The sun’s hot. My cap is crooked. Her lipstick’s smudged from kissing me behind the library after the ceremony.
She’s waving her diploma in one hand and her phone in the other, already texting everyone the news. I watch her like she’s sunlight in motion.
She glances over. “Why are you staring?”
“Because I know exactly how lucky I am,” I say.
She rolls her eyes, but her cheeks flush. “Good answer.”
004.MOV Winter – Christmas Eve
6:19 PM – Our First Apartment
I’m on one knee in front of a fake tree that’s leaning slightly to the left. The ring is in my trembling hand. Maddison’s barefoot in the kitchen, holding a tray of burned cookies.
She doesn’t say anything, just drops the tray and starts crying.
“Yes?” I ask, already choking.
“Yes,” she says, falling to her knees with me. “A thousand times, yes.”
We kiss between shards of gingerbread and mismatched wrapping paper.
005.MOV Spring – Surprise
7:02 AM – Bathroom
She’s sitting on the edge of the tub, filming a pregnancy test like it’s a live grenade.
I’m still half-asleep, blinking when two pink lines appear like it’s a glitch.
Maddison laughs, one sharp, disbelieving sound, then covers her mouth.
I kneel in front of her. My heart is jackhammering. “We’re having a baby?”
She nods. “We’re having a baby.”
I kiss her knees, her stomach, her cheeks. My girl. My home. My whole damn universe.
006.MOV Summer – Wedding Day
5:33 PM – Back Garden of a Vineyard Outside Seattle
Maddison is walking toward me in a lace dress that looks like it was stitched from clouds and holy things.
I blink. Then blink again. I can’t breathe.
She reaches me and whispers, “Don’t cry.”
I’m already crying.
She takes my hand. “You’re the boy who made me believe in forever.”
And now she’s the woman who made it real.
007.MOV Winter – Delivery Room
2:17 AM – St. Mary’s Medical Center
