Never Cover up What We Did With a Dress

Chesney’s Point of View.

I had realised I was sick when I arrived here. I could see Manson standing by the edge, his back to me, and it was obvious that I had not lost my baby as I had previously thought. I looked down at my rounded stomach as I neared the love of my life, nervous at what his reaction would be to what I had done.

“I was hoping you wouldn’t have done this.” He whispered as he turned to me.

“Why?” I asked, tears burning in my eyes. “Do you not want me here with you?”

“Of course I want you here, but I wanted you with Lily.”

I looked away in guilt. I didn’t know what to say. I was utterly disappointed that I hadn’t done what Manson had wanted. All I could think about was how much I needed him with me, how much he was to me…

I looked up, and saw him running toward me anyway, his arms encircling me as he lifted me up and spun me around above him.

“Ches, it’s okay.” He laughed, kissing me on the lips. “I would have done the same thing, you know that. And she’s okay, you’ve given Demi and Tony everything they’d wanted.” He kissed me again and held me against him. “I am so happy you’re here baby, I was scared to wait any longer.”

I smiled broadly and pulled away, staring deeply into his eyes and believing that I had done the right thing for everyone. I loved him, and I had made everyone happy back at home.

“So, it’s just a waiting game here?” I asked Manson as he grabbed my hand and led me off into the sunset.

“Pretty much, but I have found who I was waiting for.” He smiled at me.

As I walked away from everything I had built, from Lily, from my past, I reminded myself that I had done the best thing for everyone. We may not have Lily and she may not have us, but we have our new baby, and she has Tony and Demi, two loving parents who wanted her more than anything – and most of all we have one another, and that is all I ever needed.

Manson was all I had ever hoped for.

***

Demi’s Point of View – Fifteen Years Later.

“Have a good day!” I sung to Lily as she left the car and walked into school.

“Bye Demi,” she smiled, meeting her friends.

It had been fifteen years since Manson and Chesney both left this world. I missed my best friend everyday, and at first I hated her so much for what she had done, until I remembered she had done the best for everyone. I knew now, as I watched Lily grow up and experience her life, that with Chesney as her mother she would not have flourished as much as she had with me and Tony. Chesney was Manson, and Manson was Chesney, with out one another they would not have been capable to live.

Lily had grown up to be a beautiful young woman. She was sixteen. When she was fourteen, I told her everything I could possibly remember about her parents, and the situations they faced that forced them to do the things they did. Although Lily was a beautiful, lively and happy girl that encompassed everything possible from both of her parents, I could see the pain in her eyes when she looked at her baby photographs, or videos, or when I could see her drift off into a daydream, wondering what life would have been like with Manson and Chesney.

I pulled away from the school, returning back to my home. We had moved from San Francisco, to Santa Barbra, so Tony could be closer to Twiggy and the others that had started a new band in Manson’s memory. No one felt right continuing Marilyn Manson with out their front man. The money from Chesney’s apartment in San Francisco had been put into a trust fund for Lily’s future. We still returned to San Francisco twice every year, to visit Manson and Chesney’s graves, which were laid side by side in the cemetery – together.

I was twenty six when Chesney and Manson left us. Lily was the most amazing gift Tony and I could have asked for, after being told by numerous doctors that we could not have children of our own. However, ten years later, at the age of thirty six, I gave birth to our first son. We called him Jack, in memory of what Chesney and Manson were going to call Lily if she were a boy.

Jack was five now. I wished that Chesney could have met him, but then again, I wish that Chesney could have been here for so many other things – Lily’s first day of school, Lily losing her first tooth, Tony and I finally getting married, Lily’s first concert, first party, first boyfriend. I had realised now that wishing was stupid, and that Chesney had taught me to make the most out of life, no matter how much I missed her.

Two years ago, when I finally got the nerve to visit the storage place and look through Chesney’s things, I found a photo. The frame it was in had cracked, but that didn’t matter. I looked at it closely – it was the day we were celebrating Lily's fourth month out of hospital, sure that she was healthy. We were all so happy. Me, Tony, Manson and Chesney, with Lily in their arms. I put it on the mantle piece in my home, and it served as a constant reminder of who, and what, made us who we are today.

The world went into an uproar at Manson’s death. Dita was distraught. Everything had settled down by now, of course, and although there were still heartbroken fans and lovers left in his wake, Manson’s music was a piece of him that would stay in this world forever.

I missed them both everyday, but I remember that they are happy wherever they are right now, and it puts a smile of my face every time.

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** Read author's note. (: