*Above is Taron Egerton who I chose to play Samuel Andrews.

Sammy- The End Or The Beginning?

22years later.

"Sammy! Hey dude, you need to get a move on it," my dad's voice was shouting from the down the stairs. I knew how important this trip was to him. It was important to all of us.

"Samuel James Andrews! Get a damn move on it already! Before you know it Aunt Venise and Uncle Patrick will be here. If you don't move, you can incur the wrath of Chicken Little and she hates being late. We still need to pick your sister up and that's another woman I don't need pissed at me!"

He tapped his foot and rubbed his thumb over the face of his watch that he always wore. He stood at the base of the steps to the upstairs, in his famous Saturday ensemble: his khaki cargo shorts, white Adidas sneakers and black tank top, which showed off his muscular physique and the tattoo of my mom's name above his heart.

It simply said Arina, Always & Terribly in elegant script. 

He ran his thumb over the watch face several times, lost in thought. I just looked at him from the upstairs hallway, not wanting to disturb him while he was in his moment. He rubbed it a lot more frequently, ever since mom left. It had been six months since she died in her sleep, next to him, and I knew that his heart broke every single day without her.

His once vibrant sandy gold hair had started to go grayer in places, but I thought it made him have a more distinguished and powerful appearance. Deep down in my heart though, I knew it changed because she was no longer around to light the fire within him. I also knew that my dad would never love another woman again, because his heart was forever hers.

I heard another car coming up the driveway, which triggered the ding on the driveway alarm. More than likely it was my aunt and uncle.

"Alright, dad, just give me a second to say goodbye to mom," I hollered to him as I went back in my room.

I picked up my mom's picture and kissed it before setting it back on my dresser. It was a picture of her and I together on my graduation day. Her long dark brown hair was pinned up in an elegant bun and her blue-grey eyes stood out amongst the throngs of people that milled about. She had the brightest smile on her face as she looked at me with pride. She was always my biggest cheerleader in anything I did.

I missed my mom every day that she was gone. She was everything to me, probably the best mom in the whole entire world. Every night before I went to bed, she would tuck me in, kiss me on the forehead, and tell me that I was a miracle that was born out of true love.

She would tell me how I looked exactly like my grandpa, James, and that's why I held his name as my middle name. Then she would tell me all of the stories that her dad used to tell her. She would then tell me great tales that my dad used to tell her about my other grandpa, Samuel, and about the adventures they would take up at the lake when my dad was little. As I got older, she told me and my sister stories about how she fell in love with my dad.

Those always were funny stories.

I knew she loved my dad, because in the twenty-eight years they were married, her eyes always lit up when he walked into a room. That was a love that I wanted for myself, someday.

My dad had taken some time off work for our upcoming trip. I knew it killed my great-grandma Milly, because of how important the company was to her, but my dad had a ton of trusted friends who promised to look over things while we were gone. The life of being the kid of a multi-billion dollar company owner, hadn't always been easy, but one day I knew that I would step into my dad's footsteps and take the empire for myself—unless of course my sister Addy, swept it out from under my feet.

That's why we both studied so hard in college to get our business degrees. Both of us graduating summa cum laude, just like our mom did. It was also the reason why I was pursuing my MBA degree next year. 

I wasn't scared of the future and moving out of my parent's home, because I knew that my best friend in the whole world, Daniella Fitzsimmons, would be going to school with me. She was going to pursue a history and classics degree, while I trudged through the world of business.

With one final glance in the mirror, I attempted to smooth my chunky brown hair down, but I had massive bedhead today. I headed down the short hall to the outside where my dad was waiting by the Bronco for me. He had pulled it out of storage last week and did some repairs on it—getting it all ready for the trip. Aunt Venise and Uncle Pat were loading their things into the back as I walked up. 

My eyes caught Dani as she tried to lug her suitcase from the back of their Range Rover. Those beautiful amber colored eyes always made my stomach flip into knots. The same knots my mom always described to me when she talked about how much she loved my dad.

"Here, let me get that," I said, as I grabbed the handle of her suitcase and pulled it to the ground. She smiled at me and placed a soft kiss on my cheek, which caused me a redden like a tomato.

"We need to get a move on it, so we can swing by and grab Adda Banana. Aunt Sassy and Uncle Ace are supposed to meet us in Seattle," my dad informed, as he grabbed the bag from my hands and hoisted it into the back of the Bronco.

I looked back at Dani, who reached for my hand and intertwined her fingers with mine. I loved Dani and I knew Dani loved me. She told me a few weeks ago when we went to watch the stars at the beach. I had leaned in to finally kiss her, after months of hand brushes and stolen glances. I'd loved Dani since we were kids. Since the days of playing in the mud while our moms reminisced about their amazing life changing trip that one year.

We all piled into the Bronco, which was a little cramped and my dad whipped out my mom's iPod and plugged it in. The sounds of her favorite music surrounded us, as we inched down the driveway. I shot my sister a text and told her that we were on our way, to which she replied that it was about time and then something about me being a girl when it came to getting ready.

I looked back at my house in the distance and then into Dani's amber colored eyes. She gave me one of her famous smiles, which lit up my heart each time I saw it.

After we headed over to pick up my sister, the sounds of laughter engulfed the Bronco. Addy and Dani were sitting in the far back laughing and planning all the amazing activities they would do in the different cities we were scheduled to visit. The sound of my sister's laughter warmed my heart. She didn't laugh much since our mom died.

Since our mom passed, Addy, had become a different person—more reserved, more abrupt, and definitely more wild. Since my mom died, Addy had become a lot like our dad, well, at least the kind of dad we had heard stories about; the playboy dad, who hated attachments and love.

As the city got further away from view, I couldn't help but wonder what this trip had in store for each of us. My dad called it the One Year, One Adventure trip, but I knew that deep down inside, for him, it was more about finding my mom again.

For me, it was about finding those pieces to forever connect me to her memory. A part of me hoped that for Addy, the trip would help her find peace.

I hoped the trip would save us all. 

The List trip... One Year, One Adventure...

It was the trip that changed everything for my parents. It was my mom's adventure.

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Hey guys!

Thanks to each and every one of you that took this trip with Ari and Dean. I know that this half of the epilogue is sad, but the truth is that sometimes people die, especially people who have been sick for a long time. 

Don't cry for Ari though, because she had an amazing life, with an amazing man and family.

Again, thank you for all your support for The List: One Year, One Adventure

Don't forget to vote and leave your comments one last time.

<3 Lots of love, Amina

Follow me on Twitter @amina_leeds