Page 82 of Beyond our Forever

I don’t know where she got a flashlight which suddenly lights up the space.

We sit cuddled on the floor, not caring that the house has begun to creak, we are comfortable here, just concerned about comforting each other. Also grateful it is just the two of us and the children are safe at their grandparents’ house in Arizona.

“I want to tell you so many things,” she whispers, before kissing me.

“Just tell me you love me and I’ll be a happy man,” I reply, I’m telling the truth.

“I love you, Bruce Leighton, I love you more than anything in this world.”

I need you, I fucking want you. Not a piece, I love you whole.

“Are you willing to take the risk again?”

“No, love,” she adds, shaking her head. “There is no risk, you’re my rock, my refuge, my everything.”

Facts and not words. Action, ladies and gentlemen, action.

She laughs and when asked why she did it, she responds, “Because I’m crazy, because we are in danger yet this is one of the best and most romantic moments of my life.”

“Then take us to the madhouse together, because I was thinking exactly the same thing.”

We embrace, joining our lips, searching with a kiss and desperate touches, to vanish the world beyond these four walls.

The creak grows louder as the floor shakes below us. In an attempt to reassure her, I pull her onto my lap, wrapping us in one of the blankets.

The seconds turn into eons. We hear a burst, only this time with a force that seems like an earthquake.

They say that life passes in front of your eyes moments before dying and, while those images rush through my head, I kiss the woman in my arms, thanking God for giving her to me, for all that she It means to me.

This is my ending, it couldn’t be more perfect.

Our love didn’t die, it’s alive, within us. Anchoring us to the ground, while everything else flies around, shaking to the ground. A perfect analogy for what our life has been.

I hug her, ready to never let her go.

Together. Always together.

Just her and me.

Beyond our forever.

Epilogue

“Thanks to them, I am here today.” Ava continues with her speech, before the watchful eyes of her brothers, who look at her proudly from their place in the third row.

At their side are Angelique and Jacques Henry, a couple that became part of the family, those two people full of love and mischief, with whom for years, the three Leighton siblings have considered their honorary godparents.

“Today, I wish that my mother was here with me, celebrating, because it was she who taught me that even in the midst of darkness you can find light, because it doesn’t come from outside, light is born within us. We must have enough courage to be able to find it. Today, I am here in front of you to celebrate a great day, our graduation. Inviting you to light up the world, to give that special flavor, that unique charm that each of us owns. Ladies and gentlemen, with you the new generation of graduates from Stanford University.”

The entire audience erupts in applause, the dean approaches her to congratulate her and let the ringmaster start calling the graduates one by one.

Ava searches the public for the people she has loved so much and who have always been there for her. Her heart feels for the missed ones and, as she looks for her place on the dais, a tear rolls down her cheek. Her brothers watch her, wanting to hug her, comfort her. Tell her that they are there for her, just as it has been since the day she was born.

Slowly but steadily, students are called one by one to receive their certificates. Hearing the name of Ava Linda Leighton, her brothers and uncle Warren, get up, proudly clapping at the youngest of the family. Wow, they are even whistling.

Who is, never ceases to be.

The ceremony ends and she approaches them, hugging, melting into her brothers’ arms and sobbing a little more. In moments like this, the loss of someone you love hurts a little more.

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