Disclaimer: See Part 1

Summary: 51 years have gone by...

Rating: PG

Author's Note: This is it.  The last of the series.  I've had a lot of fun 
writing this.  Thank you to everyone who kept me going.  The support has 
meant more than this writer can say.  You know who you are.  The ones who 
gave life to Angel and her relationship with Lewis.  Anyone who ever wrote and 
gave praise or simply said, "Where's the next part?!"  LOL  Without that, Angel 
would have lived a short life and that would have been that.  

I guess I shouldn't say this is the absolute *final* story about Angel and Lewis.  
There may be more.  Actually, I'm sure there will be.  :)  This last part you're going 
to read is a little different from the others in that it's written from Angel's point of 
view.  My original intention had been to make this sort of a solemn ending; some 
happy stuff mixed with some sad stuff.  I changed my mind!  I want Angels to end 
on a happy note.  After all, this story has been based on characters that are part 
of a comedy!  So please sit back and enjoy.  I'd love to hear any feedback about 
this part or the series as a whole, be it positive or negative.  Thanks again for reading 
and supporting me!

Angels - Part 16
Because You Loved Me
by Ruth

August 5th, 2052

     Wow.  It's damn hot out here.  It's not the hottest it's ever been though.  
Why I remember back in 2007...Oh my God, I can't believe where that train of 
thought was going.  I'm starting to sound like my Grandmother when she was 
still alive.  I can't believe *I'm* still alive.  I'm 81.  I look 41.  I love science.   We've 
made some amazing advances in the past 50 years.  With a little help...well, a 
*lot* of help, from DrugCo.  Lewis and I sure did whip that place into shape.  Next 
thing we know we're making advances in medicine and genetics like you wouldn't 
believe.  First thing we did was figure out how to repair damaged organs without 
transplant.  The liver to be exact.  Thank God.  Otherwise I'm convinced my dearest 
Lewis wouldn't be here now.  Or Oswald and Kate.  Or Drew for that matter.  It pays 
to be friends with the scientific leader of a government run drug company.  We've 
got a pill here guaranteed to repair any damage to your liver, care to be guinea 
pigs and test it out?  Not one of them was stupid enough to pass that up.  
     Not long after that we managed to figure out how to slow the aging process.  
An amazing process, really.  And so simple.  A series of three shots and bam!  
You're aging slows to a crawl.  And we're literally months away from stopping, 
and even reversing, the aging process all together.  The world governments are 
going crazy trying to figure out how to handle that one.  It's not something they can 
just keep from people.  There's so much to take into consideration.  How to control 
the population?  If everyone lives to infinity then think how many children they could 
have in a life time.  Do we limit the number of children each woman can have?  Do 
we force any woman who wants to stop aging to be sterilized?  What are the moral 
implications of that?  And what if someone is alive for 500 years and then decides 
that's enough?  Do they have the right to die then?  I don't envy the task the 
governments face.  I'm done having children so I'm not too worried about it.  My 
grandchildren on the other hand...
     Lewis and I have two beautiful children.  Kevin grew up to be the spitting image 
of his father, only a couple inches taller.  I look like a dwarf next to him.  He married 
a wonderful woman and they've given us three grandchildren. Twin boys and, a few 
years later, a girl.  Both boys are married now and working on having kids of their 
own.  My granddaughter is still a teenager.
     Our daughter was a true surprise.  She came along 8 years after Kevin.  We 
named her after the woman who saved her life.  When I was pregnant with her, I 
walked out in front of a speeding SUV and Kate pushed me out of the way.  She 
was hit herself and we didn't think she'd make it.  But Kate's strong and she pulled 
through just fine.  So we named our daughter Kate.  We call her Katie just so there's 
no confusion when Kate is around.  Katie resembles me, but a lot taller.  It seems 
Lewis' tall gene is very dominant!  Everyone in my family seems to be quite tall.  I 
look ridiculous in family photos, surrounded by a bunch of tall, lanky people.  Katie 
married a sweetheart of a man and they have one child, a girl.
     At the moment we're having a family reunion of sorts.  My family is here, along 
with Drew and Briana and their family and Kate and Oswald and their family.  Drew 
and Briana had three more children after Matthew.  Three girls.  Poor Drew and Matthew. 
 Completely outnumbered.  Not to mention Drew is putty in each of his daughters 
hands.  He's always bent to their will.  I guess that's a daddy's curse.  Lewis has 
been exactly the same with Katie.  Of course it works the same way with moms 
and their sons.  My Kevin was a spoiled mama's boy.  I was his hero, his protector; 
Super Mom!  Not that he isn't still a mama's boy.  But he's more *my* hero now.
     Kate and Oswald had one child.  A boy.  His name is is Louis Andrew.  It's 
obvious where the name came from.  As for the alternate spelling of "Louis", Oswald 
said, "We spelled it different so we could tell them apart!"  Meaning so there was no 
confusion who was being addressed, Lewis or Louis.  It's great on paper but it 
doesn't work at all when they're both in the room and you call over to one of them.  
Perfect Oswald reasoning.  Anyway, Louis is married and they have one child.  A 
boy who has taken quite a shine to my granddaughter.  In fact, he's over there 
getting friendly with her as we speak.
     "Michael Harvey, you watch your hands!  That's my granddaughter you're 
trying to feel up!"
     Hee, hee!  I love doing that!  He looks mortified!  Oh good, Lewis got it on the 
video recorder.  Add that one to the list of recordings to whip out for viewing this 
Christmas.
     Ah, my Lewis.  He doesn't look a minute older than the day I met him.  It's 
strange to think that the man over there wrestling with Drew's youngest grandson 
is 93 years old.
     "That's right!  *I* win you big crybaby!"
     "Oh for God's sake, Lewis, he's 4 years old!  What's he supposed to do after 
you kick his ass?"
     The man will never grow up.  Thankfully!  I'd grow real bored real fast if he ever 
did.  We've been together 51 years.  I'm hoping for another 51.  Hell, I'm hoping for 
forever.  he's so amazing.  Back when the cure for cancer was discovered in the 
Brazilian rainforest, Lewis actually went down there to help set up a facility right in 
the middle of the forest to be used to produce the cure.  He made sure everything 
worked and was running smoothly.  In fact, he did such a good job that maintenance 
was never needed during it's 10 years of existence.  DrugCo discovered how to make 
the drug synthetically and so the facility was dismantled.  Yay us!
     "Hey, Mom."
     "Hi, Kevin."
     "You looked really lost in thought so I thought I'd come sit next to you."
     "Just reflecting, Sweetheart."
     "'Reflecting', huh?  Is that what you do when you become 'your age'?"
     "Very funny, smartass."
     "What were you thinking about?"
     "Your father, our friends...everything we've done."
     "When are you and Dad gonna retire?"
     "Retire?  I don't know.  The rules have kind of changed since people are living 
so long.  I don't know what will happen when we cure aging.  I mean, companies 
aren't going to pay out people's pension indefinitely."
     "Maybe 10 years of retirement and then go back to work."
     "If anyone can figure this all out you can, Kev."
     Kevin is one of the world's leading scientists.  He has a position on Capital Hill 
that's pretty cushy.  He's one of the people trying to figure out what to do about this 
"immortality" thing.  He's freakin' smart that kid.  He'll be the one to come up with the 
answers.
     "And just what are you two conspiring about?"
     "Hey, Dad.
     "Nothing, Lewis.  Just thinking about how many years little Justin has to plot his 
revenge on you."
     "That's Drew's grandkid.  No Carey has ever been able to kick my butt!"
     "Oh, that's right, Honey, you're invincible.  I'd forgotten.  Old age you know."
     "Quiet or I'll have to teach you a lesson."
     "Oh, please do."
     "Yuck, you guys!  I don't need to hear this!"
     "We chased our son away, Angel."
     "Eh, he'll come back."
     He always does.  No matter how many times we manage to gross him out.  
Actually, it's funny that although he's 51 we can still make him wrinkle his nose 
with disgust and run away.  
     "Shall we go inside for a bit?"
     There's another thing about him that never changes.  Always one thing on his mind.
     "We have guests, Lewis."
     "Oh please.  It's all family.  They know how to help themselves if they need something."
     "You're not going to let up until I go are you?"
     "Not a chance."
     "Let's go."
     Yep.  It's damn hot out here.  Gonna be damn hot in there.  Life is good.

The End