The Billionaire’s Bargain

Ariel Marie P.O.V:

Thinking back just a couple of hours ago...

Aunt Diane and Uncle Steve were outside by my new 2018 Ford Escape SUV, Cherry Red! I got it before I went off to college. I told them I didn't need a new vehicle. I told them I could ride the bus. But they didn't like that idea. I love them. 

They are great. I am glad they took me in. I can feel the tears in the back of my head. I feel like they are coming up soon. I don't want to show my emotion. 

I held it inside after my parents died. I still can't believe I am going to the school we always talked about when I was little. 

I wanted to go where my parents, my uncle, and my aunt went. So I started putting my bags inside my trunk and the back seat of my SUV.

 Uncle Steve put the heavy loads inside. He won't let me touch them. But I guess I can take them out when I get there in my new home, so after I get all the bags inside my SUV.

I felt my aunt hugging me. I felt her tears fall on my shoulder. I knew my tears were coming now. 

I could not stop them.

\"Now, Diane, let the poor girl go.\" I heard my uncle say with a smile in his voice.

Diane looked back at him and looked at him; you want to sleep outside, buddy.\" I chuckled when I saw my uncle looking away and whistling and not looking at the fiery redhead lady in front of me. He didn't try to grab Diane away from me.

 Ariel Maire. 

You'd better call me, and I mean every hour. You hear me.\" She tells me when her voice breaks up. I knew she was trying to be brave and not to cry. I sighed. I hug her tight in my arms.

 I didn't want to let go of a mom I had had since I was ten years old. I know she is not my real mom. But I never tell her I am glad she took me in. I always called her Aunt Diane, not Mom. She could never have kids. 

I know they have been trying for a long time. I know they would be wonderful parents. I know because they raised me for all these years. 

Now, I hate to break this up.\" We heard my uncle say.\" If Ariel Maire doesn\'t get on the road.\" She will never make it there for first-year orientation. \"Uncle Steve said.

My aunt stared at him and then nodded her head and turned around to look at me. She had a sad smile on her face.

She took her hand into my hair. She put one sting behind my ear.

\"You look like her.\" She said, staring at me with red eyes. I just let it out. I cried in her arms.

 Then, my uncle, Steve, had to pull us apart. She has always been there through the bullying, crushes, and nightmares about my parents dying on September 11. I thank them both.

 I hugged them and got in my SUV.

Before I pulled out my uncle, Steve gave me a beautiful envelope with beautiful handwriting. I gasped when I saw it was my parents' writing. 

My mom always had a beautiful script. I always loved watching her write. I wanted her handwriting to be good like hers. So when I was younger, I would practice writing just like her. 

\"Don\'t open until you are at Harvard University.\" Love Dad and Mom!

\"What, how? I asked them. I started to shake with the letter in my hand. 

They just hugged each other and, with teary eyes, smiled at me. You don't have to open just yet.\" But when you\'re ready, you should open it.\" Uncle Steve says.

I just nodded my head, hugged them one more time, got in the SUV, buckled up, started the engine, and waved at them back up out of the driveway.

 I saw it in the back of my rear mirror. I saw my aunt Diane crying in my uncle Steve\'s arms. I saw them watching me driving down the road. I sighed with tears falling down my cheeks.

Present at Harvard University

I pulled up, and I saw everyone with their friends and family getting things out of their vehicles and walking toward their dorms.

 I had a sad smile on my face thinking about my parents. I know they would be here, driving me and helping me take things to my dorm. I chuckled, thinking about my dad staring at the guys whistling and looking at me.

 I know my dad would not like that. He would give them mean looks.

 He would make sure the guys stayed away from his baby girl. I laughed, thinking about what he would do.

 He told me that. We dreamed of this day. Now, I am celebrating their spirit with me. I know they hear me. I can feel them with me always.

 But I wish they were here with me in form, like the other kid\'s parents. The last memory I have of them. I was mad at them because they had to leave the next day.

 I wanted them to stay at home with me. But they said they would be back. I was so angry with them that I went to my room. I locked my door.

\"Honey, sweetheart.\" I heard my mother say the next day in the early mornings. They were outside my bedroom door. \"Please, baby girl, I listened to my father say. 

But something told me to unlock the door and go out and talk to my parents.

So, I opened the door. I saw my parents standing there waiting for me to come out.

 They saw me and smiled. I remember this.

 I had a feeling something was going to happen. I wish I knew what that feeling was. But later on, I found out that the feeling was the attack on 9-11. 

I wished I could stop them from getting on the plane that morning. But it was God\'s will. So it was met to be—my Aunt Diane said. I remember hugging them and telling them I forgive them. 

They kissed my forehead and told me they would be back in a couple of days. Behind them were my Aunt Diane and Uncle Steve, smiling at us. I didn't want to let them go. 

But I did. I saw them hug my Uncle and Aunt and turned back. I ran to them. I kissed and hugged them one last time.

 I didn't realize it would be the last time I saw them and hugged them.

\"I love you, Momma and daddy, have a safe flight, and hurry back to me,\" I told them.

\"We will, baby girl; we love you too.\" They both told me. I saw them walk around the corner of our house. I heard the front door open and then shut. I ran to my window. I saw them walking toward the cab.

 Then I saw my mom and dad look up like they knew I was watching them. They blew me a kiss and smiled at me.\" We love you\" I saw my mom\'s mouth move.

 I waved at them with tears going down my cheeks. I saw the look on my mom\'s face. She knew something was going to happen that day. If they had known that day, maybe they wouldn't have left on that awful day.

They had no idea. They didn't make it past noon. They died at 10:00 am on September 11, 2001.

That morning, my aunt and uncle came with sad expressions, and their eyes were red. 

Why are they crying, I thought? They told me. I remember. No, you\'re lying.\" They can\'t be.\" Oh, sweetheart, we are so sorry my aunt Diane choked up saying...\" I got up and ran out the door and into their bedroom, and I locked their door. 

I grab my mom\'s shirt off the floor and my daddy\'s shirt. I ran to their bed, lay down, and hugged their shirts to my body. I cried myself to sleep with their scent on my nose and mind.

Thinking back, my aunt and uncle saved me that day. I wanted to join them in heaven with God and our past loved ones. 

They talked me out of their bedroom. I remember my Aunt and Uncle hugging me, and we cried and cried in each other's arms after we did that. 

We started talking about the attack on 9-11. I will never forget that day for the rest of my life. That was the saddest day of our lives. Now I am strong because of my parents, aunt, and uncle. My family.

I was thinking back...

I felt my heart hurting; they are not here. So, I didn't want to think about sad things. I shook my head.

 I stop at the parking lot where the freshmen dorms are. I think. I turn off the engine. I closed my eyes. 

We did it, Mom and Dad.\" I had a sad smile on my lips and tears in my eyes. 

I wiped my eyes and wanted to make sure I didn't look bad when I got out of the vehicle. I unbuckle my seat belt and grab my parents' letters. I put the envelope in my purse, opened my driver\'s door, and got out.

I started walking when I bumped into a brick wall. Ouch! I thought. That is a hard brick wall. Then the wall spoke with a deep manly voice.