Previous Disclaimers Apply

Chapter 20

Rafe decided to wait until he had healed more and got some more of his strength back before making any life decisions. He helped his Ma around the house. He was impressed with the small strides that his Ma had made in her new photography career. He was doing his physical therapy and was getting stronger every day. He and Emma were growing closer and closer.

A project for Emma had been assigned. The teacher wanted the students to write about someone who they looked up to and why. Emma chose Rafe. She had decided to not tell her mom's or Rafe about her paper. She did tell her daddy and he was more than happy to help her write it just the way she wanted. One afternoon when she was with her nanny, Jane, she went through Natalia's photo albums. She was able to find a photo of Rafe in his dress uniform as well as some shots that Rafe took while overseas in Iraq including his medal ceremony. There was also a photo of Rafe in his fatigues taken when he and Natalia had come to town for Alan's funeral. Rafe had lifted Emma up onto his shoulders, they both had huge smiles on their faces. Phillip took her to Spaulding Enterprises one day to the media department. There one of the graphic designers help Emma in making copies of the photos she had and blowing them up to 8 x 10 size. And she helped show Emma how to put them into the software that Emma was using to put her presentation together. She was able to sneak the photos back into the albums without Natalia realizing they were missing. The students were to present their projects to the class and the teacher would be choosing several to be read at the next Parent's Day coming up.

One day, Emma came home more happy than usual and excited. Everyone could tell that something was up with the little girl but she wasn't sharing, just yet. That evening at dinner she finally let on to everyone else what had her in such a good mood.

"I have an announcement to make." Exclaimed Emma.

"What do you have to tell us JellyBean?" Asked Olivia.

"I was picked to present one of my assignments on Parent's Day on Friday and I want you all to come." Said Emma to her mom's and Rafe.

"Oh, Emma, that's wonderful!" Exclaimed Natalia.

"My JellyBean, ever the people pleaser, aren't you?" Said Olivia rhetorically.

"That's cool, Munchkin." Added Rafe.

"I want you to come too Rafe." Said Emma.

"Me?"

"Yep."

"OK. I'll be there."

The week moved along smoothly and Friday was upon them. Everyone was up and getting ready for the day. Natalia had prepared a nice breakfast. Olivia watched her daughter intently. If the child was nervous about speaking today, she wasn't showing it. The plan was for them to get Emma on the school bus and then Olivia was be going into the Beacon for a little while before heading over to Emma's school after lunch. Sam had asked Natalia about sharing her darkroom and she agreed, but they both new that the space was cramped for one person, let alone two. They had plans to get together that morning to discuss how to enlarge it. Olivia was about to head out when Rafe stopped her.

"OK, Talia. I'm off. I'll meet you at Emma's school at 1:30pm." Said Olivia as she went to give her fiancé a kiss.

"Alright. Rafe and I will meet you there." Replied Natalia.

"Olivia?" Said Rafe.

"What is it Sarge?" Asked Olivia.

Olivia had adorned Rafe with that nickname shortly after arriving in Italy. It was their thing, just between the two of them.

"Would it be OK if I went with you this morning? Maybe I can take a look around and see if I might want to work for you?" Asked Rafe a bit timidly.

"Sure. I'll show you how we civilians do things in the real world."

Natalia watched as her fiancé and her son left. She had a smile across her face that would not go away. She was finally happy. She had a partner for life who loved and adored her, her children, her family. As soon as Olivia's car was gone from her sight she resume washing the breakfast dishes before putting on another pot of coffee for her and Sam who she expected anytime now.

Rafe was quiet at first when he and Olivia left. At first he wasn't paying attention to much, but then the drone of the talk radio Olivia was listening to got the better of him.

"Talk radio, really, Olivia?"

"Hey, I get a lot of good information from talk radio." Replied Olivia as she glanced over to Rafe.

He had a smile that let her know that he was teasing her.

"Besides, your ma won't let me listen to it when we are in the car together. She hates it." Added Olivia.

"So why do I have to suffer?" Asked Rafe.

"OK, fine. You pick."

Rafe hit the button to switch it back to FM and then changed to station to the local hard rock station whose format was to play hard rock songs from the 60s through the early 80s. At present, Lynyrd Skynyrd's Sweet Home Alabama was playing.

"Skynyrd? Somehow I never would have pegged you as a hard rock fan?"

"We have a lot to learn about each other Olivia. Over there, hard rock seemed to be the only genre that everyone in my squad would agree on. I kinda developed a liking for it then. Even being over there, I have mostly good memories from my time in the service."

That was the most Rafe had said in a while about his military service since he was discharged. Olivia glanced over again to her soon to be step son and saw a solemn look on his face. Somehow she just knew what he was thinking.

"It's OK to feel guilty that you made it home and some of your friends didn't." Offered Olivia.

"It will take time to adjust, I mean you'll never forget. When you experience something as life changing as you did you can't not be affected by it, but it will get easier. I can promise you that." Continued Olivia.

"How did you know what I was thinking?"

"Mother's instinct?" She questioned as she gave him an quirky look.

"No?" She replied reading the disagreement in his face along with his head shaking 'no'.

"My amazing psychic abilities?"

Again her response was met with a shaking head.

"No, OK…" Olivia's replied as her response trailed off.

They were now in town and were stopped by the traffic light at 5th and Main. Typically a lengthy light, Olivia turned and reached for Rafe's left hand resting on his knee as she spoke from the heart.

"Rafe, I've suffered a trauma before. I'm not talking about losing Maggie…This…This is something else. Maybe I'll tell you about it soon, if it will help you. But just know it will get better and I promise that I'll be here for you and your Ma will be here. We love you and want to see you have a wonderful life. Try not to dwell on it too much; just start living out each day for that day and things will get better."

Rafe smiled back at Olivia. It was a small sweet smile. Their moment was interrupted by the car honking its horn behind them because the light had changed. Olivia let go of his hand and resumed driving. She tried to lighten the mood.

"So Sarge? You ready to learn how to run a luxury five star hotel?"

Rafe laughed at Olivia's comment and she watched as those trademark Rivera dimples formed as his smile grew bigger. She knew at this very moment he would be OK; it make take a little time, but in the long run Rafe will be OK.

Olivia decided to forgo the few hours of work she had planned and give Rafe the royal tour of her hotel. They went into Ava's office first and Olivia said that they would be wandering the grounds for a while. She started out in the lobby and he got a quick overview of how a guest is checked in. She took him around the back to an employee's only entrance. This lead to the security offices. There he saw three employees monitoring a bank of television screens that reflected all of the public areas of the hotel as well as some of the employee only sections.

Each place they went, Olivia introduced Rafe as her soon to be step son. Everyone was very welcoming of him. They headed off next to housekeeping; they looped around the pool area. He had not realized that the pool was indoor/outdoor, depending on the weather. They circled into the gym. He was very impressed with the gym; it was as large as any national chain free standing gym. He figured when he was ready to start working out again and lifting weights that Olivia wouldn't mind him using the facilities even if he decided not to work for her. It was pushing lunch time, so they made their way into the kitchen through the back entrance. He watched as Olivia went over to one of the chef's working with a pot of something on the stove. He saw Olivia grab a free clean spoon and dip into the concoction for a taste. He thought Olivia might be overstepping when he saw her add something, spice, to the pot. After a few stirs she grabbed another spoon this time offering it to the chef who approved with Olivia addition.

They left the kitchen heading out into the dining room. When the host caught a glimpse of Olivia, he offered her and Rafe her normal booth. They took a seat and a waiter was there quickly taking their drink orders.

"Does the chef not mind you playing in his playhouse so to speak?" Asked Rafe.

Olivia laughed a little before she responded.

"No, because he knows between the two of us, I'm the better chef."

Rafe looked at Olivia a bit confused.

"I didn't always own the Beacon; by trade, I am a chef. I had Ava young and started out in the kitchen of one of the resorts on San Cristobal island where I grew up. After high school, I was accepted to the finest culinary school in France. After I finished school, I returned to the island and eventually became the executive chef, that's the top dog of who is in charge of the kitchen. Then when the opportunity came to buy into the Beacon I did and moved to the states. A few years back I bought out my partner. I still try to cook when I can, I don't always have the time."

"Wow."

"I guess you were right about us having a lot to learn about each other. And to tell you the truth, Rafe, I'm looking forward to every minute of it."

Before long they had placed their lunch orders, eaten and were on their way to Emma's school. Rafe walked along Olivia's side and she led them through the hallways of the school to Emma's classroom. When they walked inside they found it filled with parents and kids ducking in and around them. They easily spotted Phillip, Natalia and Emma. Natalia was talking with Emma's teacher Ms. Jennings. They went to join the conversation.

"Ms. Spencer lovely to see you again. I was just getting to know your fiancé." Offered the teacher.

Rafe had reached down to poke and tease Emma. He missed being able to pick the little girl up. Soon, he hoped, soon.

"Ms. Jennings, nice to see you again. I would like to introduce Rafe Aitoro. This is Natalia's son and my soon to be step son." Said Olivia.

"And my big brother!" Added Emma.

"Nice to meet you Rafe." Said Ms. Jennings offering her hand.

"You too." He replied.

"I'm looking forward to Emma's presentation. I think you all will be please." Said Ms. Jennings.

"Well, she wouldn't tell us anything about it…" Replied Olivia.

"It's a surprise, Mommy, remember?"

"I know Bean."

"We'll be starting soon, so you might want to go ahead and find seats." Said the teacher before she wandered off to gather the rest of the parents.

They all sat in the front row, Emma between her mommies, Rafe beside Natalia and Phillip on Olivia's other side. They were going in alphabetical order so that meant Emma was the last to go. Ms. Jennings would take a moment to introduce each student. At that point, Emma got up and went onto the small stage. Olivia slid over a seat next to Natalia and took her hand. Ms. Jennings finished her introduction and moved to the overhead projector that had the slides for Emma's presentation. Still Olivia saw no nerves in her little girl.

"Hi! When Ms. Jennings told us about our assignment, I knew exactly who I wanted to write about…My big brother Rafe." Began Emma.

Rafe's eyes grew wide as he heard Emma's admission that he was the subject of her paper. He shifted in his seat to sit a bit straighter as Natalia reached over to take his hand. Both the ladies were so surprised to hear that Rafe was who Emma looked up to the most. They watched as the photo of Emma on Rafe's shoulders popped up on the screen.

"Rafe was a soldier, a Marine. He was fighting over in Iraq. I admire him because he chose to be a Marine and fight for our freedoms. My mommy moved to this country before I was born and she did that because we are free here. We are free to be whoever we want to be, we are free to think however we want to think and we are free to love whoever we want to love. My mommy wanted me to have those freedoms so she became an American citizen."

They watched as the picture looped through a series of photographs of Rafe in Iraq with his squad. Several pictures depicted their life in the military overseas, some of them showed military equipment, etc.

"Its men and women like my brother Rafe who chose to serve in the military that give us these freedoms. In some ways it a sacrifice, because he's not here at home, having fun, spending time with his friends and family and eating regular American food."

That got a few laughs from the audience.

"Sometimes the sacrifice is more than that though, sometimes the sacrifice is someone's life. A couple months back, Rafe was doing his duty following his mission and his squad was attacked. Several of his friends were hurt; he was hurt and several of his friends were killed. Rafe was a hero that day. They were being chased by the bad guys. The bad guys were shooting at them as they were trying to get away and my brother was shot in the shoulder."

You could hear a few mumbles in the audience in reaction to hearing about soldiers being hurt and killed.

"My brother Rafe, even though he was hurt, he carried another Marine who was shot in the leg and couldn't walk. He carried him for nearly 10 miles when they were back into the safe zone. Rafe had to go to the hospital and have surgery on his shoulder. His bosses came to visit him in the hospital not only to check on him, but to recognize his hero…heroism. They gave him a Medal of Honor for what he did that day."

The photo on the screen changed to the photo taken during Rafe's medal ceremony. As Emma continued it changed to a photo of Rafe in his dress uniform.

"Rafe could have died that day. He said when I'm older I'll understand better why he wanted to be a Marine. But I know my brother, even if he wasn't a Marine, if someone he loved was hurt, he would do whatever he had to, to help them, even if that meant carry that person on his back for 10 miles. My brother, Rafe, is my hero."

As soon as everyone started clapping, Emma darted off the stage and straight to Rafe. Be damned his bum shoulder he picked his little sister up into his arms hugging her tight. As he turned around with her in his arms, there was not a dry eye in the house.

TBC…