Page 5 of When Our Stars Aligned

“Go for it! I can only imagine what you’ll think up!” We might as well make light of the crappy situation I’m in.

“Hmm.” She taps her chin. “I’ll tell the kindergarten team that you ran off to join the circus and the first-grade team that you followed your dream to be a burlesque dancer in Vegas.”

“Well, I guess that’s classier than a stripper, right?”

“Totally!”

“The second-grade team will think that the FBI recruited you for some special mission, and I’ll tell the third-grade team that you went off to study with Buddhist monks.”

“Are women allowed to be monks?”

“Hell if I know.” She shrugs. “Oh! Then, I’ll tell the fourth- and fifth-grade teams that Jeff Bezos recruited you to go to space in his rocket ship.”

“Isn’t that the one that looks like a giant—”

“Dildo, yes.”

“God, I’m going to miss you!”

“And if you don’t come back, I will tell everyone that a handsome prince swept you off your feet and are living happily ever after.”

“Thanks, Amelia, but I probably have a better chance of going to space in a giant penis.”

4

Jax

I lean against the brick wall outside of the funeral home, in need of some fresh air. Gram slipped into a deep sleep shortly after our talk. She never regained consciousness and passed away three days later with a huge smile on her face. I’d like to think the smile was because she was finally reunited with Pop. I’m going to miss that woman fiercely, but I also know that at thirty-one, I was blessed to have her in my life for as long as I did.

“Needed some fresh air too?” my sister, Emma, interrupts my thoughts. She moves next to me and mimics my position against the wall.

“It’s standing room only in there,” I say, looking straight ahead towards the parking lot.

“Gram was a special lady and made quite the impression on a lot of people.”

“Not to mention our cousins have quadrupled in size over the years.”

Emma snickers. “Yeah, you can say that again.”

Gram and Pop had two sons—my dad, Mark, and our uncle Chris. My uncle Chris met my aunt Maria while he was in the Navy. He was on liberty over in Italy and got lost trying to make it back to his hotel. He spotted Aunt Maria who, thankfully, was fluent in English. She took pity on him and not only helped him find his way back to his hotel, but became his personal tour guide for the remainder of his time over there. They kept in touch, and a year later, they were married and living in the States. They have four daughters. My cousins are all married now with a bunch of kids of their own. They’re great girls. Growing up, we didn’t see them much due to my uncle’s career traveling all over the world, but we always have a good time when the family gets together. We try to have a family reunion every two years or so, and I swear the next generation of cousins keeps multiplying every time I see them.

Emma and I are the only ones without kids, although I am sure that will change for her now that she’s married. I’m the only male of the Parker family and the only one to carry on our last name. Once upon a time, I fully expected to do just that, but not anymore.

“Did Gram, umm, I’m n-not sure how to put this…” Emma stammers. “Right before Gram passed, did she say anything kind of odd to you?”

I stiffen as I think back to our last conversation. It may have been the last conversation we ever had, but the topic wasn’t entirely new. Gram always made it clear that she wanted to see me in a relationship. She hated that I live alone and away from the rest of the family. The commute to see my family is only about an hour-long drive. I love my parents and sister, but I have no desire to live back in the town I grew up in. Going back to myhometown means a chance I’d run into people I have no desire to see.

“She basically told me she hoped to see me settle down. You know, the normal Gram stuff.” I shrug. I don’t want to get into the other things she told me.

“That’s it? Nothing, you know, else?” Emma squints at me.

“Why are you being all weird, Ems?”

Emma looks around to see if anyone is watching us, like she has some top-secret government information she needs to share. “You can’t tell anyone.”

“Umm…okay?”

“Please, Jax. No one knows about this yet.”

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