My Highlander, My Love, Part Three:Forbidden Love, The Greatest Love Story Ever Told.

A World of Make Belief

Closing her eyes, the beautiful, young woman erased all thoughts of reality from her mind, and took a deep breath. She did this quite often, and it helped her to relax and take a break from the harsh reality of her awful life.

From the kitchen doorway, her mother watched with teary eyes as her only child suffered in silence. It was like this everyday since the accident, her daughter had suffered way too much and it broke her heart, especially since the doctors had told them that April would never walk again.

It has been five years of hell for them since the automobile accident, but she was determined to help her daughter out of her depression. Turning around, Mrs. Garfield went back into the kitchen to check on the apple pie, it was her daughter's favorite and she was going to surprise her with it after dinner.

A single tear rolled down Aprils lovely face, and her plump lips trembled as thoughts of the crash claimed her mind again. The sound of metal clashing against metal, the screams, the awful pain shooting down her spine, her mother's voice crying her heart out, the doctors shaking their head before they told her what the rest of her life would be like, the feeling of desperation knowing she would never walk again, the death of her father who was unable to live with all the guilt he felt in his heart, blaming himself for the terrible accident, and the pity in her friends eyes whenever they visit her was just overwhelming. She wanted to die, she wanted to leave this world and end this terrible fate, but she could not abandon her mother.

Opening her eyes, the young woman saw the little children chasing a ball in the quiet streets of Naperville as laughter filled the air, and a smile almost curved her lips. Taking a deep inhalation of breath, April's mind wondered off too a time when she too played with her many friends. Her lips trembled and many tears glided down her face, she hated feeling sorry for herself but once in a while, even though she was a very strong character and didn't like to display her feelings on her sleeve, she did break down and allow her misery to take over.

"April dear, dinner is almost ready, and I have a surprise for you." Her mother chirped from the kitchen doorway, "go wash up and come join me, I'm sure you must be starving."

The last thing April wanted to do was eat, but she knew that her mother had slaved away in the kitchen to cook the dinner and she didn't want to disappoint her. Wiping the tears from her eyes, the young woman wheeled herself inside the handicapped bathroom that her father had built just for her, and washed her hands.

The aroma of steak and potatoes which were Aprils favorite dish made Aprils stomach growl as she wheeled herself inside the kitchen and made her way to the end of the table where she usually sat. Her father had made sure that the entire house was made wheelchair accessible to acomodate his precious daughter. He wanted to help April to feel independent, thinking that it would help April and ease her pain, but it had not. Everything that he had done for her only reminded her  one more time that she was handicapped. Her father died from heartbreak, the guilt was too much for him to handle.

Placing the two plates of food on the table, her mother asked, "What would you like to drink dear?"

"Mother would you please stop hovering over me and just sit down, if I want to drink something I will get it myself!" April snapped.

Mrs. Garfield closed her eyes for a second to hold off the tears that threatened to spill forth, and then she sat down in her chair, "I have a surprise for you, in fact, I have two surprises for you April. After you eat your dinner I will show you them and hope to bring a smile back on your face."

Stabbing the steak with her fork, April looked up at her mother and her heart softened up. There were a few new age lines on her mother's forehead, that April hadn't seen before, and her face seemed a little thinner. "Mother, you know I hate surprises, there is nothing you can give me that will make me walk again!" April said miserably, as she cut a piece of the steak and brought it to her mouth. "I'm really not in the mood to see anything tonight, I just want to finish my dinner and go to my room. I'm very tired and I want to rest."

Placing her fork and knife on her napkin, Mrs. Garfield stared at her daughter for a second before she lifted herself to her feet and walked over to the counter. "I was going to wait to give you this after dinner, but I can tell that you are not in a good mood, i think this might cheer you up." She said as she walked back to the table and placed an envelope in front of April next to her plate.

April narrowed her eyes and looked up at her mother confused. "What's this, another letter from the university asking me to join their team and travel around the country like a handicapped person, giving speeches and pretending that my life is wonderful when in reality it sucks?" She said miserably as she grabbed the envelope and was about to rip it to pieces, but her mother's was quick to grab the envelope out of her grasp.

"No April, this is not another letter from a university asking you to do something, this are two tickets to Scotland." She said, and opened the even elope. Pulling out the two tickets she placed them in front of April on the table and said, "we are going to visit Scotland in two weeks!"

Her heart skipped a beat, April was confused, but excited at the same time. "Scotland? Why in Gods name are we going to Scotland?"

"Well, I thought that a vacation is what you might need to relax that mind of your that has you feeling miserable and depressed lately. Besides, it is my homeland and I always wanted to return to the place where I was born."

Blinking a few times, April watched her mother very carefully. She did not miss the way her lips trembled as if she wanted to cry her heart out, nor did she miss the far away look in her mother's eyes. "Mother, you have never mentioned this to me before, why all of the sudden do you want to return to a place that has brought you nothing but pain from the day you were born? Do you think I have not heard over the years your conversations about Scotland? We have thin walls mother, your whispers in the night to father when you thought I was asleep traveled throughout the house, I know you hate Scotland!"

Mrs. Garfield was speechless, how much has her daughter heard? She always made sure that April was fast asleep before she talked about Scotland with her husband. She knew that her daughter had gift's and talents, she was after all part druid, but how was she to explain that to her daughter? She had done her research and knew that April would soon recieve her powers, her birthday was coming up in a few months and all would be revealed. Images of the love of her life came into her mind and she quickly turned away and walked back to the counter. Placing her hands on the granite, Mrs. Garfield close her eyes and allowed the tears to flow. Her heart raced wildly as thoughts of the the night she lay in the Druids arms and he made wild passionate love to her.

"You are mine now, and I will love you forever." He had whispered to her passionately, as his lips traveled down her belly.

"Mother!" April called out a second time, "hello?"

Mrs. Garfield blinked a few times to get rid of the tears and plastered a fake smile on her face before she turned around and walked back to her place at the table. "Yes dear?"

"You spaced out for a second and I wondered if you were feeling alright, and why are you crying?" April asked her when she saw her mother's wet eyes.

"Nothing dear, I'm just overwhelmed at the idea of returning to the place where I was born, and I can't wait for you to see for yourself where your bloodline came from." Aprils mother said as she walked back to the table and sat herself down and grabbed her fork. "I think you will find that Scotland is a beautiful country with a lot of history." She said before her knife cut into her steak.

Thank you everyone for being patient with me, I am over loaded with a million things to do but I will do my best to be more faster in delivering my story, as you can see a new storyline is about to emerge and hopefully hold you captivated. Just a small reminder to all of you that I have not forgotten about you all and I love each and every one of you. Please don't forget to vote I fell well below the hot line and would like to reach the top again but I need your help to do that. From the bottom  of my heart thank you .