Page 56 of The Last Ultimatum: Part 2

“I don’t want to go home without Mom and Dad there,” Jack said. “Even if it means moving to California.”

“Don’t be a baby, Jack. It’s not like they’re going to haunt the place or anything,” Tom said.

“It would feel like that to me. Haunted by all the memories there.”

“We’ll make new memories,” I assured him.

“That’s not the same.”

“No, it’s not, but it’s something we can do.”

“Do we have to move?” Hannah asked.

“I don’t know yet. It’s possible.”

“Is your house even big enough for all of us?” Tom asked.

“If it isn’t, we’ll buy a new one.”

“Do you expect us to get jobs to pay for that?” Jack asked.

I chuckled. “I can afford to support us all. Money is not a problem.”

“So you’re like rich?” he pressed.

“Jack. We aren’t supposed to ask those sort of things,” Toby said.

“But are you?”

“I don’t know. We aren’t poor.”

“Well that’s a relief,” Jack said.

“How do you know for sure they’re dead?” Toby asked.

“I was there when it happened,” Tilly confessed.

She didn’t share the moment with them the way she had me. But I hoped one day she would.

“We’re going to get through this as long as we stick together.”

“So it’s settled. We’re moving to California,” Hannah said as she wiped at her wet cheeks.

“No one said that, Hannah,” Toby insisted.

“I think we should all think through the pros and cons of staying verses moving. And even if we stay, that doesn’t mean we’d stay in Sydney,” I explained.

“Why wouldn’t we?” they wanted to know.

“I’m just saying it’s just one possibility.”

“Where else would we consider?” Tom wanted to know.

“Well, Tilly’s a King. We could end up there.”

“No. You might as well just send me to boarding school,” Toby said.

“Yeah, I’d take California over that,” Tom added.

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