By the time the leaves began to turn, the girls had stopped asking whether I would lose my new job.
They asked about ordinary things instead.
Sophie wanted help with a school project.
Lucy wanted me to fix the loose wheel on her bicycle.
Sarah wanted to know whether we could finally plan the trip we had postponed.
I checked our budget.
Then I checked it again.
“We can do it,” I said.
Sarah smiled.
“Are you sure?”
“Not about every detail.”
She laughed.
“But yes.”
We did not book an expensive hotel.
We planned carefully and kept the trip simple.
The girls helped choose what to bring.
Sophie packed a notebook.
Lucy packed the plastic astronaut.
I packed the photograph that had sat beside my old computer.
It had a small crease across one corner.
I had never noticed it before.
On the day we left, Sarah stood at the front door while I loaded the bags.
“Remember when you thought everything was over?” she asked.
“I remember.”
“You came home carrying that box.”
“I did.”
She looked at the photograph in my hand.
“And now?”
I placed it in the glove compartment.
“Now I’m going to take my family on a trip.”
The drive was long.
The girls argued about music.
Sarah passed me snacks.
We stopped for gas and stretched our legs.
At one rest stop, I watched a man help his mother out of a car.
He moved slowly and held her arm.
She thanked him.
He told her she didn’t need to.
I thought of Eleanor beside the road.
I thought of the ambulance lights reflecting on the wet pavement.
I thought of the moment I had looked at my watch and understood I was going to be late.
I had been afraid.
I had known what Gavin would say.
I had known what it might cost me.
I stopped anyway.
The trip was not perfect.
The hotel room was smaller than it looked online.
Lucy lost a glove.
Sophie complained about the walking.
We got caught in the rain.
But we were together.
At the museum, Sophie stood in front of a display and read every line.
Lucy wanted to know how the building had been made.
Sarah took pictures of the three of us.
I kept one in my wallet.
It was not a photograph of a grand achievement.
It was just us, tired and smiling.
When we returned home, the bills were still there.
Work was still work.
The world had not become simple.
But the house felt lighter.
I placed the photograph beside the little astronaut on the kitchen counter.
Lucy noticed.
“Is he going on another trip?”
“Maybe.”
She picked him up and held him carefully.
“He can come with us.”
I smiled.
“Then we’ll make room.”
Source: kaylestore.net
Click here to continue reading: PART 12: The Road I Would Take Again
The Morning My Boss Decided a Stranger’s Life Was Worth Less Than a Business Deal, and I Finally Learned What My Loyalty Was Worth
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