After the presentation, Bandit was approached by many who wanted to congratulate him, including his family. When Bandit was done with that, he noticed Emily not far away, looking at the sketch she had done of the interspecies family. He approached her and Emily, noticing him, said:
"It's amazing… I never imagined that this project could have such… bittersweet ending. That little girl… she lost her parents in such horrible way and just… remained by their side, until she went to join them. It's… I can't even describe it."
Bandit noticed how she was trembling and, looking closely, he noticed some tears on her eyes.
"Emily, are you all right?" Bandit asked. "I noticed that during the presentation you failed your line. And now this…"
"I'm okay" she hasted to say, while cleaning her eyes. "You don't have to worry."
"Are you sure?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm sure" Emily said, while regaining her happy demeanour. "Come on, this is a great day for you. Your first lead on a project resulted in a great discovery."
"Yeah, I guess…" Bandit said. "Hey, do you want to come at my house, later? I'm having a barbie at lunch, after I go get my girls at school. It's still their first day, so they'll only be there for the morning. It will be a party for the all afternoon. My entire family and some of mine close friends will be there to celebrate."
"Yeah, sure… I would love to" she replied. "But I won't be able to be there for long. I already returned my rented car and I need to get to the airport. I'm taking the flight back to LA at the end of the afternoon."
"So early…" Bandit commented. "Can't you go tomorrow?"
"I could, but… I have responsibilities there" Emily replied.
"If you want, I can drive you to the airport" Bandit replied.
"Bandit, you don't have to…"
"I know, but… I want to. So, you can come later with your luggage and then I take you to the airport."
"Okay… if that's what you want" Emily replied.
"But I am curious about these… responsibilities of yours…" Bandit told. "Let me guess… you have a family."
"A son, actually."
"That's nice. Kids are everything, right?"
It was then that Emily remembered what she had promised herself to do.
"Bandit" she called, when Bandit was about to move away. "I need to talk to you."
"Of course, you can tell me anything" he replied.
"I know… this is a little sudden, but… you wanted to know the reason for…" Emily started.
But before she could finish, Rad appeared, putting his arm around his younger brother's shoulder, saying:
"There you are, little bro! How dare you to get away from your own family like that?"
"Come on, Rad, let your brother be" Chilli said, while approaching and freeing Bandit from his brother's hold. "After all, he needs a pause from all the attention."
"Chilli is right, son, no one likes too much attention" Bob said, as he arrived with Chris and Frisky who went to Rad's side.
"I know I don't" Stripe said, arriving with Trixie, turning then to Bandit. "By the way, thank you for ignoring my stage fright and pick me to play a role on your reconstruction of events."
"You're welcome" Bandit replied. "If you want I can save you another role on my next project."
"I think I'll pass, thank you very much" Stripe replied, causing the family to laugh.
"By the way, I invited Emily to come to the barbie later" Bandit said. "I hope it's okay to everyone."
The Heeler family then turned to her, what caused Emily to feel a little uncomfortable, having in count she knew they had all the reasons to not like her very much, after what she did to Bandit.
"Hi, everyone…" she said nervously. "Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Heeler… Rad… Stripe… I hope we're okay…"
"Of course, dear" Chris replied, smiling, with nothing more but sympathy in her voice. "If Bandit wants to have you there, it can only mean you two solved your problems."
"I agree with Chris" Bob told. "The past is in the past and there's no need to dwell in resentment."
Rad and Stripe traded a look and then the former said:
"I have to admit, we didn't like what you did to our brother. We saw how he got when you left him."
"But we can't judge you when we don't even know the details of what happened" Stripe replied. "And, if Bandit is okay with it, we can't say otherwise."
"Thank you…" Emily said, relieved that the Heeler family was able to forgive her. "That means a lot to me."
Later that day, Emily, after having his luggage ready, took a taxi to the Bandit's to go to the barbecue there. She got to meet his daughters who were both very sweet and lovely and both reminded her of Bandit in some way. She also got to meet Bandit's nieces, who were Stripe's daughters, and some of his friends as well, including Pat (who she already knew and who got surprised to see her) and Mel who was an old friend Bandit's he met during the trip he made after they broke up. Emily hasn't been in an Australian barbie in a long time and she couldn't help but noticing how she missed being at one, laughing, playing and having a good time, all while eating delicious food.
Soon, it came the time for Emily to have to go to the airport. After putting her luggage in the boot of Bandit's car, he drove her to the airport. He stayed with her until she checked-in. After doing it, she approached Bandit and said:
"I guess… this is it."
"Yeah…" Bandit agreed. "I'm really glad we came to see each other again."
"Me too" Emily said. "I'm happy that you managed to build such wonderful family."
"Thanks…" Bandit replied. "Hey, by the way, back at the museum… You wanted to tell me something, before we were interrupted. What was it?"
Remembering that, Emily realized that was her one chance to tell Bandit everything, she tried to find the courage and the right words.
"You see… I wanted you to know…" she started.
Suddenly, the memory of the barbie came to her mind, how much happiness Bandit had acquired and how that was such a great day for him. She didn't want to spoil it with something that would make his life take a very big turn.
"Forget it" she said. "It's not important… at least, at the moment."
"Then maybe next time?" Bandit suggested. "Just because you live at the other side of the Pacific, it doesn't mean we can't see each other. Maybe I can meet your kid."
"Yeah… that would be… great" Emily replied, with a hesitating voice.
She turned her back at Bandit and moved away a few steps. But then she stopped and, suddenly, she turned to Bandit and run to him, unexpectedly hugging him tightly. Bandit was caught by surprise by that, especially by how tightly she was hugging him.
"Okay… this is… something… unexpected" he said, deciding to hug Emily back.
"I'm sorry, it's just…" Emily started, with some tears on her eyes. "Bandit, I want you to know that… you've always been the love of my life… even though things between us didn't worked out. I know, it was all my fault. We could have been so happy together. We could have built a family… But I'm happy for you. I'm glad you have that happy family and great friends. I want you to remember that."
"Wow, Emily, by the way you're talking, it looks like we're not going to see each other again" Bandit joked.
She laughed as she finished the hug and said, while cleaning the tears:
"Sorry, I just… couldn't help myself. I had to tell you this."
There was a pause and then Emily said:
"Goodbye, Bandit."
"Goodbye, Emily" Bandit replied.
She turned around and started moving away. Despite Bandit was not seeing it, Emily was crying as she moved away.
Moments later, while Emily was waiting for the time she had to take her plane, she took her phone and made a call.
"Hey, Adam, it's me. I just called to say that I'm going back home. Yeah, everything went fine. I need to talk to you… What? He's still awake? But it must be midnight over there. Okay, put him on. Hey, sweetie! What are you doing awake? I know, I miss you too. But I'll be there in some hours. Now, I want you to go to sleep because you have classes by morning. Bye. Has he gone to bed? Good, now we can talk. I went to the doctor here in Brisbane… It's the same thing. It's too risky to remove it. I know… I guess… I'll just have to enjoy the time that I have left. You don't have to worry about him. I have everything planed. I know I can always count on you, but… they deserve to know each other and have a chance to be a family. I tried to tell him, but… I just couldn't get the courage to do it. I know, but… How can I tell him something like this without changing everything to him. Yeah, I know, either way, it's going to be hard… for both of them. Look, Adam, we talk better when I get back, okay? Bye."
She ended the call, while sighing. She then took a file from where she took a MRI scan image of a brain, where there was a tumour growing there. A tear appeared on Emily's eye, as she thought of the consequences that would have to those she loved. And so she went to take from her wallet two photos. In one of them, she was with Bandit, back when they were together, with him holding Emily close to him with his arms around her waist and her with his hands on Bandit's, both looking so happy together. That one reminded of the good old times, when she had by her side the dog she had imagined passing the rest of her days with.
At the other photo, she was hugging a ten-years-old pup that was a blue heeler husky mix. He had a black head and ears, which made him look like he is wearing a mask, much like Bandit, with a white muzzle that extended to the chest through a diamond-like mark, the front of his torso was blue with a tan belly with a light blue outline, while the back was dark blue with black markings, his tail was dark blue on the top-half and white at the lower-half and his hands and feet were white. His eyes were just like Emily's. That one showed her the greatest treasure she had on her life… the one dog she loved more than anyone else. She just hoped that the two dogs of her life would be able to find each other…
The End
Note: I hope you've enjoyed this story. The next one will cause a major change for the Heeler family… especially to Bandit. You are sure to find very emotional and dramatic scenes on this next story.
