat in front of her, and pushed the knob down.

“Hand me your plate, so I can give you some eggs.” Michael put his left hand out.

As Michael stood patiently with his hand out, Lucy noticed he wasn’t wearing his wedding ring anymore.  Seeing this, caused a sinking feeling in the pit of her soul with the realization that he seemed to be moving on by letting her go.  Now, all she could see was his empty ring finger, and it made her shudder.

“Here ya go.”  Michael handed back the plate with eggs, then, he turned to put the frying pan in the sink.  Grabbing his plate of eggs, and a plate full of bacon, he laid them down on the counter before he took a seat next to Emma.

“You seem different today.  You’re happier.”  Emma observed. 

“I am doing better these days.”  Michael said, between bites.  “I’ve been interviewing housekeepers, and there’s one in particular I would like for you to meet.  I really like her, but I won’t hire her unless you like her too.”  He shared.

“What about Justin?  Are you going to ask him to meet her too?”  Emma asked, while she spread some butter on her toast.

“He left before I could ask him, so I guess it’s up to you and me.”  Michael tapped the end of Emma’s nose like he’s done, since she was a little girl.

“Okay.”  Emma flashed one of her brilliant smiles which would always melt her father’s heart.  “When is she coming?”  She inquired.

“I’ve asked her to come tonight at seven o’clock.  Will that work for you?”  Michael stood up, then gathered the dirty dishes and put them in the dishwasher.

“Of course, I’ll be here.  I can’t wait to meet her, mostly because, you like her.”  Emma got up and helped her dad clean up the kitchen.

“Thanks for all your help with your Mom’s things.”  Michael handed Emma a dish towel. “I noticed you haven’t gone through her jewelry yet.  I’m sure she would want you to have it all, but there may be a couple of items Justin may want, so don’t forget to let him have a look.”  He said, as he finished rinsing the frying pans and handed them to her to dry.

“After school today, I’ll take down her jewelry rack from the wall and move it into my room with her jewelry box.”  Emma assured her Dad.  “Then the next time Justin’s home, he can look through it.”

“I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”  Michael hugged Emma tight.

Michael and Emma finished cleaning the kitchen before they gathered their stuff and headed for the door feeling ready to start their day.

After Michael closed the front door behind them, Lucy felt very depressed due to the fact that he was no longer wearing his wedding ring.  She floated back into the living room where Ava was waiting for her.

“He’s not wearing his ring.”  Lucy stated flatly before she sat hovering above the couch.

“Yes.  I noticed that the other day.”  Ava shared.

“Why didn’t you point it out to me?”  Lucy felt she should have been given a heads up.  It would have made it a lot easier to shallow.

“It’s not my place, Dear.”  Ava stated, as a matter of fact.

“We’re friends.  That makes it your place.”  Lucy told her, as she fought back her tears.

“If I told you when I noticed, you’d still feel the same as you do right now.”  Ava gave her a motherly pat on the arm.

“You’re right.  I would have felt the same.”  Lucy tucked her short hair behind one ear and stared at her feet.  “It’s hard watching them move on without me.”  She sighed.

“Yes. It’s very difficult, but once they leave, you won’t have to watch them, unless, you choose to follow them.”  Ava said.

“When that day comes, I’ll go to heaven, but only if I’m sure Justin is alright.”  Lucy sounded strong in her resolve.

“What are you going to do now?”  Ava asked.

Lucy fell silent because she honestly didn’t have an answer, but suddenly, the wheels started turning in her head.  To her surprise, she quickly came up with a new plan.

“I’ve got it!”  Lucy exclaimed.  “It’s the perfect sign.  I’ll show you when I’m done.” She apparated into Michael’s room.

Looking around the room, Lucy finally saw what she was looking for. Michael’s wedding ring, which was sitting on the nightstand. She bent over it and began to charge her energy, until she picked the ring up, then, she quickly transported it to Michael’s office and put the ring down next to their wedding picture on top of his desk.

Without wasting a moment, Lucy popped back into Michael’s room and made a bee line for her jewelry box.  She tried to summon up the energy she needed to open it, but she fell short and couldn’t do it.

“Dobson!”  Lucy yelled, hoping he could help her open it.

Immediately, Dobson appeared beside her.  “What’s up?”  He asked.

“Could you please help me open my jewelry box?”  Lucy showed him the box.

“Sure.”  Dobson directed all of his energy towards the task at hand, until instantly, the box jerked opened.

“Yay!”  Lucy clapped.  “Can you close it once I get my ring out?” She asked.  “I was also hoping you wouldn’t mind helping me with the second part of my sign.”  She put her arm around his shoulders and gave him a squeeze.

“No problem.”  Dobson grinned.

“Great.  Meet me in Michael’s office.”  Lucy instructed, before she turned her attention to lifting her wedding ring out of the box. The familiar sound of crackling electricity filled the room, and with one last pop, she had no problem picking her ring up.

Next, Lucy materialized in the office and set her ring down, so it would partly cover Michael’s.  When she was done, she felt quite pleased with herself.

“You’re getting pretty good at this, Lucy.”  Dobson complemented her in awe.

“Well, I had a good teacher.”  Lucy smiled, then gave him a nudge.

Dobson blushed from her praise, so he felt the need to change the subject. “What else were you going to do?”

“The next part is tricky because I don’t even know if it’s possible.”  Lucy began.  “Do you see that CD player over there in the bookcase?”

“Yeah, I see it.”  Dobson answered.

“The CD in that machine has the song we chose for our wedding.  I want to make it play, when Michael sees our rings on his desk.”  Lucy tugged at the bottom of her blue blazer.  “I was hoping you would know how I could do that.”  She knew this was the best part of her sign to let him know that she’s still around.

“I think I can from watching you guys use it. Let me see.”  Dobson glided over to the machine.  “All we have to do is push these buttons till we can hear your song, then, we’ll stop it. That way it will be ready and all you have to do is push play.” He sounded pretty confident that it wouldn’t be a problem at all.

Dobson and Lucy both worked together pushing the play and skip buttons, and every time they pushed a button, you could hear the pop of electricity it took to press it down, until finally, they found the song Lucy was looking for.  Once it was keyed up, Dobson pushed the stop button.

“There.  When you want Michael to hear it, all you have to do is press play.”  Dobson was full of satisfaction as he hooked his thumbs behind both straps of his coveralls and gave them a tug.

“This is it, Dobson.  If this sign doesn’t work, then nothing will.  I really hope it does.” Lucy crossed her fingers.  “Michael should be home soon.  Let’s go tell Ava what we did and Ben too.”   She turned to leave, but stopped.  “Wait a minute.  Where is Ben?  He’s never around.”  She finally asked the question she’d been wondering for quite some time now.

“Most of the time, Ben is in the basement, but once in a while, he’ll come up.  Especially, if we need him.”  Dobson shared.

Lucy knew there had to be more to that story, but she decided now was not the time to expand on it.

Just as Lucy and Dobson were floating through the foyer to find Ava, the door flew open and in walked Emma with another stack of metaphysical books in her arms.  She took them straight to her room to put them down with her backpack, then, she kicked her shoes off and headed down to the kitchen to make some dinner before the housekeeper came for her appointment.

“You go ahead and tell Ava.  I want to stay with Emma.”  Lucy told Dobson as she followed her daughter into the kitchen.

Lucy was thrilled to see how independent Emma was becoming.  In no time at all, she whipped up a little something for them to eat, and she was finishing up just as Michael came walking through the door.

“In here, Dad.”  Emma called to him.

“Well look at that.  I always seem to have perfect timing when it comes to dinner.” Michael placed his briefcase on the dining room table and hung his charcoal jacket, on the back of the chair, before he crossed the room and sat down at the island.  “What’s for dinner?  It smells so good.”  He sniffed the air.

“I made Sloppy Joes and fries.  It’s my specialty.”  Emma laughed, as she served him his dinner.

Michael took a bite.  “You’re right!  These are your specialty.  Very good, Em.”  Looking at his watch, he began to eat faster.  “We better hurry.  The housekeeper will be here soon.”

After they finished, Emma started to clean up the dinner mess.  “I’ve got this, Dad.”  She told him as she was putting the dishes in the dishwasher.

“I do have a few things to do in my office.  Are you sure you don’t want me to help?” Michael got up from the counter and looked at the small mess in the sink.

“No.  You go do what you need to do, but you better do it fast because it’s almost seven.”  Emma reminded him.

Michael retrieved his briefcase and carried it into his office.

Lucy’s spiritual body tingled with excitement. She quickly thought herself into the office, so she could wait for him.  She was praying he would finally acknowledge the sign she had left for him.

Putting his case down beside his desk, Michael took a pen from a pencil cup Emma had made for him when she was eight.  He sat down in his chair, and when he reached to his right to open the drawer full of notepads, he immediately froze when his gaze fell upon the pair of wedding rings, sitting on his desk, in front of their wedding picture. The shock of what he was seeing drained the color from his face.

Lucy was just about to push the button on the CD player, but Michael suddenly scooped up the rings and bolted for the door.  “Emma!”  He yelled.

Emma met him in the foyer.  “What’s wrong?”  She asked, with much concern in her voice.

“Did you put these in my office after going through your mom’s jewelry?”  Michael held out the rings for her to see.

“No.  I didn’t get a chance to do it, and I haven’t been in your office today.”  Emma was getting a little worried.  “Why?”  She asked. 

“I just found these on my desk.”  Michael showed her the rings he had on his index finger.  “And I didn’t put them there.”

“Oh, Dad.  Mom left them for you. I know it.”  Emma’s voice dripped with awe.  “She gave you a sign she’s still with you.”  Tears began to gather in her eyes.

Lucy stood there wishing he would believe their daughter.  She wanted to hug him, but she hung back.

“Maybe your brother did it.”  Michael was searching for any other explanation than the paranormal.

“He’s never home.  I’m telling you.  It was Mom.  I bet you anything.”  Emma’s tears finally broke loose and began to fall down her cheeks.

“Okay, Honey.  Maybe it is.”  Michael just wanted to pacify and retreat.  “I better write that note down before I forget.”  He gave her a hug before he went back to his office.

Sitting in his office chair, Michael spun the rings around his finger as he stared at their wedding photo.

Lucy looked at the love of her life longing to hold him again.  When she built up enough energy, she pushed the play button and their song started playing.

Michael jumped up stunned by what had just happened.  He stared at the CD player and said, “Lucy?”  Looking down at his ring, he slid it back on his finger.

Instead of putting her arms around him, Lucy imagined she was surrounding him with a bubble of white light.  When she tuned into him, she knew he could finally feel her.

Suddenly, the sound of the doorbell ringing echoed throughout the house.

“Dad!  She’s here.”  Emma called out.  

Come back next Tuesday for the next episode of Lucy in the Afterlife, when Michael hires a housekeeper. Thanks for stopping by.  Hope you’re enjoying my ghost saga.  Bye for now.

Email: Remyel@hotmail.com

If you would like to read Lucy’s story from the beginning, click on this link: Lucy in the Afterlife: The Beginning.  Stay safe.

Picture courtesy of: Pexels