Forever and Always

Chapter 29: Memories are made of this

It had been years since then, however Sophia remembered it like it was yesterday. She still remembered the feeling of his touch, his kisses... But she knew he had been away a long time. Sophia was now 93, but she had a heart that could have only been 34. She remembers much about her life, about simple milestones in her long lifetime.

Nicolas had been gone almost thirteen years. She was 80 when he passed, and he was 88. She sat out on the balcony every morning since his passing and every night, that is where they would spend their evenings and mornings together after Scarlett's birth. His arms would wrap around her tightly, and he would rest his head on her shoulder. Whispering something in Italian. Mostly it had been 'Ti amo, Cara Mia.' And if she woke up early enough, she could still feel his embrace, however no longer heard his whispers.

When he had passed she was sure she would die of a broken heart. She would spend long nights awake in his office and cry. His office lay untouched from the day of his death. It was his place, and it shall remain his. She would sit in his chair and read some of his writings, often times running her fingers over the print, feeling the brail like letters from the pressure of his hand. He kept a picture of the family on his desk through the years, and told that family was the most important thing in the world, that nothing could compare to coming home to people that love you unconditionally. He wasn't loved as a child, and to him, to be loved was everything in the world.

He once told her, as they lay in the darkness of the night in their late 60's, 'One day, when I die that is, I want you to be happy. I want you to find someone to love you, because being loved, and loving is someone is the only thing in life that should matter. You need someone to love you when I am away.. It pains me to say this, but it is true, you were made for love. I just want to see you happy." He whispered, staring up to the ceiling. 'But Nicolas, I will not marry. I can't. No one will ever be compared to you. Not any man in this world. I love you with all of my heart, I always have, and always will. Long after we are parted, I will stay loyal to you even in death, because our vows were lies, death will not part us. I will love you until the day I die and we can meet again.' She whispered. She was truthful. She hadn't remarried. She had never even looked at a man since his death. It was not that she believed she would be being unfaithful, but once you marry Nicolas Knight, you will never marry again. Once you love him, you will never love another man.

Tonight, she cried. She missed his voice, his touch, his kisses, she missed him. She sat upon her bed looking off to the full moon just outside the threshold of the balcony doors that were swung open, letting the summer breeze roll in, and the white curtains flowed in the same movement of the wind.

She thought of memories that would forever be engraved in her heart. Memories of him. Of the time when they were young, and madly in love, and so full of a life that she couldn't begin to describe. When she had crept into his room that night he was screaming because of his dreams, that night in which, being older she understood that that was the first time she had fallen in love with him. The night he painted her, their wedding, Scarlett, the accident, she remembered it all. The birth of their two youngest children, Liam and Phoebe. She often laughed at the memories of the girls bringing home their first boyfriends, he had threatened them within five minutes into their conversation. She felt her heart soften at those memories of his tears when their babies were born, or when they went off to college.

Scarlett had kept the painting on her ceiling until she had moved away to start her life. She told Nicolas that she couldn't re-paint it, it was too beautiful and it would always remind her of her daddy. He was proud of everything his children had become, and he had loved them with all of his heart every step of the way, as did she.

She had fallen in love with a hurt man, and in return he had fallen in love with his maid. But their love was forever and always. She would see him again, she knew it well. For they were soul mates, and soul mates always have a way of getting back to each other, whether it be in heaven, or another life.