Chapter Three: Our Last Hours.

Dear Nick Ryan, we will be calling you back to arms, to act as an American spy in our Russian embassy. We will be expecting you in Washington D.C on the 3rd of December, 1945.

Then it hit him. He finally understood everything. He wasn't going to have days. If he wanted to get to Washington in time, he had to leave very early tomorrow to catch the first train to Washington DC. He had no more time than now and he has just deprived himself of spending the now with his family.

"What have I done," Nick said to himself, now drowning in a river of his own making. He walked up the stairs to his room, opened the door to see Rose facing the right of the bed, he walks to her and kneels.

"Honey, I'm sorry. I should have told you, I should have trusted you'll understand, and now that I'm aware, I have to leave latest tomorrow morning, I know that if I had just told you, we would be making the most of our last few hours as a family and I'm truly sorry." He looks at her as she opens her eyes to see him. "I'm truly sorry, but you have to understand that this might be the last time you'll see me, cause there is a greater chance that I'll not return from this one and I never wanted you and Tim to feel the pain and worry of having to tell your final goodbyes. But I'm sorry." looking at Rose, he notices the tears rolling down her cheek, he wipes the tears off her face.

She understood his reasons and though she still wanted to stay angry at him, she couldn't, she couldn't let her last hours with him be filled with anger and pain, she sat up and hugged him as tears roll down her face. She wanted to just hold him like that and not let go, and when she did it felt like their final goodbye. "Don't ever lie to me. Whatever it is, I'll be right here for you. Besides, where would I be going, I'm pregnant." She said laughing, but even that couldn't cheer her up. She wipes her tears with the back of her hand and puts on a fake smile."Look at me, crying, then what will Tim be doing. See we are not going to spend this short clock, here feeling sad, no, we are going to go out of this house and gonna make the best our time together," she said smiling and looking at him.

As does words came from her mouth, it brought a strange feeling of happiness to him, the joy of getting a happy farewell from his family. "Okay, Let's make the most of our time."

"So what do you think you're doing on that knee. Go! and get dressed, this family is going out," she added quickly. She got up from the bed and went to Tim's room while Nick went to take his bath. The bathroom is in between both rooms.

Rose walks into Tim's room, Tim is on his bed, lying with his back facing the door. Rose walks to the right side of his bed, kneeling in the front of him, she still couldn't see his face.

"Sweetie, please look at me, please," she asks with a soft tone. He still didn't raise his head. "Sweetie, I understand, I know your sad that your father is leaving, but he too is sad that he has to leave you, If it was his choice he wouldn't go, but he has to, so we need to be happy and make the most of this little time we have together."

Tim sits up, revealing he has been crying all this time, his eyes are red, dried tears all over his face. "But mom, how can I be happy when I know he's leaving," he said still sad.

"Look, honey, daddy is leaving and we can't change that, but what we can do is, show him we care and make the most of the time we have with him cause it might be the..." She pauses for a while. "So honey do you want to spend your time here crying, or with your father making memories."

Silence filled the room as he thought deeply about this, then he remembered, memories last forever. " Making memories," he said, filling a little better.

"Yes, just go get ready, we are going out," she said, smiling and cleaning his remaining tears, kissed him in his head and watched him go to the bathroom, Nick was already done and out.

She walks back to her room to dress up.

12:13 pm

Nick and Rose are dressed, seated waiting in the for Tim, trying their best to put on a good attitude, a smile, when the sadness is eating them from inside out, trying to hold in their tears whenever they look at each other.

Rose can't help herself, but she has to, as tears fill her eyes and she realizes she'll soon break, a distracting happy cheer comes from the stairs putting her to her feet.

Tim runs down, into the sitting room presenting himself. But he notices that it changes nothing in the mood of the room, all they just want to do is stare at him, clapping his hands, he snaps them out it. "Come on guys, I'm ready, so can we go now?" He walks, grabs both their arms and leads them out the door.

"Okay, okay." Pulling her arm back as she locked the door, putting on a smile and whipping the tears hanging in her eyes. They walk to their Austin 10, they got in, buckled up. Rose looks to the back seat and sees Tim still struggling with his belt. Unbuckles and reaches back and helps him, then seated back in her seat. "So we are just going to head to the train station and then head straight to the park, okay?" He nods his head, she sits well and buckles back up.

Nick starts the car and they drive off, heading down the road to the Train station.

12:30 pm

Silence is all the sound that can be heard in the car.

Nick getting a little tired of the silence puts on the radio. They where playing Amapola by James Dorsey, he hears the intro beat and immediately feels the need to sing, he hums as Jimmy Dorsey went through the sad soft part of the song and as the song feel went up with an upbeat tune he joined in.

"Amapola, my pretty little poppy

You're like that lovely flower so sweet and heavenly

Since I found you, my heart is wrapped around you

And loving you, it seems to beat a rhapsody

Amapola, the pretty little poppy

Must copy its endearing charms from you.

Amapola, Amapola

How I long to hear you say, I love you." he sang terribly, not caring how he sounded, he was deep in the song, humming to the ending tunes. "I used to listen to this song back in the day, it used to send me so deep into the words and tunes I'll almost forget I was at war." The announcer introduces oh johnny oh by The Andrews Sisters

"here's another one, it's the Andrew sisters singing oh Jonny oh," says the thicker voiced man from the radio and that seems to do the job as it puts everyone in the mood to sing.

"Oh, this is another of my favorites" added Nick as the tunes rolled in.

"Oh, Johnny, Oh, Johnny, how you can love?" Rose sang as the song started with her high pitch voice.

"Oh, Johnny, oh, Johnny, Heaven's above." Nick sang as Rose stopped.

"You make my sad heart jump with joy

And when you're near, I just can't sit still a minute

I'm so," They both Sang together stopping for Tim to join in.

"oh, Johnny, oh, Johnny, please tell me, dear

What makes me love you so?" Tim sang with his sweet voice. And they took the rest of the song together, laughing and singing at some parts. They felt happy as they continued, singing the songs from the radio as the journey went on.

1:00pm

They soon reach a stop at the Pittsburgh union station. Nick takes a spot on the line to the ticket stand while Tim and Rose sat waiting for him.

1:15 pm

Nick's turn, he hasn't been to the train station for a long time. "Excuse me, sir, when is the earliest train leaving for Washington."

"The earliest train for Washinton is the 5 o'clock train, leaving tomorrow morning, reaching there at 3:00 pm, but if your planning on getting there early, take the 9 o'clock train, leaving this evening." replied, the ticket vendor.

"Okay, I'll take the 9:00 pm ticket," Nick said feeling skeptical about this choice.

"That will be $67."

Nick paid, took the ticket, and gone back to Rose and Tim. They all went back to the car, now heading to the Moraine state park Philadelphia.

1: 45 pm

At Moraine Park.

Nick and Rose are seated on a bench watching Tim as he played with other kids in the park, the site of Tim playing laughing and having fun, filled them with so much joy they almost forgot that Nick is leaving tomorrow.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" asked Rose, still admiring the park and Tim.

"What?...The park, oh! Yes, it's amazing." replied Nick.

"Not just that, the fact that something this beautiful and peace-giving could still exist even after the war, is amazing."

The war that was all that sounded, he finally remembered that he can't stay here.

Rose turns and looks at him, sees him just staring, no reply. "Well, don't you think so?" she said, snapping him out of thought.

Nick knew he can't make the same mistake twice. He holds Rose's hands and started, looking straight into her eyes to see her change as she heard it. "Rose you need to know that...that. I'm leaving for Washington today." Rose says nothing, but looks immediately front and tries hard to get back to the happy moment she was in a few seconds ago. "Rose, please say something."

Still looking forward and trying to be strong. "What do you want me to say?" said in an emotionless tone. Nick says nothing. "hurray? or should I cry? Maybe. Just maybe it will answer why I can't just have a few hours. Our last hours, feeling happy, watching Tim play and smile." she smiles but tears fill her eyes. "With my husband beside me. But you know what, go home, pack up and rest, you got a long travel to Washington. I and Tim will take the bus home."

"I'm not leaving here, at least not alone and we still have a couple of hours till 9, so let's just stop thinking and have fun," He said, now bending in front of her wiping off her tears. he puts his palm forward. "So let's forget this, sing and dance till the guards chase us or you agree to come home with me. So what do you say."

She places her palm in his, picking him up, his arms around her waist and hers around his neck, and they danced to the song she sang. They danced, laughed, and fell cause Nick was a bad dancer. And at that moment leaving didn't feel sad, cause of these last hours.

***

Nick opens his eye, he was flat on his belly, covered in sand monitoring the terrains for sudden movements and spies, tension built up as the sound of screaming grew louder, it wasn't the scream for help and pain, it was the war-cry growing louder as the war intensifies. Soon, some movement in the bushes, no site of any human, but the sound of their movement were enough for Nick to know where they were. And then the silence, I think it was the worse at this point, turn to check and risk revealing your location, so curiosity grew, then a loud sound, coming out of the bushes are Nazi most exploded from the land mines but the few that survived, were faced with Nick shooting, each one in the head for the certainty of death. "Boom crack boom crack." The song played on, until all that remained was his breath, turning to his back, he was alone they have already headed back to camp, the dead were much the wounded pretty and the living all gone.

Nick walking around to see the dead, most with a big red hole in their face or half their skull was gone, leaving openings where their brains leaking out, and one particular dead man caught his attention he bent down to look and, yes, it was lieutenant Mason smith his face rotten, eye falling of his eye socket, body filled with rats some running out of his mouth, a huge hole in his belly reveals his stomach and intestine rolling out and the naming chain around his neck. Nick immediately stands up confused then he spotted a man in the bush, guard down it was too late "boom." He fell to his knees and lies on his back, into the silence, then Mason holds Nick buy the shirt, forcing him to look into his empty eyes, with Roses pouring out his mouth, he said: "You did this, you killed me, you left me." Repeating it over and over and over again, until the world lost its color and the last site was of an eyeless man with no face worm moving into him and a rat sticking out his neck.

"No!!" Nick screamed as he violently sat up, he held his head trying to make sense of what he saw and a soft hand rubbing his back, putting him to relief, he turns to his side, Rose was there awake.

"It's the dreams again, right?" Rose asked but got no reply. "You have to promise me that you'll see a doctor before Russia or even there."

He kisses her. And stands to his feet looks at the clock above their bed. "7:56, got to get ready," he said in melancholy, he went to the bathroom to take a shower, Rose went down to the kitchen to prepare something for him before he leaves, calling Tim and her way down.

Tim comes to the kitchen. "Mom, What is it?"

"Go get dressed, we'll soon be going out."

"Where?" he quickly added.

"The train station, to drop off your father."

Tim knew he was leaving but not this soon but he knew he had to put on a see-you-soon face, he went to his room to change.

8:05 pm

Nick came down the stairs, dressed, and carrying his luggage, Rose was waiting for him in front of the dining table, he went to the sitting room, dropped his luggage and back to the dining. Looking at the food on the table and smiles. "What is this for?" he said seeming surprised and happy.

"Just whooped you up some of your favorite meals before you go," she said taking him to his seat. "orange omelet, Campbell soup, and peanut butter and jelly sandwich, with the crust off, just how you like it,"

He looks at her and smiles. "I'll like it anyhow you make it."

"Now you just eat, while I go get dressed," she said as she walked to her room.

8:15 pm

Tim comes down to the dining dressed, he sits directly opposite Nick and tries his best to pause this moment so he never goes. "Uhh, I can't," he said feeling annoyed.

"What can't you do?" Nick asks inquisitively.

"Can't pause this moment," he retorted "Can't stop you from going."

"I love you son and this isn't a goodbye, it's a see you again," Nick said trying to make his son feel better. "But I'm not yet gone so why not, come help your old man finish all this food your mom made."

Tim smiled, he carried his seat to right beside Nick and joins him eating and laughing at all the food jokes he made.

8:25 pm

** please play, then read as it plays**

Rose comes downstairs dressed, she sees the boys happy, having fun it brought tears to her eyes. "Okay, we need to hurry up to the train station." Those where one of the hardest words she has said in her life.

They all get up and head to the car, driving off to the train station.

8:55 pm

They all knew it was going to come to this and all never wanted it to be.

The announcer calls for his train. They all got up it was time, Nick picks Tim up and hugs him tightly. "Tim take good care of your mother, never let her out your site. Protect her, and be there for her, now that I'm not. Promise me that." He said trying to hold back his tears.

"I promise you, daddy." He said as his tears ran down his face.

Nick looked at Rose studying every part, every inch of her, cramming even as she fails at being strong, as she tries not to cry. They both rush at each other and kiss never wanting to let go, but she forces herself to let go of him, with tears rolling down her face as she pushes back.

"And you promise me you'll stay safe and protect our children, tell little Nick I love him," He said taking a final look at his family together. He turns his back and walks to the train, checks in.

He takes his seat next to the window looking back at his family, the trains start moving and they keep seeming farther and farther away until nothing.

**Rose falls to her knee and weeps cause she knew it was going to be the last time she was going to see me, I could still see Tim next to her holding her just as I told him. Those last moments we spent together were the best of my life as they made the memories I carried throughout my life. Rose, If you ever read this, Just know I love you, tell Nickolas and Tim I love them and will always.

Nickolas Ryan.**

**Thank you 😊, for reading. Please vote, comment, feedback.**