Five years later…
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SUPERMAN!”
Ethan roars with laughter, shooting his arms out in front of him while I support him with one hand under his chest and the other beneath his straightened legs.
“I can fly, Dad! I can fly!”
Joy fills my heart at my firstborn’s words.
“That’s right, buddy. You can do anything!”
The happiness on Ethan’s face grows every day as he becomes an energetic little boy and less of a toddler.
It’s been five years since he was born. Five years since my nephew’s life was taken and my son spared. Five years since Tre’s heart was donated and now beats hard and strong in Ethan’s chest.
“Put me down, Dad.”
I set my boy down on the freshly mowed grass and follow him as he runs over to the tire swing that hangs from the large oak tree in the middle of our backyard. He pokes his head through the opening and pushes off with his feet, calling for me to push him faster.
He looks so much like Tre. One might think they were siblings instead of cousins.
“Go faster, Daddy. I wanna go fast like you do.”
The late summer heat beats down on us and the warm breeze offers no relief.
“Who’s coming to my party?”
The question is who isn’t.
“Everybody.”
“Who’s everybody?”
I go through the list of all the people my wife invited who will be in attendance for his special day.
“Mommy’s got the list. There might be a special surprise, too.”
As if she heard me mention her name, Karrie calls us in.
“C’mon, buddy. Time to get ready!”
I prop Ethan on my shoulders and run in circles as we make our way up the stairs onto the back porch where the two women I love most in the world stand.
I kiss my mother’s cheek as she takes Ethan from me.
“Hello, beautiful.” I turn to my wife whose face is sun-kissed by long days at the track.
She looks gorgeous in a short pink sundress, her round belly protruding through the thin material.
“I’m not beautiful. I’m hugely pregnant and I have cankles.”
“Don’t make me do it right here,” I warn with a raised brow.
She slaps my shoulder playfully. “You better not! We have company.”
Worshipping my wife’s body, including her cankles, is my all-time favorite pastime; I love it more than racing and I don’t care who’s around to see how much I love her. This woman is my life.
I take her face in my hands and kiss her gently before slipping my tongue into her mouth. She reacts immediately and clutches the back of my T-shirt as if she needs more.
I’d give this woman everything she wants and more.
The moment of tenderness turns into one of passion as we stand on the porch and practically claw at each other. I pull my lips from hers and slide down her neck until I whisper, “We have company.”
“Tyler Strong, what am I going to do with you?” she growls with exasperation.
I waggle my eyebrows suggestively.
“That,” she points at my face, “that is why we have three kids running around and a fourth on the way!”
“You love me.” I slide back into her arms and lift her off her feet.
“Forever,” she adds.
My mother-in-law steps through the sliding door.
“Is Dad going to the airport, or are you?” she asks, addressing me.
I set Karrie down and tell her that I’ll go.
I kiss my wife once again then offer one to her mother.
“I’ll be back in an hour.”
***
JILL STANDS ON the pavement just outside of the arrival sign. Her hair is piled high on her head as she fans herself with a folded magazine.
I hop out of Karrie’s SUV and greet her with a hug and kiss.
“Where’s Jack?”
“Hi! He’s getting the luggage.”
“How are you feeling?” I eye the swell of her belly which looks like she’s hiding a basketball underneath her shirt.
“Great! But I think I’d die from this humidity if I lived here.”
I stiffen at her choice of words.
Either she doesn’t notice or she ignores it.
Once the luggage is stowed in the trunk and Jack wedged in between two car seats, I pull out and hit the highway, eager to return to my family.
“Ethan’s going to be really excited that you’re here.”
“We haven’t missed a birthday yet!” Jill announces proudly.
I must admit the first year was the hardest.
Celebrating the year of the boy who lived while commemorating the life of the one who passed wasn’t easy for any of us, but Jill, through her faith, told us to believe in God’s plan.
Keeping Tre’s memory alive is a top priority.
Every morning and each night, we remember to thank Tre for his incredible gift of life.
“How’s Karrie feeling? She’s getting close to her due date, isn’t she?”
I nod, remembering the birth of the twins. Our kids have a thing for terrible timing, always wanting to make an appearance when I’m away racing.
Thankfully I was only two hours away. I made it back in time to be with her and see our boys, Thomas and Benjamin, come into the world.
When we arrive back home, my father-in-law helps Jack with the luggage.
“Hey, Ben!” I slap him heartily on the back. “Good to see you, man. Long time no see.”
“Watch it, Strong! My wife is still talking about buying the house across the street so we don’t have to drive over here every day.”
I smile at him as we walk up the stairs. He knows they are welcome anytime and they are the best babysitters.
Ethan’s Superman-themed birthday party is a huge hit with his friends from school, his grandparents and his favorite “Auntie Jill.”
My brother’s son will never be forgotten; Tre’s memory and his heart will forever live on in my son.
***
BY THE TIME our guests have left and we settle into bed that night, Karrie is exhausted and her feet swollen. The hot shower we enjoy leaves her cheeks flushed pink and her body wanting more. Her every wish is still my command even after all these years. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for her. I’d give her the world if I could.
I roll onto my side, admiring her.
“What are you thinking about?” I ask, smoothing her wet hair away from her face.
“You.” She turns and looks at me, tears fill the corner of her eyes. “Our kids.”
“What about us?”
A fat tear falls.
“Don’t cry.” I pull her close, wrapping my arms around her shoulder as she palms my bare chest.
“I just can’t believe how far we’ve come. That first day I met you… well, the day you handed me my textbook,” she laughs lightly, “who knew this would be our life.”
Because her words are like kryptonite, weakening me, disabling me from forming a response, I press my lips onto her forehead instead. The pain we’ve endured and overcome will never be erased. Each and every trial woven into the fabric of who we are and have strengthened us over the years.
“I love you.” Her thumb traces the faint scar on my chest until she reaches the tattoo with my nephew’s name. “You and the boys are everything to me.”
“Don’t forget about the daughter who’s on the way.”
“Poor girl won’t have a chance with three older brothers, her dad and a grandpa.”
“Can you imagine what her wedding is going to be like?”
“Hey!” I slap her backside lightly. “She’s not even born yet and you have her getting married already! No one will ever be good enough for my little girl.”
“Are you going to follow her on her first date?”
“Hell yeah! It might be from a distance, but I’ll be there.”
We settle into a quiet lull.
“Do you ever regret not having a real wedding?”
She pierces me with hard eyes which quickly soften.
“I’ve told you a million times before and I’ll tell you a million times again. It was perfect.” She snuggles into my neck. “Absolutely perfect.”
I pinch my lips and roll my eyes in exasperation.
“Getting married at the hospital by the same priest who moments before had read our son his last rites wasn’t exactly picture perfect.”
“It was to me. Tyler, it didn’t matter where I married you…because I was marrying you. That’s all I cared about.”
I nod thoughtfully, trying to suppress the rise of emotion.
“Do you remember what you said to me?”
“I do.”
I had been in such a haze of devastation; I couldn’t believe that my nephew had just been killed. I was so angry yet grateful. I felt so guilty.
Karrie squeezes me and breathes into my neck.
My hands spread across her back, my fingers tugging gently at her hair, forcing her to look up at me as I ask, “How’d I get so lucky to get you?”
“Your creepy stalking skills finally paid off.”
I tickle her ribs and tease her playfully.
“What?”
“You always said you watched me from a distance.”
“I did,” I admit unashamedly. I didn’t know how, but I always knew Karrie would be mine.
A noise coming from beneath her pillow forces my hand to retrieve it.
“What’s this?”
“A birthday card for Ethan.”
My face wrinkles in confusion. “Why didn’t you give it to him?”
“It’s from Alexandra.”
I pull the card from the envelope and read it, my eyes sliding across the childish handwriting.
“She’s a good kid. I’m glad she’s with Rachel now.”
“Me, too.” Karrie smiles sadly. “At least her scholarship can’t be touched now.”
After Alexandra’s accident, Penny realized she couldn’t take care of her daughter and gave up all parental rights to her sister.
“Does it bother you that Rachel wanted to keep in touch?”
My wife shrugs her shoulders and looks away.
“What’s that look for?” I ask quietly.
“Alexandra looks so much like Alex did.”
I nod, confirming her observation as my body stiffens. I hate the mention of that bastard.
“Stop. Don’t do that.” She smooths a hand over my face. “Let it go. I did…a long time ago.”
“I’ll never forgive him for what he did to you.”
“He led me to you.”
I search her eyes and detect a deep love.
“I would have found you anyway.”
She presses her lips against mine, mouthing the word “Arrogant.”
“Confident,” I reply.
***
“YOU ALWAYS WEAR a helmet, got it?” I offer a firm word as I stand before my son.
“Ok, Dad. I will.”
He tosses his leg over the seat of his dirt bike.
“Remember…clutch, throttle, kill switch.”
He repeats my words as he touches each one.
“Any problems, you pull the clutch.”
“Will I go fast like you? I wanna fly down the track like Superman.”
I smile at my boy before I reach down to his chest. Beneath my fingertips, I feel his heart beating hard and fast as adrenaline kicks in. I tap twice.
“You’ll be even better than Superman.”
Ethan eyes the logo on my T-shirt.
“But you’re like Superman!”
I shake my head and follow his eyes to the dirt path.
Leaning down, I whisper in his ear.
“No, buddy. I’m just a man…a man who is stronger than ever.”
The End