Epilogue

The memorial approached faster than they were prepared for.  It was almost as if they had the premiere one moment and the memorial the next.

They all met with Maya, Justin, and James the day before at Millennium Park so that they could do a walkthrough of everything that was going to happen so that they understood the timing.  Those who would be speaking in memory of their fathers were given 30 minutes apiece in the two and a half hour special that was being recorded that fall to be aired on the anniversary of Disturbed retiring.  17 years after they called it done, they were all gone.  All of the kids- Dan’s, David’s, John’s and Mike’s- had dinner together that night.  They rented out a ball room and had the gathering catered.  They all sat and reminisced about growing up with the men of Disturbed as parents.

That night as they all got ready for bed that night, Jake gathered his family children in his room so that they could all spend a little time with just the small group of them.  There were eight in the room total.  The newest addition was Ira’s new girlfriend Holly.  She was a music major whose passion was playing the violin.  She was classically trained and had been playing since she was a child.  Sitting with even a small portion of the Draiman family was hardly comprehensible.  Jake and Delilah thought that she was adorable.  “You remind me of me when I met my husband’s parents”, Delilah said, rubbing her hand over Jacob’s thigh.

Jake smiled.  “You were adorable that day”, he said as he looked at his lovely wife.

Holly smiled.  “You’re both very kind.  I’m just happy that Ira wants me to be there for him tomorrow during this memorial.  From what I understand he had to go through the funeral last year alone, save the family?”

Jake nodded.  “He wasn’t seeing anyone then.  He knew most of the girls in town because he went to school with them.  And the girls in the public school were only interested in him for the family money.  It was no secret that David Draiman and his family lived outside of town.  A gold digger is a gold digger, no matter where she comes from.”

“Well, I’m not interested in the family money.  I really do care for Ira.”  She looked over her shoulder to see him on the other side of the room with his younger brother and brother in law talking about Lord only knew what.

Delilah smiled.  “That’s good.  It’s not every day that we see him smile like he has been since he brought you here.”

Holly beamed.  “Thank you, Mrs. Draiman.  That means the world to me.”

Delilah took the girls hand in one of hers and patted the top gently.  “You’re very welcome.  Should the day comes that you two decided to make it official, make sure he asks your father for you hand.  We’re all kinda old fashioned like that.”

Holly nodded.  “I will.  I don’t think my Dad would have it any other way, anyway.”

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The memorial went smoothly.  It was beautifully put together, from the setup on the stage to the ceremony itself.  Next to each family sat an enlarged photo of their rock star father and their beloved mothers to give the fans an idea of the source of the strength the men exuded when they were onstage.  Justin had volunteered to be the Master of Ceremonies.  Jake told him that he was a braver soul that he was. 

Because Dan was the oldest, Maya was the first to speak.  She stood and outlined life in the Donegan home and what it was like growing up in the house where the musical concepts for Disturbed songs were born.  She went on and on about the kind of man that Daniel Donegan was and the relationship she saw between her parents.

Next was Teagan Wengren.  He got up and talked about what it was like growing up with Mike as his father.  He spoke of the kind of man his father was and how much he enjoyed his grandchildren when they started arriving, also giving hints about the relationship his parents had.

After Teagan sat back down, Reckless Disregard performed a medley of Darkness and an acoustic version of Remember.  It was a very moving arrangement that had Jordan in tears by the time they were finished, but they pulled through.  After they were done, Logan went straight from his stool where he sat and played the guitar for their medley to the podium where his speech about his father was very similar to what his cousins before him had said.

Finally, Jacob stood after straightening his tie.  After setting his iPad on the stand he cleared his throat.  He looked out over the crowd.  “I’m not really going to say anything that my cousins up here haven’t already said”, he told those in attendance and continued on.  He talked about how his father was when he was at home- covering both his dealings with business and with his ten children, even telling the story about how his parents dropped everything on the day his oldest was born so that they could be there for him.  He was sure to mention that the child in questions was now in her 20’s, happily married, and about to make him a grandfather for the first time.

At the close of his speech,  Reckless Disregard got up again and preformed.  When they had been approached about performing for the memorial, they had considered writing a new song just for the occasion.  As they got together and really weighed it out, they decided that there was one song that they had covered before that really expressed the grief they were all feeling- even Caleb.  So Far Away was the only song they all knew of that would let them express what they were feeling.

The presentation that Marc had put together had been timed out to fit the song, giving each picture and video clip a few moments of screen time, as the song was only five and a half minutes long.  As the band started to play so did the video.  It was heartfelt and moving.

When the stage for the families had been put together monitors had been put in the floor so that they would be able to see what Marc had compiled so that they wouldn’t be craning their necks and possibly hurting themselves trying to watch the video on the larger screen.

There wasn’t a dry eye in the park.  Even the men of the different families had tears in their eyes as they watched a lot of their more cherished memories play before them and were shared with the world.  They knew that there were only a select number of people in attendance, but the memorial would be broadcast to the rest of the world.  The world would see the things that they held precious.  For some of them, it felt like an invasion of privacy.  Others, thought they felt exposed, felt that the video would help to dispel all misconceptions about what their fathers were like at home.

As the memorial ended, there was a ceremonial moment of silence and prayer.  Everyone lit a candle as they thought about what Disturbed had meant to them.  The music and the men- individually and as a whole- had touched many lives.  After the moment of silence was over, the candles were blown out and everyone started to leave.  Many of those who were there as fans of the band came up to them and thanked them for sharing their memories and their fathers with the world, as well as expressing their condolences for the loss of such dynamic parents.

Finally everyone was gone, they all said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.  They promised that they would all keep in close contact and plans were made for them all to get together during the holidays.

Those that lived out of town in the Draiman family all gathered at the hotel and reminisced.  Those that could drink did.  Those that couldn’t drank soda.  The memories in the video slideshow that Marc had put together had dredged up a lot of other memories.  It was going to be a long night but it would be good.

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Things started to settle down as the holidays rolled around.  All of the children of the band got together, rented out the same hotel ball room in Chicago and having it catered by the same company.  As they ate  they talked about the things that were going on in all of their lives. 

Miri was getting big and flying home for Hanukkah was coming close to being out of the question.  But, Jax was more than willing to drive her out to Colorado so that they could be with the family for Hanukkah.

Hunter was loving being a new Dad as much as James was loving being a new granddad.  James spent more time playing with little Caleb than he did talking to many people.  But they all played with little Caleb as well as Gracie, as Miranda and Callan had been able to get the time off so that they could be with part of the family for Thanksgiving.  Getting the time off for Hanukkah was going to be tricky, but Callan was sure that he could manage it.  It was peace time and his command in Japan was good about making sure that the Marines stationed there were able to get home as often as possible.

But Hunter and Miranda weren’t the only ones in the Draiman Clan to bring new little ones to Thanksgiving.  Eli and B had a little boy and little girl that they were adopting with them.  They weren’t related, but they got along well together and B was smitten with the little girl named Lily.  She was barely a year old, making her a little older than her cousin Grace, but no one cared.  She was adorable and that’s what mattered.  Her soon to be brother Jason was still a baby around little Caleb’s age so on the off chance that either baby was on the floor and not being held and spoiled, they were put on the same blanket and allowed to play.

Jake and Delilah, though they socialized, stayed pretty much to themselves.  Jake was spending a good portion of the gathering sitting back and smiling as he watched everything that was going on.  He played with his great- nieces and great- nephews, talked with his cousins, and told what few jokes he knew that were funny.  Even though his parents were no longer with them, he could feel their presence.  He could feel his aunts and uncles close as well.  This was something he was sure had all of them smiling on the other side, and he couldn’t help but smile himself.

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Award season rolled around and Marc was on pins and needles the day that the Academy Awards nominations were being announced.  The whole family was watching.  Makayla had come over and was watching with him.  She had a vested interest in the nominations as well.  There was a possibility that her little brother was going to be nominated for Best Director.  When it was announced that not only was he nominated but that the movie was nominated for a great deal of the categories, they both screamed in delight, jumping up and down in celebration.

After the announcement, Marc was on the phone with Jake.  “Dude, you’ll never believe it.  Not only am I nominated for Best Director and Audio/ Visual presentation, but we’ve been nominated for Best Picture, and my cast has been nominated; Best Actor for Dan, and Best Supporting Actress for Gabby for her role as Mom.”

“Very nice.  If you guys can take it all home you’ll all be set.  Good luck to you when you go, Marc.  I hope you take it all.  Clean sweep.”

Marc laughed.  “Thanks, Jake.  Are you guys gonna watch?”

“Yeah.  We should be back from Chicago by then”, Jake laughed.

“Oh yeah.  Miri’s gonna be having a baby soon.  That’s right.  Do we know when?”

“Anytime now.  Delilah is actually packing so that we can fly out there.  We’ve pulled Seth and Sammi from school.  Jeremiah’s going to be running the house while I’m gone and I’m going to be pretty much incommunicado while I’m there.  I’m gonna want to spend as much time with my granddaughter as possible.”

“It’s for sure a girl?”

“Yeah.  I saw the ultrasound pictures.  I think they decided to name her Victoria Michelle.  I don’t remember.  I’ll know when I get there.”

“Yeah.  Who’s gonna catch?”

“Jax.  He’s her gynecologist.”

“Nice.  Well, I’ve got to go.  I’ve got to go buy a tux for the awards and take Mercedes to get a dress.  Kylely’s sister is going to watch all of the kids while Makayla and I are at the awards.  She was nominated for best choreography in some dance movie.  I don’t remember the title.”

“I’m sure Makayla will let me know when she stops floating.  I’ve got to go too.  We should be getting ready to fly out of here.” And they said their goodbyes.

As awards day crept closer, Marc’s stomach was in knots.  He couldn’t eat because he was so sick over the Best Picture statuette.  Mercedes knew it was par for the course with her husband, but she still worried over him.

They made their way down the red carpet that night, braving the gauntlet of reporters.  Marc stopped and spoke, telling everyone he was nervous about the whole thing.  It wasn’t every day that your first time directing was nominated for Best Picture.

Marc sat and listened to the show and enjoyed the music, chuckling to himself when soundtrack for Believing in the Sickness was represented with Prayer.  He wasn’t surprised when they won and went up to the stage with the musicians to accept  the award.

When the Best Actor category rolled around, his nerves shot through the roof.  It would mean everything to him to win this award on his first time out.  It would mean that he had paid attention to everything that JJ was trying to teach him.  When he was, relief and shock washed over him as he kissed his wife and made his trip up to the stage.  He accepted the statue graciously, thanking God and all of the Disturbed fans out there that thought it imperative to watch this movie to learn about his father’s life, both as the front man of Disturbed and as a family man.  He told them to keep the sickness alive and teach younger generations about his father’s work before stepping away to go backstage.

The rest of the categories meant next to nothing to him until the very end of the show when they announced Best Picture.  He gripped Mercedes’s hand tightly as the drums rolled and he waited to hear if they won.  “And the Oscar goes to…”  The suspense was painful.  Marc couldn’t breathe the anticipation was so thick.  “Believing in the Sickness!” the announcer said. 

Marc’s heart stopped; he was in shock.  Mercedes smiled.  “You won, baby.  Go accept the award.”  She leaned in and kissed him as he stood and walked up the aisle.

Daniel and Gabriella said their pieces.  JJ even got a couple words in.  But, they were leaving the big thanks to Marc.  He took the statue and leaned into the microphone.  “What in the world!” he said.  “I don’t even know what to say.  I definitely want to thank the Academy for this, as well my wonderful wife Mercedes for letting me obsess over this.  Thank you to JJ for teaching what you knew and helping me make this great.  I want to thank my fantastic cast for putting up with my constant editing the script and making them reshoot everything so many times I’m sure they wanted to kill me.  This win is dedicated to my late mother and father and I want to thank them for being so supportive in life of this project.  I wish they could have been here with me tonight in person as this whole thing went down, but I know they’re here in spirit.  Mom, Dad; this one is for you.  I love and miss you both.  I know you’re both smiling up there.  I hope that I made you proud.  Thank you, everyone.  Have a great night.”

Pride swelled in Marc Draiman’s chest as he left the stage and returned to his wife before posing with the two statues as well as the winners amongst his cast, and answered questions about how he felt and what he thought his parents would say.  “I feel amazing right now.  Were they still living, I’m sure that they would both be not only proud, but beaming right now.  My mother would be crying her pride in my all over my father’s jacket.  Dad would say something along the lines of, ‘Well done, Christopher.  We’re proud of you.  You did a great job with my life story.  Showed it exactly like I remember it happening’.”  He laughed.  He couldn’t help it.  He was on top of the world and there would be no bringing him down for quite a time.  He did what he set out to do and was recognized in kind.  It was a very proud moment and he couldn’t have asked for more.

The End of the Series.  For real this time!