She started crying, so I leaned in and touched our foreheads together.
“You mean more to me than words can explain,” I said to her, “and I’m so fucking grateful that you chose to forgive my initial screw-up and decided to give me a chance.”
She ran her knuckles over my jaw and smiled at me.You are worth more than everything in my world, she signed. Ihave never doubted that, and I never will.
“That high on your list, huh?” I quipped.
She chuckled softly and slapped me playfully.Yes, you idiot, she signed.
“Jeez, no pressure or anything, right?”
She rolled her eyes, and then sat back before asking,Can I show you something?
“Of course,” I answered.
Rina shifted and turned on her bedside lamp, then grabbed an album from her nightstand.
What you said to me at your house that day made me want to face this part of my past, she signed, and then opened the album.
I moved closer to her and looked down at it.
The album was full of pictures of her as a kid – some with her friends, while others with her family.
“Wow, those are someseriouscheeks,” I mused as I pointed at a photo of a very tiny yet chubby Rina sitting next to a pile of plushies and looking blissfully at them.
She elbowed me, to which I chuckled.
“I’m serious,” I told her. “It’s kinda sad you lost all that baby fat. You’d look even hotter if you had at least a little bit of it now.” I turned the page, and immediately felt a weight on my chest as I looked at the picture on the bottom right.
It was Rina with her parents – in a bedroom, I think. She looked to be four in the picture, and was sitting between them, laughing, while they shared a carefree smile with each other.
Rina ran her fingers over the photo.
I swallowed. “You look so much like your mom,” I managed to say. Her dark hair and complexion were most definitely courtesies of her dad, but her facial structure and eyes…
I looked away from the album and glanced at her. Rina’s cheeks were wet with tears, so I swiped a thumb over them, which made her meet my gaze.
This photo – it’s one of those standstill memories I can’t even remember making, she signed, and then licked her lips.Why can’t I remember them, Myles? It’s like a different kind of incapability – one I can’t even find validation in. More tears slid down her mournful eyes.
“Trauma infests deeper than we can comprehend, Rina,” I said. “It takes away the good and leaves you with nothing. Those who refuse to let it win are usually the ones who come out of it empty-handed.” I wiped away her tears. “You’re one of them,but just because you’ve lost the fragments of your past, doesn’t mean you can’t fill the space you now have with fresher, happier memories. Life’s brutal, that’s for sure, and you can either let your fallen memories haunt your thoughts, or let the possibility of a positive future excite your days. The choice, if you ask me, is very simple. You just have to make up your mind and go with it. Don’t let yourself feel regret or guilt. What happened wasn’t your fault, but what you choose to do next will definitely define the kind of path you want to take.” I placed a kiss between her brows. “Whatever you decide, though, know that I’m here with you – hereforyou. I’ll walk whatever road you pick, and I’ll walk it with so much confidence that it’ll shake the whole damn cosmos. I’ve got you, baby. All the way to the end.”
Her breath hitched, and a second later, she began sobbing.
I immediately took her in my arms and hugged her close to my chest, and as she cried into my hoodie, I kept pressing soft kisses on her temple.
We stayed that way for a few silent moments, and then Rina slowly moved back before looking up at me.
Thank you, she signed.You are a blessing to me, Myles.
I gave her a smile. “And you, Rina, are my devotion.”
She lowered her gaze and pushed some of her hair behind her ear.Stop it, she signed, her cheeks flushed.
I smiled further. “But it’s true.” I pulled at a stray thread on her checkered sweater. “Can I ask you something?”
She gave me a nod.
“Do you…” I started, but stopped to think. I then touched the tips of my index and middle fingers to my throat before lifting them up twice to say,Voice.
