Dear Diary,

I haven’t written in a bit. I’m actually feeling really good right now about everything. Connor is perfect. He almost has me believing he’s not constantly thinking about my condition, and he wants to spend as much time with me as he can because he wants to, not because he feels he has to. I couldn’t be happier.

Mackenzie

Connor

This list has the funniest things on it. Some are as simple as go to a football or baseball game, while others definitely take some planning. I’ve been able to help her cross a few things off, and each time I attempt to surprise her in the process.

It takes all the fun out of it if these things are planned. The reason she’s doing this is because she wants to experience real life, doing things everyone experiences at least once in their lifetime. I want them to happen in a natural way, as they would in anyone’s life. Spontaneously.

One of the more interesting things on her list was singing in the rain. When my friend told me of a commercial shoot filming in a small town not far from here that was using a rain machine, I knew this was my chance.

I’m sure sneaking onto their set is frowned on, so I contacted the production company and told them exactly what’s going on. Not only were they on board, they took it a step further and helped me set it up, asking if they could film it.

Everything was lining up perfectly.

Once I get Mackenzie in the car, she turns to me. “So where are we going? Why are you being so secretive?”

I wink at her. “Because that’s the fun of it.” She playfully huffs in her seat before turning the radio to a country station. I squint my eyes at her. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”

She laughs and turns it up louder, singing every word to the song I’ve never heard.

An hour later, we pull into a small city with their downtown completely blocked off. Mackenzie looks around having no idea what’s going on.

After helping her out of the car, we head toward a security guard, who’s standing watch on the set.

“I’m sorry, this is a restricted area,” he says as we approach.

“I’m here to meet Rick Strickland,” I say, glancing at Mackenzie and loving the expression on her face.

“Are you Connor Hayden?”

“Sure am.” I smile brightly.

He moves the barrier and lets us enter, pointing to where we can meet Rick.

“Who’s Rick? What’s going on?” she asks, pulling my arm closer.

“You’ll see.” I shrug and laugh out loud when she hits my arm.

Two directors’ chairs are set up at the side of the set, a red umbrella resting against one of them. Guiding her in that direction, I have her sit in a chair and take the one next to her.

A camera is directly in front of us, and the rain machine is tilted above our head.

People run around, moving lights, taping down cords, and making sure sandbags are set properly so things don’t tip over.

Rick wanted it to be as much of a surprise as possible so he could catch her natural reaction. I’ve been told to sit here until the music starts. A man catches my eye, then nods at someone else.

I glance at Mackenzie. She’s enthralled with everything, and I take the opportunity to grab the umbrella and get ready for my big moment.

“What’s going on?” she asks. “Where are we?”

I hold a finger to my lips, motioning for her to look at where I see Rick moving behind a camera.

“Action,” is yelled, and suddenly raindrops fall from the sky.

I give her the umbrella as Gene Kelly sings Singing in the Rain over the speakers.

Without missing a beat, I stand and stick my hands in my pockets, mimicking the famous movie, strolling around, acting like I don’t have a care in the world as the rain pours down.

Instead of pretending to dance with an umbrella, like he does in the movie, I reach for her hand, asking her to dance with me.

With the biggest smile on her face, she drops the umbrella and joins me on the makeshift dance floor. I swing her around, and we dance in the rain without a care in the world, getting absolutely soaked and loving every second.

Toward the end of the song, I swing her around, take the umbrella from her, and open it, holding it above us. I kiss her like I’ve been dying to kiss her for the past three minutes.

The joy on her face, and the way she jumps to me, wrapping her arms around my neck, brings more happiness to my life than I’ve ever experienced. She truly is my everything.

The song fades, as does the rain. Someone yells, “Cut,” and we break away from our kiss. Mackenzie laughs an amazing laugh.

“How did you?” she asks, her eyes beaming with excitement.

Rick holds his hand out. “Connor, I presume, and this must be Mackenzie.”

She shines brightly, even though she’s soaking wet. “Yes, that’s me,” she says.

“That was perfect. You two are amazing. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to film it.”

“You filmed us?” she asks in shock.

“Yup,” I reply with pride. “He wants it to go viral. I told him my idea, and he thought other people would enjoy seeing it too. After their commercial goes live, they want to post it online.”

“Connor,” she says breathlessly, holding onto my arm and pressing her head to my shoulder.

“We got some great pics too. I’ll send those as soon as I can.”

“Rick,” I hold out my hand again. “Thank you for doing this.”

“It was my honor. You guys are welcome to hang out and watch the rest of the shoot.”

Someone calls him away, and we say our goodbyes, taking our seats again.

“I can’t believe you did this. How in the world?” she asks in awe.

“It took some work, but I wanted to make it special.”

She leans in, kissing me sweetly. “It was perfect. Thank you.”