Archibald is wearing a tuxedo.
Maggie’s wedding dress is chiffon and lace.
They spin again and again into each other’s arms.
They are made of joy.
—
A pale-green hospital room in the not-quite morning. Archibald and Maggie are lying together on the bed.
Maggie is holding a small swaddled bundle in her arms. “Look what we made,” she whispers to Archibald. “Look at this beautiful thing we made.”
—
A small kitchen with fading yellow sunlight leaking in through the blinds. Archibald and Maggie are sitting at a table, a worry of bills between them.
“I’m going to take that substitute teaching job,” Archibald says.
Maggie shakes her head. “I don’t want you giving up your dreams.”
Archibald pushes the bills to one side, clears a path for his hand to take hers. “I already have my dreams, Mags.”
—
Almost midnight in another pale-green hospital room. Maggie is sitting upright in her bed. On her face is a mixture of exhaustion and elation.
Archibald is holding their toddler-daughter in his arms.
“Remember,” Maggie says to the little girl. “Hearts grow bigger so you can love more.”
The little girl nods, kid-solemn, and doesn’t take her eyes off her baby brother.
—
Archibald steering Maggie down a long, dark hallway. She’s blindfolded and taking small, careful steps. Archibald guides her into a dance studio. The floors need finishing, and there’s a panel missing from the back wall of mirrors.
“Just what are you up to, Archibald Johnson?”
“You ready to find out?” Archibald asks as he undoes her blindfold.
Maggie gasps and presses her fingertips over her heart. She spins in place. “Oh, Archibald,” she says. “What did you do?”
“Time to start up those dreams again,” he says.
—
This moment right now, the two of them sharing a small kiss in their studio.
—
A wide-open field and a coffin being lowered into the ground. It’s snowing so lightly the flakes dissolve before they touch the ground. Maggie and Archibald lean into each other. “This isn’t right,” Archibald says to Maggie. “We’re not supposed to behere.”
—
Nighttime in an old-fashioned bedroom.
Older versions of Archibald and Maggie are lying on their bed.Archibald is on his back, his right arm wrapped around Maggie.
