Hailey
“Watch me, watch me!” she had shouted to everyone as she twirled and twirled with Grandpa. He was the best twirler. When she got too dizzy and almost fell over, everyone laughed, and that made her want to do it again.
She ducked under someone’s arm and ran after the butterfly, her shoes making little thumps on the grass. Her flower girl dress bounced around her legs, the sparkly part catching sunlight and making her look magical..
“Wait, butterfly!” she called.
And then she stopped, her mouth making a perfect “O” shape.
There were butterflies everywhere! Blue ones and yellow ones and white ones with black dots. They were having their own party in the flowers!
“It’s a butterfly wedding!” Hailey whispered, crouching down to watch them. Some were drinking from the flowers. Some were dancing together in the air. Hailey sat down carefully, trying not to squish her pretty dress too much.
This was Mommy’s butterfly party, she decided. Mommy was having a party in heaven at the same time as Daddy and Sunny’s party. That’s why there were so many butterflies today!
“Hello, butterflies,” she said in her best princess voice. “I’m Hailey and I got a message for my Mommy.”
The butterflies kept fluttering around, which meant they were listening. Hailey knew that for sure.
“Today Daddy married Sunny, and I was the flower girl. I had the most beautifulest dress and I didn’t spill anything on it, not even juice. Maddie was a flower girl too, but she doesn’t twirl as good as me.”
A small orange butterfly landed right on Hailey’s hand. She held her breath, afraid to scare it away. This was it — this was her butterfly messenger!
“Hello,” she whispered to it. “You’re the prettiest. Can you take a message to my Mommy?”
The butterfly’s wings opened and closed slowly.
“Tell Mommy that I’m happy. And Daddy’s happy. And even Maddie’s happy, even though she tries to be serious like a grown-up.” Hailey watched the butterfly carefully.
“Sometimes I call Sunny ‘Mom’ by accident. Is that okay? Maddie got all quiet when I did it, but Sunny just gave me a big hug. I miss you, Mom.”
The butterfly suddenly took flight, circling Hailey’s head once before flying up toward the sky that was turning orange and pink as the sun went down.
Hailey watched it go, feeling like she’d done something important. The butterfly would find her Mommy and tell her everything. And Mommy would be happy too, at her butterfly party in heaven.