The sequel, but with a twist ;)
Chapter 1 - I'm Still Alive
Sophie took a tour of her own around the hotel, seeing all the adjustments that were made in the last few months. It'd been a year since Donna and Sam planned on doing renovations for Villa Donna; Donna had already been thinking about it even before the accident.
It was a simple trip to New York because one of Sam's sons was graduating from college. His youngest son, Bentley. They were planning on throwing a party for him, full of friends and family. Donna ran a quick errand to the store because they were running low on paper plates and there wouldn't be enough for the party.
Sophie remembered getting the call. She and Sky had just landed and were at the airport; Donna was supposed to pick them up, but Sam called her about the car accident. The panic, the fear in his voice. It was all still so clear in her head. So fresh in their minds.
"Mrs. Rymand, is this good?" Sophie's thoughts were interrupted by a man hanging up a picture of Donna, holding a glass of champagne, and Sophie smiled.
"It's perfect. Thank you." She took a deep breath as the man moved on to hang up some more pictures. Sophie walked over, rested a hand on the picture and started to go make some more invitations. Her eyes were glued to one in particular. She'd written 'Grandma' on there, but Sophie crumbled up the paper and tossed it across the room, meaning for it to go in the trash can. "Ah, shoot."
Donna walked in and picked the piece of paper up, wondering what Sophie was saying 'ah shoot' for. Unless she just sneezed. Donna straightened out the piece of paper, read it, and then tossed it back in the trash can before walking over to Sophie. "At least I know who you're inviting this time."
"If I hadn't done it, you wouldn't be happily married to Sam." Sophie smiled up at Donna as she recounted the sneaky act of inviting all her three possible dads to her wedding without telling Donna.
"Well, I was happy before and I'm happy now." Donna ran a hand through Sophie's hair before bending down to land a kiss on the top of her head. She glanced at her watch. Tanya and Rosie would be here soon. "How's my grand-baby?"
"Mom! Nobody's supposed to know yet. Not even Sky knows."
Donna sarcastically looked around the room before turning back to Sophie. "Oops, I forgot about all the invisible guests."
Sophie rolled her eyes before looking down at her stomach. The bump wasn't showing yet, and Sophie was only 15 weeks along. She'd told Donna because she was the only person Sophie knew who had experience with being pregnant at a young age. Sophie was nervous to tell her, even though she knew that Donna wouldn't do what Ruby did.
"He or she is just fine." Sophie was hoping for a girl, but deep down, she just wanted it to be healthy. "Please don't tell anyone."
"I'm not the one that's bad at keeping secrets; that's your dad."
"Which one?"
"Each one of them." Donna grabbed her keys. "Alright, I'm gonna go get Tanya and Rosie. I'll be back."
"Don't-"
"I won't!" Donna walked out of the hotel and Sophie looked back down at the invitations. Bill and Harry had already informed her that neither could come; Harry was at a job in Tokyo and Bill was accepting some award. Maybe next time, if they ever did decide to shut the hotel down again. That probably wouldn't be for a very long time.
Tanya and Rosie met Donna at the docks where they got their luggage and put it in her Jeep. Nothing had changed with Donna's driving; if you had told a stranger that she got into an accident the year before, they either wouldn't be surprised or would be shocked that it didn't scare her into driving better.
Rosie and Tanya held onto their hats as she drove back up the path. "How's the hotel looking, Donna?"
"It's looking fabulous! Sky even got that website up and running so we should have a lot of guests soon, hopefully. More people are applying for jobs here, too." Donna looked over at Rosie for a quick second. "Rosie, how are you and Bill doing?"
They'd been going through some trouble due to Bill's commitment issues, but they were simply working on it. One by one. So far, everything was going fine. She just wished that he was coming with her, and she tried to ignore the worrying that was deep within her. "Great. Everything's working out great."
The car stopped in front of the hotel and a man stepped out of a car. He was older, looking to be in his late 70s or so. Donna introduced him as Fernando Cienfuegos, one of the new Bella Donna employees. Rosie paid no attention to his looks, but Tanya's jaw was wide open.
"Be still, my beating vagina." Tanya muttered, not caring if anyone heard her. Donna and Rosie knowingly looked at each other. Husband number four? Probably. Both were kind of shocked that even after 5 years, Tanya still hadn't gotten remarried after husband number three. It just wasn't like her, and it wasn't her fault. She just had bad taste in men.
"Down girl." Donna helped Rosie with the luggage while Tanya drooled over the older man. That was until Donna pulled Tanya out of her daydream by shoving her lightly. "Do you mind helping? As much as I'd like to stand there and drool all over Sam, and maybe do a little more than that, none of us have all day."
"How are you and Sam doing after that whole New York thing?" Rosie asked as they trailed the luggage up to one of the rooms.
"We're doing fantastic. Of course, he's still a little paranoid after that, but we're working on it." Donna replied. "I do feel bad that I couldn't make it to Bentley's graduation."
"Well, you were still in the coma. Bentley understood, and we got it all on tape. Did you happen to see him trip and fall while going to get his diploma?"
"Yeah." Donna started to laugh. She'd watch that part so many times. Bentley's red face was visible the whole time as he just laughed it off and moved on.
Rosie chimed in. "That was highlight of it all. The rest was just boring nonsense."
"So Sophie and Sky have been married for awhile. Is there any talk of a grandchild yet?"
Donna kept on a poker face. She messed with the hems of the bed sheets. "No. Sophie's thinking about having a child in the next several years, but not right now. She wants to settle down on the island. The car accident spooked her, too."
"It scared all of us. You were in a coma for two weeks, and it was the longest two weeks for sure."
Donna started to miss Sam, so she left Tanya and Rosie to themselves and made her way to the house she shared with him.
Sam pulled out one of the photo albums from a shelf; Sophie had come to him and asked for old pictures to hang up in the hallways of the hotel. He flipped through one of them; it was from back when he and Donna were together before she learned about Lorraine. There was something about it that made him lonely.
That nostalgic feeling making his heart ache. He sat in front of the photos of Donna laughing as they sailed in one of the canoes. With a low, sorrowful voice, he sung, "When you're gone, how can I even try to go on? When you're gone, though I try, how can I carry on?"
He soon felt two arms wrap around his neck and a pair of lips pressed a his on his. Donna's voice whispered into his ear. "Haven't I told you the past is a dangerous place to visit?"
"Sophie wanted some pictures." He stood up and moved so he was standing in front of her. She hugged him, holding him tight and taking in the scent of his cologne. Donna looked up and kissed him passionately.
"Mmm. I love you."
Sam smiled in the kiss. "I love you, too."
Donna sang softly as they sat down on the couch in front of the picture. "So I'll be there when you arrive. The sight of you will prove to me I'm still alive."
She examined the pictures. If Sophie wanted some pictures, she'd find some. Sam pointed one out. "I like that one."
"You do? I'm sleeping in that one. My hair's all messy." She wondered when exactly he had taken this. "We're not doing that one."
"At least I tried." Sam and Donna sat back on the couch, holding hands as they flipped through old photos. In the midst of all that, he looked at her and smiled to himself.
She was alive. She was here. She would always be here.