Chapter 1: It's Time

An old man with pure white hair, sharp green eyes, and no shortage of wrinkles, sat on his rocking chair in his front porch with his five year old granddaughter sitting quietly on his lap. The two just sat there, silently enjoying each others company. The old man thought back to everything he had ever done in his life, from the time he could speak to his first fate with the girl of his dreams, to the day of their wedding, to the day his daughter was born. He experienced his fair share of hardships and he had made many mistakes but he could happily say that he had very few regrets in his life.

"Shouldn't be to long now I suppose." He said in a quiet whisper, as he watched his granddaughter turn to him with a confused expression. The old man chuckled to himself as he could practically see the gears turning in the little girl's head as she tried to figure out what he meant.

"What you mean Grampy? Are we going somewhere?" The girl asked her grandfather. The old man couldn't help but want to hug this adorable little creature. She was just way too cute.

"I will, very soon, but don't you worry about that princess." It took everything the old man had not to tear up at that moment. He wished dearly that he could stay and watch his family grow and live happily together for years to come, but sadly time was not on his side.

"Where you going? Can I come too?" The little girl asked with a toothy little grin on her face. The old man couldn't help, but laugh at the little girl's adorable little face, especially the little gap between her teeth where he recently helped her pull a tooth out. It just made her look even more cute and innocent. The old man thanked God for giving him these few years. He enjoyed every second he shared with his grandchildren.

" Sorry to say princess, but this is a journey I gotta do by myself."

The little girl pouted for few moments but quickly let it go and started playing with the old man's buttons on his shirt. The old man stared deeply at his grand daughter's tiny face, trying to burn her image into his head as this was likely the last time he could ever be alone with her. He studied every inch of her face, from her long brown hair, to her green little eyes, to even the tiny birthmark on her chin. After a few minutes the old man sighed deeply to himself.

"Princess, do mind getting your mommy for me? I have something I'd like to talk to her about."

The little girl looked up at the old man and nodded her little head. The old man gently lifted the little girl off his lap and placed her on the floor. She quickly ran inside the house to look for her mother. The old man just rocked on his chair as he thought back to years past again. He thought back to his time teaching history at the university and all of the different students he had. He had met kids from nearly all walks of life. He cherished his time as a professor almost as much as he cherished his family. He enjoyed talking about knights, vikings, kings, and queens. Medieval history was one of his favorite subjects. He enjoyed discussing the different cultures from that time period and how different they were from today's society.

"Too bad Marcus is still deployed overseas. Would have been nice to say goodbye. That boy, always trying so hard. Never seems to take a break. Just like his father, though I guess it isn't a bad thing, so long as he makes time for himself and his family. I still remember when he was in middle school and used to make me watch those Japanese cartoons with him. He used to love those ones with adventurers and dragons. I would always complain on how unrealistic the weapons were.Hehe."

" I've lived a pretty good life if I do say so myself. I wish you could have seen the grandkids yourself, Jenny. Though you would have spoiled them rotten if you did, haha. Especially that Amy." The old man said as he thought back to his late wife, Jennifer.

She died tragically twenty years ago in a car accident. She was rushing to the hospital because their daughter was having her first child. Amy's older brother Marcus.

At that moment the front door opened and out came Amy dragging her mother by the hand. The Old man was always shocked by how much his daughter resembled her mother. She was practically the spitting image of her mother, aside from her sandy blonde hair. That she got from him. His daughter looked at him and immediately could tell something was a little off. Her father always said she had her mother's intuition. She knelt down and smiled at her daughter.

"Amy, why don't you go inside and see if daddy wants to play, okay? Mommy and grampy need to have a grownup talk."

"Kay, mommy. Have a nice trip Grampy." Amy gave her grandfather a big hug and kissed him on the cheek then ran inside to look for her father.

The old man had a big smile on his face as he watched the little girl's back. He could feel his eyes welling up as the thought of never seeing his cute granddaughter again came to mind. He looked at his daughter and gestured for her to sit in the chair beside his. When she sat down the old man took her hand in his and said.

"I think today is the day, Claire." He looked at his daughter with sad eyes.

Claire stared at her father for a long time. Her eyes getting redder by the moment as she tried to think of what to say. Finally, she said.

"Are... you sure.... dad?"

She could barely stop herself from breaking down at that moment as she tried to force the words out of her mouth. Claire knew her father better than anyone. He always knew exactly when he would catch a cold and even predicted himself having a heart attack on that same day. He would have died had they not been near the hospital already. she knew he was almost never wrong when it came to his own body.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Probably won't even get to have dinner today. I want you to know I have always been proud of you. You've grown into a beautiful woman and an amazing mother. Your mom would have been so proud of you. I know it wasn't easy when we lost her. Raising Marcus was tough on you without her to help you. You were lucky to have Matt there with you. I want you to tell him how much I appreciate his love for you and the time he devoted to you and the kids. He even let this sorry old man stay in his house for the past ten years hehe. I'll never be able to thank him enough for taking care of you like a real man should." The old man took a shaky breath before he continued. "I want you to take all of my books and antiques in the shed out back and choose what to keep. Then sell the rest alright? No use in having that stuff rotting back there. You can donate all the antiques if you want, doesn't really matter to me." The old man hesitated a moment.

"I love you Claire. More than you will ever know."

The old man tightly squeezed his daughter's hand before she just couldn't hold back her tears anymore and embraced him tightly for a long time. All you could hear were her sobs for a while.

A while later Claire woke up after having cried her eyes out only to look up and see her father's eyes closed shut as though he were sleeping. She knew he was gone. She quietly got up and kissed her father's forehead. Then she sat back down on the rocking chair next to his with the old man's cold hand still in her's and stayed like that for a while. She brought his hand to her lips and kissed it gently before she got up and walked inside her house.