Where to Next

Chapter 24

Ten years had passed since I took my last breath. Craig and Vikki, were now known as Perry and Meredith. They were no longer Whitman ́s, but they were known as Chapman ́s. The day they boarded that plane would be the last day he ever stepped foot back in the states. Craig moved the both of them to a tropical island where it was very quiet and laid back. It was a little peace of heaven that no one really knew about. The locals kept to their selves and they didn´t have any idea of Craig´s real identity. Island life is so much different from the mainlands. They weren´t obsessed with celebrities or fashion models. They barely had cellular service, much less WiFi on the island. Life is really simple for them. The first thing they did was build a barn and stable so they could have some live stock on the property. They raised baby goats and pigs. He even got a collection of rare fish that was in this huge aquarium in the living room so that you can always stop and appreciate their beauty. He cleaned boats for a living so no one would question where the money was coming from or how they were affording their lifestyle. All the days of the glitz and glamour was way behind him now. He traded his Armani suits for button downs and cotton shorts. They both sported brown sandals with sun kissed skin.

Although they were living well, Craig built them a very small modest two bedroom house that didn't have running electric yet. He really wanted to be a good father to our daughter. They would spend their nights out by the bonfire where he would tell our daughter stories about me...her mom! He installed two hammocks for them with mosquito nets for nights that it was too hot to sleep indoors. She absolutely loved it! They didn't have a car on the island, but it was so small you really didn´t need one. They pretty much just walked or rode a bike cycle every where they needed to go. As you went down the streets you could always find a huge pile of conch fish shells off to the side of the rode. Some of the fisherman would sell them to the locals and also to the restaurants near by.

It really is the perfect place to raise our daughter. She is growing up so fast. It´s like someone hit the fast forward button on her life. Our daughter is so beautiful too. She looks so much like me that she even shares the same golden locks as I did. She´s a tomboy though. She loves to help her daddy fish and she likes to go out with her dad during hunting season when they head to the mainland and they bring back enough meat that will fill the freezer for months. Their love for one another was like no other. Craig never told her about Robbie or that he was her biological father, but she did see pictures of him over the years. Craig told her he was her uncle and that he had died just before she was born. He also told her about Sammie and how much she loved her. Unfortunately she couldn ́t visit them because he was afraid she would give away their location. It was a hard decision, but she didn't want to leave my mom alone either. She was bedridden with cancer. 

Craig tried his best to give her a normal childhood. They celebrated every occasion together! On my birthday the two of them would always bake a cake and send up lanterns that floated up into the sky. They would be filled with letters and trinkets to me. On our anniversary the two of them would get into the canoe and roll way out into the water where they would place some of my favorite flowers and eat cake with their bare hands. 

As much as I wanted to be there to help raise her, I have to admit he is doing such an amazing job with her. He never told her about the life we used to live or about the millions she would inherit on her twenty first birthday. He wanted her to grow up loving the small things in life. As Craig or I guess I should say Perry, was putting back away our wedding album that he kept just for himself he heard her yell for him. For a moment he panicked and headed to the front. There she stood with her messy ponytail, dirt all over her face, barefoot and wearing her jean overall shorts.

 ̈ ̈What is it?!¨ he asked excitedly. 

¨Come on daddy¨ she exclaimed 

As they headed out to the front porch he saw a glass jug with some lightning bugs trapped inside.

 ̈ ̈ Aren't they beautiful?!¨ she pointed towards them excitedly! 

He just laughed and gave her a peck on the forehead. 

She turned and ran down the front steps to collect some more. Craig began to head over towards some old rocking chairs that he had lined up along the front porch. There he sat and watched her play for hours. They spent many nights out on that front porch. Eventually as she grew up into a beautiful young lady those nights began to lessen and lessen. It wasn´t long before she was heading off to college with the money she got from her inheritance. He told her he had won the lottery and kept it a secret for all those years. 

It broke Craig´s heart that she never did return, but she wrote to him all the time. She became a news journalist and ended up living in Manhattan. She loved the craziness of the city.  As for Craig, he never remarried. He pretty much just lived alone in that house he built for them until the day he passed away. When the police found him he was laying in bed with our old wedding album and clutching our rings. Our lives were both riddled with turmoil, but it was in those horrible days that we found each other. Out of everything that happened, the one thing I can say for sure is that we really loved one another. Craig saved me from a life of loneliness and showed me how it felt to be truly loved. They say a soul mate is only once in a lifetime and I we were each others.