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She laughed and shook her head before taking another sip of her wine. I looked toward the grass, where Malachi was crawling after one of his toys. That little nigga was something else. He was getting mad at the damn ball for moving. I laughed at him before reaching over and pulling Eternity closer. She settled against my side and rested her head on my shoulder while I looked out at the yard again.

For a long time, I didn’t know if I would ever get another day like this. There had been nights when I lay awake beside my wife, staring at the ceiling and wondering whether my body would ever feel like mine again. Nights when the pain was so bad I couldn’t get comfortable, and mornings when I woke up already frustrated because I knew I would need somebody to help me do something I used to handle without thinking. I hated that wheelchair. Not because there was anything wrong with needing one, but because I hated what had put me in it.

I had spent my whole life moving how I wanted to move. Going where I wanted to go. Handling whatever needed to be handled. Then one day, I couldn’t even stand up without somebody holding on to me. That shit had humbled me in ways I never expected. I had learned what it felt like to need help and what it meant to accept it, even when every part of me wanted to push people away. And I had learned just how much my family loved me.

Eternity had been there through every bad day. Every appointment. Every frustrating therapy session. Every time I had gotten pissed off because my legs wouldn’t cooperate. She never made me feel like less of a man. Even when I felt like one. I looked down at her.

She was watching Malachi and smiling to herself.

“You know I love you, right?”

She tilted her head back.

“Of course I do.”

“I’m serious.”

Her expression softened.

“I know, baby.”

I kissed her forehead.

“I appreciate you,” I added.

“I appreciate you too,” she said with a smile.

I tightened my arm around her and turned my attention back toward the yard. There was a time when I thought being a man meant being able to handle everything on my own, making sure nobody could touch my family, and having enough money, enough power, and enough people around me that nothing could ever go wrong. I learned the hard way that none of that shit could guarantee anything.

Money couldn’t stop a bullet, and power couldn’t make my legs work again. And no matter how much I loved my family, I couldn’t protect them from every bad thing that might happen. But I could be here for them. I could keep showing up and doing the work. I could keep being the husband and father they deserved. And that was exactly what I planned to do.

“Daddy!”

I looked up, and Maylee was running toward us with her arms stretched out.

“What, baby?”

She stopped in front of me.

“Can you come play?”

I looked at Eternity to ask permission, and she smiled.

“Go ahead.”

I looked back at my daughter.

“Play what?”

“Tag!”

I laughed.

“Girl, you know I ain’t running nowhere.”

She giggled.

“You can walk!”