“I have a surprise,” I say, giving her ahug.
“What kind ofsurprise?”
“You’ll see. Let’s put Mia in a stroller and go for awalk.”
She eyes me suspiciously but leaves to get the stroller. Ever since her incident a while ago she doesn’t walk while carryingMia.
Mia’s gotten so big. She started crawling and in no time can take off across the entire room. We have to use baby gates to block off an area so she can enjoy herfreedom.
When she spots me from across the room, she sits up, squealing her happiness and holding her arms out. It’s how she greets me every day; I’ll never get over how much it melts myheart.
I pick her up and get slobbery kisses when she attacks my face, holding on to each side with her wet hands. I should be disgusted, but it just reminds me of how much I love this little girl, slobbers andall.
I secure her in the stroller, and we head down the block to where a local real estate agent is meetingus.
“What’s going on?” Mackenzie asks, wrapping her hands around my arm for stability as I push Mia. She’s weaker and needs someone with her when she walks more than a fewsteps.
“I took a leave of absence from worktoday.”
“Connor, no. Why?” she asks, saddened by thenews.
“Because I was missing too much with you while I was at work. We only have a little time left together. I want to be here forit.”
She leans up to kiss my cheek. We don’t talk about the fact that her time is limited. It would just be beating a dead horse. We know what our future holds. We don’t ignore it, but we don’t make it the forefront of our existenceeither.
“What did your boss say?” sheasks.
“Surprisingly, he was on board.” I tell her how our meetingwent.
“That makes me really happy.” She kisses me. “Is that thesurprise?”
“No, that is.” I point to aFor Salesign in a nice-sized yard. A woman stands next to itsmiling.
Her mouth drops open. “What?”
“I put our apartment up for sale today. If everything goes as planned, I can buy this withcash.”
“But, Connor”—she hesitates—“That’s your home. You didn’t have to sellit.”
“Hey, there’s no buts here. I don’t want to raise Mia in the city. She needs to be here with our families, where she can ride her bike and go to the park down thestreet.”
“Yes, she does.” Her voicecracks.
I kiss her sadness away. There’s no place for that rightnow.
“Come on. I want you to see it before I sign the officialpapers.”
We go inside, Mia in my arms. The agent gives us a tour of the two-bedroom place. It’s small and quaint but will be perfect for us, now and movingforward.
When I see Mackenzie sitting in the backyard smiling, I know I’ve struck gold. This is an image I’ll remember the rest of my life. The pure joy and happiness radiating off of her is myeverything.
“You like it?” I ask, opening the sliding glassdoor.
“I love it, Connor. It’s perfect. It’s so cute and old-fashioned but updated where it matters. And look”—she points to a little playset already in the backyard—“she has her ownplayground.”
“She’ll love it here, and so willwe.”
“Do you like it back here?” she asks, playing with Mia’s hands and talking in a sweet babyvoice.
