The week started like any normal week for me. My vampire boyfriend, Steven, and I had moved into this mansion looking house in Savannah, Georgia about two weeks ago. We were unpacking all of the little house warming things. Photos, plastic flowers, cameras, and a whole lot of other little decorations. We were almost done for the day when this shiny black car pulled into the driveway next door to us. Two tall and muscular men stepped out of the car. I never saw them before, probably because they were moving into the house. They looked mysterious, but they were our new neighbors, so we went over and said hello.


“Do you need helped unloading?” I politely asked.


“No,” the taller one said, “We’re good. By the way my name is Santino, but people call me San. And this is my brother Deacon.”


“Call me Deac,” Deacon told me. “So, how ya doing?”




“Good,” I responded. “So, what brings you to the neighborhood?”


San responded, “We just need a change of scenery, ya know. You get tired of one place.”


“Believe me, I know,” I casually said back. “Oh, how rude of me, this is my boyfriend Steven.”




“Nice to meet you guys,” Steven said. “Excuse my sweet Ella if she does anything too friendly. It’s just how she is.”


“Now Steven,” I responded playfully, “I won’t scare them with my kindness.” Then we all laughed “It was nice meeting you two!” I called back as we went to our home.


“Nice meeting you two too!” San called back.

After that, they were pretty secretive and quiet. When I would wave and smile at them, they would completely ignore me. Eventually, Steven and I decided to invite them over for a dinner party. I thought it was a friendly gesture, considering they were new to the neighborhood. They had called us back immediately and said they would love to come, but they might be a bit late. I was a bit suspicious of why they responded so quickly, but ignored it.


I had gone to the supermarket to get a turkey, chips, dip, and a lot of other dinner items. Cooking took most of the afternoon all the way to when they showed up. They were a bit late, as they said they might be. They showed up in their car that was as strange as they were. Steven greeted them while I put some chips and dip on the table. The chips didn’t last long. I went to go get the turkey that had just finished cooking. I was gone for only about 5 minutes. When I came back, no one was at the dining table. I put down the turkey and looked for everyone. Then I heard something strange, so I went to investigate. “Steven,” I called, “Ste-ven.” I was still looking for where the noise came from. When I did, I couldn’t believe it.

“Oh. My. God. STEVEN!” I yelled. Deac had Steven pinned against the wall with a gun aimed at his chest. San was made sure he couldn’t run by restraining him. I raced over and knocked the gun out of Deac’s hand. After hitting both of them, San and Deac moved away and I went to see if Steven was okay. “Are you two crazy?!?!” I yelled at them, “He’s my boyfriend, why on earth would you want to kill him?!?!”


San responded, “He’s a vampire, he’ll kill you!” Offended by the remark, I kicked them out of my house. Steven had some superficial wounds, so I patched them up for him. After everything that went on that night, I was tired, so I went upstairs to sleep.

In the morning, Steven spoke to me about a crazy idea he had. “Ella, there is something I need to talk to you about.”


“Sure Steven,” I responded. “You know you can talk to me about anything.”


“It’s about last night.”


“What about it?”


“Well, if you hadn’t come, I would’ve let them,” then he paused. “I would’ve let them kill me.”


“ARE YOU INSANE!?!?!?” I yelled at him,” Why would you let them kill you?!?!”


“Well, I figured they wouldn’t stop trying until they did kill me.” Then his voice became more sincere. “I didn’t want you to get hurt or worse...”


“Steven, that won’t happen,” I said trying to make it seem okay.


“I can’t take that chance. I couldn’t live with myself if it happened.” Then he seemed to find some bravery. I wondered why, and then he said to me, “I’m gonna take care of this once and for all.” Then he dashed out the door.

“Steven!” I called after him, “Steven, don’t do it!” By now I had started chasing him. I had managed to catch up to him right as he reached San and Deac’s house. He had rang the door bell by the time I got there.


He looked at me like I was insane. “Ella,” he told me, “I told you that I’m gonna settle this.”


“Not without me your not.” I told him.


Then San answered the door. “Ella?” he answered.


“Hi San. Last night was terrible, but I thought that maybe we could talk about in your home.” San reluctantly invited us in. He showed us to a small room with some chairs and a table in it. We sat down and waited for him to come back with Deac. When they had come back, we started to talk.


“Ella,” Deac started, “you know he’s a vampire, right?”


“Yes,” I responded. “I’ve known for almost a year.”


“Then you know what he’s capable of, right?” San said to me.


“Yes, I know. Vampires drink blood, but Steven won’t kill me.”


Dean questioned, “And how can you be so sure?”


“I haven’t had human blood in three years!” Steven told them, irritated by the question.


“Even if he tried,” I continued, “he couldn't; I am his true love, plus I drink vervain, vampire poison.”


“I see where you’re coming from,” San said. “You love him no matter what.”


“Yes, and he has it wrapped in his brain that you guys will keep trying to kill him, and I’ll get caught in the crossfire.”


“That is ridiculous,” Deac said in a slightly shaky voice.


“So,” I ended, “Are we cool?”


“Yeah,” San first said. “We’re cool.”


“And you Deac?” I asked.


“Yeah,” he grunted. “We’re good.”


“Great! So we can just put this behind us and let bygones be bygones.” We shook hands, but something felt wrong.


As we were leaving, Steven leaned forward and muttered a grunt of pain as if he’d been shot. I looked back and saw Deac with a tranquilizer gun in his hand. Then he shot Steven again. Steven fell onto the floor.


“You monster!” I yelled at Deac. “Now you’re gonna get it.”


I rushed over and started throwing punches. San had joined in trying to get me off of his brother. He eventually got me off, only after I had messed with Deac. While San went and helped Deac, I helped Steven get out of the house. I ran as quickly as I could with Steven to the safety of our house.

After getting the vervain darts out of Steven I called his brother Damien, who had recommended this place to us.


“Damien?”


“Ella?” he responded, “Is that you?”


“Yeah Damien, it’s me. Hey listen, you know how you said this would be a good neighborhood and all?”


“Yeah.”


“Well,” I paused. “It’s not. Steven has had attempts on his life twice, and the neighbors won’t listen to reason!”


“Hang on Ella; I’ll be there in a few minutes!”


“Damien wait!” I yelled to the phone, but he had already started coming. Damien was also a vampire; he had super speed and would be here quickly. Only two minutes after I called, he showed up.


He charged in asking, “Where’s Steven?”


“He’s upstairs resting,” I responded impatiently.


Damien raced upstairs to see his brother. I had come up about a minute later.


“I wanted to ask you something,” I told Damien. “I wondered if we could use your summer house in Virginia since the neighbors won’t stop until Steven’s dead.”


“Well let me just have a chat with the neighbors.”


“Damien!” I said before he could get out. “Steven already tried talking, it didn’t work. And your definition of chatting won’t do any good either.”


“So what. You just want to use my summer house as a place to live?” He said, a hint of anger in his voice.


“Yes, I would like that.”


“It’s fine with me. Go ahead, run away from your problems, but don’t leave any trace. I don’t want those killers next door to come to my house and tear it up.” He had told me in a mildly sarcastic tone.


I was a little surprised that Damien agreed, but I didn’t argue. I was just glad that he had allowed us to use his house. It was like a miracle was given to us at the exact moment when we needed one.


Damien had helped Steven repack our stuff while I watched out for the neighbors next door. We had all decided that it was best if the vampires pack and the human watched. Another factor to the decision was that Steven posed a compelling argument that there were some things he couldn’t leave this house without. Since Steven and Damien have super speed, it took only a couple of hours to pack everything, but we figured that it was best to leave at night. At around 1 in the morning, Damien came around with our car. He had left about half an hour earlier to make sure no one suspected us of leaving. We all packed and left our beautiful mansion for the small summer home in Virginia.

As Damien drove the car, I fell asleep, tired of staying up all day. I started dreaming and how confusing the dream was. Steven and I were at a house, unpacking, just like earlier this week. Then, he took me out to the beach; I had figured out that we were at a different house. All of a sudden, Steven proposed to me. I was shocked, but I said yes. Next thing I knew, we’re in a chapel getting married. I am wearing a white, elegant wedding dress with faint silver stripes going around the top half. Steven is all dressed up in a handsome black tuxedo. Everyone I know is sitting in the stands; Damien, Jared, Brooke, Carolyn, Tyrell just to name a few. I look at Steven again and he is holding my hand out, about to slip the ring on my finger. We were just about to be married when all of a sudden, the doors slam open and someone yells, “Everyone evacuate NOW!” People start running out of the stands and through the exits until Steven, Damien, and I are the only ones left. The two people that had crashed my wedding came towards us at the alter. I recognized them; San and Deac.


Damien immediately attacked them, but San shot him with vervain until he collapsed.


“What are you doing here!?!” I yelled at them.


“What we were trying to do before, ” Deac yelled. “Protect you from this monster.”


“He’s not a monster!” I screamed at them, “He’s my husband.”


“Not for long he isn’t,” Deac muttered.


“NO!” I screamed as I lunged in front of Steven. The wooden stake pierced my chest and I fell down. Steven rushed over and started shaking me, yelling my name as I drifted out of consciousness. Then I was back in the car, Steven was shaking me saying my name, “Ella. El-la. Ella!” I woke up confused, not knowing where I was. Then I remembered that Damien was driving us to his summer house. I looked around and saw that it was daylight.


“Where am I?” I muttered, finding it hard to stay alert.


“You’re at my summer house,” Damien said. “Just like you asked.” I got out of the car and looked at the shining summer house. It looked similar to the mansion I had lived in a couple hours ago. Lost in my thoughts, Damien sent me back to reality “I’ll leave you two love-birds alone.” I noticed that the car was still packed. I took a self tour of the house seeing where I could put some objects to make it feel cozier. By the time I was finished, Damien was gone and Steven had started unpacking the car.

It was late afternoon, and Steven and I had finished unpacking half of our things. Steven sat on the couch while I prepared dinner. I had prepared a lovely pork tenderloin with some creamed spinach and mixed vegetables. Steven and I each ate our food, then we watched the sunset from the beach. It was beautiful and I was more than grateful that Damien had let us use this as our temporary home. After the sunset, I went up to bed. Steven said he’d be up in a little while, but once I laid down on that bed, I fell fast asleep.


The next morning, I awoke to a beautiful orange colored sky. I looked around to see if Steven were around; he wasn’t. I figured he had woken up early and started unpacking, so I got up and got ready to face the day. I found Steven downstairs, unpacking as I had suspected. I started unpacking and then Steven pulled me away. He said he needed to ask me something very important, and I decided let him ask. Steven told me to close my eyes and to not let go of his hand.


“We are we going?” I playfully asked.


“It’s a surprise,” Steven told me. He appeared to sound happy, I couldn’t figure out why. After walking a little ways, he told me to stop and open my eyes.


“Okay, Steven,” I asked. “What’s the big surprise?”


“This,” he said. Steven got down on one knee and told me the most beautiful speech I’d ever heard. “Ella, ” he started, “we’ve known each other for a few months. And those months have been the best of my life.” I giggled a little because he had been around since 1864. “I can’t imagine a life without you. Just seeing you everyday, your smile, your laugh, the way you treat people, everything, energizes me and makes me proud to be alive-ish.” I had to giggle again. “This I assume is never easy but, Ella Conway, will you marry me?”


I was completely surprised by this and of course I had to say yes. But something inside me felt wrong, and then I remembered. This was exactly like the dream I’d had in the car, every last detail. It scared me. Steven noticed my face and said, “What’s wrong? You do want to be married, don’t you?”


“Yes I do,” I responded. “But something is bothering me.”


“Well whatever it is I’m sure we can get through it.”


“I guess you’re right. Remember how I fell asleep in the car on the way here?”


“Yeah, what about it.”


“Well, I had a dream, more like nightmare. But the scary part is, it was exactly like this. And the worse part, right before we’re married, San and Deac come and crash our wedding.” I could see Steven getting enraged by this. Then I continued, “While trying to kill you, I had sacrificed myself to save you. I took the stake right in the chest. If the nightmare had continued, I think I would be dead.” By now Steven had become like an exploding bomb, trying to find something to take his anger out on.


After a few minutes of that, Steven asked me, “This was in a church, right?”


“Right,” I answered a bit shaky.


“And everyone was all fancy and dressed up right?”


“Right. Steven, where are you going with this?”


“I’m thinking, what if...”


“What if what?”


“What if we got married some place private, nothing fancy and just have a few people attend.”


“That might work. But when would we do this.”


“How about tomorrow?” He suggested.


“Tomorrow?!?” I said, “How are we going to get everyone we love to come here tomorrow.”


“Don’t worry,” Steven said casually. “I’ve had Damien informing people for the past week now. Everyone knows and they’re just waiting on a date.”


“Wait a minute.” I said angrily, “You’ve been planning my own wedding without my help!?!”


“Kind of. But in my position, I wanted to make sure that people didn’t make plans for that date.”


“Well, okay. But make sure it is nothing big. And NO church.”


“Got it.” Our first fight, I didn’t like it, but we had made it. I just had to hope that San and Deac wouldn’t show up. The rest of the day went by pretty quick. It seemed only a couple of hours after I was engaged that I went to bed.

My dreams weren’t as lollipop and candy cane as I had thought they would be. Instead, my mind went back to the wedding gone wrong except this time, the scene was as Steven had said it would be. As I was going unconscious again, San and Deac’s voices haunted me as they called out my name. ‘Ella, wake up. Ella wake up. Ella, wake up! ELLA!’ I sat up straight still haunted by the nightmare. It seemed as though it was bad luck, but I was optimistic and thought it was pre-wedding jitters.


Damien had driven us to a little Chinese place to have our wedding. We were there because it was quiet, out of the way, and I loved Chinese food. Everyone I loved was there; Jared my big brother, my BFFs Brooke and Carolyn (Brooke was a witch and Carolyn was a vampire), and Carolyn’s werewolf boyfriend, Tyrell. It was also so perfect and wonderful that I thought it was better than a wedding in any church. Steven and I had gotten to the alter and said our vows and what not. Then I got a bad feeling when we were exchanging rings. I put my on Steven’s, then just like before, as Steven was about to put the ring on my finger, San and Deac showed up.


Everything happened just like in my dream, except my friends stayed this time. As in my dream, they charged into our wedding with their weapons telling everyone to evacuate. Damien tried to stop them, but was shot with vervain. Deac made threats to Steven, and then came the worst part. This was the third time I was shot in the chest by a wooden stake, except this time, it hurt incredibly deep. I could see Steven come over to me and he tried to keep me awake, but I went unconscious.

The next thing I knew, I felt fine. In fact, I felt as light as air. Everyone still surrounded me, but no one would look at me. I tried to get Steven’s attention, but he was apparently pre-occupied. I yelled at him, but he didn’t look up. I wanted to see what was more important than his wife, and then I looked down and saw what was more important. I saw......myself.

Suddenly, I realized I had died. Steven was giving me his blood to try and heal me or to bring me back to life, I don't know which. I then started to listen to people's conversations. Jared was holding my hand praying that I would live. Carolyn told Tyrell, “Go get help, Tyrell. Ella's life depends on it. As Tyrell departed, I saw Brooke crying, and then the next people I saw amazed me.


San and Deac came to my aid. By now I was standing so I could see the entire scene. Deac was trying to remove the stake. San was ready to patch it up when Deac got it out. This amazed me most because I thought they were bent on killing Steven. I started to get a headache and go unconscious again.

The next thing I knew, I was in the hospital in a hospital bed. I looked around and saw Steven holding my hand. Jared and Damien were in chairs in the room, sleeping. When I was sort of aware of what was around me, Steven kissed me. As he stroked by flat, brown hair.


“Ella, you're awake!” he said excitedly.


“Of course I am,” I responded trying not to let him know that I had died. “Why wouldn't I be?”


“Well...” he said, obviously hesitant to talk.


“It's okay Steven,” I responded, still a little weary. “You can tell me anything.” Right before he could answer, I saw Jared stirring. He was awake in less than a minute. I saw his eyes widen and look at me in amazement, almost like he’d seen a ghost. Then he spoke.


“Ella!” Jared shouted, “You’re alive!” Then he ran over to my bed and hugged me.


“I love you too,” I told him. “Steven, could I have some alone time with my brother.” Steven then got up, woke Damien, and the two of them left the room.


“It’s so great that you’re alive!” He told me, “We all thought we’d lost you. If it wasn’t for Tyrell getting help, we may have.”


“Hey Jared,” I asked. “How long have I been here?”


“All night. Everyone is here, but only immediate family was allowed in when you were asleep.”


“Can I see everyone?” I asked, desperate to see my friends.


“Sure!” Jared said enthusiastically, “I’ll go get them, you just wait here.” A couple minutes, he came back with Carolyn, Brooke and Tyrell.


“Ella!” Carolyn exclaimed, “It’s nice to see you’re awake! We were all so worried that you wouldn’t make it!”


“It’s true,” Brooke interrupted. “None of us could sleep all night. Doctors had to keep us updated so we wouldn’t go insane.”


“You’re lucky,” Tyrell continued. “If I hadn’t gone for help when I did, you probably wouldn’t be here.”


“Thank you all for your support,” I said, happy to see all of them. Then I noticed I was hungry. ”Carolyn,” I asked.


“Yeah Ella?”


“I’m a bit hungry. Do you think you could get me something to eat?”


“Sure!” She said. I noticed she was a bit hesitant, but brushed it off.


“Oh!” Tyrell abruptly shouted, “I almost forgot! Ella, you have some special visitors.” Then everyone except Jared left. When the two of them walked in, I knew why Jared didn’t leave.

“You monsters!” I yelled at them, “You did this to me!”


“Calm down Ella,” Deac said. “We just want to talk.”


“Jared, leave.” I said to Jared in an angry tone.


He protested, ”But,”


“Now!” I told him harshly. Once he left, my anger burst out onto the San and Deac.


“You guys!” I screamed at them, “You did this to me!”


“We know,” San said. “And we blame ourselves.”


“You guys don’t know what happened to me!” I continued yelling at them. “I,” I hesitated, then I told them. “I died because of you two.”


“Dean sat down, probably shocked that I had died.


Then San came to my bed side, “Ella, we had no idea. If we’d have known...


“You wouldn’t have shot,” I finished for him. “But you did because of your hatred for Steven.” I got mad at them again, “You two ruined everything!”


“We know, okay,” Deac said, obviously aggravated. “And we have sworn that we’ll never get between you and your...husband ever again.”


“To be honest,” San said. “I’m surprised that you even have a relationship with him.”


I got aggravated again, but calmed down, “I am not going to explain this to you guys right now. Oh and by the way, did you bump into Steven in here?”


“Luckily no,” Deac said, finally able to stand up after my shocker. “But we’re planning on leaving anyway.”


“Then why did you stay here?”


“Because we wanted to make sure you were okay,” San told me. Just then, Steven came in.


“What the hell are you doing here?!?” He yelled at them. All of a sudden, Steven was at Deac’s throat.


“Steven!” I ran over to him. It seemed like over there in less than a second. I took Steven’s hand down. “Steven, they just came to apologize.”


“She right,” Deac said, barely able to breathe. San was staring at me in horror. I also noticed that Carolyn had come to room, she was also staring at me.


I got back to my bed and asked, “Why is everyone staring at me?”


Carolyn then came over. She put my food down and then whispered in my ear, “You moved as fast as Steven did.”


“That’s insane Carolyn. I can’t move that fast,” She still looked at me the same. “Can I?” I looked at Steven, and then Carolyn, and they both nodded. “Carolyn,“ I asked, a bit shaky. “Could you get everyone?” She nodded. Then I told San and Deac to go outside and that I accepted their apology. Once everyone showed up, we had a very serious chat.

“I know that you were all worried that I would die.”


“Yeah, Ella!” Tyrell said, “We’re not soulless.”


“Well,” I hesitated. “I did die.” Shock of my news went everywhere. Carolyn fainted into Tyrell’s arms. Brooke sat down in chair, seconds from passing out. Jared, Steven, and Damien all took it the hardest. Steven threw stuff around the room while Jared and Damien both sat down to take in the news. It took a couple minutes for everyone to recover, but when they did, everyone was looking at me different.


Brooke was the first to break the silence, “What did you see?”


“To be honest, I only got a couple of seconds to look around, see everyone and see Tyrell leave. Then I blacked out.”


“Well...” Tyrell started. “First, Steven checked for your pulse. He said it was faint and then gave you his blood to try and heal you.”


Carolyn interrupted, “Then Brooke said that if it didn’t work, she’d use a spell to bring you back. Obviously she didn’t have to.”


Brooke then took her turn. “San and Deac did everything they could to help. Once Deac pulled the stake out, San patched you up with whatever he could find.“


“Then I woke up, “Damien said. “And tried to help Steven keep you alive. It definitely worked.”


Finally, Jared spoke. “All of a sudden, Tyrell comes back with an ambulance and paramedics. Steven, Damien and I all rode with you to the hospital. You had to go to the E.R. and get a blood transfusion.”


“I stayed up all night, praying that you’d be okay,” Steven finally said. “I don’t know what I’d do if you...” he seemed hesitant to say died, as if saying it meant it was true. ”The point is, you’re okay and that’s all that matters.”


“Damien,” I said as I looked at him. He seemed to be hiding something because he couldn’t look at me.


“Yes, Ella.”


“Damien, are you guys hiding something from me?” Immediately everyone denied it except Damien. “Damien, are you hiding something from me.” I asked in a more aggravated tone.


He then came over and whispered in my ear, “You’re a vampire.”


“What!?!?” Everything in the room started spinning. “I can’t be a vampire! Can I?” Damien nodded his head. The next thing I knew, I got a terrible headache, and passed out again.

When I woke up, I remembered, I was now a vampire. I saw Steven staring at me, probably waiting for me to awaken. By now, it was dark, so I figured that everyone had started sleeping, everyone except Steven. “Ella?”


“Yes, Steven?”


“Do you remember what happened before you passed out?”


“Yes Steven. I’m a vampire.” It seemed hard to come right out and say it.” So, when can I leave?”


“The doctors,” Steven said, “Find your recovery to be a miracle.”


“Not to us,” I muttered.


“Anyway, they want to keep you here for a couple more days.” He said, obviously peeved by that decision.


“Well, I’m not going to sit here like some kind of test animal. I’m going to check myself out!”


“Ella! Are you sure that’s a good idea?” He asked me, worried about my safety.


“Of course!” I said getting out of my bed, “I do NOT want to spend the beginning of our honeymoon in a hospital.” I got up and charged right up to the lobby desk. I told the nurse, “I demand to be let out of this hospital!”


She looked at me like I was crazy. “You can't check yourself out, ma'am.”


“But I can!” I turned around to see who shouted. It was Steven.


“Sir, you can't take her out of here. The doctors need to make sure she recovers alright.” I saw Steven, he was pissed. Then he did something I never thought he'd do; compel her.


He looked at her and told her, “You are going to let me take my wife home no matter what the doctors think.” It was a special vampire skill, you tell someone a direct order, and they’d have to do it. So, the nurse let Steven take me out of the hospital. We had to get all of our stuff from the desolate room. Once we finished getting all of my things, I realized that everyone else didn’t know I was leaving.


I then asked Steven, “Where’s Damien?”


“He should be coming back any second.” Then Damien appeared in the doorway.


“Well, where are you guys going?” Damien asked sarcastically.


“Steven checked me out of here,” I said merrily. “I’m free to go on my honeymoon.”


“And when were you going to tell me this,” he asked as if he were the boss of me. “Did you even think about everyone else? I would be tearing this place apart looking for you if you went missing!”


“Well Damien, I was going to tell you I was leaving when you came back from wherever it is you were,” I told him, asserting my independence. “And by the way, I need you to tell everyone that I’m leaving”


He looked at me in a weird way and then with understanding. “I see. Well, you’d best be off, that honeymoon can’t wait any longer.” After that, Steven took me in his arms and whisked me away to our honeymoon.

It’s weird; once Steven took me from the hospital, we got to our honeymoon spot a minute after we left. I know he has super speed, but I thought it would take longer. And even weirder, our honeymoon spot was Damien’s summer house.


I looked at Steven and asked him, “Sweetie, why are we here? Aren’t we supposed to be at our honeymoon spot?”


“This is it,” he told me, a wide grin on his face.


“I don’t get it this is Damien’s house,” I protested. Steven just stood there grinning. “It isn’t Damien’s?” He shook his head. “Is this now our home?” I said excitedly. He nodded and I let out a scream of joy.


“His idea of a wedding gift.” After that, he rushed me inside and I had the most wonderful honeymoon anyone could ever have!

Eventually, I learned to cope with being a vampire, just like my husband. We had a wonderful time in our house on the beach. After a few years of being married, we had two kids. We decided to name them after the people that let me spend eternity with my husband, San and Deac. Damien would sometimes come over to visit and see how the little boys were doing. All I needed was my family.


Overall, after our kids, the rest of eternity was boring. Sure they made cars that flew and could time travel. And someone found a cure for all cancers, but none of that mattered to me. All that mattered was that I had my husband, kids, and other family. So I leave you with this, you should live life like there is no tomorrow. You never know if it could be your last, or for me almost last.