Hello! I know you weren't expecting to read this tonight, but I'll be busy tomorrow, so I decided to give you all an early update. As always, I gotta thank Eva and Danielle for reviewing!

Eva: Luckily, you will get more right now.

Danielle: Thanks so much!

*In this chapter, it is December 25, 2025. Both Adam and Maria are now dead. (The reason why will be revealed in here, BTW.) On this cold Christmas Day, A.J. (Adam Junior) and M.J. (Maria Junior) go to visit their parents at their gravesite. And along the way, there is one memorable flashback (indicated in italics) from when times were great before their parents' demise.

**A.J. and M.J. are now living with Maria's sister Janny.**

Chapter 29: Ahh, The Memories

Location: Janny's House

On Christmas morning, Janny Kanellis woke up, already ready for the day to be over. This was because her sister Maria and Maria's husband Adam had both died of injuries sustained in a 5 - car crash. Unfortunately, they had died on their 15th wedding Anniversary: June 22, 2025. Remembering what had happened always made Janny very upset and angry.

"Good morning, Maria and Adam," she said softly, looking up at the ceiling of her bedroom. "How you two liking your first Christmas in heaven? I bet you're having fun up there in Heaven."

Then she got very sad and started to sob. After she was done crying, she cleared her throat to speak again.

"Also wanted you guys to know that A.J. and M.J. are doing good," she stated. "They miss you two so much."

After blowing a kiss to the couple in Heaven, Janny got out of bed and went downstairs. When she got to the living room, she found A.J. and M.J. looking through a photo album of their parents.

"Hey, you guys," said Janny. "What are you guys up to?"

"Nothing, Aunt Janny," MJ said.

"Just reminiscing on some good times with Mom and Dad," continued AJ. Now AJ was 15 years old, and MJ was only 13.

"I see." Janny looked over their shoulders and spotted one of her favorite photos. In it, AJ and MJ were swimming in the pool while their parents looked on.

"I love this picture of us," MJ said, looking at the photo. "That was a beautiful day."

Flashback no. 1

Summer of 2015

4 year old AJ was swimming in the pool at the Copeland house with 3 year old MJ. They were having all types of fun splashing around in the warm pool water.

"This is fun, AJ!" MJ exclaimed, happily kicking her feet.

"Yeah!" cried AJ. "I love days like this. Don't you, sis?"

"Yes I do," MJ happily replied. She looked at her parents, who were watching them from the deck.

"Mommy! Daddy! Look at me and AJ!" she shouted, waving to them.

"I know," Maria told her daughter happily. "Looks like you're having lots of fun in there!"

"We are!" MJ replied. "You and Daddy wanna join us?"

"Um... We will in a minute, pumpkin," Adam replied.

"Okay." Then MJ went back to playing with her brother. After that, Adam looked at his wife.

"Well what do ya think, babe?" he asked. "You wanna join our kids in the pool?"

Letting out a cute little giggle, Maria replied, "All right baby. Let's go join the kids."

From there, Adam and Maria went in the house to put on their bathing suits. Then they came out of the house and both of them jumped in the pool, splashing the kids.

"AAHHH!" they screamed, laughing and giggling.

And for the rest of the day, the family of four spent time in the pool, laughing and splashing around.

End Flashback

Remembering the story made MJ very emotional, and she started to cry.

"It's okay, sis," AJ whispered, giving his sister a tight hug. "It's okay to cry." Then he started to cry, too.

"Come here you guys," Janny said softly, opening her arms.

AJ and MJ let go of each other and hugged Janny tightly, and Janny hugged them back in return.

"Okay," said Janny after they broke apart. "How about we open some presents, eat something, and then I'll take you to your parents' gravesite, okay?"

"All right," both kids replied sadly.

Then everybody went over to the tree to open up their gifts.

Later that day...

Janny, AJ and MJ were now at Adam and Maria's gravesite. On the way, they had stopped and picked up some flowers. They'd ended up buying red, yellow and pink ones. Janny got out of the car first, followed by AJ. AJ opened the back door for MJ, who was carrying the flowers. After he helped his sister out of the car, the three of them walked over to the grave.

"Hey you two," Janny said to the tombstone with their names on them. "Your kids are here because they want to remember you today."

MJ put the flowers down onto the front of the stone and kneeled on the ground.

"Hi, Mom and Dad," she said softly. "Hope you guys are having a good Christmas up in Heaven. AJ and I were talking about you guys today. We talked about the time in 2015 when we all were in the pool, and..." MJ stopped and started to cry again.

"Alright, okay." AJ helped his sister stand up and hugged her again. Then, both kids cried.

"Mom! Dad! Why were you guys unfairly taken away from us?" AJ sobbed, still hugging his sister. "Why?"

Janny put her arms around the kids again before sobbing herself. Then the three of them stared at the tombstone and said a mental prayer for Adam and Maria. After wiping away their tears and calming down, they finally got ready to drive back to Janny's.

Yes. The penultimate chapter is finished! Sorry it was short; it was kind of a general idea of how the kids were doing after their parents were gone. I promise that the last chapter will be a LOT happier than this one. Goodnight!

~Jen W.