Chapter Seventeen/Waiting For You At Home:
When David turned eighteen years old, he spent two months with his family. Afterwards, he was drafted. David and his troop of 37 was sent to intercept a terrorist attack in Syria, but only 36 came back. The word went out that David went missing. Everyone went looking for him, but all they found were his discarded dog tags and pistols. David was declared dead that night. The family was notified the next day and was devastated. They attended his funeral, at which his last wishes was for a group of bagpipe players to play Amazing Grace. His tombstone read "R.I.P. David Robert Seville Jr. 1997 - 2015". Though everyone misses him, no one seemed to be more upset than J.J. She truly lost the one she loved. A month had passed, not much went on in the Seville house since David's death. J.J. had cut herself off from the world, life seemed empty without David. Noah began to worry about J.J., and decided to talk to her. She was sitting in David's room in silence, when Noah knocked on the door.
"Da- ... J.J., can I come in?" Noah asked.
No answer. Noah slowly walked in and saw her lying in David's bed staring at the ceiling.
"I know it's hard, trust me I miss him every day too." Noah said.
"I loved him. I just can't believe he's gone." J.J. said.
"I promise you, he loved you too, I also know that he wouldn't want you to spend your whole life mourning." Noah said.
"If he loved me, wouldn't he want me to be with him?" J.J. asked.
"That's normally what people think, but he'd rather you be happy, That's how you know he loved you. And I guarantee you he'll be watching over you in Heaven." Noah said.
J.J. realized Noah was right, David wouldn't want her to sad for the rest of her life.
"I miss him so much, Noah." J.J. said crying.
"I do too." Noah said.
Noah hugged her.
J.J. tried to cope with the loss of her loved one. It wasn't going to be easy, but she knew David would want that. One day, she visited David's grave.
"Hi David. I wanted to let you know first of all that I love you and I miss you every day. Secondly, I'm going to try to be happy again. I know you don't want me to be sad forever. But please don't think this will make me forget about you, I will never forget the beautiful soul you were."
J.J. placed roses on his grave. She knew his favorite flower was a rose.
J.J. started taking part in some active odd jobs through out town to help the family. Even though she wasn't blood related to the Seville's, they considered her family. Not a day passed that she didn't miss David, but she made a vow that she would stay upbeat for him. One day, she returned home from a job she was doing part time. She entered to find that only Noah and Austin were present.
"Hey J.J., how was work?" Noah asked.
"It was fun. Who knew planting 200 trees would be so fun, I sure didn't." J.J. said.
"That's good to hear." Austin said.
At that moment, Austin turned on the stereo just for the sake of listening to music. The song that played was "Love is the Answer" by England Dan and John Ford Coley. This made J.J. slightly choked up, that was her and David's song. She refrained from crying, she wasn't going to let this get to her. She made a promise to the man she loves.
The next day, J.J. was watching The Mask. It was nearing the scene where Jim Carrey does the Cuban Pete dance. Noah walked in, and saw the movie running. He didn't say anything, he just observed. The bongo drums began to play, J.J. tried her hardest not to cry. The dancing had commenced, the tears became harder to hold back. Suddenly, the sound of crying was heard in the room, but it wasn't J.J. She turned and saw Noah in tears, his emotions got the best of him. She walked to him and hugged him, which in turn caused her tears to fall as well.
Later that night, J.J. was sitting in David's room looking through a scrapbook he made of their moments together. She wanted to keep him in her memory forever. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.
"Can I come in?"
"Yeah." J.J. said.
Entered the room was Alvin.
"I wanted to talk to you about something. I know you've been trying to stay upbeat about... you know, but I want you to know that it's okay to cry..." Alvin said.
He was cut off by J.J. hugging him and immediately crying.
"I miss him so much." J.J. said.
Alvin hugged her back.
"I miss him too." Alvin said.
The next day, J.J. visited David's grave.
"Hey honey, I have to tell you something. I can't keep my tears back, I need you to understand that if I cry it's because I love you. I'll try not to cry as much, but I might a few times. I love you and I miss you every day." J.J. said.
A few months later, Alvin was cleaning the bathroom when he heard the sound of the doorbell. He rushed downstairs to answer the door, it was Barry the mailman.
"Hey Barry." Alvin said.
"Hello Mr. Seville, I have a special delivery for you." Barry said.
"Hmm, that's strange. I didn't order anything." Alvin said.
"Someone must've sent you something." Barry said.
Alvin took the box inside to see what it was. As far as he could tell there was no return address. He opened the box, and he found a folded piece of paper. He unfolded it, and it read a small message.
"Meet me outside your house tonight at 7pm. I'll be getting off the city bus."
Alvin was a little nervous, he was worried that it was Charlene again.
Alvin sat on the steps of his house waiting for the city bus. When the bus pulled up, Alvin stood up expecting the worst. When the door opened, Alvin's heart stopped.
...
"Son?"
It was David. Alvin couldn't believe his eyes, was he dreaming?
"I'm home, Dad." David said.
Alvin walked slowly to him.
"This can't be real, my son died months ago." Alvin said.
"That's what they had you believe. I was kidnapped by Syrians, and faked my death. They left my dogtags and weapons behind to fool my troop, but I sent out a radio signal to let them know where I was. After a while they found me and got me the hell out of there. This isn't a dream Dad, I'm alive and I'm never leaving again." David said.
Alvin welled up, and hugged his son.
Brittany walked out.
"Alvin what's... oh my gosh!" Brittany said in shock.
"Hi Mom." David said.
She quickly joined in the group hug. They were happy to see their son alive and well again.
"Oh son, that reminds me. There's a someone upstairs who's missed you." Alvin said.
"J.J., I want to surprise her somehow." David said.
They thought, until the perfect idea popped into Alvin's head.
J.J. sat in David's room, looking through a collection of his photos. Alvin poked his head in the room.
"Hey J.J., I wanted to ask you if you wanted to join us for Karaoke." Alvin said.
"No thanks." J.J. said.
"Suit yourself." Alvin said.
He left the room, but did not close the door. Having OCD, J.J. got slightly irritated. She got up to close the door, but something stopped her. She heard a familiar song, and a familiar voice singing it.
"No, it can't be." J.J. said to herself.
She continued to listen. The song was "Love is the Answer.", and she realized the voice was very similar to David's. She walked downstairs, and saw him. Her eyes immediately filled with tears.
"David, is that you?" She asked.
"It's me. I missed you J.J." David said.
J.J. ran up to David, and hugged him tight. She was happy to see him again.
"Let's leave these two alone." Alvin said.
Everyone exited, leaving the music on. David and J.J. stayed in each others arms.
"I don't know how, but I knew somehow you were still alive." J.J. said.
"You're my soul mate, that's how." David said.
"You are too good to me." J.J. said.
"I have no reason not to be. I love you J.J., and it's gonna have to take more than a few terrorists to keep me from getting to you." David said.
J.J. smiled. They continued to slow dance to the music. The song couldn't be more appropriate, for love truly is the answer.
The next morning, David woke up in his bed, but he noticed something different. J.J. was sleeping right next to him. Soon after, she began to wake up too.
"Good morning sweetie." J.J. said.
"I seemed to have made a mistake. We just slept in the same bed." David said.
"Oh that wasn't a mistake, that was the plan, baby." J.J. said.
David smiled devilishly. He was happy to be home, things were the way they should be.