Bittersweet

Epilogue

The months that followed after the trial was not easy like I had once hoped. Even with the threat officially eliminated, the road back to a normal life wasn't so simple. Instead, Gage and I had to step back to reexamine the pieces left of our formers lives after the war. And like all puzzles, not everything fit back together.

My nightmares returned a few days after the second trial was finished. I may have put on a stoic performance when watching my parents be taken into custody for both extortion and murder, however, the second I closed my eyes to sleep, my true fears slipped out. I dreamt mostly about my father escaping jail to seek out vengeance against me and Gage. Other nights I would dream of coming home to find Gage's lifeless body in our home with Sparrow looming over it. It was all too much for me. And when waking up in Gage's comforting arms stopped working, I decided that I needed to take time to put myself back together.

When I finally opened up to Gage about my struggles, he was not only supportive, but also came up with an excellent idea on how to help.

"It would mean we need to leave the bakery for a little while," he informed. "But I think this is for the best. For both of us."

And he was right.

So, on that night, I made a few calls to our team letting them know of what Gage and I were doing, dug through our still un-opened moving boxes to find our "bucket" lists, grabbed our passports, then packed our bags to leave for our first destination: Hawaii. Because it was last minute the tickets were not cheap, nor were any of the places to stay at on the island. However, since Gage received his reimbursement money a few weeks ago, we didn't have to worry much. I suppose that was at least one good thing that came from all of this. Although the money wasn't enough to make us rich, it was enough to make us very comfortable for a while.

Before Gage and I went to the airport, we made sure to stop by the little coffee shop near our old apartments that had now been opened for a few months. Once we were satisfied with a few cups of probably the best cappuccino in Florida, we crossed it off the list, then moved on.

Our trip began in Panulu'u Black Sand Beach where we stayed in a small complex located on the quiet side of the island. I thought that nothing could beat the serene feeling of the dark sand settling between my toes, but that night, I was proved wrong when Gage and I treated ourselves to a full-body massage. After we were thoroughly relaxed, we decided to grab dinner on the other side of the island not knowing that we signed up for a performance as well. I laughed so hard when a hula dancer picked Gage to show him some moves that tears rolled down my face. Both Violet and the twins found it hilarious, too, after watching the video I sent them of Gage rolling his hips around awkwardly. When we returned to our complex, we spent the rest of our time playing in the ocean until we were too tired, then fell asleep wrapped up in each other, nightmare-free.

Between the beautiful scenery and friendly people, I almost didn't want to leave. But after a few days of lounging around, we decided it was time to move on to the next item on our list.