Chapter 29 - Boone
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Boone
I was pretty sure I was the happiest man alive.
No contest. The sun was high, the water warm, and Henry was shrieking like a banshee as I launched him into the air for the fifth time.
He splashed down with a roar that could have woken the dead, and I dove in after him, just in time to catch him before he swam straight into the deep end.
Carissa laughed, that unrestrained, beautiful laugh that made my chest feel like it was stretching too wide to contain itself.
She floated on her back, hair slicked back, eyes bright, and she threw a glance at me that said, Yes, you’re ridiculous, but I knew she was secretly loving every second.
I grinned at her, blew a bubble in her direction, and she squealed, splashing me in retaliation.
Henry giggled, wriggling between us, and I scooped him up, holding him high so he could kick at the water and pretend he was some kind of heroic dolphin. “I’m flying, Dad! I’m flying!”
His little arms flailed, and I ducked under him for a surprise dunk, sending him squealing and sputtering in pure delight. Carissa clapped and hollered from the water, and for a moment, I swore the rest of the world didn’t exist.
Dawson and Gage lounged on pool chairs nearby, sunglasses on, sipping something icy.
I caught Dawson rolling his eyes at my antics, but there was a twitch of a smile at the corner of his mouth I didn’t miss.
Gage just shook his head, like he couldn’t even pretend to disapprove, because the kid in my arms was grinning ear to ear.
“You two better get in here before I’m the only adult left in control of this chaos,” I called, and Carissa splashed toward me, water flying everywhere.
Henry clung to my shoulders, shrieking, “Dad, Mom! Catch me!”
I lifted him high, then swung him toward her, letting her scoop him up mid-air, and he screamed with laughter.
The sound ricocheted across the pool, and I realized how much life had changed.
How right this was. This wasn’t some fleeting, reckless moment.
This was ours. All of us. Henry bouncing between Carissa and me like a spark of pure joy, Dawson and Gage nearby, smiling even when they pretended they weren’t.
Carissa leaned over, splashing me in the chest with a wet smack. “You’re going to kill us all one day,” she said, mock stern but glowing with laughter.
“Worth it,” I answered, and Henry cheered, pumping his fists.
“Boone’s right! Worth it!”
We kept playing like this, water slapping, laughter ricocheting, Henry shrieking, me flinging him around, Carissa occasionally retaliating with a sneak splash attack.
Every once in a while, Dawson glanced over, and I saw it: relief, peace, the kind that came from knowing your family was whole.
And Gage—yeah, he was there too, quiet but grinning, leaning into the moment like he was exactly where he belonged.
I felt Carissa’s hand brush mine as she let Henry cling to her, and our eyes met for a second, just a second, and everything we’d been through, all the fear, the doubt, collapsed under the weight of this. Pure, unshakable happiness.
And for me, right there, right then, being the clown in the pool with my family, I couldn’t imagine anything better.