*Saturday*

*Chapter 19*

At 10:00 in the morning, Tony, Jamie and Chioke arrive at the National Museum of Natural History right when the doors open to the public. They enter into the museum.

'We go that way.' Chioke signed with his hands. Then he points in the direction. 'Learn about where I come from.'

"You lead the way." Tony said.

Chioke walks excitedly in the direction he wants to share with them first. Their first stop is the African Voices exhibit which examines the diversity, dynamism, and global influence of Africa's peoples and cultures over time in the realms of family, work, community, and the natural environment. Tony and Jamie follow as their eager to learn more about their son's homeland, its people and their culture.

After going through the African Voices exhibit and another exhibit, they head to the lunch room. Each of them picks out what they want to eat. As Tony looks at the prices of the food, he becomes concerned about Chioke's feelings. The boy is treating them with his own allowance. But with the cost of parking, which Chioke also insists on paying, the food cost will go over his budget.

"Do you have a pen and paper?" Tony asked of his wife.

"Sure." Jamie reaches into her purse and hands him the items.

As Chioke continues putting what he wants on his tray, Tony quickly writes on the paper. They finally approach the cashier. The lady begins to ring up the items. Chioke reaches into his pocket, takes out his money and waits patiently for the total amount. Tony stands behind Chioke and holds the piece of paper above his head and does everything he can to get the cashier's attention. The lady looks. She reads what's on the paper and nods her head.

"That'll be $8." The lady said. Chioke happily hands her the exact amount.

As Chioke and Tony walk away, Jamie pays the rest of the cost.

"Thank you very much." Jamie thanked the lady.

"You're welcome."

After eating lunch, Chioke continues bringing them to a couple exhibits. The final exhibition he leads them into is where the dinosaurs are located.

The three of them walk into the T-Rex exhibit because Chioke is eager to show them the large dinosaur. With approaching the exhibit, a memory sparks in Jamie's head. From the expression on her face, Tony can tell she's recalling a memory.

"I was here before." Jamie stated.

"Before or after the crash?" Tony asked.

"Before." Jamie answered. "I was here with my mom when I was six-years-old." She looks to the side of the exhibition room at a small bench along the wall. "I wandered off. I was sitting on that bench over there crying because I couldn't find my mom." She points to the bench. "I remember being so scared. But this boy came around and made me feel that everything was going to be fine. He brought me to the security desk where I was reunited with my mother."

With Jamie's story, Tony realizes something that he never realized until now.

*National Museum of Natural History; 1989*

The six-year-old Kelly Gibbs sits down on the bench along the wall near the T-Rex exhibit. Her eyes wander anxiously through the crowd hoping for a glimpse of her mother. In being lost and not knowing what to do, Kelly's eyes quickly engulf with tears.

A fifteen-year-old boy is with his father as they're leaving the exhibit. The boy notices a little girl sitting on the bench crying. He quickly realizes the young girl might be lost. The boy's father, who isn't paying attention as usual, continues walking into the next exhibit. The boy, who is standing in place where he stopped, finally makes a decision; there's no way he can leave the girl all alone. He walks in the direction of the young girl.

The boy approaches the bench where the crying girl is sitting.

"Are you lost?" The boy asked as he sits down on the bench.

"My daddy says…" Kelly begins to say.

"…Don't talk to strangers." The boy said along with Kelly. "Yeah, my dad says the same thing. It's good advice." He said. "My name is Tony. If you're lost, I'll help you find your mom. Or I can sit here and keep you company until she finds you." He offered his help to her. "There's a good chance she might be at the security desk."

"I don't know how to get there." She whimpered.

"I can take you there."

Tony holds his hand out to her. Kelly places her hand into his as there's something about him that makes her feel everything will be fine. They stand up and walk away.

"What's your name?" Tony asked.

"My name is Kelly." She replied.

They walk through the crowd of people while heading toward the security desk near the entrance to the museum. A couple minutes pass before approaching the security desk where Kelly sees her mother talking to a guard.

"Mommy!" Kelly exclaimed in excitement. She lets go of Tony's hand and runs to her mother.

"Kelly!" Shannon exclaimed. She wraps her arms around her daughter. "Don't you ever wander off again. I was so worried about you." She kisses Kelly on he forehead.

"I won't, Mommy." Kelly said. She looks to Tony. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Tony said. "I'm glad I could help."

"Thank you so much." Shannon also thanked him.

"Where are your parents?" Kelly asked.

"My dad is around here somewhere." Tony answered.

"So you're lost too." Kelly said.

"I get lost a lot when on vacation. I'm used to it." Tony stated. "My dad knows to find me at the security desk. I'll be fine."

"Well, we should get going." Shannon said. "Come on, Kelly." She gently takes hold of her daughter's hand. She looks to Tony. "Thank you again."

"It was no problem." Tony said.

"Bye, Tony." Kelly lets go of her mother's hand. She steps forward and wraps her arms around Tony to give him a hug. "It was nice to meet you."

"It was nice to meet you too, Kelly." Tony said. She steps back, takes hold of her mother's hand and smiles at him. "Bye."

Shannon and Kelly walk toward the exit while Tony sits down on a chair near the security desk. As they're walking away, Kelly looks back at Tony who is now sitting and listening to his walkman. She looks back several times until she can no longer see him.

*National Museum of Natural History; present day*

Tony, Jamie and Chioke are walking in the direction of the exit in order to leave the museum. They walk passed the security desk. Jamie notices the chair near the desk; it's the same exact chair.

Halfway to the exit, Jamie stops. She looks back toward the chair near the security desk.

"What is it?" Tony wondered.

"I don't recall what that boy looked like. I don't even remember the boy's name." Jamie said. "But as I walked away, I kept looking back at him sitting on that chair. And all I could think is one day I'll marry that boy. I know it's stupid. But I was young and had my first crush." She said. "For weeks I thought about that boy until I could no longer remember much about him. I obviously never saw him again."

"You thought you would marry him." Tony chuckled slightly over the irony of the whole thing.

"I was six-years-old at the time. And he was a nice boy." Jamie said. There's a brief pause. "Even though I don't really remember him, I hope he's as happy as I am."

"I'm sure he is." Tony said with a smile.

With Chioke raising his arms to be picked up, Tony complies and happily does so. Then Tony places his free hand gently into Jamie's hand. The two of them hold each other's hand lovingly as they exit from the museum where their first true meeting took place. Even though Jamie doesn't know it was him back in 1989, her hope that the boy is happy is true; Tony's very happy. And there's nothing more Tony wants in life than to be right here at this very moment with the two people he loves.

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THE END

This concludes the story "Rise of Apocalypse". Coming soon will be the next story in this series. But until then, I hope you enjoyed this story.