We spent the rest of the day reminiscing about the past. Me telling him things I thought I remembered and him confirming that my memories were in fact correct. We went through a few of my sketchbooks, and I realized that all this time the things Mom told me were all my imagination were in fact true memories from my past. Spending time with Eric made me realize more and more what I had missed out on. I want to be able to just let it all go and focus on my future, but this pain is too fresh.
We decided to go check out the lighthouse. When we opened the doors to start the climb up the first thing, I noticed was the stairs. Just like in my drawings they were a bright red. When we got to the top the view overlooking the ocean was breathtaking. This would be an amazing place to sit and draw. But for now, I would just soak up the view while holding Erics hand.
"Eric? Could you tell me a little about my parents? What are they like? What do they do for a living?"
"Well, your dad is CEO of Lavine Enterprise..."
"What? You mean he's some big shot rich guy? What exactly does Lavine Enterprise do or sell?"
"Let me talk without interrupting and I will explain. Deal?"
"Deal I guess this is just a lot to take in."
"I know it is. Lavine Enterprise designs and builds sailboats. Your dad oversees the entire business while your mom likes to be more hands-on involved. She draws up designs for customers looking for something unique. I bet that's where you get your love for drawing from. Your mom always has a sketchbook nearby. When you were little, you would draw pictures of sailboats while she was designing for customers."
"What sort of things does my dad like to do. I mean outside of work?"
"Well Uncle Anthony loves his time away from work. Traveling here, taking mini vacations. He is always up with the sun and has his cup of coffee first thing. He also loves a good game of Monopoly. He was teaching us to play with your new Lighthouse-opoly you had gotten for your birthday. You caught on quickly. You thought it was funny that you kicked my butt anyway."
"I wish I could remember them better."
"You did spend allot of time with your nanny when you were little."
"Why? Did they not want to be with me?"
"Just the opposite, they wanted to be able to be with you as much as possible but at that time their business was really starting to take off. When your mom finally fired Veronica, it was because she was cutting back on work and wanted to be home with you more. I know there was more to the reason behind why she was fired but only Aunty knows all the details I can only tell you what I know and what I remember."
"I understand that Eric, I wouldn't expect anything more than that from you. I remember occasions I just wish I remembered more of them and who they are as individuals than just the memories."
"I know Perri. I will help you in anyway I can. We will get through this together. I promise." He moved over so he was standing behind me, bent down and kissed my cheek. Then we just stood watching the boats come and go over the sea.
We headed back down and headed back to the house. Eric and I decided to make burgers for lunch then we were going to spend the rest of the day lounging around and playing games. Tomorrow we were going to go hiking and explore the Island.
He taught me how to play Canasta then we decided to play a few rounds of Uno. When he was busy focusing on his hand, I quickly slid two cards under my thigh. I had been doing this on and off throughout this round. We were sitting on the living room floor on either side of the coffee table. As I reached for my can of Dr. Pepper, I picked it up and realized it was empty. I sat debating over whether I wanted to try getting up to get something else to drink or wait until I had the opportunity to find a new hiding spot for my cards.
When I thought he wasn't paying attention I slid my hand under my thigh. However, I made the mistake of looking down.
"What are you looking at Perri?"
"Nothing" I said as I snapped my head back in his direction. I never was good at lying though, it was extremely hard to keep a smile off my face.
He started to inch closer to me and I knew I couldn't move, or he would find my stash of cards.
"You're hiding something Periwinkle. What could it possibly be?"
I couldn't help it as he approached me, I started to laugh. "Nothing Eric, I swear lets just get back to the game."
He was right in front of me now as he had moved the table to the side. The next thing I knew he was tickling me, and I couldn't help but move around trying to escape him. Soon I had moved enough so all the cards under me had been exposed.
"Well, well, well look who is hiding cards. You cheater!!" He then again started his assault of tickles along my rib cage. By this point he had me pinned to the ground as he hovered just above me tickling me.
He paused and looked at me shaking his head back and forth then a huge grin spread across his face. He leaned in and kissed me once again.
Soon after we cleaned up the games and decided to watch Yours, Mine, and Ours the 1968 version and have a snack. It wasn't long before we both fell asleep next to each other once again but this time across the living room floor.