Mr & Mrs Menendez

Chapter 15 - Moving On

Camilla was saddened greatly by the death, but knowing Carola wanted her to keep living her life, Camilla wanted to do just that. She was finally happy again.

Camilla recorded her first solo album since 1973, "First Breath", and released it in 1998. Her album cover was chosen because she wanted to show people that she was strong, and wasn't going to let things get her down, as there was still so much left to live for.

The album was all in English, and it was successful across the Nordic countries. Lyle and Camilla decided to do a bit of traveling as well.

Then, they received big news. Patrick and Elle were getting married! They intended on getting married in America, so that the entire family could attend. They got married in Summer, in a church in Los Angeles, and the the ceremony went off without a hitch. Then, they had the reception at a lovely venue. Lyle and Camilla had a wonderful time, remembering their own wedding.

They went to Florida for a Summer vacation, where spent a lot of days at the beach, eating at fancy restaurants, and making love in their luxury hotel.

When they returned from their vacation a month later, Patrick and Elle had big news - she was pregnant! Their baby was conceived on their wedding night!

"A gift and blessing from the Lord!" Said Camilla. She supported Elle through her pregnancy, and she and Lyle were very excited as their grandson was being born. Their grandson was born on January 25th, 1999. His name was Daniel.

Lyle and Camilla loved and doted on their grandson, and Camilla helped out a lot. Elle was so grateful to have a mother-in-law who was so helpful. Motherhood is never easy, so Camilla would babysit so Elle could have a night off once in a while. Lyle and Camilla just loved being grandpa & grandma!

Patrick and Elle were good parents, and it made Lyle and Camilla relieved to know that because they were very protective of Daniel. Their horrific pasts in a way sensitized them and thus made them very protective of children.

Surprisingly enough, Camilla's album was even able to soothe little Daniel and help him sleep! Camilla also suggested "white noise".

"I used it to ensure you'd get good sleep. Believe me, honey it worked." So they tried soft white noise, and that also worked.

One night, Camilla went our with her friend Anki, and they talked about everything that had been going on.

"You have not changed, Camilla. And your husband looks great too. How do you do it?" Asked Anki,

"I am not quite sure to be honest." Said Camilla. "I guess just eat healthy, stay active, all the cliches. But you look good too!"

"Thanks! I got this new sweater in France. It's so soft!" Anki said.

They had a nice time before Camilla came home to find Lyle listening to her album.

"You've always had such a beautiful voice. It's no wonder our little grandson would fall asleep to it. It's so lovely and soothing!" He said.

"Aww you're too kind, Lyle. But I love to help in any way I can, so that's a good thing." She replied.

"Hey babe, remember how we invited Erik and Tammi to come for a bit? They want to come next week. Erik has a tournament in Turku, so after that they want to stop here for a week or two."

"That would be lovely! I can make some of those saffron buns. They'll no doubt be hungry." Said Camilla.

"Such a great idea! You're brainy and beautiful! And such a kind woman. And I won't lie, your food is amazing." Lyle said while Camilla smiled.

It turned out to be a very good idea as Erik & Tammi's flight was delayed and did not arrive in Helsinki until 10 pm, so Lyle and Camilla went to collect them at the airport. Their 16 year old daughter, Jennifer ("Jenny") was hypoglycemic, and needed to be fed, so once everyone arrived home, Camilla quickly got the freshly baked saffron buns and gave them to Jenny & her parents.

"Wow, these are yummy!" They said. They were so grateful for Camilla's lussebulle.

Then, everyone went to bed and in the morning, Savannah, who was home at this time visiting her parents from Sweden, took Jenny for a day out, showing her some hotspots. It was a wonderful time for the family, that they were all together and having a great time.

When Erik, Tammi and Jenny were leaving, Lyle and Camilla dropped them off at the airport, and they agreed that they should do this regularly, which they did. As they went through passport control, they waved goodbye to Lyle and Camilla who waved back.

The house was quite now, so they decided to watch a nice movie before going to bed. In 2000, Lyle was troubled that his hair was starting to thin. Camilla didn't initially notice, but he knew she would sooner or later so decided to shave it all off and go bald. His hair never grew back again, and he was ok with it. It didn't change anything with Camilla as far as her love and attraction to him was concerned.

In 2001, Finnish television produced a documentary about Camilla Carola. Camilla didn't hesitate to participate. She got a bit tearful as she talked about Carola, and how close they were. But she reminded herself, that she was in Heaven now, so she was happy.

She also performed a show for Finnish TV, singing a medley of hits that she sang with her late aunt. Surprisingly, she had fun doing it, despite feeling a bit of sadness that her aunt wasn't there to enjoy it with her. She never performed without her aunt being there, but tonight she had more fun than she thought she would. And Carola would've wanted that too. Camilla also sang four of her own songs: Mamma's Child, Hey Hey, You'll See, and Just A Wish on Swedish TV as well as Finnish TV. Those songs were her solo hits.

Lyle as always, was very proud of her, as much as she was proud of him for his tennis prowess. Her strength to push through her grief, an sing their songs was inspiring to him.

Shortly after the live show, Camilla was visiting Anki at her home when suddenly, Camilla fainted! It was so strange as there was no obvious reason for that to have happened. She fainted once as a child, and then again when she was pregnant with her son Patrick, so she went to see Dr Lindqvist who had devastating news...