Infinite

Always

∾ 𝄞 ∾
I'll cheer you on
And make sure you follow your dreams
Be your number one fan
Because no one else can love you like me
I'll always love you more than anything
I promise that
Always, always
∾ 𝄞 ∾

"Julie! You're home! I would've come to the airport to get you, you know." Ray told his daughter as soon as she stepped in the door.

"Flynn landed ten minutes after I did, and we decided to split a cab and catch up." They'd spent the whole ride talking about classes and the new guy in Flynn's life. Flynn had so much writing homework, but she had joined a few clubs. And, even better, she loved her roommate to death and they'd already agreed to rent a house together after freshman year.

"How's she doing?" Ray asked, and Julie launched into the details Flynn gave her while they were riding together. "Well, that's good to hear. I'm happy she's enjoying college so much." Julie took one deep breath in, and smelled something fantastic.

"Wow, papí. It smells amazing. Did you already start making your holiday cookies?" Ray nodded.

"First batch just got pulled out of the oven ten minutes ago." Julie beelined for the oven, where Carlos was standing with a hot pan in one hand full of baked cookies, a cold one with cookie dough, and the oven open in front of him. Carlos quickly put all the pans where they needed to go and gave her a hug.

"Hey, Julie. How's college?" Carlos asked. Julie couldn't believe how tall he was. He must've grown another two inches since she left for Boston.

"I'm doing good. I've got all A's and B's in my classes. Which more than I can say for most of my classmates." Julie had a B-plus in a class that had a horrible professor. "What about you? You look like you've grown at least two inches."

"Yeah, I'm finally getting the growth spurt most of my friends got last year." She couldn't believe he was taller than her now, but she'd have to get used to it. Julie wouldn't magically grow any taller than her five foot four inch frame. "Now, I get to call you shorty, shorty."

"And I'm going to call you beanstalk." Julie gave a devilish grin before grabbing two cookies from the cooling tray. Her father's cookies were heavenly. "These taste amazing, dad. Just like always."

"Thanks, mija. You know, your mom is the one that actually gave me the recipe?" Julie and Carlos both didn't know that. Their mother could cook up a storm, but when it came to baking, she was helpless. "Her mother gave her the recipe, actually. The first time I made these cookies, I actually burnt them."

Rose was watching from the other side of the dining room, hidden from all of them. When she heard Ray talking about where the cookies originally came from and all the memories they created, she started to cry. The memory of the first time Ray made her mother's cookies made her smile. It brought her back to when they were dating, a month before he proposed.

"Your mother ate four of them just to act like they didn't taste so bad burnt." She ate five, actually. After scraping off the burned bottom, of course, on the last three. He didn't mean to burn them, but had forgotten all about them and didn't realize it was the cookie timer that had gone off until three minutes later.

"Wow, mom must've really loved you to eat five burnt cookies." She did. He was her whole world. Those three people were her whole world.

But, Rose had to let all of them go.

She watched as they baked the rest of the batch, eating almost a dozen cookies between the three of them. They watched a movie and made fun of Carlos' voice cracks every once in a while. What she would give to join them for just a moment. Before she showed herself to all three of them, she went to her music studio. It had changed some, but over the last few months, she'd gotten used to it. Though she'd seen Julie and her band of ghosts rearrange the entire studio, being in the room was far different than watching it.

"Hi, Rose." Reggie was the first to poof into the room, startling her out of her wits. "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing well. I had to get out of the house before I tried to eat one of the cookies." She was sure Reggie knew exactly what she was feeling. It might've been a slight lie, but she did want to eat the cookies, even if it wasn't why she left.

"They are the best thing I have ever smelled in my life. And afterlife," Reggie agreed.

"How are you and Lynn doing?"

"Great. We, um, actually... we're thinking about crossing over. Does it hurt?" Reggie wondered, his eyes filling with worry.

"I wish I could tell you, but I don't know. I don't remember what it was like the first time. Coming back didn't hurt, though, if that gives any indication." It didn't physically hurt, but the flood of emotions was a lot. She hardly knew what to do with them all, but after a couple days, a lot of them settled down.

That was when she felt a pain-filled jolt of energy. Her reminder that her days on Earth as a ghost were numbered.

"What was that? Did you get a stamp, too?" Reggie was starting to freak out.

"No. These jolts are reminding me that I have to go back to heaven. I'm not going to be around much longer at this rate." Rose's sad smile made Reggie feel horrible. She had no time left to do anything, really. "If I don't, I'll be sent to hell."

"That sounds horrible. Does Julie know?" Rose shook her head.

"You can't tell her. It's not for her to worry about. Please, Reggie." Reggie understood the gravity of the situation. "I'll be gone by the end of the week. You shouldn't need to keep the secret for long."

"You're going? I liked having you around." Reggie gave her a hug just before Luke and Alex showed up.

"Hi, Rose. How are you doing?" Reggie managed to keep a mostly steely expression.

"Good. I'm a bit jealous of the lifers because the cookies smell fantastic. Now, how are you both doing?" Luke clenched his teeth, and she knew he was still hurting. She would've given quite a bit to give him the chance to truly love Marietta the way he (and she) wished. Rose was a mother and she cared for those three boys.

"I'm doing well. Willie and I have been travelling to all the states and having fun. We've been to thirteen so far." She was happy to hear that he was doing well. Luke was doing well with the new ghost band, just playing and enjoying the afterlife. But, he felt lost without Mari. Everything in his afterlife was off-kilter now.

The next day was spent making food, though most of it was eaten rather than keeping it for Thanksgiving itself, but they had fun. Rose loved watching them laugh and enjoy their lives. Rose knew, after watching them, that they had truly finished grieving.

The only thing left was to finish her own grieving. Her life was beautiful while she was alive, but she wasn't alive anymore. Rose needed to accept that she couldn't be a part of the living world or the ghost world anymore. She had to let go.

It was her time.

She walked into the living room, knowing what she had to do. Her chance to leave was quickly diminishing. The last jolt only minutes ago was proof of that.

"I'll always love you more than anything. I promise that." Rose didn't need to show herself to any of them. They all knew that. She needed to tell herself that, and know that heaven couldn't dim her love. "Julie, you will be an extraordinary singer and songwriter. I have no idea what you'll do in life, Carlos, but you will be fantastic at it. And Ray, I never would've imagined, after the way we met, to become friends and get married. I will love you forever and ever.

"But, I have to go."

She felt her body become lighter and lighter until it dissolved in a flurry of golden magic. When her eyes opened, she was back in heaven. This time, however, it didn't feel like her emotions were at war with what heaven allowed.

"Welcome back, Rose." She didn't need to look around to know it was God talking to her. "I hope you are happy now."

She was.

Author's Note: I think was the perfect way to guide Rose back to heaven. I'm going to keep this short (work still exists). Make sure to vote and comment. All the best, MistyRider921.