I shot her a look.
Her shoulders dropped an inch or two. “You’re right. I probably need one.”
“Webothdo. That’s a lot of money and we need to besmart. There’s no reason that money shouldn’t still be serving us when I’m retired.”
“True. Okay, but let’s not ruin the moment.” The excitement had flooded her face again. “We will talk retirement with the advisor. Rightnow, let’s talk wish list.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “Alright, fine. Wish list.”
“What do youwantto do that you wouldn’t ever be able to do without it?”
I knew what I wanted. But debated whether to say it or not. Because the choice was ultimately hers.
“Jack, I know what I want. And it’s a big ask. I mean big, big.”
“Shoot.”
She told me about her Ohio neighbor named Sherri and her husband Ed. How sick Ed was and how Sherri worked really hard to keep paying for their house and medical bills. They’d sold their home in the country, poured every penny they had into a new life close to the Cincinnati hospital and were barely keeping dinner on the table.
Apparently, this Sherri woman was the sole responsible party for getting my family out of Chris’ clutches.
“Jack, can we—can we pay off their mortgage? I asked how much they owed. It’s $125k.”
The first thing my wife wanted wasn’t even for herself. The ask shouldn’t have surprised me. She would always give big. Love big. Ask big. Life had tried to beat that out of her, but it was still there—on full display.
“I think that’s a perfect way to say thank you.” Our agreement made Miranda tear up.
She swiped under her eyes. “Okay, your turn.”
I hesitated. It was probably too soon to discuss something like this.
She narrowed her eyes at me. “I think I know what you’re going to say.”
“What?”
“You say it.”
I swallowed, deciding to dive right in. “You can say no. But I think you should get the surgery. We should try for one more.”
She nodded silently for a few long moments. “The surgery isn’t guaranteed to work, Jack.”
“I know.”
“What if we lose another?”
I lifted a shoulder, trying to be careful not to disregard in any way. “We’ve learned a lot. My gut says we’ll survive this time.”
Her smile was slow and hope-filled. “Mine says the same.”
We decided to call and make a consultation about it—at the least. And just go from there. See how it played out. We ran out of time to finish a wish list but we’d cycle back later.
We pulled into the Moore’s driveway, and my son sat on the porch swing, his feet dangling off the side. When we parked in the driveway, he jumped up, tripped and fell, then bounded through the grass toward our open doors, unfazed by the fall.
“Mommy!” He screamed when she scooped him into a hug. Kacey struggled from Miranda’s arms as his eyes landed on me, practically flinging himself through the air. “Daddy!”
Daddy. Unprompted.
He plastered himself to my chest, molding into a perfect fit over my shoulder. My eyes heated and I quickly took a step back toward the truck, taking a moment to just hold my boy. No every other weekend dad stuff for me. This little guy was mine—every day. I blinked rapidly, trying to discourage the tears as Pat and Jules came down the front walk.
