“I’m not going to live in the same city as my Lily baby and not see her,” Jerome adds.
I feel completely out of the loop. “Right. I didn’t even think about it, to be honest.”
“Well, you’ve had a lot on your mind. By the way, I’m sorry. I should’ve contacted you after the funeral. I just didn’t know what to say, and then life just got busy. I’m sorry.”
“No, I get it. No worries, man.”
An awkward few seconds pass.
“I’m really sorry about everything you’ve been through. Know that I was thinking about you, brother.”
“Thanks.”
His voice becomes more animated. “I’m super stoked to see you here with Lily. It’s about time.”
I laugh. “I agree.”
We end up eating at some diner that’s open twenty-four hours. Amid a table full of plates of food, we catch up, laughing and talking like no time has passed.
A true friend is one you can go extended periods without seeing or talking to, yet the moment you are back in touch, it’s like no time has passed at all. I suppose that can be said for any real relationship.
“This is the last box. The. Very. Last. One,” Lily huffs out as she sets the small cube of cardboard on top of a pile of other larger boxes. She drops down onto the sofa with an audible exhale.
I set the bulky box full of pots and pans that I was just taking to the kitchen down on the wood floor at my feet. I fall onto the sofa next to Lily. “Come here.”
She leans into my side, and I wrap my outstretched arm around her shoulder.
“Moving’s exhausting.”
“Extremely. My whole body hurts,” she complains. “I need a nap.”
“Can’t. Haven’t set up the bed,” I remind her.
“The couch will do,” she says with a yawn.
“You can’t quit on me now, Little. This is only halftime. We need to regroup and power through the final two quarters.”
“Uh-huh.” She shakes her head against my shoulder. “I never played football. I don’t have the endurance.”
“Oh, you’re plenty tough. You can do it.” I squeeze her arm. “I love you.” I find myself telling her this multiple times a day. It is still so surreal to have her back in my life.
The joy in her voice returns. “I love you, too.”
“I love you more,” I say before kissing the top of her head and holding her close to me.
It is silent for a moment before Lily speaks, “I’m so happy, Jax.”
“Me, too.”
“It took us a while to get here,” she says.
I chuckle under my breath. “That it did. But some things are worth the wait,” I say as I squeeze her shoulder.
Lily turns her head to the side to face me. Her clear blue gaze meets mine. In her eyes, I see my past, my present, and my future. I see my reason for everything. The love radiating through her stare fills me with relief and an immense sense of gratitude.
It was all worth it, every last bit of it. Each moment over the past few years that has been saturated with sadness, heartache, or despair was important because that path somehow led us here. Perhaps we were always meant to end up at this space in time. Maybe it was always our fate. We might have just taken some heartaching detours along the way to our destiny. Yet I don’t regret a second of our journey because I think the past few years have intensified my love for Lily. After losing her, I’ve truly realized how much I loved Lily.
If anything is certain, it is that I will never take our love or our amazing life together for granted again. I don’t think that everyone in this world is fortunate enough to find his or her soul mate, but I found mine. Before I was old enough to utter a word, I had found her.
And I will never let her go again.
It has been two months since I showed up in New York to get Lily back. A lot has happened in that time.
First, I sold the house that I’d purchased with Stella. Although beautiful, it would have never been a home for Lily and me. There would always be memories associated with it, and even though not all the memories are bad, I can’t have them following me for the rest of my life. Lily deserves all of me, which is what she has always deserved. In order to do