In This Life (Sequel to 'In Another Life')

Epilogue (Kairi's POV)

I wiped the sweat from my forehead, as I dug through the contents in my parents attic. Georgia was just too fucking hot. I couldn't believe that Mom had grown up here and then decided to move back. I thought about what I knew of my mother's life and wished that I knew more. It was weird being up here with Dylan, digging through our parent's life. "Momma, what's this?" Samantha asked from over by the window. I looked up and saw her holding an old photo album. I smiled and motioned for her to come over. She was almost an adult now. At 17, she had grown into a beautiful young woman. Her blonde hair and blue eyes, reminded me of Caleb's dad so much. She placed the photo album in my hands, when I stood up. "Let's go outside and look at it. Get some air. I need a break. Dylan, you coming?" I asked my brother, who was digging through an old box. "Huh?" he asked, his head coming up to look at me. I held the photo album up, and waved it around. "Wanna come see what this old thing holds?" "Oh...yeah, I guess so," he replied, standing up. We made our way out of the attic, down the long winding staircase with the intricate designs that my mother loved so much, and out the front door onto the wrap around porch. I saw Caleb wave at me from his position in the orchard, helping  our youngest climb a tree. Robert looked just like Dad. He had the same big smile, the curly brown hair, and his expressions were so identical, it was almost eerie. I sat down on the wide porch steps, and Dylan and Samantha gathered around me. "Hey babe, you wanna come look?" I yelled to Caleb. He nodded, and grabbed our son up, then put him on his shoulders. Once they were gathered around me as well, I took a deep breath and opened the album. I knew this was going to be hard on my emotions, but cleaning out my parents home was hard anyway. At least this way, I got a peek into who they were before us. The album was loaded with pictures, faded with age. There were ones of Dad teaching us how to ride bikes, Mom fixing Dylan's tie for Prom, and Dad standing next to me with his arm around my waist. I stroked my finger over Aunt Denise's face, wishing that I had more time with her. I needed to call Mariah and see how she was doing. There was Mom in her wedding dress, Dad in his tux, his arms around her waist. He was smiling down at her, as her head was thrown back in laughter. The love seemed to radiate through the photograph. There were so many pictures of Uncle Sam (Caleb's Dad), and our Dad, climbing buildings, laughing together, playing stupid card games, or hanging out with Uncle Corey and Uncle Jake. "Is that Daddy?" Robert asked, pointing to a picture of Sam. I laughed and shook my head. "No sweetie, that's Daddy's Dad." Caleb really did look just like Uncle Sam. Then there was Mom with Aunt Denise, Aunt Kenzie, and Aunt Sarah. Aunt Kat, Aunt Tara, and Aunt Dev were in a a lot of these pictures too. The further back that I flipped the pages, the more of my parents youth I saw. "Oh wow," I breathed, running my fingers over the last pictures in the book. It was my Mom when she was in her early twenties, with Denise, Kenzie, and Sarah. They had their arms locked around each other's waist, big laughing smiles on their faces, in front of the Merriott hotel in Florida. I had heard the story of how my parents had met many, many times, and it still sounded like something out of a romance novel. "Momma?" I heard Robert call my name. I looked and smiled at him, then ran my hand down the back of his soft hair. "Yes sweetie?" "Who's that?" he pointed at a picture of Mom and Dad laughing together in a hotel bed. I smiled. "That's your Grams and Papa. Back when they first met." His eyes widened in surprise. "Really? But they're so young!" I laughed, and thought about how everything was so different when you were young. You didn't see the older generation as having a life before you knew them. They were just Mom and Dad, or Grams and Papa. It didn't cross your mind that there was so much history, an untold story to their lives, that we didn't know anything about, except for what we were told and the pictures that were left behind. My heart squeezed painfully as I thought about my parents. I was going to miss them so much. "Momma?" Jasmine said, laying her head on my shoulder. "Yes sweetie?" "Can you tell the story again about how Grams and Papa left? I know it didn't happen that long ago, but it's so romantic to me." I smiled and wiped a tear from my eye. "Sure," I replied. "Your Grams and Papa moved out here from California to finally slow down. Your Papa was a hard one to make slow down. They tended their garden, played old video games together, and slow danced in the kitchen. Their final days were full of love and happiness. When the maid came to clean that fateful morning, she found your Gram and Papa still in bed, your Papa hugging your Gram close to his body. I remember Gram telling me that she couldn't live without your Papa. She said that they had vowed to never leave one another, that he was her life, her oxygen. I guess they knew that one couldn't live without the other. They left this world the only way that they could. Together, in each other's arms. It really had been them against the world, In Another Life."

                                                                                 THE END

A/N: I guess this is it. We've finally reached the end of the story. Every story I write is always bittersweet to finish. This one though. This one was really hard to let go of. Thank you for sticking with me through working, my surgery, my recovery, and my sporadic, crazy non existent, posting schedule. You'll never know how much you each mean to me. Thank you for reading my crazy fantasy worlds. I'll see in another life (the next story lol)