❛𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒... ❜ | 𝟏𝟖+

𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉ℯ𝓇 𝒻ℴ𝓇𝓉𝓎 𝓉𝓌ℴ | ℰ𝓂𝒷ℯ𝓇 𝒟𝒶𝓁𝓉ℴ𝓃

Sam's POV:
Dreams - a series of thoughts, images, and sensations occurring in a person's mind during sleep. Dreams tell you what you really know about something, what you really feel. They point you toward what you need for growth, integration, expression, and the health of your relationships to person, place, and thing. They can help you fine-tune your direction and show you your unfinished business. But why is it that my 'unfinished business' is my wife? I slip into my dreamscape, with my future laying beside me as i revisit my past...

As my body responds to my new surroundings, i'm suddenly met with an immense bright light, brighter than the sun itself. She made it. I knew she would. After her spirit left her body at the time of her tragic death, Ember's soul only belonged in only one place, and that place was heaven. For her soul to have been delivered elsewhere would have been deemed a crime against humanity itself. I find it hard to believe that i'll see this place when my time comes... but i'm fine with that. I already know where my doomed soul is going, to pay for my dubious, negligently stupid past mistakes, which have been made again, and again, and again, a chain of events continuing to the point of concern. Her body towers over mine, laid down, struck with endless thoughts of why the hell i'm here. "Hey, Sammy... it's good to see you." no... i-it can't be... Ember? Shock is the only emotion i manage to feel... just pure and utter shock. My jaw stutters, full words unable to be formed at any possibility... how could they be? With her face dangling over mine, i'm given plenty of opportunity to notice - she looks beautiful. Nothing about her physical appearance has changed: her curly, curly red hair, which is tied back into a low pony, her ocean eyes perfectly curved into two spheres, crafted in precision. Her silky smooth skin hardly forgettable. To lay my eyes on her face after so much time apart, i... she's a sight for sore eyes. "What are you doing on the floor, dumbass? Get up." as well as her appearance proving to be the same, it looks as though her personality hasn't had a difference in it either. I stifle a laugh at the sudden remembrance of my wife's quick-witted, bratty manner, one that i've sincerely missed. I bring myself to stand, observing the bright space around me... this is her home, and it's exactly what she deserves. "This place looks lovely... it's like living in a bright sunset..." "It is... it's even more beautiful at night. But i didn't show up because i want to talk about me... how's that beautiful little girl of ours? I miss everything about her... that ear-to-ear cheeky smile when she's up to something, her little freckles dotted on the bridge of her nose and her cheekbones, not to mention her pretty, pretty hair... tell me she's okay, Sammy. I... i have to know she's okay." i reach over and smooth the pad of my soft-surfaced thumb over her silky cheekbone, attempting to settle any concerns she has for our daughter by the light, loving touch alone. Ever since she was born, Ember has been an exceptionally amazing mother to her, in every way possible... she gave up her career in teaching to be a stay-at-home mom to Kelsey, while i worked in a lonely office every damn day, bringing our child up into the world almost single handedly whilst doing her very goddamn best, giving up everything she set her eyes on for the future, and making Kelsey her new future. I'm no where near the exceptional mother she was... some people are just meant to be parents... and she was one of them. "Kelsey is absolutely fine. She's grown up so much..." a glimmer of hope flutters across her face, our daughter being shown as the absolute light of her life, just as she is mine. "Tell me everything about her... i miss my darling daughter every passing day..." the look of despair on her features as she tosses her head side-to-side edges me to morph it into one of joy. "Oh, Ember. If only you could see the strong and beautiful little girl she's grown to be... she looks so much like you, long hair the colour of a light bronze Maldivian sunset, these big, big baby blue eyes that make her face pop. And man, she is smart... so smart... i'm convinced she's going to be the next female Albert Einstein, or whatever." her sweet laugh passes through my ears, a laugh that is like the melody of a sonnet delivered to my drums, able to soothe any kind of woes circulating around my racing mind. "The cheek on her too, Jesus... i won't lie, at times she definitely takes after you when it comes to your brattiness..." she folds her arms over her chest, pouting childishly with a sassy sashay in her hips. "I'm not bratty, i just know what i want from life." "And that's what she says too... Kelsey is absolutely fine, Ember. Better than fine... she is thriving." a breath is let out of her mouth, one filled with hope and endless joy... one that can only come from a true parent. "Make sure she turns out better than us, Sam... promise me. I want her to succeed... i want her to soar, i want her to go after her dreams and never stop... she has to be better than us, Sam. She just has to." "And she will, Ember. I swear on my father's grave... i am going to do everything possible in my power to make sure that our daughter achieves the absolute best in life... i won't let her turn out like me Ember, i promise with all my heart." tears fly down her pale cheeks, as if they're racing each other to see who can pull on my threading heartstrings even more as her emotional state weakens to worry. "Thank you, Sammy... you're an amazing mother to that little girl... just as you're an amazing girlfriend to Anna." my demeanour switches to one that coincides with one a child would obtain if they were caught doing a rather nefarious activity... and that is definitely the right adjective to describe my activities i've participated in with Anna over the next few months... "Ember, you don't have to-" "No, Sammy, i do... you will always be my soulmate... always. There is no other woman out there for me other than you, Samantha Dalton... you are kind... compassionate... caring... obsessively overprotective when it comes to your loved ones... to me, you are perfect in every way possible. All of your pretty, and all of your ugly too. I love every part of you... and it seems like someone else does now too." a heaving sigh trails out of my gape, the conversation bringing too much to my weak heart. "Em-" "No, just... just listen to me, okay? Sammy, i'm gone... i live in this beautiful beautiful place, surrounded by light and happiness... i have all the happiness i could possibly need... which means you deserve that too, my love. Anna makes you happy... i've been looking down on you ever since my soul landed in this winesome-looking place... checking on you and Kels, making sure my girls are okay without me... your face lights up when you see her, just like it did when you first saw me... do you know how many loved ones the average human gets in their lifetime? 5. 5 loved ones... and i was one of yours, Sammy. We both know that... but my death left a hole in that heart of yours. And someone else needs to fill it, and Anna is that 'someone else'. Go to her, Sam. Be with Anna... she's the one you love now." my cries break out over my face, streams of tears trickling down my face. "But i don't want to loose you, Ember... i don't want Kelsey to loose you..." she wipes away my tears, looking me in the eyes with all the strength left in her body. "You're not loosing me, Sammy... you're gaining someone else." "Ember, please... i'm not ready to let go of you..." "You're stronger than you think, Sammy... do you know why i'm saying this? I'm saying i give you my permission to move on. Anderson said it himself... you're allowed to find love again. You've been so on-the-fence about it, that i finally realised that you wanted my permission, Sam. You needed to hear the words from me... i want you to be happy. Even Kelsey said it - i don't want you to continue to live alone for the rest of your life. Be happy, Sammy. Because i am..."

I awaken from my deep, emotional slumber, looking opposite me to see my woman, my love, my life, her red hair matted in aggressively tight knots and freely flowing down her back and her shoulders, desperately needing a brush to be dragged through it to upend its sorrowful state. She yawns widely, the stench of her disgusting morning breath filling the air around us, sickening me to my stomach. Turning around to notice my awakening, she smiles lightly, bending down to give me a morning kiss. "Morning, sunshine. Sleep well?" i take her hand, the hand which has her ruby ring slipped onto her, the undying symbol of my commitment to her. "You're mine." a confused yet happy smile spreads across her face, overall delighted with the two small words spoken by me, words i hope to say much more often in the future. "I know, baby. And you're mine. Which is why we need to get you one of these fancy rings too." as she begins talking about mandatory morning things, such as what her upcoming day will consist of, how her nights sleep was, and how she's feeling for the day ahead, i just stare at her pretty face, knowing it's mine to hold and to cherish for the rest of my life, and deeply thinking about Ember's sacred words i'll hold in my memory... 'Be happy, Sam.' I will, Ember... i will.

𝒶／𝓃：𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓀𝓈 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝓇ℯ𝒶𝒹𝒾𝓃ℊ．
ℰ𝓂𝒷ℯ𝓇 𝒟𝒶𝓁𝓉ℴ𝓃'𝓈 𝓅ℯ𝓇𝓈ℴ𝓃𝒶𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓎 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝒽𝒶𝒹 𝓋ℯ𝓇𝓎 𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓉𝓁ℯ ℯ𝓍𝓅ℴ𝓈𝓊𝓇ℯ － 𝒶𝓅𝒶𝓇𝓉 𝒻𝓇ℴ𝓂 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒻𝒶𝒸𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓈𝒽ℯ 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒻𝒶𝒾𝓇𝓁𝓎 𝓈𝒾𝓂𝒾𝓁𝒶𝓇 𝓉ℴ 𝒜𝓃𝓃𝒶．
ℐ 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉ℯ𝒹 𝓉ℴ ℯ𝓍𝓅𝓁ℴ𝓇ℯ ℴ𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇 𝒶𝓇ℯ𝒶𝓈 ℴ𝒻 𝓂𝓎 𝓌𝓇𝒾𝓉𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒷𝓎 𝒶𝒹𝒹𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒶𝓃 ℯ𝓂ℴ𝓉𝒾ℴ𝓃𝒶𝓁 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉ℯ𝓇，𝒾𝓃𝓈𝓉ℯ𝒶𝒹 ℴ𝒻 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝓈𝓂𝓊𝓉 ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓇𝓎𝓌𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ 𝓌ℯ 𝓉𝓊𝓇𝓃．𝒯𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒷ℴℴ𝓀 𝒾𝓈 𝒸ℴ𝓂𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓉ℴ 𝒶𝓃 ℯ𝓃𝒹 𝓋ℯ𝓇𝓎 𝓈ℴℴ𝓃，𝒾𝓉'𝓈 𝒷ℯℯ𝓃 𝒶𝓃 𝒽ℴ𝓃ℴ𝓊𝓇 𝓉ℴ 𝓈𝒽𝒶𝓇ℯ 𝒾𝓉 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓎ℴ𝓊 ℊ𝓊𝓎𝓈．
𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓀 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝓈ℴ 𝓂𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝓎ℴ𝓊𝓇 𝒸ℴ𝓃𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝓈𝓊𝓅𝓅ℴ𝓇𝓉！
ℋ𝒶𝓋ℯ 𝒻𝓊𝓃 𝓇ℯ𝒶𝒹𝒾𝓃ℊ ;)