In The End

Author: Katie Stuckey [katie1@jadeinc.com] feedback appreciated!

Summary: The third of a trilogy, beginning with "Summer" and "After Love", this one covers the afterlife, heaven for Jamie and Landon, and includes loads of old characters!!

Disclaimer: Nope, I *still* don't own it, and I'm *still* not collecting profit, and so you probably *shouldn't* sue me because I don't have any money to give you and thirteen year olds don't tend to come with great insurance either...

Author's Note: This is *my* take on it. Now I don't know how Nicholas Sparks or Adam Shankman or any of them would write it, but this is just my take! Remember that part... FAN- FICTION... LOL. Now I don't pretend to be an expert on the afterlife, etc, and I don't pretend to be an expert on anything for that matter, I just like to write and I thought I'd share my joy with everyone. So if I screwed something up... sorry. Don't be too harsh on me.

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Jamie Sullivan-Carter felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned, and the person behind her in a white robe spoke only two words that made Jamie ecstatic. "He's coming."

"He is? Landon? Landon's coming?!" Jamie cried excitedly. She went to her mirror to go and fix her hair, but naturally, it looked angelic already... that will tend to happen in heaven. Then she sat down on their bed in their own bedroom, in their house, just like the house they had had before she came here. And there she waited until she saw him come through the doorway.

Landon Carter did not look old. He looked just like he had before. He was a teenager, eighteen years old, and just recently married to the most amazing girl in the world, Jamie Sullivan, now Jamie Carter.

The second Landon saw Jamie, his face broke into a grin and he thrust himself into her arms. "Jamie!" he cried, the happiness in his voice obvious. "Jamie, Jamie, Jamie... Goodness I missed you..." Tears were filling Landon's eyes, and he did not mind, he let them fall. He loved her... and she was with him again. They were together, reunited at last.

"Oh Landon I missed you too!" Jamie cried. "It was so lonely in here without you... I couldn't help but watch you, you know... I kept waiting until you came here... wondering when I'd get to see you again..." tears filled Jamie's own eyes as she hugged him. When they separated, they both looked at each others' tearstained faces and laughed.

"Jamie... you look... well... angelic," he told her. Now... there was no floating halo or hidden wings or anything, but Jamie always looked beautiful to him no matter what. She wore the same thing that she had worn on their first date, the blue dress, with the pink sweater he had given her. Her hair was simply down, she had let it fall over her shoulders, but there was a certain sparkle to her... but then... there always had been.

"That will tend to happen up here," she laughed. "You do too."

Landon wrapped his arms around her and kissed her passionately, his love for her showing more than ever. The things that words could not express, they communicated simply through that kiss. They both knew what the other was thinking, what the other person felt.

"I've been waiting so long to do that," Landon breathed when they broke apart.

"Me too," Jamie agreed. Suddenly her eyes sparkled and her face lit up. "Landon, my mother and father! They are here! Oh Landon I want you to meet my mother, she's wonderful!"

Landon grinned. "Oh I want to meet her," he told her. "Come on... take me. I haven't exactly learned my way around yet..."

"Oh it's simple," Jamie told him. "Right now we're in our house. We can be anywhere we want with anyone we want, all we have to do is think where we want to go. So if you think of my mother and father's house, we'll be there, just like that."

"Sure beats driving," Landon laughed. Jamie giggled. Then, in an instant, they were at Jamie's parents' house. Jamie knocked on the door. Barely a minute later, Jamie's father pulled open the door.

"Landon!" he cried, giving Landon a hug. "I heard you were coming... it's good to see you, son!"

"It's good to see you too, sir," Landon replied, smiling.

"Daddy, I want Landon to meet mommy," Jamie told her father.

"Certainly! Come in, I'll go get her," Reverend Sullivan replied. Jamie and Landon walked inside the familiar house and sat down on the couch.

Jamie was grinning like crazy. "You know," she said to Landon. "He told me... that you were coming. He said that when you got here... then it would *really* be heaven. And He was right."

Landon grinned back at her. He did not need to ask whom she was referring to when she said "He". "This is what I always thought it would be like," he agreed. "It's perfect."

"It's heaven, what else would it be?" Jamie asked, giggling. She snuggled into his side, perfectly content. Just then, Reverend Sullivan appeared in the doorway to the room with a woman at his side. She was young-looking, though, they supposed they didn't really have age... she had dark hair, like Jamie's, with just a slight curl to it. She seemed to sparkle when she came into the room. Jamie and Landon both rose to their feet. "Mommy!" Jamie cried. "Mom I want you to meet my husband, Landon! And Landon, this is my mommy!!!!" Jamie was as excited as a three year old on Christmas.

Jamie's mother grinned. She gave Landon a hug and smiled at him. "It's wonderful to meet you, Mr. Carter. From what Jamie's been telling me, you are a most wonderful young man."

Landon grinned back at her. "Thank you," he told her. "Jamie has been very excited for me to meet you, I'm so glad I finally can."

"I am too," Mrs. Sullivan agreed.

"So, would anyone like something to drink?" Reverend Sullivan asked.

Jamie and Landon glanced at each other, burst into matching grins, and said in unison "Sweet tea, please." Then they burst out into giggles remembering their common choice before, on their first date.

"So, you two, what are your plans for the next... eternity?" Mrs. Sullivan asked, smiling.

Once again, Jamie and Landon glanced at each other and started grinning. "Well... somebody I know has a list she needs to finish..." Landon smiled. (OMG I need to stop writing this, I'm smiling so bad my cheeks hurt, and I can't even understand the term 'smile' anymore from using it so many times!! LOLOL!)

"And I've got to show Landon around the place too," Jamie added.

"The rest... we have yet to work out," Landon said, winking at Jamie. She giggled and winked back.

Just then, Reverend Sullivan reappeared with their drinks. He sat down again next to his wife. "So, Landon, why don't you fill us all in on what you've been up to for the past seventy years?" he suggested.

"Okay... well, I went to college, I got into medical school, and finished it as well. I became a doctor... oh my I forgot the most important part... after I finished school, I adopted two little girls, Sarah and Leah. We'll probably be seeing them in a few years too," he told them. He looked at Jamie. "Jamie... I finished as much of your list as I could, for you... but there are a few things yet that we've got to do up here..." Jamie giggled. She knew what all was on that list, particularly number two.

"Thank you, Landon. You have no idea how much that means to me. Will you tell me about Sarah and Leah?" Jamie asked.

"Sarah and Leah were wonderful little girls. They knew you from the start, Jamie. Our first night together, when I'd just adopted them, when we were all at dinner, I was feeling sad thinking about what you'd have done if you'd have been there, and then... then you were there, Jamie. The wind, it blew, like you were there. It warmed us all, startled the little girls quite a bit. And I remembered you telling me "It's like the wind. I can't see it, but I can feel it." That's when I knew it was you," Landon told her.

Jamie nodded. "Yeah, that was me," she answered, smiling. "I never would've left you, you know."

"I know," Landon answered. "Oh my goodness, Jamie, as those little girls grew up, they reminded me so much of you it was amazing. They had your heart, they had your faith. They used to love to stay up late and talk and giggle... I guess that comes with being twins or something. The first time I took them with me to visit you we all cried, but then you were there too. Now... they've gone off to college and all, started families of their own..." Landon had to wipe a small tear from his eye as he thought about the little girls that he had come to love as daughters.

Jamie smiled at him. "Hey, this is Heaven, no crying allowed," she grinned. She gave him a hug, and he gave her one back. Then Jamie turned to her parents. "We should probably be getting out of here... I want to show Landon around before it gets too late."

"Okay... maybe we could have lunch after church tomorrow? Feel free to invite your parents too, Landon. They're wonderful people," Jamie's mother suggested.

"Sounds wonderful," Jamie agreed. Landon nodded to show that he too agreed with the idea. Then, in the blink of an eye, Jamie and Landon were back home.

"So," Jamie said. "What do you want to see? I mean... most of it is the same... you know however you want it to be... but... I mean we can go visit some people, or... whatever you want..." Jamie knew she was kind of failing in her speech, but she didn't know what he wanted to do... She would've been perfectly content with whatever.

"Let's just stay close to home tonight," Landon suggested. "Maybe go outside or something?"

Jamie smiled. "Sounds good to me," she agreed. So they went out onto their front porch and just sat on their swing, watching all of the neighbors as they relaxed, watching the neighborhood children play.

"Jamie... I can't tell you how much I missed you," Landon told her. "Everything I did, I wished you were there to share it with me."

"Oh Landon I'm so sorry," she told him. "I never meant to do that to you... that's why I told you not to fall in love with me. I didn't want you to be hurt. Landon... why didn't you just... go... and find someone else to share your life with?" The idea of it hurt her, in a way, but she hadn't wanted him to spend his life without someone to share it with.

"Oh Jamie," he sighed. She could never understand why... why there couldn't have been anyone but her. "There could never have been anyone after you. Once you've been in love, like we were - are... there can't be anyone else. Ever. I couldn't have done it even if I'd wanted to. Anyways, I always knew you'd be up here, waiting for me."

Jamie smiled at him. "Thank you. Landon... you make me feel so special, like I'm really an important person, like I really did make a difference in the world."

"You did make a difference in the world Jamie. You are special. Think about it. If you hadn't been there, in the world, so many things would've never happened. Sarah and Leah would never have been adopted, at least not by me, we wouldn't have gone to Paris, that little girl... Jennifer Marshall. You saved her life, because, without you, I would've never become a doctor, and I would've never found the treatment that saved that little girl. Without you, I'd be in Hell right now, I'd have wasted my life making fun of people like you. Jamie, if it hadn't been for you, think about the lives my friends and I would've led. You have made the world a better place," he assured her seriously.

At this, Jamie could no longer hold it in, how much she loved him. She jumped up and threw her arms around him. "Landon, I LOVE YOU!" she cried. "And now we have all of eternity to just be together, and be happy, and do all of the things we've ever wanted to do... Oh thank you so much for giving me such a wonderful gift, thank you!"

Landon didn't know what he'd really done to make her so happy, but he was glad she was. He'd have done anything for her, absolutely anything. "Any time, Jamie," he told her, laughing. She laughed as well, and rested her head against his chest. "We've got some things to discuss, don't we?" Landon asked her, kissing her forehead.

"Yeah... we do," she agreed.

"As I recall, number two on your list..."

"Have a baby," Jamie finished for him. "Yeah, you recall correctly."

"So... um... when do... well I mean..." Landon was slightly uncomfortable. It was kind of a sensitive topic because... well... well it was important to her and he knew it, and plus the things that it involved... well they hadn't really gone there yet.

"I think it should happen when it happens," Jamie told him, sort of reading his mind.

"I agree," he replied. Then he gave her a soft kiss. "I'm sorry we didn't get to do that before now." (THE BABY PART!!!!)

"That's okay... makes it even more special. Landon, this is like the life we never got a chance to have. It's... well... I think it's perfect," Jamie smiled. Landon wrapped her up in his arms.

"It is perfect," he agreed. "But then... anything is perfect, as long as I'm with you. Come on, let's go back inside, it's getting late."

"Okay," Jamie agreed. Then Landon surprised her by lifting her up and carrying her into their house. She giggled. "Landon what are you doing?"

"Carrying you," he replied simply.

"Why?" she laughed.

He gave her a mischievous grin. "Because I want to." So she grinned back at him and allowed him to carry her up to their room. He set her down carefully on their bed once they had gotten up there and then she got up again.

"I'm going to retrieve my... er... pajamas," she giggled. Landon wondered at first why she was giggling, and a moment later when she emerged from the bathroom, he found out.

Her 'pajamas' consisted of a long white silk nightgown with thin silk straps holding it up on her shoulders.

Now... if you'd asked Landon Carter or any one of his friends in early High school what they thought of Jamie Sullivan, the last thing you would've heard was that she was 'beautiful' or 'sexy'. But now, Landon Carter found himself thinking how much she was each of those. She was sort of acting shy, like she didn't know what to say or do, but she sort of *floated* towards him and sat down on their bed next to him.

Landon knew he was sort of gaping at her. Well... she was beautiful! What else would he do? He looked at her, looked into her eyes, and told her "You're beautiful."

Jamie smiled at him, remembering the first time that he had told her that, during the play. Then, she sort of surprised him and replied "So are you."

Landon looked down at his own apparel and discovered himself wearing the same sort of outfit he liked to wear as a teenager. Well... he supposed that was fitting. He was, after all, a teenager. (Hey, this is heaven, it can be anything, right? LOL!) Landon kept looking into her eyes, and then he leaned in and kissed her. This time, Jamie made it quite clear to him that she *didn't* want him to stop. So heck... they were in Heaven! He just kept kissing her until they finally had to separate, breathing heavily.

"Landon?" Jamie asked, sort of timidly.

"What is it, baby?" he asked her.

"I think I'm ready if you are," she told him, again in a small voice.

He studied her carefully for a moment. "You think or you know? Because I want you to be absolutely one hundred percent sure before we do anything, I don't want you getting upset on me. I love you too much to hurt you, you know that."

Jamie smiled at him. "I don't think you could hurt me... this is Heaven remember? Anyways, I know you wouldn't. And... Landon... I do know. As long as you're ready too."

Landon then grinned at her. "Definantly ready," he told her, and then swept her up in the most passionate kiss she had ever received in her life.

**And you know what happens next, so don't go about asking me!**