Chapter 28

Seventeen years later…

Carlos and I decided to take a step back from Rangeman. Our children were grown up and ready to conquer the world. Kennedy finished her first year in Business administration at Rutgers. Ricardo joined the Army, following in his father's footsteps minus the two years in college. Charlie was accepted into University, but I knew he would be joining the Army too. My beautiful daughter Parker, a slighter darker mini me, was volunteering at the VA in New York.

Ken and Ric resemble Carlos as much as Parker and Charlie resemble me. Seeing my eye colour against a darker skin tone made the colour more pronounced. Parker was the only one not sure of what she wanted to do in life. Like me, she had trouble trying to find her way. She already met her romantic soulmate.

Our close friend Hal and Ari's son Adrian was Parker's romantic soulmate. He was planning to join the Navy when he turned eighteen. Parker wanted him to be happy and fully supported his decision. After all, if we could make it work, so could she.

I still have dreams where grandma would visit me. She promised to watch over my children as they moved into the next phase of their lives. It was surprising when grandpa Plum visited me in my dream, promising to watch over my boys as they pursued their military careers.

Angie was working with doctors without boarders with her husband. She met her romantic soulmate during their second year of residency. He was a transfer from another program.

Mary Alice finally met her romantic soulmate last year. He's in the military and needed emergency care for his partner Champ, a military service dog. She's now working exclusively with the military to keep their dogs in tip top shape. Valerie and Vince were very proud of her.

Lisa was married and expecting her first child. She met Cal's nephew during college. My beautiful niece was content being an Army wife. Life was much too short not to follow your dreams. "I'm not going to be a housewife forever," she told me. "I want to have my children while I'm still young enough to chase after them. When they go to school full time, I hope to work at Rangeman like mom."

"There will always be a job at Rangeman for you," I reminded her.

Forty years later…

Today I turned ninety. Carlos had his birthday exactly two months ago. Our oldest children are fifty eight and have grandchildren of their own. Charlie married Cal's daughter Nicole. She's a beautiful blonde and has her mother's beautiful steel grey eyes. Their daughter resembles my handsome son Charlie.

Over the last few years, we've been burying our friends. Carlos and I were the last of the original Rangeman group. We spent many happy years together before we buried our first Rangeman friend Hector. I held his hand as he left this world. My heart broke a little as I said goodbye.

This process was repeated many times as I said goodbye to each of my chosen family members. Saying goodbye to my dad was difficult, but saying goodbye to my brothers was so much worse. Speaking of brothers, Manny has been gone for ten years now. Valerie passed away a few years later.

"Batman, I'm very tired. Will you please lay with me?" He held my hand as we walked towards our bedroom. My husband held me as I fell asleep.

"It's time little one," I heard grandma calling.

"They need me," I insisted.

Grandma still looked like the beautiful 40 year old woman I had seen in my last dream. She said it was her favourite age and how she wanted to be remembered for eternity.

"Stephanie, we'll be bringing Carlos soon. He would want you to go first. His heart could handle your loss better than your heart could handle his passing. Say goodbye to him. It's time," she insisted.

Suddenly, I could see us laying on our bed. Carlos had his arms wrapped around my body. "Bye for now my love. I will be coming for you soon," I said before lightly kissing his lips. I turned towards grandma and took her hand. "I'm ready now."

A few weeks later, I was visiting Carlos. He was in the hospital attached to various monitors. It wasn't how he wanted to live. "Carlos," I whispered in his ear. "It's time."

He reached for my hand and held on tight. "Babe, wherever you go, I will follow," he said before pulling me into his arms.

We watched as the heart monitor displayed a flat line and zero heartbeat. "Come with me love, you don't need to see this," I said while leading him towards our waiting family.

In our afterlife, we were reunited with our Rangeman and biological families. When I left the earthly realm, I was surprised my mother, Helen, wasn't with grandma or grandpa. She chose her loyalties while alive, so that's where her soul chose to rest.

Carlos and I watched over our children, but mostly our grandchildren. Parker and Adrian married after he started working full time at Rangeman New York. My daughter was still working at the VA. She was happy to take care of our vets.

Rangeman changed over the years. They had separate buildings to handle different responsibilities. Kennedy just handed the reigns over to her son Patrick. He was sharing the CEO responsibilities with Ricardo Carlos V, our Rici's son. Like his grandfather, he preferred to be called Carlos. I was so proud when he became an Army Ranger just like his grandfather. Rici served for his country, but went the route of raising through the ranks to become General Manoso.

I'm so proud of my children and grandchildren. A few times, Carlos visited our deployed family to guide them to safety. I often visited with my granddaughters or grand nieces to offer assistance.

Much too soon for my liking, I had to bring my daughter Kennedy and granddaughter Michelle home. They were involved in a car accident. I knew many years ago, while I was still alive, that it would happen. Grandma said I must not interfere, that there's a reason for everything.

I watched as my youngest granddaughter Victoria opened the letter I left for her. Like my own grandma, as I saw my future grandchildren and left them money for their education. Sure, they have an inheritance, but I wanted them to have something special from me.

"Thank you Abuela," she whispered. "I love you too."

Carlos wrapped his arms around me. "Leaving them personalized letters really meant a lot to them," he whispered.

"It's what grandma did for our grandchildren. I wanted them to have something as meaningful. Kennedy and Parker already wrote their letters," I said.

Kennedy and Michelle joined our embrace. "It was very special when grandma left us the letters. I wanted to do the same for my grandchildren," Kennedy stated.

"Your letter for me was special too. Did you know mom and I would be with you now?" she asked.

"I did, but if I intervened your life would have been filled with turmoil," I confessed.

"Why?" she wanted to know.

"It's what happens when you interfere with fate," grandma Edna answered. "Michelle, you and Kennedy are the new guardians."

Handing over the guardian reigns was difficult, but I can still watch over my family. Carlos and I enjoyed watching our family grow. We were given the opportunity to return as infants and live through life again.

After much consideration, we decided to give life another chance. Fate once again, made us romantic soulmates. I was born to our youngest granddaughter Victoria. Carlos was born into a very different family. This time around, he was born into a very wealthy family.

Victoria gave me the name Stephanie Emma. My romantic soulmate's name was Carl Richard. We found each other in high school. This time around, he didn't join the Army.

As though everything was completely planned out, which it probably was, we eventually became the sole owners of Rangeman Global. Our ancestors expanded the company, making it a national security company. We provided personal, private, corporate and residential security.

Carl and I had two children in this life. A boy we named Lester and a girl we named Elizabeth. My daughter was beautiful like my grandma Edna, my son reminded me of our cousin Lester. I had a feeling they returned for another chance of life as we did.

We were blessed the fates gave us some of our past memories to carry into the future. I reached over to my husband and held his hand as we watched our children play in the park.

"Forever Babe," Carl said.

"I will love you forever… until the end of time." I gave him a kiss.

And that is exactly what we did… we lived forever taking every opportunity to return and fall in love all over again. Until the fifth and final time when we decided we've had enough. We decided to live forever in the afterlife together.

Our story was told, our lives full of love and friendship. One important lesson we learned throughout our many lifetimes together, we were romantic soulmates forever.

It was time to go. Ricardo Carlos Manoso and I, Stephanie Michelle Plum, bid you adios.