time, I knew I was never going to be able to let her go.
“She’s perfect,” I said, rocking her back and forth in my arms. I looked at my exhausted wife and kissed her forehead. “You’re perfect.”
Every dream I’d ever had, came true that day. I was with the love of my life staring into our child’s eyes, and I couldn’t ask for more. I knew each day that was to come was a blessing, and I promised myself I’d never take that for granted. I was going to live every single day as if it were my last—which meant I would show my family how much I loved them time and time again.
Especially my wife. My sun. My very best friend.
Friends forever.
Lovers for life.
Five Years Later
“Daddy, can I have a granola bar?” Elizabeth asked as we tracked through the woods finishing up one of our longer hikes. The sun was beginning to set, and we always loved to watch it happen from the convertible we’d placed between the trees.
The old, yellow vehicle had many additions of artwork added to it since Kennedy and I reconnected many years ago. Joy drew a picture celebrating her ninety-fifth birthday last month. Nathan and Yoana added a drawing of their sweet newborn, Elijah last year. And just recently we had Elizabeth create a picture of her first day of school.
Watching the car grow with memories was one of my favorite things to witness.
As we reached the car, we all climbed inside the back seat to watch the sky fade to night.
“Didn’t you already have a granola bar?” Kennedy asked Elizabeth with a raised eyebrow.
“Yes, Mama, but that’s why I asked Daddy because he always says yes to me even when you say no,” she said matter-of-factly.
The girl wasn’t wrong. I had a very hard time saying no to my little sweetheart. It was the eyes, I swore. She had her mother’s eyes.
“Well, how about we hold off on the granola until we get some dinner inside you,” Kennedy said.
Elizabeth threw a fit of course, but when she realized we weren’t going to give in, she released the biggest sigh in the world. “Being a kid is hard,” she groaned.
“I bet.” I laughed and pulled her into my lap. “Don’t worry, someday you’ll be a grownup and you can eat all the granola bars you want.”
Her eyes lit up. “Really?”
“For sure.”
“Even the ones with chocolate chips?” she asked.
“Even those,” Kennedy nodded, kissing Elizabeth’s forehead.
As we watched the sky, Elizabeth always loved to point out the moon when we could see it. “There it is! There! That’s you right, Daddy? You’re the moon?”
I smiled. “Yup. I’m the moon.”
Elizabeth narrowed her eyes. “And Mama’s the sun?”
“Exactly,” I said.
“Does that mean Daisy and me can be the stars?” she asked, looking up to the sky once more.
That made my heart almost burst out of my chest.
Kennedy’s eyes watered over as a smile fell against her lips. “Yes, sweetheart. You and your sister can be the stars.”
Every single day we told Elizabeth the stories of her loved ones. We told their stories to keep them alive forever, and it warmed my heart knowing that Elizabeth understood that even though people passed away, they were never truly gone—not as long as we held them close to our hearts. That night, our loved ones were close to us. I could feel them in the wind. I could feel their love and protection every time I looked up toward the sky.
That night we sat beneath the sky, and the stars all shined so bright.
First Dance
Kennedy
Twelve years old
Year two of summer camp
“What do you want to be when you grow up, Jax?” I asked as we sat on the dock looking out at the water. We’d been skipping rocks until we ran out of rocks to skip, so now we were sitting on the dock being bored as ever. It was one of the slower days at camp, where there wasn’t much to do. At least I had Jax to do nothing with, that always made it better.
Plus, I did run off to steal some popsicles from the dining hall, so we had those to enjoy.
The sky was full of clouds, and I knew a storm was coming soon. I was so excited for it, too. I loved when it rained. Jax wasn’t a big fan of storms, but I always told him they’d grow on him.
“I don’t know. I don’t really think about the future like that,” he replied, licking his popsicle. “What do you want to be?”
“I think I want to write books and I want to use all the big words that you taught me. I want my books to be so big and so good that they make people happy when they finish them. I want people to be so excited with the idea of waiting for another book from me. And, and, and each book will have a word you taught me, so it’s like you’re always a part of the books, too.”
For a second, I thought he was going to laugh at me and call my dream stupid, but he just did his Jax thing. He stayed calm as he licked his popsicle fast enough, so it never made his hands messy. Then, he said, “I’ll read every book five million times.”
I smiled.
“Hey, Jax?”
“Yes, Kennedy?”
“Will we still be friends in the future?”
“Friends forever,” he replied.
“And ever.”
He rested his free hand on the dock, and I rested mine right there beside him. His pinky brushed against mine, and I felt it in my heart.
I loved Jax Kilter, and someday, I hoped, he’d love me, too.
But that didn’t matter to me too much that night. We were still kids. We had all of forever to fall in love with each other. It didn’t have to happen that night. That night, all we had to do was sit on the dock and wait for the rain to come.
When the rain began to fall, I stood on the dock and began my wild dance moves. I jumped and wiggled and twisted and turned. I couldn’t believe what happened next.
For the first time since I’d met him, Jax danced with me, too.