Page 50 of What Maple Heard

“Do I make a believable fall fairy?” he asked. “Very believable,” I said. “I had pictured the fairy to be exactly like you.” He bowed a full, proper ballerina bow, holding the sides of the tutu out with both hands.

I was about to tell him that I appreciate him getting the kids ready, when Marcus pulled Cade aside. The oak tree installation was right next to him. “This won’t open.” Marcus said, a look of worry etched on his face. The tree installation was closed and it looked like someone had been trying to pull it open.

“Don’t worry Marcus, we’ll open this.” Cade bent down on his knees, inspecting the tree. “Buddy, you forgot to unclip the bottom Velcro strap, that’s all.” He pulled the strap open, and the entire tree sprang open in all its glory. All at once, branch by branch unfolded, leaves shimmering in the green room light. The branches were every shade of gold and copper. The wishes written on the leaves glimmered under the lights. I forgot just how beautiful it was. Macus and Cade pushed it out onto the stage and placed it in the centre, where the spotlight would be. They both stood back and looked at it.

“We made the perfect tree,” Marcus said.

“We did, buddy,” Cade said. “We really did.”

As for the play itself, it went off with a few hitches, but the tree stayed upright, and it looked so beautiful that I heard a few people from the audience gasp when the curtains were pulled. And Cade? Cade was the most perfect fairy in every way. He did wobble a bit coming down from the tree when Marcus was pushing down the pulley. But he made up for it with his song, in the shrillest, most fairy like voice I had ever heard from him.

“I am the light of the autumn tree, I bring the gold leaves, wild and free, Chestnut Ridge, your fairy is me!”

The audience cheered. Cade, dangling from the pulley, took a small bow in the air.

He did not skimp on the dance either. He frolicked, he did the curtsy. He took turns twirling and dancing with each of the enchanted creatures of the forest, and he did it with zero embarrassment, and the kids fed off his energy and rose to meet it.

Then came the moment when the enchanted beings asked the fairy for their wish. For peace, for love, for harmony among all creatures.

Cade stepped forward.

“Your wish is my promise, I’ll see it kept,

Through every storm weathered and every tear wept,

The ones that I love I will always protect.”

On the last line, he kept his eyes on mine, and smiled. I was standing in the wings. Those three lines were just part of the play I had written for a bunch of kids, but when I saw Cade speaking them as he looked straight into my eyes, the lines found a new meaning. When I wrote those lines, I had no idea that I was writing a future testimonial to Cade’s commitment towards me. And now here they were, being spoken by a man in an orange tutu, and they were the most sincere thing anyone had ever said to me.

After he spoke those lines, the first people to clap were the chief guests of the afternoon — Cade’s parents, who were sitting in the front row. I saw his dad clapping so hard I could hear it over the music. And if I was not mistaken, I saw his mom wipe a tear from her eyes.

The curtains came down.

The kids were a beautiful chaos of hugging and jumping and telling each other how well they’d done. Marcus stood next to his tree with his arms crossed and a look of deep professional satisfaction.

Cade came and stood right next to me.

“You were pretty convincing up there,” I said. He looked at me. His hand came to my waist, easy and unhurried, and he pulled me gently closer. “I’m glad you thought that. I meant every word of those lines, Maple” he said. “And this time, those were not just words.” He looked at me steadily. “I want to build a life with you and River, intentionally, slowly and steadily. I will get those words conveyed in every action, every day, for as long as it takes. I want to always be present.”

I thought of him volunteering to train the kids, happily offering to be the fall fairy, him breaking the ice between me and River that day after the principal’s office, and of all the evenings he spent with River helping him with the wall.

“You already are,” I said. “You’ve been showing me all along. With the time and patience we both needed.”

He smiled. “There’s plenty more time and patience,” he said. “But if we don’t go to the wall right now, we’re going to miss River’s unveiling.”

He took my hand.

“Don’t you want to change first?” I asked, looking at the tutu.

“I would rather look ridiculous,” he said, “than miss the moment.”

When we reached the wall, the crowd was already there. Cade’s parents were positioned in the front row facing the wall. River and Brody stood next to it. River was tapping his foot nervously, looking at the ground. Cade and I managed to get past the crowd from the corner and we stood diagonally from the two boys. Matthew, the community project coordinator, stood next to River and Brody at the front.

“It’s a small town,” Matthew said. “And in a small town, words spread. I’m sure many of you heard about what happened. Teenage boys, skipping school, drinking, defacing public property.” He paused. “I’m sure some of you had already made up your minds about how their stories would go.” He looked at River and Brody. “What none of you saw was their process of transformation, of showing up each day for their community project, for staying up late and doing more than the checklist required. You all did not witness the slow progression, the metamorphoses that I was lucky to witness.”

I had my eyes on River’s face the entire time.

He was listening. His foot had stopped tapping. He was standing very straight, hearing someone in authority say something good about him for the first time in a long time, and I could see what it was doing for him. I had not seen that particular look on his face enough in his life. I was so freaking proud of him. For putting in the hard work and passionately doing this, and for asking for Cade’s help when he needed.