What!?

24

The storm blows over and they head out of the house to take a look at the damage. It wasn't completely devastated like she'd seen photos of on islands after major storms. Then again this wasn't a hurricane or typhoon either.

"There aren't likely many places to go until the locals clean things up. What would you like to do for the day Ili? The beach is kinda messed up." Preston asks her as they look around. They are walking along the beach and every once in a while Iliana bends down and picks something up. The boys offer to take her treasures as she continues  looking over the sea given finds.

"I think that the locals will be wanting to clean up the businesses and tourist areas first since that's their livelihood, so I want to help the natives clean up their yards and what not." Iliana finally answers.

"Okay, we'll talk to the caretakers about where would be a good place to start." Blake tells her.

That makes Iliana stop and look at Blake. "What do you mean?" When she said that she didn't think any of the boys would be interested in being with her while she did some physical labor.

"I am going to help you." Blake informs her and the boys chorus him.

For as long as she lives, Iliana doubts that she will ever see something as truly wonderful as she did that day. Where ever she and the boys showed up they got permission to help clean things up and started working. With the strength and speed the boys had they were able to get things done far faster than Ili, but they never said anything and neither did she.

By the end of the day they had helped several families that were very thankful. Some even crying tears of gratitude for their help.

To this day the memory warms Iliana's heart and makes her smile.

They spend, without talking about it, the next day helping out with the clean up as well. Iliana had never been so tired and sore, but happy in her life. The boys never uttered a word of complaint and just joking and laughing helped the natives restore their property the best they could.

The next day, the caretakers had a message for them. They were warmly thanked then kindly asked to leave the clean up for others. Clean up could be done any time, but the real need is the money tourists bring in. They were embarrassed to ask them to go back to being tourists since they needed the money more than anything else.

Ili and the others assured them that they would do so, that they only desired to help out in whatever way they could. So for the rest of the day they spent as tourists. They haunted the shops and bought as much as they could of what they liked. Blake made arrangements to have most of the items shipped back to the house in the States so they wouldn't have to deal with packing it. 

Blake makes sure that Iliana is fine with that for her purchases. 

Ili smiles brightly at Blake and nods her answer. Blake gives a silent sigh of relief. She's happier than he's seen her in some time and he's glad they came and worked things out. He doesn't think Ili will be giving them another chance. They just have to make it two more years and they can tell her everything. Hopefully she'll accept them all at that time.

By the time the day was done they were more than ready to sit down and relax. Iliana has never been a huge shopper and so was more than willing to stop. She hopes that the things she bought for the boys that they'll like.

They boys are so damn picky when it comes to things that they are almost impossible to shop for. She has done alright with their gifts since she knows their likes and dislikes so well, but even then she worries that they'll like or use what she buys them. She feels especially nervous since they prefer expensive over cheap and definitely aren't into tourist stuff, but she figures that they could always give it away if they don't like it. The main purpose of the buys were to help out the natives.