Suddenly Royal

Epilogue:

THE NEXT MORNING everyone moved at a frenetic pace as Tyler showed up with two suitcases worth of outfits, and a couple wardrobe boxes, that were to be placed in the cargo area of the jet we were flying in. His vocal displeasure at having to 'recreate greatness' was a bit grating to me! One of the many shocking conversations I had that morning was learning that the queen had her own private Gulfstream jet to fly in. The plane had a range of 7,500 miles, so we would take off and have a straight flight of about nine hours to get to Osané.

While I was getting dressed in the new outfit, I had the TV turned on and caught the local news talking about Mom.

'Two days ago, attorney Karen Nelson was appearing at the Federal Courthouse with her client, Jenny Sanson, to appear in a discrimination lawsuit against her former company. On their way inside the courthouse, a sniper opened fire instantly killing Jenny, and injuring Nelson. We are happy to say that the FBI have apprehended a suspect, fifty-eight-year-old Jim Anderson.'

They cut to a screen of Agent Matthews in front of an FBI Background, 'Working hard with local law enforcement we were able to obtain video evidence that Anderson entered the building we know the shooting occurred from, with a box concealing a compact rifle. We discovered that rifle at his house last night and preliminary ballistics from our lab show that the rifling patterns match the bullets shot. Anderson has refused questioning, but a search of his background indicates he used to work at Sanson's former workplace. There is believed to be some bad blood between the two, but we are still investigating if there are other accomplices. We encourage anyone...'

Knowing that they had caught Mom's attacker made me feel better for a moment, before I figured out that they didn't mention our house fire – and he didn't seem to be the kind of person who could pull that attack off.

'Were they really after me?' I thought nervously on the way to the hospital to say goodbye to Mom. 'That doesn't sound like someone who would come after our house...'

It was just before noon when I worriedly walked up to her room with Grandma and found my other grandparents waiting outside. Grandma Becky gave me a hug, "We just came to drop off some stuff to your mom. We'll be back to check on her again later."

"So, this is goodbye?" I asked sadly.

Grandpa wrapped me in a big hug, "Not a goodbye kiddo, it's a 'see you later.'"

I felt tears on my face and hugged him and Grandma Becky tightly, "I love you two," I told them.

"We love you too sweetie," Grandma Becky told me. "Your mom's awake and waiting for you. We'll see you when you get back after the summer."

They left and I couldn't help but ask 'but what if I can't come back...?' in my head.

I tried to wipe tears from my eyes before I walked inside Mom's room, to be strong for her. They were still damp though as I found her sitting up in bed with her iPad in hand. "Good timing, did you see your grandparents?" She asked me as I came over and hugged her tightly.

"Yes, we said goodbye before they left," I told her.

I asked about how she was feeling, and talked with her about mostly nothing for an hour before Grandma said, "Allie, we need to get going to the airport?"

"Just a minute," I told her.

As she left Mom said, "Come to the other side of the bed here."

I looked where she pointed a large gift bag, "What's that?"

"Something from your grandparents and me to take with you," she told me.

I opened the bag and was greeted first with a cute brown teddy bear. I squeezed it tightly, "Thanks," I told her.