SWNOVELS Chapter 1: Catching Up
The sun was shining bright in Sherbrooke, Quebec, as I was playing "Tag " with my daughter Camilla and my son Ernie. I was "it" so I chased my kids but they decided to be unfair and hide in the garage, and I found them but they ended up getting away after I tripped over a bag next to the car. It was a bag filled with pictures of my family, and of me, and Isabella's wedding and all I could think was how time has flown. It's been 10 years since we've moved out here and 10 years without my mom, dad, and sister around; and for a minute I felt empty inside until Camilla and Ernie came to check on me. They asked me what was doing and I said "I was thinking about your grandparents and your aunt" but of course they looked at me all confused because I've never told them because Camilla was 8 and Ernie was 6, but they were smarter than their age groups and its because our genetic enhancements lie in their DNA as well. I told them to go into the kitchen where their mother was making lunch and that I'd be along soon, as I gazed at the calendar that read: September 5th, 2046, I started to slowly recount the last 10 amazing years in my head
[Flashback]: Me and Isabella had just landed in Canada; it was now late evening and we had nowhere to sleep so I rented us a hotel to stay at for the next 2 months and before I drifted off to sleep I saved the date in my head; September 10th 2036:the day my new life began. Over the next few weeks, me and Isabella hated being adults because we had to do everything ourselves; we had to hire a lawyer to read the will of Isabella's parents so she could legally acquire control of her parent's company and their money. After receiving the money and putting it in savings, we spent the next month looking for a house to buy and after a long month of arguments over houses, we decided on one and bought it on November 25th and finally moved in a week later. When we walked into the house and set up what small furniture we had bought, me and Isabella smiled and said to each other, " this house is old but all she needs is a little love".
The house was a 2-story house that looked similar to the house I used to live in with my parents only it was bigger and had a 2 offices downstairs and many play areas for future children and a large 2 car garage. Over the next 2 months, me and Isabella remodeled the house and afterward, it looked like a lovely, cozy home but before we moved the last piece of furniture into the house I put a card in it that had her name on it. Inside the card, it read: you are cordially invited to the wedding of Frankie Bowman and Isabella Valaquez on August 28th,2037. Isabella gave me the card and said" is this true?" and I said" yes my love" and she screamed and jumped into my arms crying and I said, "I was serious about marrying you, and don't worry I didn't send anything out". The next few months we spent planning for the wedding, inviting family and friends, and counting down the days till' she'd truly be mines.
On our wedding day, things were slightly unconventional as before the wedding started I gave a speech and I said, "friends and family, I chose this day because exactly 1 year ago me and Isabella had lost our families and our lives felt like they were over, but over the next 2 weeks me and her grew closer and began to reclaim the pieces of our shattered lives and combined the broken bits into a new life together and on this same day, 1 year later we're putting the final missing piece of our life together by getting married... today signifies the completion of the reclamation of our lives and the honoring of our parent's sacrifices they made so we could have this, so thank you for attending and the memorial service will commence afterward and be followed by the reception". After saying our wedding vows we kissed, and the wedding proceeded as normal and afterward, we left for our flight to Paris for our honeymoon.
While in Paris we visited the art museum, ate at different types of restaurants, and sat atop the Eiffel tower where Isabella decided to surprise me. She pulled up a picture of a positive pregnancy test on her phone and I asked who's is that and she smiled at me and said "we're having a baby Frankie" I began to kiss her and crying tears of joys because I was gonna be a father. A few months later we told family and friends and had a baby reveal and I was so happy to find out she'd be a girl and at first, I wanted to name her after my sister Macie, but after 2 days of disagreements, we decided on Camilla. Nine months later; on April 30th, 2038; our baby girl, Camilla was born, and 2 yrs later our son, Ernie was born on September 7th, 2040. The next few years became routine; play with the kids; wash their clothes, fix their food, tuck them in, etc. and as I did those tasks every day, the more I found myself feeling the excitement my parents felt every day and the more it made sense on why they sacrificed their lives for me.[flashback ends]
Isabella walked in and asked if I was okay and I got up, gave her a kiss, and said "yes honey, I was just caught up in a flashback of the last 10 years" and she giggled and said "well how about you flash forward and meet me in the office downstairs" as she kissed my cheek and went to do the kids dishes. I went downstairs to my large basement office which had a medium-sized window, a recliner in the corner that faced the television on the opposite wall, and a beautiful oak wood desk with a chair and bookshelf to match and red-colored walls with pictures of my mom dad and sister and Isabella and the kids. On my desk was a note from Isabella that read: Ernie's surprise party details need to be planned, but do it quietly, so I sat down and logged onto my computer and hammered out the details until Isabella finally joined me. We looked over the details together before finalizing them and we were about to go have some free time until one of the kids began screaming terribly.