Chapter Twenty: Closure

"Luke, this is all just a dream, isn't it?" Jackie whispered into his ear as they embraced. "I'll wake up any minute now and everything will be gone."

"Not this time, my love," Luke caressed Jackie's hair and wondered how he could have forgotten how soft it was. "Nothing is going to keep us apart ever again."

Jackie smiled, then pulled back to glance down at the blonde haired baby that slept in the bassinet beside them. She gently touched his cheek, and felt a few tears escape, then looked back into the blue eyes of the man she loved with all her heart.

She slipped from Luke's arms and moved to the window of the bedroom that overlooked the vast fields of her father's property, which was now rightfully hers. Never again would Jackie be held down by her past, or battered by the haunting memories of her dead mother and cruel stepfather. She was free to live the life that she was meant to have, and nothing would ever take it away again.

Jackie felt Luke wrap his arms around her, and she closed her eyes as his lips brushed her cheek, thanking the heavens and stars above that her one true love had come back to stay.

Everything was finally right with the world.

The End.

"Are you ready, Carrie?"

Carrie pushed the top of her laptop down and looked up at Barry, her eyes sparkling above her fading bruises in the bright sunlight. The early winds of March picked up a little, carrying with the scents of pollen and newly grown pine needles. She took a minute to watch a couple of burly men lift her couch into the moving truck before answering Barry.

" I feel so nervous, Barry." She stood up and shoved her laptop into the black duffel bag next to her. She glanced at the 'For Sale' sign on her the front lawn as Barry took her hand and guided her down the front steps.

"You'll be fine once you're settled in. Boston is a great place to live!" He gave her a quick hug. "And you know I'll be around to help you, just like before."

"I still can't believe someone finally took my manuscript!" Carrie beamed. " They're giving me a contract, and a huge apartment . . . it's all so much! I don't deserve it!"

"You deserve this more than anyone, Girlie, so you better get used to it!" Barry opened the passenger door of his Jaguar and stepped back to let Carrie climb in.

"I suppose." Carrie sighed, then laughed at the dirty look Barry flashed her.

"We ready to roll, Miss?" One of the movers asked from the truck as his partner checked the trailer hitch that held Carrie's SUV. "We got everything outta the house."

Carrie searched the property for a moment, then stepped back away from the car. "Hang on. There's something else I have to check before we go."

Barry shut the car door and followed Carrie as she crunched through the snow to the barn behind her house. They stepped inside together, but Barry stayed by the doors while Carrie traveled to the middle of the barn floor, knowing that Carrie needed some time to say farewell to the ghostly memories of her friends.

Carrie walked to the CB radio first, touching the microphone with her fingertips before patting the metal top. Her eyes went next to the dismantled old tractor in the other corner, then up to the hayloft. She climbed the ladder, aware that Barry was watching her with a confused look on his face.

When she reached the top, Carrie found the nest of scattered straw between the high rows and laid down with her cheek touching the floor. She closed her eyes and smiled, still able to feel the distant warmth that Raphael had left behind. All at once Carrie could see him again, his fiery brown eyes and the smile that had always brought her to her knees. She threw her arms around her chest, holding onto the feeling of being in his strong grasp. Her body ached for him then, and she embraced the warmth that grew between her legs as she thought of their passionate lovemaking. Carrie then opened her eyes, hoping that Raphael would be there suddenly, but she only found the endless bundles of hay, and she let a few tears fall down her face.

"Come on, Girlie. We have to get going!"

Barry's voice broke through her daydreams and brought her back to reality. She sat up, then turned to find something shiny under the hay bail behind her. She reached down and pulled out Raphael's pair of sai along with a small folded piece of paper. Carrie at once began to cry as she cuddled the metal weapons to her chest, and her hands shook wildly while she opened the note.

Carrie,

Now you can't say I wouldn't let you use them, but you better not mess them up. I'll be back for them someday.

Love you forever and always,

Raphael

Carrie folded the note back, then stood and walked back to the ladder, clutching the sai with no intention of letting them go. Barry arched an eyebrow curiously, but let it drop after Carrie showed him the biggest smile he had ever seen. He returned the gesture, then squeezed her shoulders as the walked back toward the car. She climbed in without saying another word, but let out a long sigh that told Barry she was truly happy. Carrie did turn to glance back at her house, taking it as a symbol of leaving her old life behind, and as they turned onto the main road that would carry her to her new future, she knew that everything was finally right with the world.

The End