Page 58 of A Very Miller-Cooper Life

Carter turned around and stared at the tattered book in my hands. “What is it?”

I closed the space between us and handed it to her. “It’s the first book I ever illustrated the cover of. This was actually the first official copy ever printed. Kinsley gave it to me because she knew how much it would mean to me. But I want you to have it, because I know it will mean just as much to you.”

Carter stared down at the book as she skimmed through the pages, running her hands over it as if it were the most precious gold. When she closed the book and looked up at me, there were tears in her eyes. “Mom… this is…” She wiped her eyes. “It’s everything. Thank you so much.”

When we said goodbye this time, Carter hugged me as if she wouldn’t be seeing me soon. And at that moment, a week really did feel like forever.

“I miss them all so much already,” I said as I got in the car.

Charlie took my hand and smiled at me knowingly. “Me, too. But at least we have each other.”

I looked down at the hand I had been holding for over twenty years, and I knew I could get through this. No matter what life threw at us (and it had certainly thrown a lot), Charlie and I had gotten through it together. This was just another adventure that we were taking together and there was no one else I would rather have by my side for it.

“Do you think the next four years are going to fly by just as fast as the first eighteen did?” I asked.

“Probably even faster.” Charlie sighed. “Is there a way to slow down time?”

“Unfortunately, not yet. But I’ll tell you what we can do. We can make the most of every single moment these next four years.”

Charlie smiled through her tears and squeezed my hand. “Let’s do it.”

***

There were a few moments throughout those four college years that stuck with me more than the others. The first one happened when we went to Ronan’s last home football game of his junior year. After the game ended, he grabbed my hand and pulled me across the stadium as if he was a little kid again. As he dragged me along, he yelled for Charlie and the girls to follow as well.

When we made it to the far end of the bleachers, there was a small, yet muscular girl with brown hair that was pulled up into a ponytail and blue eyes that were so bright they rivaled Charlie’s. She had a wide smile on her face, but the way she was fidgeting with her sweatshirt told me she was nervous.

Ronan pointed to the girl as if he was showing off a piece of art. “Family Unit, I’d like you to meet Mallory, my girlfriend.” He ran his hand in front of us. “Mallory, this is my family.”

He was so excited, he was bouncing up and down and his voice sounded like one of a giddy little boy who was just told he could get a happy meal.

“It’s so nice to meet all of you.” Mallory did a small wave then pushed a piece of stray hair behind her ear. “I’ve heard so much about each of you.”

“All lies of course.” Ronan honest to god giggled, which was especially funny coming from a very large guy in a football uniform. “I made you all sound excellent.”

Mallory giggled with him and slapped his stomach. She left her hand resting there and smiled at the rest of us. “I have no doubt that all of the excellent things he said were very true.”

After talking to Mallory for a few minutes, we found out that she was on the school’s soccer team and she and Ronan had a few classes together the past few years since they were bothexercise science majors, but they didn’t start talking regularly until this year.

Charlie invited Mallory to go to dinner with us and she graciously accepted. Ronan said he needed to get himself cleaned up before he could go and headed toward the locker room. I used the excuse that I had to use the restroom (not a complete lie) to walk with him.

“You really like Mallory, don’t you?” I asked as we walked together.

“Mom, I don’t just like her.” He stopped walking and turned toward me. “Mark my words—I’m going to marry that girl someday.”

At that moment, I had no doubt that he would.

***

Another memory I’ll never forget was the time Charlie and I decided to spend a long weekend in New York when we went on one of our many trips to visit Olivia. We drove in late on Thursday afternoon and checked into a hotel in Times Square. Since Olivia had classes for most of the day on Friday, we spent Thursday night and Friday morning walking hand in hand as we searched for new things to discover in the city we both knew so well at this point.

When we started to run out of ideas, I showed Charlie the first apartment Jamie and I shared together. “So, this is where it all began, huh?” she asked as she stared up at the old building.

“Yep. Just think, if Jamie and I had never decided to move in here together, we would have never met.”

Charlie shook her head. “I don’t believe that. We were always meant to find each other.”

I leaned my head against hers, basking in this moment of pure bliss. “That’s true.”

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