Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
ALWAYS AND FOREVER
I rolled over in bed, lifting my arms above my head as I stretched my spine. The tingling feeling from a good stretch spread through my body and I smiled to myself. As I peeled my eyes open, I slowly let them adjust to the bright sun shining through my window. My plush bed was empty and my bedroom was quiet.
As I sat up, I surveyed the area. The walls were painted white with modern decor hanging on the walls. On the right wall in the room, the one with the most windows, I noticed one of our pictures was lopsided. A frown tugged my lips downward. I made it a point to make sure everything was level when we hung them up. There was no reason why it should be hanging crooked.
It gave me a strange feeling—one I couldn’t quite put my finger on, but I was easily distracted when I heard commotion coming down the hallway. The small footsteps instantly made my heart swell and I sat back against the headboard of our bed.
Suddenly, the bedroom door was flung open and our three little ones came rushing into the room. Owen, who was six, had a plate full of pancakes and a huge grin on his face as he walked over to my side of the bed. Lila, who was three, thankfully wasn’t carrying anything. She flung herself at the bed, her little feet kicking as she propelled herself upward. She let out a string of giggles, and I opened my arms for her to climb into them.
And Milo, who was seven—the oldest of our three—came in last, carrying a mug of coffee and a glass of orange juice. His sage green eyes met mine and his smile matched his brother’s as he set them down on my nightstand.
“Happy Birthday, Mom!” the three of them all exclaimed at the same time before piling onto our king-size bed with me. They practically tackled me and we were all laughing as everyone was fighting to get their space near me.
They situated themselves on the bed and my gaze collided with Oliver’s as he leaned against the doorway to our room. His dark hair was a tousled mess and his hands were in the front pockets of his plaid pajama pants. He looked just as delicious as he did when we first fell in love, many years ago.
“Happy Birthday, love,” Oliver said to me with a look of admiration as he walked over to all of us. “The kids wanted to surprise you with breakfast in bed.”
I looked between all three of our little ones. “And what a surprise this was,” I told them with a huge smile.
“You better eat your pancakes, Mommy,” Lila said in her most serious voice. “You don’t want them to get cold.”
The laughter escaped me, and Oliver shook his head as he laughed along. “She has a point.”
“Okay, okay.” I put my hands up in submission. “I was just enjoying my morning snuggles, but you guys win.”
Owen slid off the bed and grabbed the plate before handing it to me. Oliver directed his attention to the three kids. “Why don’t the three of you go finish your pancakes and we’ll be down in a little bit.”
“Okay, Daddy,” Lila agreed without an ounce of hesitation. She was the true definition of a daddy’s girl. She may have both of our dark hair, but she had my blue eyes. The boys had their father’s green eyes and looked like exact replicas of him.
I watched the three of them disappear from the room as I took a bite of my pancakes. The clock on Oliver’s nightstand caught my eye as the numbers were flashing. “Did the power go off last night?” I questioned him as I glanced at my clock and saw the same flashing numbers. 6:37, but there wasn’t an AM or PM with the time.
Oliver’s eyebrows pulled together and he shook his head. “Not that I know of.”
“Hmm,” I mumbled over a bite of my breakfast. “That’s strange.”
“What do you want to do for your day today?” Oliver questioned me, mischief dancing in his eyes as he moved closer to me. He pressed his lips to mine, our flesh sticking from the syrup on my pancakes. “Mmm,” he murmured as he pulled away. “You taste good, Luna love.”
“Don’t you dare start something you know we can’t finish,” I told him as I caught that familiar look in his eyes. You would think we were newlyweds with the way we couldn’t get enough of each other. “The kids could come back up here any minute.”
“I’ll give them as much screen time as they want if it means I get to make you feel good.”
“Oliver Hart,” I scolded him, laughing as I smacked his hand away. “You can wait until later.”
He let out an exasperated sigh, but he agreed. “Fine… but tonight you’re mine.”
“Always and forever,” I reminded him as I leaned forward and quickly kissed him. “Do we have any plans for the day, other than Milo’s hockey game this afternoon?”
Oliver shook his head. “Not that you know of, at least,” he said with a wink.
“You’re impossible.”
Ollie smiled at me before he climbed off the bed. “But you love me anyway.”
“I can’t get this damn time to change on here,” I complained to Oliver as I fiddled with the clock on the stove. I had changed the time on it and the microwave three different times now. Each time I changed it, it reset back to 6:37.
Oliver glanced over at me from the foyer where he was helping Lila to get her shoes on. The boys were out in the driveway playing ball hockey while they were waiting for us to go to Milo’s game. We had a low key morning, which I was glad for.
Our lives were so busy and we were constantly on the go. All I wanted for my birthday was to spend the day with my family and relax a little bit. They graciously gave me what I asked for, but there was something that just didn’t feel right with the day. Something was off.
“I don’t know what to tell you, love,” he said with a shrug. “I’ll try them later or we can call someone to come look at them if we can’t get them fixed by Monday.”
I nodded and let out a breath of frustration. We were blessed that my career as a photographer took off and was more than enough to support our family. It bought us the house we lived in and gave us the freedom to do so much in life.
Oliver quit his job as a financial advisor and helped me, along with coaching hockey and football. Football was his true passion, though. He didn’t play beyond college, but it was something that always stuck with him. And having two boys was perfect to cater to the athlete in him.
“I’m going to go make sure the boys are ready to go and we’ll meet you in the car?” Oliver said, half questioning me, half declaring it.
“Absolutely.” I smiled at him and watched him disappear toward the front door with Lila in tow. I glanced back at the clock again and glared at it. It was working its way under my skin and grating my nerves.
I tried to ignore it as I grabbed my purse from the counter. Stopping in the foyer, I pulled on my boots and just as I was grabbing my coat, there was a loud crash from the family room. The sound startled me and I inhaled sharply, momentarily feeling like I couldn’t breathe. My heart pounded erratically in my chest and I struggled to catch my breath as I went to investigate.
We had a large clock hanging on the wall in the family room. It was black—a manual clock with Roman numerals. Somehow, it had fallen to the floor and the glass on the face was shattered.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
It was still ticking but as I neared closer, I noticed the time on it. I swear the oxygen completely vanished from the room. 6:37.
“Luna, are you coming?” Oliver called from the front door.
I didn’t answer him. I couldn’t speak. It felt like my lungs were hardening and I couldn’t breathe. He came bounding into the room as I was about to hyperventilate. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”
“The clock,” I choked out as I pointed to it.
“It’s okay, love,” he murmured, stroking my back. “The clock can be fixed. Just breathe.”
I whipped my head to look at him. “I don’t care about the clock! Look at the time on it!”
Oliver glanced over and shrugged. “Go get in the car, and I’ll get this mess cleaned up and we can go. We don’t want to be late for Milo’s game.”
I wanted to argue with him, but I didn’t have the energy. The day was beginning to drain me and I needed to put on a happy face for him and the kids. Maybe it was all in my head and there wasn’t anything going on with the clocks. All I knew for sure was I felt unsettled and I was ready for this day to be over.
As I stepped outside, dark clouds were growing in the distance. The tree in the front yard swayed as the wind picked up a little. There was an ominous feeling that just intensified the feeling I already had building inside.
A storm was brewing. Something was coming.
But what, exactly?
“I am so proud of you, buddy!” I told Milo as we all piled back into the car after his game. He played so well, scoring two goals with two assists. He was getting better and better with each season. Even though this was just a summer league, it still counted in all of our eyes.
Milo smiled at me from the backseat. “Thanks, Mom.”
Oliver looked over at me as he climbed into the car. “We’re taking you to your favorite restaurant for dinner tonight,” he said with a smile.
“Zoey’s On Main?” I asked him, feeling my stomach flutter with excitement. “You know how much I love their French toast.”
“Which is exactly why we’re going there,” he said with a wink as he pulled the car out of the parking spot. “Look at you eating breakfast twice today.”
I smiled back at my husband. “You know how to treat a girl.”
He reached over and grabbed my hand, pulling it over to his mouth before pressing his lips to my skin. “My girl.”
The kids giggled from the backseat, breaking up the moment between Oliver and I. As we drove farther down the street, I glanced in my mirror, catching sight of the ice rink. My breath caught in my throat and I strained my eyes as I tried to make sense of what I was seeing.
It looked like it was fading into thin air, lifting straight from the ground.
“Something wrong?” Oliver questioned me quietly.
I looked over at him, unable to speak before I glanced back into the mirror. We were already far enough away that the property was out of sight completely. I glanced back at my husband as I forced myself to gain some composure. “Everything’s fine.”
My eyes had to be playing tricks on me. That’s the only thing that would make any sense. Thunder rumbled in the distance, and a shiver slid up my spine. I ignored it and tried to focus on the kids in the back as everyone fell into a conversation about our beach trip coming up.
I found myself drifting, unable to stay engaged in the conversation. It was like I was an outsider watching the four of them interact. I felt completely detached, almost like this wasn't where I belonged. I quickly shoved the thoughts away and plastered a smile on my face, forcing myself to engage.
Dinner passed by in a blur. I ordered the French toast I absolutely loved, yet I found myself with no appetite. My stomach felt off, just like the rest of me. Oliver didn’t question my silence on the ride home as I told him I was tired. He backed the car into the driveway and the kids began to file out as they made their way into the house.
Oliver walked over to my door like the perfect gentleman he had always been and helped me out. “Why don’t you go relax, and I’ll handle the kids.”
“Are you sure?” I asked him, my eyes searching his sage colored eyes as he cupped the sides of my face.
He lifted his lips to my forehead and they were soft as he gently kissed me. “Absolutely.”
I followed Oliver into the house, but slipped into the sitting room while he went upstairs to bathe the kids and put them to bed. I still couldn’t shake the unsettled feeling and I couldn’t get comfortable as I tried to lounge on the couch. Everything just felt off and I ended up walking around the house instead.
I found myself standing in our hallway, inspecting all of our family photos. The wall was covered and strategically organized, but it was off. Pictures were missing. There were gaps in the timeline we had created. And some of the photos looked different. Almost as if none of us were real.
My throat felt thick and I tried to clear it. Again, I found myself gasping for air as my heart took off, racing in my chest. It was beginning to scare me. I would be calling the doctor first thing in the morning if this didn’t get any better. The last thing I wanted to do was go to the hospital, so if I could put it off, I would.
“Luna, love,” Oliver called down from the top of the stairs. “Did you want to come up and say goodnight to the kids?”
Shoving away the panicked thoughts, I sucked in a shallow breath and headed up to find him. He had a look of concern on his face, but he didn’t voice it and instead stepped out of my way as I made my rounds through the kids’ rooms.
I started with Lila first. The three of us sat while Oliver read a book to her. She was on a If You Give A Mouse A Cookie kick and we’d been reading it every night for a month straight now. After the story was over, I pulled the blankets up over her shoulders and leaned forward to give her a kiss.
“I love you, Lila love.”
She smiled up at me. “I love you too, Mommy.”
“Always and forever,” I told her before heading to the boys’ room. They shared a room for now while we redid the other bedroom for Milo. He decided he wanted it painted a different color and wanted it decorated with hockey stuff. Oliver hired an actual artist to come in to paint a hockey player on his wall.
“Goodnight to my two favorite boys,” I told them as I kissed both of their foreheads. “Thank you both for an amazing birthday. I love you, Owen and Milo.”
They both smiled at me from their beds as I made my way back to the door. “Love you too, Mom,” they said at the same time.
“Jinx!” Owen yelled at Milo.
“Always and forever,” I repeated to them before blowing them both kisses and leaving their room. It was something Oliver and I had started with each other and it just became a habit with the kids, too.
After tucking the kids into bed, I made my way back downstairs. Oliver wasn’t inside but I knew exactly where he would be. As I stepped out onto the front porch, a smile pulled on the corners of my lips as I saw him sitting on the top step, waiting for me. We had a swinging bench but the two of us preferred the steps.
Oliver wrapped his arm around the tops of my shoulders when I sat down next to him. “How was your birthday, my love?”
“It was perfect,” I told him with a sigh of content. Thunder rumbled again in the distance, but I ignored it as I reveled in his closeness. “It was nice to just be able to relax, but I can’t shake this feeling that something bad is going to happen.”
“Nothing bad can happen here,” he said matter-of-factly, like it was something I should have known.
I lifted my head away from his chest and stared at the side of his face. “What do you mean? Bad things happen all the time. Just look at those clouds,” I declared as I pointed to the angry sky. “There’s a nasty storm coming and we have no control over that.”
Oliver looked over at me and simply smiled. He didn’t argue, he didn’t dispute a single word I said. He wasn’t making sense and it wasn’t bringing me any peace. A young couple walking down the street caught my attention.
I glanced at them in front of our house where they had paused. The boy had dark tousled hair and was wearing a football jersey from the same school district we lived in. The girl’s back was turned to me and I stared at her in wonderment.
“Come on, Tank,” she said with such exasperation and defeat as she heaved her body and attempted to pull on a leash. “Ollie, can you please help me with him?”
The boy laughed and adjusted the backpack straps on his shoulders before taking the leash from her hand. “Why did you have to pick out a service dog the size of a small horse?”
A dark brown head popped up and I smiled as I watched the two teenagers and the dog. The way the boy looked at the girl had my heart clenching. It was young love in its purest form, and I slid my hand into Oliver’s as we both watched the two of them.
“You complain about him, but you know you love him,” she told him with a soft laugh.
He stared at her and reached out to brush a hair away from her face. “I love you, Luna. Always and forever.” He paused and smirked. “I just tolerate your dog.”
It felt like the floor had been ripped out from under my feet. Always and forever. My stomach bottomed out and I let go of Oliver’s hand as I rose to my feet. Ollie and Luna. None of it made sense. My dog, Tank. I glanced around the yard. I didn’t have a dog.
Nothing made sense. Everything suddenly grew darker and thunder rumbled off in the distance again. My feet began to carry me in their direction. My body tingled while simultaneously feeling like there were sandbags on my chest. I couldn’t breathe and I reached up to my throat but there was nothing there. The two kids on the street were now turning to look at me.
I stopped in my tracks in the middle of the walkway, halfway between the sidewalk and our front porch. She was me—a younger version—but she was different. She looked pale and fragile.
“You have to go back,” Luna said to me with such a declaration in her voice.
Panic welled inside me. “Go back where?”
“He needs you,” younger Ollie told me as he stared at me. “They all need you.”
“Go back where?!” I yelled at the two of them with my frantic voice. My heart was pounding erratically in my chest. I couldn’t breathe. This body didn’t even feel like it belonged to me anymore.
“None of this is real,” Luna told me with a touch of sadness in her voice.
I shook my head at her, refusing to even entertain the idea. “I’m not leaving. This is my life, with my husband and our children. I’m not giving this up.”
She smiled at me. “What you have here is beautiful, but what you have in your real life is so much more beautiful.”
They started to fade, vanishing into thin air like they were simply mirages. I watched in horror as they began to dissipate like clouds. “Wait!” I called out as I ran toward the fence. They were floating higher into the sky. “Don’t leave! I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
“You need to wake up, Luna. It’s time.”
And then they were gone.
I whipped back around to face the house expecting to see Oliver, but he was no longer sitting on the top step where I left him. Panic instantly flooded me. My stomach rolled with a wave of nausea and my heart was pounding with such ferocity inside my chest.
Where did he go?
My footsteps were rushed as I ran to the house just as the sky above split wide open. Huge droplets of rain fell in rapid succession as the thunder shook the earth and the lightning pierced through the black sky. I burst through the front door, almost pushing it off its hinges as it bounced against the wall inside the foyer.
I couldn’t breathe. All of the air was abruptly sucked from my lungs and I was momentarily frozen in place as I looked inside my home. It was completely empty. All the family pictures that were hung on the walls were gone, the furniture was gone. As I rushed around the first floor, there was not a single trace of anyone living here.
The clocks in the kitchen blinked faster, the same damn numbers flashing brightly in my face.
“JUST STOP!” I screamed the words in my mind, but they didn’t leave my mouth as I opened it wide. There was a crushing feeling on my chest and I held my breath since I wasn’t able to pull in a single inhale.
The house around me shook, all the way down to the foundation. Chunks of the walls fell to the floor, along with light fixtures and cabinet doors.
What the hell was happening?
I raced up the stairs, attempting to yell for Oliver and the kids, but again, the words failed to form. The steps were beginning to crumble as I reached the top. Panic was consuming me and my mind was stuck on a terrifying roller coaster I desperately wanted to get off of.
I needed some kind of an emergency brake. A lever I could pull and halt it all. I just needed a moment but everything was literally falling to shambles around me.
I checked every single room—there was nothing. No Milo. No Owen. No Lila. And no Oliver. They were all gone, as if they were figments of my imagination. My body began to sway and I reached for the doorway, holding onto the frame as I tried to steady myself.
In an instant, memories of the past flashed before my eyes. Oliver and the summer. All of my health issues. My family and friends. Except it wasn’t my past… it was as if it were an entirely different world than the one I was in right now.
The walls around me started to deteriorate. What I literally had less than twenty minutes ago was suddenly gone, just like that. None of this made sense, but I knew I wasn’t home. This wasn’t real and it wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted him, I wanted my life back.
Please just wake up, Luna.
I need you.
Suddenly, the floor fell from beneath my feet. I was free falling, spiraling down the hole the entire world was being sucked into. It was like the earth opened up the gates to a black hole. I always imagined what Alice felt like when she was falling. This was nothing like I imagined.
And then it was all gone.
My eyes sprung open and I moved them around, looking about the room even though the harsh light was painful. Something in the distance began to beep louder and at a faster rhythm. My mind was still reeling from wherever I was before this, but I found peace in knowing I was in the hospital now.
I looked across the room at the clock on the wall as everything came back into focus.
Six thirty seven.
Tears instantly sprung to my eyes as I closed them and let out a breath of relief. As I opened them again, I saw him from the corner of my eye. Using every ounce of strength, I turned my head to the side and there he was in all his broken glory.
Oliver Hart—the love of my life.
His head was hanging with his face pressed against his hands. I tried to reach for him but my arms still felt heavy. I held my breath for a moment, fighting against the ventilator in an effort to block it. Tears sprung from my eyes and his head abruptly lifted as an alarm sounded from me blocking the air trying to pass through the vent.
Our gazes collided and tears spilled down his cheeks as a smile lifted the corners of his lips. He rose to his feet and moved as close to my bed as possible.
“Luna, love.” His voice cracked around my name and he slid his hand into mine. “You came back to me.”