Portal yawned loudly to himself as he watched TV. The house was quieting down a bit, now that night was rolling in. Not that everyone was a sleep in the house; his wife Jacqueline was still up, as was his son Amaury. Except for them, though, his grandchildren and his son’s wife were fast a sleep. He sighed, rubbing an eye as he tried to stay focused and awake. He had been feeling exhausted for a few weeks, no, more like months. And no matter how little work he did, he could never seem to get the energy he used to have.
“It’s old age, you fat bastard…” he told himself quietly. “You’re 67, you have a 36 year old son, two five year old grandkids. You weren’t the fat, but active man you were back than…” he told himself. Still, he did wish he had the energy to do things. Lulukien did, so did Barboren, and Tropek, and even Jacqueline. He sighed, reminding himself that with his old age; he nearly weighed half a ton. And that must have added excess exhaustion.
Time passed as it grew late, television began to grow old and thing seemed to blur. He shook his head, trying to stay awake. But it wasn’t working. He turned off the TV, sitting there in the dark a moment. A faint light seemed to emanate from the work room; that being Amaury working on some invention. Like father like son, it seemed. And a fainter light seemed to glow from their own bedroom; likely Jacqueline winding down before she herself dosed off. He smiled lightly, wondering how he could have had such a wonderful life. He felt another wave of sleep attempt to take hold, and he worked to shake it off. This one seemed harder, and it had to take a good pinch to keep him awake. When he was certain he wasn’t too sleepy, he leaned into the chair.
“Seems like the inevitable is here…” he told himself. He stood up slowly, not that he chose to move slowly, but his weight meant moving up fast wasn’t a choice or easy thing to do. When he was on his feet, he slowly made his way towards his son’s room. He knocked on the door before entering, seeing his son working hard on an invention. He smiled lightly towards him, his son a little on the chubby side. But thankfully not inheriting his father’s heavy weight.
”What is it?” he asked at last, turning around and facing his father. Portal smiled lightly to Amaury, his son looking a little sleepy but cheery and full of life. The perfect way for Portal to remember him.
”I’m going to bed soon, just wanted to say night.” He stated, walking over to his son. Amaury stood up, somewhat knowing what Portal was about to do as he quickly opened his arms and hugged his father. He gave an awkward smile to his father’s hug, noticing it felt tight and comforting. Yet eerily abnormal.
”What’s with the hug?” he asked. “You don’t have to do that, you know…”
“I know, just felt like doing it anyways.” Portal smiled back, giving one more hug before leaving the room. Amaury stood there for a moment, a tight feeling in his chest. He pushed it aside a bit, going back to work.
Portal than headed to the guest room where Eloi and Denise slept. The twins. He smiled a little, noticing the blanket a little low as he carefully pulled them up. They shifted a bit, however neither one awoke. Portal sighed a little, leaning down and carefully kissing both on the forehead.
”Night…” he whispered to them, before heading out the door. He made sure to close it carefully, slowly heading towards the other guest room where Jullet, Amaury’s wife, slept. He headed inside, careful to be quiet as he walked over to her. She seemed quite peaceful; she reminded him a bit of Jacqueline. He brushed a hand over her face lightly, pushing aside a strand of hair that fallen onto it. “Keep him on that healthy diet, you hear?” He spoke quietly. He left the room, much like he did with the twins.
“One more thing to do…” he said to himself. He headed to the phone, picking it up and carrying it into the kitchen, as far away from the other rooms as possible. He dialed a number he had memorized by heart, hoping to everything that was holy that he would answer. It seemed hopeless at first, however after a while the phone finally picked up and he got an answer. Some grumbling and moaning coming from the other line.
“Lulukien here; and who the hell calls at 11:40 at night?” the voice asked. Portal laughed a little, glad to hear the familiar voice.
“It’s me, Portal.” He simply replied. Right away, Lulukien’s voice altered greatly from annoyed and tired to awake and cheery.
”Sorry ‘bout that! Thought you were some idiot who wanted business or something. So, what’s with the late night call?” Lulukien asked.
“No problem. Listen Lulu, I was just calling to say…” he stalled, somehow not knowing how to say this.
“Lulu? Portal, why’d you say that? You never use that unless you…” Portal flinched upon hearing the squeak that cut off Lulukien’s sentence. That all so familiar squeak Lulukien gave when he realized something terrible.
“Guess you figured it out. You were always quick…” he told himself. He heard some noises in the background, a little bit of groaning and gulping.
“Y-yeah…” Lulukien stuttered, continuing to make some muffled like sounds.
”Well, than see ya you skinny son of a bitch.” Portal stated.
“See ya… ya… ya fat bastard…” Lulukien barely spoke. Portal nodded, carefully putting the receiver down.
He stood there for a minute, staring at the phone before he turned and headed down to the bedroom. He seemed to have made it in time. Jacqueline was just about to go to bed. She stopped, staring at Portal a moment. Even with the graying hair and wrinkle, to him she was as beautiful as the sun, moon, stars, and earth combined.
“You off to bed too?” she asked, smiling lightly.
”Yep, gonna get a good night sleep.” He told her, smiling back. He slowly headed over to the bed, climbing in on his side as Jacqueline went into hers. She rolled over and leaned over Portal. Giving him a kiss for good night. He somewhat placed a hand on her face, a method he used to try and keep her from giving a short kiss. He made sure it was as long as he could. “Night.” He stated.
“Night.” Jacqueline spoke, smiling lightly to Portal. She turned off the light that was beside her side of the bed. Sending the room into pitch black.
Portal laid there for a bit, staring at the ceiling. His hands shook, trying to keep still by grasping on to each other, even though it did nothing. He gave a shaky breath, trying to calm himself down. He looked over to Jacqueline, who seemed peaceful in her sleep. He smiled weakly, moving a hand as he shook her a little. She groaned a moment, stirring from her sleep.
“Yeah hun?” she asked, groggily.
“I’m having a hard time sleeping.” He spoke. “Could you…” he had no need to finish his question. Carefully rolling over, Jacqueline gave Portal a smile as she carefully shifted up so she was able hold his head in her arms. She moved closer, softly grasping his head in her arms and laying her head onto the top of his. He smiled, feeling more at ease as he snuggled close to her.
“Night.” She said again.
”Good-bye…” he whispered very quietly, slowly falling into a deep sleep that seemed to be the most peaceful one he had in years.