Page 109 of Into the Mountains
He waves me off like it’s not true. But it is. Seeing him and his second chance date that night Charlie and I went out, shifted our lives more than he knows.
“I think we deserve some of the credit, too,” Andy’s voice calls. She’s followed by Meredith cradling their sleeping five month old boy.
An older boy comes running behind them, tugging on Andy’s pants. “Mama, can I have some cookies?”
“I’m sure Aunt Charlie and Uncle Eli would love to share, Aaron.”
Charlie comes over to our friends and embraces them both. They all kept their promise over the last few years to keep their friendship alive. We visit them one year, and they come to us the next. With this new baby, we haven’t seen them in a while, besides when we visited for the birth.
“I can’t believe you are here,” Charlie says between her tears.
“Where else would we be?”
They smile through their tears as they all start cooing over the sleeping baby.
Ethan comes barreling over to his grandparents. “Grandpa, Grandma, let’s go,” he insists.
“We’re coming, let us catch up.”
“Speak for yourself, old man,” Isabelle tells her husband as she takes off after her grandson and chases him through the yard like he’s a little kid again.
With everyone here, Avery comes over and hands Charlie an envelope.
“That’s it,” she starts. “I figured what better way than to open it together in front of everyone or inside if you want. Find out together and then tell us.”
I smile at Charlie at the same time she smiles at me. “It’s perfect.”
We open it together, and we cry tears of joy at the excitement and anticipation of welcoming a new life into our little world.
Into Blue Grove, Oregon. The place I wouldn’t be the same without. The place I moved to because I didn’t have anywhere else to go. The place I stayed in because I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving more family behind for my son. The place that turned into my home. The place I was lucky enough to rediscover another love of my life and will call home for the rest of my life.
THE END
