AN: Well, the time has come my friends. We have reached the end of this story of Claire and Seth. Willa and Seth's story Boys Are Frustrating has also been finished and its a relief. These two stories have been with me through some dark times and I'll look back on both of them fondly. I still have one more to wrap up from my Twilight fanfiction and we'll see what I start up going forward. As always, thank you for your support and I hope this is everything you could have wanted from an ending.
Chapter Forty-Five
Silver
After a certain amount of time with a person, you don't think to be surprised anymore. Their palate almost always stays the same. How they like their coffee doesn't change. They don't sleep on different sides of the bed. And after twenty-five years together, a lot of those are static, with little to no change.
Quil called our anniversary the day he got to see me again in Seattle, not the day we got married, even though that was only the next day.
"But you guys have only been married for nineteen years." Eliza tried to rationalize with her father at the dinner table. She was home from her first year in college for the summer.
"I chose to celebrate the day I got your mother back in my life as our anniversary." Quil explained adamantly.
"Honey, I've been asking him this for years, the answer has never changed." I told my oldest with a mutual confusion, even after nearly twenty years.
"You guys got married a week before I was born, you could have made it so easy for me to remember how long you were married but now we have to go through all this weird math." Eliza said indignantly.
"Sorry kid." Quil said with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders. I smiled and shook my head at him.
Eliza looked at her father with a look of exasperation before she shook her head and let it go. She knew who she got her stubbornness from and it wasn't me. "So, what's the plan for this anniversary?"
"It's a secret." Quil said looking very proud of himself. All the other anniversaries I had planned something, because I enjoyed it but this one he was hellbent he get to organize himself.
"Your father refuses to tell me anything. To the point where he has paid for everything in cash in case I looked at the credit card transactions." I said with a laugh of amusement.
Our three children looked at each other from across the table. "This is starting to sound like the beginning of a documentary on Netflix, Dad." Arlo said with concern.
"Its romantic!" He called out, looking at all of us like we were the ones that were loose in the head.
"Don't worry kids, I can handle your father. He has a trick knee and his bottom two ribs are basically glass." I said casually. They all giggled while I sipped at the white wine Quil had picked up for me.
Quil looked between Arlo and River at his right and left side. "I was going to let Eliza be in charge of you two while we're gone, but I think you all may need to go to Aunt Willa's for the week if you are going to be this ungrateful."
There was shouting and begging and pleading while I tried my hardest not to laugh. Quil wasn't going to make our kids suffer being crammed in a house with their cousins, and he didn't want to deal with Willa's wrath either. But it was funny to watch them panic.
After promises of yard work, menial tasks and no guests that weren't blood related, Quil relented and swore they could stay at the house with Eliza as the supervision. My father was right down the road one way and Willa was down the road another way. It wasn't like they weren't surrounded by family, literally. Eliza had reading to do over the summer before she returned to Stanford. Fourteen-year-old Arlo was also accepted into a remote magnate program for math, so he had projects to complete. River was only twelve, and she just had books she wanted to read. I knew they would also be with their cousins and probably get into some kind of trouble but that's what kids were supposed to do. As long as no one ended up dead, pregnant or in jail, I wasn't too worried.
Quil pawned off the dishes on Arlo with a promise he would get him one of the new video games he wanted so badly before we left on our trip to parts unknown. After all of the chores were done for the night, we all settled on the couch to watch a movie together. Quil bought a digital copy of the game he promised Arlo and started the download before we started the movie.
River was cuddled close to my side while Arlo and Eliza were with their father. The kids had missed their older sister while she had been away and they loved having her back. I didn't know how much they would love it while she was telling them watch to do while we were gone for the week, but that would be a problem to deal with if needed later on.
We watched one of the latest superhero movies the kids loved and had been waiting to watch until Eliza was back home, which lead into another one and another and soon it was almost midnight and River was asleep on me and Quil was passed out on the couch as well. Eliza and Arlo were still filled with enough energy to make it into the morning. But we had to be out of the house by seven in the morning.
I looked over at Eliza and nodded over her to snoring father when she made eye contact with me and she nodded. "We'll save the rest for tomorrow." She said as she stood up. Arlo grumbled in agreement.
They got Quil up without having to let off a bomb, which was a miracle and he quickly picked up River to carry her up to her room. I didn't have time to argue against it. I kissed and hugged Arlo and Eliza and they followed their father upstairs to their own rooms. I turned off the TV and the lights since Quil still had impeccable night vision, and made my way to our room.
Quil had kept his promise and built the second story when I found out I was pregnant with River for the kids and sometime after that converted the two rooms downstairs into a large master suite. It was everything I ever wanted, as usual. I changed into my nightclothes, washed my face and got into bed to wait for Quil after he did his rounds of checking the locks on the doors and windows and saying goodnight to the kids. Our suitcases were already packed away in the car before we sat down for dinner.
I took the time to wonder what Quil had up his sleeve. He knew how much I loved travelling so I knew it would be somewhere I hadn't been before, but he would have probably checked it out first. That ruled out another continent. He could have planned a rip into French-Canada, but I always talked about going in the winter, not the beginning of August. Maybe even Maine, he knew I loved the east coast and wanted to go back so badly.
The door creaked open but there was no light from outside the room, the soft glow from the light on my nightstand illuminated Quil as he closed the door behind him. "Stop trying to figure out where we are going." He said knowingly. Sometimes it felt like he knew me so well he could read my mind.
I sighed and rolled my eyes. "You know, I'll be able to figure it out soon enough." I told him as he changed into his favorite pajama pants.
He got into bed and promptly wrapped his arms around me and pulled me as close as humanly possible. "I like my chances here." He said confidently as he kissed me.
I was as excited as the first time we left home together to go to the Makah reservation. Even in all that time I still had butterflies at the thought of going new places and experiencing new things with him. "Either way I get to go with you." I said happily.
"I guess I should get myself a ticket then." He chuckled.
I shook my head and made myself comfortable in his arms, it never took long, and fell asleep.
I woke up to Quil kissing the shell of my ear and whispering my name. He knew that was how I preferred to be woken up now that the kids had stopped running into our room at the crack of dawn to jump on the bed. Except for Christmas, that was their only exception. I opened my eyes and saw the clock said six AM.
"Time to get moving, love." He said as he went into our bathroom.
I stretched in the bed for a moment before I followed close behind. I didn't know when I would be getting a shower again, so I would take my last opportunity. Once we were clean, dressed and all valuables were put away safely we turned off all the lights and left our room to find Eliza in the kitchen with a fresh pot of coffee.
"What are you doing up?" I asked quietly, holding back a smile while I kissed her on her temple.
"I wanted to see you off." She said with a shrug while she sipped from her coffee. Quil gave her a big bear hug, almost causing her to spill her coffee while I poured our coffee.
We sat at the kitchen table and sipped our coffee quietly. "Will your cellphones work where you are going?"
"We should be in range of cell towers, but call your grandfather or aunt first if there is a problem." Quil said firmly.
"What if I just want to make sure you haven't been kidnapped and sold into slave labor or turned into a drug mule?" Eliza asked almost sounding panicked.
"Where do you think we're going?" Quil asked nearly insulted.
"I don't know Dad you won't tell us." Eliza said dramatically.
I looked at him with a knowing stare. He sighed. "Fair enough." He said with his hands. "I can tell you that we will be fine and we will call you every day." He promised.
"Fine," Eliza said with a deep sigh.
We finished our coffee and went up to River and Arlo's rooms and shook them awake to say goodbye and let them go back to sleep. Eliza was still wound tightly from not knowing where we were going when we got back downstairs. Quil gave her another bear hug and kissed the top of her head. I took my oldest child in my arms and held her close. It was strange to be leaving her at home while we left.
"I'll tell you where we are as soon as I know." I whispered my promise to her before kissing her cheek. She nodded to show she heard me and walked with us out to the car.
We left our home while the sun was just beginning to break and were waved away by Eliza. "Sometimes its hard to believe she is the child in this scenario." Quil said as we turned down the street and Eliza disappeared.
"She is an old soul." I said defending her.
Quil chuckled at me while he got onto the highway. We drove to the Quillayute Airport which was still just a small airstrip, but it would be a quicker way to get to SeaTac or even Canada. He did make me pack my passport. There was a small parking lot that only had a few other cars but there was a small passenger plane waiting on the runway. I looked at Quil confused.
"This guy owes me a huge favor. It wasn't as expensive as you think." He tried to reassure me as he got out of the car.
We got our bags and surpassed the small building and walked right out onto the runway. A man got out of the plane and walked over to us. "Come on Quil, we don't want to be late!" The man yelled over the roaring of the engine as he met us to take our bags.
Not much more made sense from there. Our pilot, Roger, was apparently going to be vampire bait but Quil had saved him nearly ten years earlier. But he wouldn't tell me more than that. Quil was so proud of himself I was sure his face was going to be stuck being smug forever. We had to make two stops for fuel and after the second we were nearly ten hours into our flight. Since the plane was so small I could see some of the instruments of the plan and managed to see we were travelling north west, but that was all I could figure. It was starting to feel like we were going to land somewhere in the Siberian tundra of Russia.
After nearly fourteen hours in the small plane we made our final descent. The airport we landed at was only a little bit bigger than the one we left. But we still needed to walk across the tarmac to security to a large sign that said Welcome to Nome, Alaska. I finally had an answer where we were but I still wasn't sure exactly where that was.
Quil had every detail down to the second. There was a rental car waiting for us and we went to an adorable bed and breakfast that knew we were on our way. I didn't get to stop and ask anyone any questions because we were rushed to our room where a late dinner was waiting for us. Quil was so proud of himself I knew he was going to burst.
After our delicious dinner, a filling and much needed Sheppard's pie, we were relaxing on the bed while we digested. "Alright, I admit it, you have out done yourself." I told him easily.
"Oh, darling, its not over yet." He said as he kissed the tip of my nose. It was nearly midnight, I couldn't imagine what was left at this hour. "Lets get you some more coffee."
After I was pumped full of two cups of coffee, dressed like I was about to fight a snowman, Quil took his backpack and we left the room and went back to the car. It was so dark the sky was nearly black. In the car, Quil pulled out one of my head bands meant for cold weather. "Quil I'm already wearing a hat." I told him while I texted the kids, letting them know we were alright.
"Put it over your eyes." He said excited. I didn't want to ruin his plans after so much effort so I put the headband over my eyes and he took off.
We drove for at least an hour before we went off road for another thirty minutes. I hated not seeing where we were going but I trusted Quil. But it didn't stop me from getting car sick.
"Quil, are we almost there, I'm getting carsick with this blindfold." I warned him.
"Almost," He promised.
It was only a few more minutes later when the car stopped but he told me not to take the headband off yet. He helped me take my seatbelt off and get out of the car, then he just picked me up and put me on the warm hood of the rental car but he still didn't let me take the headband off.
Quil kissed me and sighed. "You have gone through so much for me, and I've done everything I could ever do for you. Twenty-five years together seems like a drop in the bucket for us and I want somewhere we can come back to that is as spectacular and awe-inspiring as what we have and this was the only place that could even begin to match that." He gushed before he gently removed the eye covering.
I was starting to cry from what he said and before I could respond to him I was quickly caught off guard by a stream of glowing green light splitting the dark backdrop of the starry sky and my breath caught in my throat. He had brought me to see the Northern Lights. I looked at him and laughed as tears came down my face.
"This is the best silver anniversary a girl could ask for." I said through my tears as I pulled him close for another kiss.
I never spent a night on the hood of a car with a boy. I never did much wild activities. But that night I did get to watch lights dance across the sky with my husband, and it was even better than I could ever imagine.
AN: Review! For the last time!