And say yes.
Which is what I’m doing today.
Saying yes.
Yes to ice cream for breakfast.
Yes to trampoline parks.
Yes to building a snowman together.
Yes to adventure.
Yes to living.
Yes to love.
“Where to next?” Rowan asks as we leave the trampoline park, Presley and Jemmy still bouncing despite having spent the past hour doing exactly that.
Presley glances my way and gives me a look.
A conspiratorial, very grown-up look.
Then she turns to Rowan.
“I think it’s time for some cake pops.”
She’s been speaking for almost a year now. Full sentences. Opinions. Negotiations.
Some days I beg for silence.
Most days, I sit in awe of the sound.
Rowan beams. “Cake pops it is.”
We all pile into the SUV, and I drive toward downtown Sycamore Falls, my pulse ticking faster with every block.
Over the past year, Rowan has said yes to a lot.
Yes to coming back here.
Yes to moving in with me.
Yes to loving my children like they’re hers.
Yes to letting me love her.
But today, I plan to ask for one more.
And it’s the biggest one of all.
Downtown is lit up for the holidays with garland draped across storefronts and twinkle lights strung from lamppost to lamppost. When I first moved back here, I avoided coming downtown this time of year because of how much Cora loved Christmas.
Now, I embrace the holiday season again.
Instead of focusing on everything we lost, the memories we’d never recreate again, we’ve made new memories together. Decorating the tree. Holding Jemmyup high so he could put the star on the top. Groucho Barx, our rescued shelter pup, constantly drinking water from the stand.
I park up the street from the coffee shop and rush to open Rowan’s door for her before helping Jemmy out of his car seat.
