Status: COMPLETED.
The Man Who Couldn't Die
EPILOGUE;
It was the year of 1999 and friends and family gathered around Holland Duquet-Tallavera's bed as she took her last breaths. Her children gripped her hands with tears rolling down their faces and she smiled down at them, touching their cheeks and remembering when they were all born and how happy she and her husband felt when they could finally hold them.
"I'm not ready for this," Ella, her youngest daughter, whispered. Samantha put an arm around her, though it was obvious that she wasn't ready either.
"Oh, dear," Holland sat up slightly and her son, Scott, tried to help her back down but she shook her head. "I need to tell you three something. I promised your father that I would."
The three of them stopped and listened.
"Your father was an eccentric man. Did I ever tell you how we met? I did? It's a funny story now that I look back on it. He was the most admirable man on this planet. He went through so much just to make sure that you three would have a wonderful life–much better than mine or his. When I took him to meet my parents, back when I was very young, he told me that he would take me to the stars," Holland looked at the framed black-and-white photo of a young Private Rhett Tallavera sitting next to her bed and she took it in her hands. She looked back at her children and said, "Remember when he'd tell you he was a superhero and tell you all those stories of how he'd fall off roofs and get hit by cars and even get struck by lightning? I'd like to say he actually was a superhero because all of it was true. He survived everything thrown at him and of course, the way he died? Naturally, in his sleep. I never..." she trailed off and stared at the photo again.
"Mom?" Scott prompted.
"Oh, yes, sorry," Holland chuckled, wiping a tear off her cheek. "I miss your father. And I know that you do, too. But can I ask you something?"
"Of course," Samantha replied, immediately. Ella and Scott nodded their heads in agreement.
"If I saw your father right now and had to deliver a message from the three of you, what would you want me to tell him?"
Samantha spoke first. "I'd tell him that I love him and that I miss him so much."
"I'd tell him that the Mustang he and I started working on is done and that it looks great," Scott chuckled. "Such a stupid thing to tell him, but that'd what I'd say. He loved that Mustang."
"Ella?" Holland asked. Her youngest daughter's eyebrows were knitted together as she thought of what to say. She looked up at her mother and her siblings and said,
"I'd tell dad that he's a superhero and that he saved the world. My world."
Holland smiled and Samantha pulled her sister into her and held her against her chest.
"See? Your father loved you three very much. And don't forget that I love you too. If I had the choice, I'd stay right here forever and be with you. But now? I'm ready to join your father to the stars. He really did keep that promise."
Holland passed away an hour later and a week later, they buried her next to her husband. As stars in the sky, they shined bright and their children looked up every now and then to see if their parents were watching over them.
And they were. Until the end of time.
"I'm not ready for this," Ella, her youngest daughter, whispered. Samantha put an arm around her, though it was obvious that she wasn't ready either.
"Oh, dear," Holland sat up slightly and her son, Scott, tried to help her back down but she shook her head. "I need to tell you three something. I promised your father that I would."
The three of them stopped and listened.
"Your father was an eccentric man. Did I ever tell you how we met? I did? It's a funny story now that I look back on it. He was the most admirable man on this planet. He went through so much just to make sure that you three would have a wonderful life–much better than mine or his. When I took him to meet my parents, back when I was very young, he told me that he would take me to the stars," Holland looked at the framed black-and-white photo of a young Private Rhett Tallavera sitting next to her bed and she took it in her hands. She looked back at her children and said, "Remember when he'd tell you he was a superhero and tell you all those stories of how he'd fall off roofs and get hit by cars and even get struck by lightning? I'd like to say he actually was a superhero because all of it was true. He survived everything thrown at him and of course, the way he died? Naturally, in his sleep. I never..." she trailed off and stared at the photo again.
"Mom?" Scott prompted.
"Oh, yes, sorry," Holland chuckled, wiping a tear off her cheek. "I miss your father. And I know that you do, too. But can I ask you something?"
"Of course," Samantha replied, immediately. Ella and Scott nodded their heads in agreement.
"If I saw your father right now and had to deliver a message from the three of you, what would you want me to tell him?"
Samantha spoke first. "I'd tell him that I love him and that I miss him so much."
"I'd tell him that the Mustang he and I started working on is done and that it looks great," Scott chuckled. "Such a stupid thing to tell him, but that'd what I'd say. He loved that Mustang."
"Ella?" Holland asked. Her youngest daughter's eyebrows were knitted together as she thought of what to say. She looked up at her mother and her siblings and said,
"I'd tell dad that he's a superhero and that he saved the world. My world."
Holland smiled and Samantha pulled her sister into her and held her against her chest.
"See? Your father loved you three very much. And don't forget that I love you too. If I had the choice, I'd stay right here forever and be with you. But now? I'm ready to join your father to the stars. He really did keep that promise."
Holland passed away an hour later and a week later, they buried her next to her husband. As stars in the sky, they shined bright and their children looked up every now and then to see if their parents were watching over them.
And they were. Until the end of time.
♠ ♠ ♠
And so, Rhett and Holland's journey is at its end. Quite literally. The way this story is written is that you make up a lot of what happens in Rhett and Holland's life. Like their second date, and when they had their second and third child, and even what Rhett did to finally complete his life. I know some of you asked for a sequel/spinoff with Samantha as the main character but I believe this is the end. Though it is possible because there's an enormous gap of her life that I never covered.Thank you all so much for reading this! You readers are the reason why I continued to write this when I believed it sucked and I can't thank y'all enough. <3