60. Sixty
Sixty
Aaron
It was almost time to get up and say my goodbyes to Mom before heading out. I was looking forward to that as much as I was looking forward to parting ways with the girl lying on me. I just needed more time.
Presley leaving only proved that my time in Alaska was over, and in only a few hours, I’d be on a plane to hopefully meet him where he was headed.
I played with Kimberly’s hair while she lay on my chest. Her heartbeat drummed steadily, and I focused on that soft sound. My mind drifted to the night we met under a blanket of stars and a canopy of trees. There was a fire then too. Our crackling fire downstairs was slowly dying as the night dragged into the early morning.
“Why do I feel like this is goodbye?” Kimberly stirred. She’d been silent for some time.
“It’s not. I promised to never leave, remember?”
“Then promise . . . promise this isn’t goodbye. That this isn’t the final everything.”
I wanted more than anything to promise that. To promise I had all the answers and that our plan would work out exactly like we wanted it to. That everything would be over soon, and we’d come home with my brothers.
But one of the many things Luke had taught me was not to make promises I wasn’t sure I could keep.
“I can’t.” I pulled her chin up to see her face. “But this will work. I believe it. You’re going to blink, and then we’ll all be on our way back home together. Then we’ll really celebrate properly. Together.”
“But . . . what if, Aaron. What if?” There was a crack in her voice.
I grabbed her face in my hands. “I’ll find you again. That I promise.”
Nothing could keep me from her. Not even death. Some bonds were stronger than death, and ours was one of them.
It had occurred to me it could be the last time I held her in my arms. That the peonies sitting in a vase on our nightstand could outlive the both of us. So badly I wanted this dream with her. I’d wanted nothing more in my entire life, and it was guaranteed if I’d just stay. My older brothers had lain in bed with likely the same thoughts. I wondered if Zach had ever held Ashley knowing he’d say goodbye . . . for us. And now I was the one making that sacrifice.
“What if this is how it always ends for us . . . in every timeline?” She sniffled.
“Then we’ll keep trying till we get it right. I’ll find you again and annoy you till you talk to me. I don’t think you ever have to look for me . . . but I always search for you.”
“I wish I could see those infinite worlds in your head, Aaron Calem. All the places of light you see.”
I kissed the top of her head. “Just ask. I’ll tell you anything.”
“The wildest one.”
“You’re a mermaid, and I’m a do-gooder pirate who saves you from a perilous fate.”
“Mermaids?”
“Come on. If vampires are real, somewhere out there, mermaids are real.”
Her soft laughter was warm against my neck.
“Fine. Tell me your favorite one.”
I hesitated and twirled a piece of her hair. “Well, in my favorite one, we’re both human. We met in grade school, and I got to grow up with you. We’re best friends, and you’re blissfully unaware that I’m in love with you . . . but I finally work up the courage to tell you in college, and you feel the same way. We get married and have kids. My brothers love being uncles. We grow old and die together . . . We’re never apart. We’re those old people that cry when they have to leave for a day.”
She laughed. “I knew you’d say that.”
“Am I that predictable?”
“You’re just soft. I . . . love it.”
I let the silence settle as I gazed at the stars in our skylight maybe for the last time. The entire sky was dancing with the lights. Mom said it was a geomagnetic storm that was causing the northern lights to flair for the next few days. The news showed pictures of it all the way in Florida.
They were our lights. Our storm.
“Aaron . . . this is my favorite one.”
“The vampire one?”
“The one where you are warm and here. The one where you’re holding me and you never let go. And we never have to say goodbye.”
“I like that. No goodbyes.” I pulled her up to kiss her. “Are you sure that there isn’t a way for me to make you stay here? Where I know you’re safe.”
“Probably another timeline. But not this one.” She smiled again.
I buried my head in her hair to breathe her in. I’d never known love like this existed. There weren’t words for it. Only the undying urge to bind myself with her in every way possible.
“Kim . . . please marry me.”
Her muscles stiffened, and she moved to look at me.
“You know I will. I want to . . . more than anything.”
“No, I mean, right now. Marry me. I can’t go another second without being married to you. I want you to be my wife. I promise I’ll give you more to look forward to than just a proposal. We have so much we’re going to do. I’m going to take you all around the world, and I’ll build us a cabin. We can still have a wedding where we can celebrate with everyone. Just marry me right now.”
She stuttered out a short breath. “But how? Don’t we need . . . official things?”
“No. We just say our vows to each other under the stars, the gods, or whoever is looking down at us in the sky, and then we’re bonded. Forever.”
Bright excitement grew in her eyes.
“Okay . . . but I didn’t prepare any good ones.”
Our noses were nearly touching, and I stared into her eyes. There was no nervousness like when I’d gone down on my knee. Everything else that seemed important before, suddenly didn’t matter. It was her and me and the stars above, along with the smell of fire and the beat of our hearts; I couldn’t ask for anything else.
“It doesn’t matter. You always say the best things anyway. It’s my turn.” I couldn’t stop touching her, tracing her lips and up to her brow. “Kim, I promise I’ll always protect you and I’ll take care of you forever. I’ll be your shoulder to cry on, and I’ll plan the best dates. You’ll always be celebrated with me, and I promise to make sure you feel special because you are. I knew it the moment I met you and you walked away from me in the courtyard. I swear you’ve had your hooks in me since that day, because . . . you are the bravest person I know. And then I got to know you, and you’re kind and funny and so smart. I’ll follow you anywhere. Wherever you want to go or whatever you want to do, I’ll be right there beside you, and you’ll never be alone again.”
She laughed with tears streaming down her face. “How am I supposed to follow that up?”
“You don’t have to say anything. I already know how you feel.” I pressed her closer to me.
This time, she grabbed my face to stare into my eyes. “Aaron, I love you more than I’ve ever loved anything. You’ve taught me so many things . . . but my favorite thing is that you taught me how to live and not just for myself but for other people too. I didn’t think I needed anyone, but . . . I think I was just waiting for you to find me.”
She wiped the tears falling from my face and onto our pillow.
“Kimberly Burns, will you be my wife through life and death . . . forever?”
“Yes, through life and death. And will you, Aaron Calem, be my husband forever?”
“Yeah.” I answered with a kiss.
I wanted to remember the taste of her long after the night ended and remember the sound of her heartbeat so I could recall it in our separation.
“Presley’s going to be upset. He really wanted to be the officiant,” she said, like he wasn’t likely on his way to Ireland to join a cult. She believed in our dream.
“He will be. He can officiate. Sing. Dance. I really don’t care as long as we’re together again. Don’t you agree, Mrs. Calem?”
Her arms squeezed me till it hurt. “Mm-hm. Say it again.”