This time, Maeva knew exactly what to do to access the documents in the safe. She also remembered at what file she stopped. It was a manila envelop, that seemed new. She took it and placed it on the desk. The other document she saw that had been under the manila envelop, was cardboard neatly stacked and wrapped in some kind of official ribbon with a seal.
 
First the envelop. It was only folded over and fastened by opening the metal twigs. The papers inside looked like official ones, with seals from different notary houses. The first one was a birth certificate, same as described by Neve during her call. Caroline indicated as being her mother and Sky, as the father. She read everything on it. She turned the last page and found another official document called                       

'Refutation of baby X (hereby named Baby Girl) Birth Certificate indicating Mrs. Caroline Fitzgerald to be the mother of said, Baby Girl.'
 
The document went on to completely disqualify the birth certificate with Caroline’s name on it. In another section, the document presented the verified original legal birth certificate document, as annexed. Maeva turned the pages until she saw it. It was quite different and easy to see this was a legal form from the hospital.
 
Maeva was so happy to see Sky had taken care of this. She also understood why he didn’t talk about it at the time. She was not stable enough, too upset and quite paranoid. She placed all the documents back in the envelop and kept it on the desk to have handy for Neve. She then took out the carboard package that was underneath. She could not unpack it without breaking the seal, which she didn’t want to do. She turned it around, manipulating it carefully. There was a makeshift fine paper envelop inserted in the back. She took it out and opened it.
 
 
List of verified content
 
First Appearance of Superman in a publication.
 
First Appearance of Spiderman in a publication.
 
First Edition of Marvel Universe.
 
First Edition of Superman.
 
First Edition of Spiderman.
 
 
Ownership : Lord Skylord Finnegan Hawthorne, the 4th.
Donated to him by his maternal uncle at his death.
 
 
Maeva didn’t have her computer, but she made a mental note to check on the value of the package’s content. There was another one in the safe. She tried to grab it. It seemed to be thicker than what her hand could handle. She went with both hands. It was really thick and both wider and longer than she expected. When she finally dislodged it and put it on the desk, it seems to have different sections, and she saw that is was wrapped in a strange, waxed parchment type of paper. It wasn’t so oversize as she first thought, maybe 9 by 13 inches. She placed it on the desk and saw a different type of seal, more like a diploma seal, bigger than the last. On the official seal was:
 
Verified and certified an original by the Vatican.
 
She turned the package around and saw an unsealed golden letter. She carefully opened it with her gloved hands.
 
This is the first original (800 A.D.) bounded in 1958 and only officially recognized copy is to be handled carefully and as little as possible, if at all. You have been given an exact replica to be able to consult it as much as you wish.
 
 
********************************The Book of Kells********************************
 
The only recognized owner is Lord Skylord Finnegan Hawthorne, Duke of the Shire of Hawthorne, County of Jersey, United Kingdom.
 
 
Maeva inserted the card back carefully. Could it be? Could it be what she thought this was? She had a Master’s of Anthropology, and she recalled learning about this book. She loved Irish antiques and loved Celtic medieval items. What she recalled was that this was a bible of some sort with other insular gospels. Its illustrations were exquisite works done in an Irish monastery. She also recalled that the paper it was made of, and the ink used, was different and an art in itself. She was trying to recall its value but only remembered it was high valued. She was ready to put everything back as she found them, when she saw some coins at the bottom of the safe. She bent to pick them up, but they turned out to be little handles. When she pulled on them, she found three velvet pouches. The safe had a hidden bottom floor. She pushed the documents carefully to the right and recognizing the pouches she often used herself, laid her shawl to empty the pouches’ content. The first one held diamonds, clear diamonds in different sizes. The second bag held large London blue sapphires, the third one, large pink diamonds. She put everything back in its place and left the study as she had found it. She was at a complete lost for words. 
 
 
 
 
 
Neve had always been a beauty but now that she was all grown up, she was stunning. Maeva saw a lot of Sky in her daughter, but this time, she was in awe of how much her daughter took from his genes. She had grown and must now be close to 175 cm. She was lean and muscular, but not too much. You could see she was a sportsy girl. Her eyes were the bluest of blues. Only the shape of them was like her mom’s. Nose was straight and noble. Her jaw, mouth and teeth shape were definitively Sky. Her hair was thick and wavy, light chestnut brown with sun bleach streaks. The whole package emanated a strong feminine presence.
 
Maeva was at the window writing, when movement drew her attention outside. She saw Neve walking towards the house with long confident strides. A smile automatically appeared on her face. The light of her life was home. What a delight to see her walk around and interact with Yvonne, Victor and the farmhands. She saw Neve waive at some of them. A few seconds later Neve was sitting in front of her.
 
“You are back. I am relieved.”, Maeva was worried about the climbing.
 
“Mama, I have been climbing for a long time now. I am safe.”, Neve was weary of Maeva’s worries. She felt she was unfairly getting all the weight of those worries  because Maeva had lost Sky. She decided to change the topic. “Mama, I would like continue on in Criminology and Arts at the Uni.”.
 
“Well, ok, but where will that lead you?", asked Maeva.
 
“You know how I love art? And I am quite good at it, mostly in sculpting, right?”, Neve said passionately. “I’ve found a program that links art and criminology, but I would need to take some special classes in Forensic Anthropology.”
 
“You want to do face recognition?”, Maeva had looked into that exact training, when she was in her twenties. It was difficult to access it then.
 
“How did you guess?”, Neve was surprised. Maeva nodded.
 
“Strange, I thought they would convert everything into digital works these days.”, said Maeva. “I also was at Uni, when I was much younger. I was also attracted to that but there was only one program, and it was given at FACES Institute in Scotland.
 
“Yeah, it is largely digital, now. You do not have to calculate all the different skin thickness spots yourself anymore. You enter the information you have or only the few details you might have, and the software does it for you. The computer still needs a human to tell it what to use and then, it will tell you what marker to use and where. Naturally, when you get to the adipose tissue and dermis, that is where your artists’ hands come in.”, Neve made a gesture as if she was sculpting clay with her hands.
 
“Well Darling, you can do what ever you want, go wherever you want. Money is not an issue, you know that, right?”, she said.
 
“Yes Mom, I know the world is my oyster. I just need to find the pearl.”, they both smiled.
 
Neve hadn’t been home long. As she said, she had brought Gerald along. It was the first time Maeva really met the man in person. He was a little younger than her, but not at all as she imagined him. A thick mane of wavy white hair brushed back nonchalantly and a fit body for his age made him an attractive man. Maeva had envisioned a very stuffy suit and tie man. What she met was a jeans and checkered shirt kind of guy. His voice was deep set, and she was surprised to know he was Canadian, from Spring Island, British Columbia. For the first time, she found he practiced from his office in Spring Island. She always thought he was in the States.  
 
When they first arrived from the London Notary, Neve had announced that she was dropping her fall session at the Uni. At first, Maeva was quite upset, more so because she thought it was because of the confusion around the birth certificate. She quickly made the correction known to Neve. It did help calm Neve some, but it wasn’t the only thing affecting her. Her boyfriend and her had just broken up and she was in a state of confusion as to what she wanted to do with her life.
 
Neve had been riding Shadow and Sugar. Both horses were very accepting of her as a rider. She spent a lot of time with the barn animals and rekindled with Baby, who started to follow Neve around and was again, relegated to the grazing field. She spent many mornings with Yvonne and Victor at the guest house and even kept company to Victor while Yvonne was working. Neve felt that the old man didn’t have many days left. Neve also practiced her endurance. She swam in the open sea. Everyone was preoccupied by her swimming amongst the sharks, but Maeva knew the real danger was the riptide. Even if she didn’t want Lee and Maeva to get close again, she preferred he be there when she rode and when she swam. He was instructed to stay by her side, and he did.
 
Thanksgiving came and went. Maeva wondered how something that took so much preparation and work, passed away so quickly and left such a mess. The whole domain family and the village were invited as well as some friends from overseas. Her son, which she hadn’t seen in a few years, came over with the grandkids. She had visited with him a few times when she traveled but he had never visited the farm. When he finally had the tour, he couldn’t believe he never took the opportunity to visit. The grandchildren were now older than Neve and she couldn’t believe she had so many older nephews and nieces. It was the most wonderful time for Maeva to have all her different families with her. The grandkids left, promising to come back for the whole summer. Her son promised they would see each other more often. She saw in his eyes that he had not realized she was getting much older. Maeva was curious but she didn't ask about his wife.
 
They had a huge clean-up to do. All the farmhands were doing their best, but she had to get the whole house in order, from the sheets on all the guest beds, even the ones in the attic, to replenishing the pantry. She still had the same cleaning crew and that helped a lot. For the simpler things, Gerald had stayed on and offered his help. The days Neve didn’t ride, Gerald would ride Shadow and they would go riding. Shadow had mellowed some. He would let almost everyone ride him now. Gerald was on a long overdue holiday but, came the day he had to return to his work office. He invited Maeva to come visit. She said she might but didn’t think she would be well enough. She was also hoping to go to her Lake House, when Neve would go back to university. Gerald hugged them both; a little too long, Maeva thought. He is also someone living alone, she thought. It must be lonely.


 
Victor passed away with the arrival of the first snow. Neve was looking at the carpet of light white snow on the ground.
 
“Victor doesn’t like snow, Mom.”, she said. She went to make her mom and herself a coffee and came back to sit near Maeva who was also looking outside at the snow.
 
“You must visit him, lift his spirits up!”, smiled Maeva. Neve frowned.
 
“I think it’s too late, Mom.”, she said. The phone rang. Maeva answered.

"Oh, no. We’re coming over.”, she said, crying. Neve had tears running down her cheeks. She was still looking at the snow. Maeva cried quietly, also looking at the snow.
 
Lee was walking back from parking a four-wheeler and, at that exact same time, he looked up at the window. Seeing both women crying, he came running up. He came forward, Neve turned around, he opened his arms welcoming her. She went to him and cried even more. Maeva witnessed their embrace and the only thing that was in her mind, but her pain was that no one can change destiny.
 
 
 
After a few months, Yvonne decided to move into the main house with Maeva and Neve. She always had a room at the farm, so it was fine. She gave the house, as it was, to Lee. She only asked that he let her know if he wanted to get rid of things to give her a chance to taking it back. Lee was fine with the arrangement. He mostly asked if he could pack certain things and placed them in the attic.
 
Neve left the farm before Christmas. She wanted to look around and find herself an apartment. The program she found that partly covered what she wanted, was in the States. Maeva wondered how Lee was taking it. They had spent a lot of time together since Victor died.  She didn’t notice anything specifi88v c. Lee was the one driving Neve at the airport once the flight date came. When he cam back, he was immediately back at work on the domain. He was the Team Leader now and the caretakers were all doing good with his leadership.
 
Maeva had been in contact with Gerald, using Teams video chat. There were planning the changes on the Lake House. He even traveled there to buy what was needed. Other things, they needed to order as Maeva was now a very fussy client, he often told her, joking.
 
Maeva was ready to leave. The only sad part was that her jewelry business had been busy since the Thanksgiving reunion. She received orders from the villages and other villages as well as from different out of country clients. She has almost completely stopped writing. She was having too much fun, creating.
 
 
 
‘Everyday brings something new. Yesterday was a new wrinkle, today is a debilitating pain in my wrist. Tomorrow might be a tender memory of Sky. Science says that the crystalline memory takes over as we get older. It is true. I remember clearly, as if I was there, most things of my past. This helps me navigate my last days on earth. Sky. My beautiful and forever love. I clearly recall him now. For awhile, after he disappeared, I felt the memory of his face was dissipating from my mind. Now, I see his face clearer than ever. I can close my eyes and recall every angle of his face, every hollow, roundness, his wide forehead, his masculine nose, his pretty mouth and his eyes, his big blue eyes. My feelings are sharper, more real. I remember touching his hairy chest, sometimes curly, something shaved down to a half inch short. His thighs, the shape of him, the smell of him. Even the love making, I recall it as if it happened yesterday. I remember him saying he wanted to live all the ‘first times’ with me, and also, the last times. Some first times, we had the good fortune of living. Last times came without us knowing they were the last: last words spoken to each other, last morning and last time waking up near each other, last ‘Good morning’, last touch, last kiss, last look into each others’ eyes. I now understand what it means to ‘live each moment as if it was the last’.
 
The pain of losing him is not as vivid as it once was. I can now breathe. I can do my everyday activities without feeling guilty. I can look at Neve without feeling pain. She reminds me so much of him. I can see she is well, even if she lacked a father at a tender age. My pain at knowing, that Sky’s right to see his daughter grow and to take care for her as best as he could, was stolen from him, is now tolerable. I am old now. My body and soul are damaged by years of mistrust and resentment. I hurt holistically. My spiritual beliefs have shifted to encompass the forever often dreamed of ‘heaven’ where I can be reunited with my husband on vaporous clouds.
Excerpt from Maeva Cantley Hawthorne, taken from Journals.
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