Rei's last day on Earth - 4

Whether you write a single book or a whole series, to make it realistic, you need a backstory for each of the main characters. When the time came to write Rome's Evolution, I finally had an opportunity to blend together all the little tidbits I had sprinkled throughout my novels regarding Rei Bierak's past into a single, self-contained intermezzo. It's a seven part series and here is Part 4:

     Rei jumped up and hugged his mother and father. “This must have cost you a bloody fortune,” he said giddily.
     “Well, actually, you paid for it, buddy,” Edward said. “We didn’t need your cash. We wanted to put some of it toward something that will remind you of us whenever you get to where you are going.”
     “This is amazing,” Rei said. Then he frowned. “I think this is going to put me over, though, weight-wise,” he muttered.
     “It’s already taken care of,” his mother replied reassuringly. “We called down to Houston and gave them the exact weight of the slab and the headphones. They said you’d be over by not even fifty grams. They suggested you get rid of your sunglasses and that would be enough. What do you think? Is that OK?”
     “Sure,” Rei said. “This thing is worth a hundred pair of sunglasses.” He sat down to examine the present more closely. He reached into the box, fished out the set of earbuds and placed them in his ears. He held up the other end of the cord, examining it closely. He found that merely waving the connector near the proper junction point on the slab caused it to snap in place magnetically. Rei pressed the upper right hand corner of the device and the front face lit up. The dim integrated menu displayed a variety of ways to access the music. He studied the symbology then instructed the slab to pick a song at random. Immediately he heard the stirring tones of “I Know You’re Out There Somewhere” by the Moody Blues. As the music rose, he pressed the volume up control until it was blasting in his ears.
     “This is so sleek,” he shouted without realizing it. Everyone laughed at his inappropriate tone. Seeing their mirth, Rei grinned then removed the earbuds. He detached the connector and carefully placed the slab back into the foam packing along with the earbuds.
     “Thank you, so much,” he said in a normal voice. “I’ll treasure this always.”
     “We’re very proud of you, son,” his father said. “Use it in good health.”
     Rei stood up and hugged his parents again.
     After tolerating his hug for a moment, his mother spoke up. “Sit, sit,” she commanded. “We have one more surprise for you. Compliments of Raul.”
     Rei looked over at Raul who saluted Rei with two fingers as Rei’s mother left the room. Ruth soon returned with a small tray holding a chilled 375 ml bottle of ice wine and five champagne flutes.

I always felt I had to explain why Rei didn't take a pair of sunglasses with him to Deucado and this little vignette let me do so. I also got to slip in the Moody Blues' song "I Know You're Out There Somewhere" as a direct nod to Rome. That is pretty much her theme song. I also always thought it was funny how people shout when they are listening to headphones because they don't know how loud they are. I also got to sneak in a reference to ice wine because, well, I love ice wine.

Tomorrow, Part 5.