Whispering I love you

A blast from the past

I had fallen asleep on the 30 minute car ride, waking up as we turned into a village. I watched as houses and cafes pass by before we turned by a broken down shed/house before the road lead us down the small hill with twists and turns. 

I watched out the window as the whole sight was very familiar. We made it to the bottom of the hill where the bus would be parked, and we hopped out. I looked up the side of the mountain noticing the wooden staircase that lead to an old trail. I couldn't help but smile at the memory in my head.

Summer days walking up and down that trail. Up to the mountains and into the caves with the beautiful views. Spending the morning down in that valley, either digging up a wall, or brushing away at the uncovered graves. Spending the afternoon either, in that same grave doing some scientific drawings, up on the trails into the caves, or back at the lab analyzing the bones and artifacts we found in the graves. So much research that summer that I was a part of, so much I got to learn and do. I vowed to get back to see what progress would have been made since I left.

I knew all of the boys had their eyes on me as well as a camera. I turned my back to the group before closing my eyes taking in the feeling of just being back to a place that taught me so much. I look this second to let the whole trip weigh on me. Elton truthfully planned this trip to ensure I went back to all the spots that changed myself so I could visit them again before my life changed again. I was so thankful that we had a life style that allowed us to take this trip, for friends that get to come along, and a wide wide internet family we got to bring with us on this adventure.

It was in this minute I was thankful I had my big sunglasses on as I turned around to face the group. My eyes were filled with tears of happiness and gratitude. I ran my fingers through my hair before sniffing and blinking back tears trying to shake them away. I looked at Elton and the group before forcing a smile.

"So where are we?" Sam half asked half signed to me as we stood just outside the van.

"We are in the small village of -" I started before I was interrupted by a voice and a body walking up from the valley and through the chained gate that lead to the site.

"Welcome to Eleutherna!" The older gentleman came up arms open wide. I couldn't even keep it together letting tears fall from my eyes.

"Professor." I answered walking forward past the group to give him a hug.

"I told you call me Noti," He responded I shook my head, having to much respect for this man to call him anything other then professor. He was the reason I had the amazing summer of historical research and learning. He convinced me to take the summer classes, he was not only a professor of mine, but also a mentor. When I had gotten sick and strayed away from the research community and into social media, both him and his wife always checked in and followed me on all my platforms.

"And I told you, you will always be professor to me." We joked together before I turned to the camera that Elton was holding. "This is professor Noti, He has been my mentor for a while now. He was the reason I took the original trip." I told the camera before turning to each of the guys introducing them one by one to my mentor, who shook all of their hands.

"So you are the young man who I have been talking with for months." His thick thick Greek accent showing as he shook Elton's hand.

"Yes, I am the one who annoyed you into letting us come visit." Elton smiled in response.

"Well I'm glad you did," Professor said "This is not only an amazing site to see, but the mountain and the island is all beautiful. I love to show it to you and your camera." He lead us down the small trail that lead to the site.

The site itself is open with an observation deck running around the main burial site while the rest of the town laid uncovered around it. I broke out into a small jog running up the stairs and into the arms of Angie, Professor's wife.

"Hannah it's so good to see you!" She held me at arms length getting a good look at me as a while, like any mother figure would do when you haven't seen them in a while. "You look so good!" She moved to grab my left hand to examine the ring on my finger. "Look at that ring! It beautiful!!! Congratulations!" I signed thank you to her before turning and introducing her to the rest of the group.

We spent an hour walking about the site. Elton was about to fly his drone and get some pretty sweet shots of the site. After we finished at the site we took a small hike up the side of the mountain the site was at the bottom of. We went over the ancient bridge, up site side of the mountain and into some of the caves that lined the mountain. After about 45 minutes we landed ourselves pretty close to the top where the mountain evens out a bit, with remains of an ancient roman cross roads.

We spent some time just taking in the scene from on top of this mountain, which as always turned into a photo shoot. We hiked back down the mountain and spent the rest of the afternoon in the local tavern, being treated to a meal and good conversation. I smiled as my two worlds collided. My past, present, and what will be the future.

It became time to say goodbye once more. I of course cried, and vowed to send them a wedding invitation, as long as they continued to send me copies of their research articles so I could keep up with the site. We finally piled back into the van and headed back to the hotel.

'So how was today?' Elton signed to me as we sat on our hotel bed just relaxing as we waited for everyone to get ready for dinner.

'Overwhelming but amazing.' He looked at me and gave me a side head tilt 'So many emotions....good emotions.' I watched as he nodded in understanding. 'So whats next on this crazy trip?' I asked genuinely curious. We still had another week of this vacation that I knew nothing about.

'We have another day here, then we have a travel day.' I watched Eltons hands move in excitement 'We are going to drop the boys off at the airport for their flight home...' He paused and I just watched his hands in anticipation. 'Then We are going to take the ferry to Santorini,' My eyes lit up and Elton smiled before continuing 'We will be there for three days before we take a flight to Menorca for the last two days before heading home.'

'So just the two of us?' I asked and he nodded signing the sign for us confirming just the two of us.

'Just an engagement moon' He signed to me making me smile. 'And no cameras.' I cocked my head to the side and gave him the side eye. 'Okay...no TIFL cameras. Just Elton and Hannah cameras.' I nodded before we turned the conversation abut fun things that we can do the next few days on our engagement moon. We stayed up a little while longer before heading to bed.

We awoke the next day and visited a castle and then went back to the beach. From there we had one more nice dinner in one of the local taverns before turning in early for everyone to pack up.

The next day we did our last minute souvenir shopping, and grabbed a quick lunch before heading back to the hotel to say our goodbyes. The boys were packed in one van taking them to the air port and Elton and myself had a taxi waiting to take us to the ferry.

"Be safe and don't get lost." I said pointing my finger at Colby before hugging him. "Listen to Jay." I said as if I was telling a child to listen to its parent.

"Yeah you kids gotta listen to me!" Jay said agreeing with me.

"Seriously text us when you get to the plane and when you get back to the states." I said moving on to hug Sam, Heath, and lastly Jay.

"Yes mom. Don't worry." Sam said rolling his eyes before smiling. "You and Elton just have fun on your engagement moon."

"Yeah and use protection." Heath added as I shook my head and went to Eltons side as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders holding me close. We stood this way as we watch as our small group of boys got into the van and rolled out and on to the way to the air port. I let out a content sigh before looking up at Elton. He smiled down at me as I wrapped my arms around his waste. He leaned down to peck my lips.

'Okay, lets get going!' He signed pulling away taking my hand and leading me to our Taxi.