We arrived to a boat in the middle of the ocean. Alejandro's plane had the capability to land on the water. Our boat was not near as big as the yacht, but it was comfortable enough, and our children were there. "Clark" and "Bruce" had taken good care of them in our absence. I never called them by their given birth names. I feel like they enjoyed their nicknames.

Maria was so happy to meet her grandchildren. Alejandro and I both were glad to see them. Maria got on her knees to greet them, holding them close. It was like she had been in their lives all along. She began to sing to them, singing a song I had not heard in so long; the song I had first sung on the show, when I first saw Alejandro's heart start to break. I sang with her. I could feel him change. Not into someone different, he was still my Alejandro, but I could feel his emotions start to trickle back. It was nothing like the crying child. It was something much smaller than that, but that wealth of what he was gradually becoming, turning whole again, gave me more hope than ever. As he was looking at his mother in awe, he turned to me with unshed tears in his eyes. We kissed, and held one another, joyfully; so thankful for how our life had turned out to be.

The children and I played with Maria. Alejandro and his boys made plans. For Maria's own personal safety, we believed it would be better for her to have a new identity. Her name was now Angie Marie. If anyone were to ask, she was a hired Nanny for my children that reminded me of Maria. As for our children, they would simply know her as Nana. The name stuck. Even Sandy and Bruno called her that for many years.

We arrived home, and Bruno and Sandy came back to visit from their trip from Fiji. Dumb-dumb and Loco and their families had to cut their trip short, as they had work to go back to work. Bruno and Sandy tarried awhile longer, and admitted they did a little traveling of their own. They didn't talk much about it, but Sandy did a lot of giggling while he would smile at her with hungry looks.

I was glad to be home. I was glad to have my family, and my small circle of friends I considered to be a part of it. If only it could have stayed that way. Loco and Dumb-dumb came to my home, asking for Alejandro to join them on a project. They wanted him to star in a movie. I could feel Alejandro's discontent. The only way he would even agree to this is because he had to go on another mission. I could feel it in my bones. This movie was only a cover-up. He looked at me with pleading eyes, begging me to understand, and knowing how much I knew he didn't want to leave. I offered a semi lighthearted compromise, though I meant every word. "No more love scenes," I said, full of disdain.

Our friends laughed, and Alejandro smiled. "I'll see what I can do, my lady."

He left for a little while, working on a thriller movie. I did not hear from him again while he was gone, convincing me all the more that he was having to deal with his double life.

I visited with Maria more, learning more of Alejandro's life of before. Maria admitted that her son was lost to her when he was just a child. She watched his father take him away periodically, "and every time he left, it was like a piece of his soul went missing, but you fixed him. He is more whole now than I have ever seen him in so long."

I did not mention the monarch project. I did not believe that she was a part of it, nor did I believe she knew anything about it, or needed to know. To her, she was a woman whose husband left her for another woman, and he took their son with them. She did have her concerns that they may have hurt me at one time or another.

"They tried,"" I said. "He wouldn't let them."

"He protected you?"

"Yes." I left out that he had also killed them.

"OH, I am so glad!"

That answer was all that I needed to know that they in fact had hurt her the way my ex mother and father attempted to hurt me. We never spoke of this again.

I told her of our visit to Mexico and how we visited Pablo's grave.

"Oh, my Pablo! Did he tell you what happened to him?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but something didn't feel right. I paused. "I don't know. Did he?" I allowed her to fill me in of Pablo's "accident." I didn't have the heart to tell her what I knew. Apparently my "father" had some acting skills of his own, crying over his broken body and all.

I wanted to know more about Alejandro's past family. I wanted to see if there was any hope that they could be reunited with him. For certain, Alejandro had a daughter just a little older than me by a couple of months, and a son just a little younger. "His mother was one of Alejandro's loose ends, but he looks just like him, especially his eyes." Cindy's mother was Alejandro's first wife. They became pregnant together very young, and then she just took the child and disappeared one day. "My son was devastated." The rest of them that came, "if they even were his," were only looking for fame and fortune. Cindy and Mateo were the only ones that were searching for a father.

We made arrangements to meet them, and invited them to our home. Mateo was 17. He had toasted almond skin, and a unique shade of red hair, the texture somewhere in between type 4 and his father's. His face had some features that were nott from Al, but they were more or less twins from the neck down, with their slim body build and height. He even walked the same as his father. He brought along his mother, a lovely cocoa and cream complexion, with deep burgundy dreadlocks. She had a short, curvy figure, with eyes of glowing amber, and a keen intelligence in them. She gave me a kind smile of greeting. I liked her instantly. Her son and Cindy both had their father's green eyes. She had already met Maria before, and extended her warmth to me.

"So you are the one who's tamed down Alejandro's wild heart?" I could not detect any animosity at all, just genuine curiosity. She continued, "I couldn't keep up with him. I didn't think it was even possible for him to be able to be with just one woman."

I couldn't help but laugh. She no doubt had no clue that it was multiple personalities that each wanted their own turn.

Cindy arrived with them. She had her mother's pale skin, and rich brown hair. She favored her mother. She had a very delicate, slender figure. Her name was Cinderella May. She admitted she hated it, but she was a beautiful young woman. I could not help but note though, that she appeared to have more weight in her heart than Mateo had. I felt a very strong kinship with her, understanding what it felt like not to be loved. I knew her mother was just like mine... I was glad that she found her brother, and I was glad that his mom extended her heart to her.

I really enjoyed my visit with them. I looked forward to meeting them again, and allowing all of them back in Alejandro's life, but all of that changed when another woman showed up. She looked like an older, red-headed version of Cindy, with turquoise eyes instead of Cindy's green, but she held no kindness in them.

"Where is my husband?"