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The last name was called and the Dean spoke some more before we tossed our caps in the air, just like we had four years prior in high school. Only this time, there was finality to it.
People went in search of their family and I fought against the crowd to find Jude.
“Tatum!” I hear my name called, but I couldn’t see him.
Finally I spotted him and ran into his arms.
“Whoa,” he cried
, rocking back on his heels as he caught me.
“We did it,” I cried, “we really did it.”
“Yes, we did,” he chuckled, spinning me around, his excitement matching mine. “We’re big kids now, Tater Tot.”
I swayed dizzily when he set me down. He reached out a hand to steady me. “You okay?” He asked when I was righted.
“Yeah,” I grinned, “never been better.”
“I need to go find Pap,” he told me as his eyes scanned the crowd.
“I saw him cheering for me,” I grinned. “I didn’t think he’d be here.”
“I picked him up and brought him. No way was I going to let him miss this.” Jude smiled down at me and reached out to stroke my cheek. The gesture seemed automatic for him. It wasn’t to calm or soothe me. He was touching me simply because he wanted to.
“I’m really glad you did,” I took his hand as we pushed our way through the thick crowd of bodies. “It made me happy to see him.”
“He was mad at me when I picked him up, because you weren’t with me,” Jude chuckled huskily. “I told him I didn’t want you to know that he’d be here, that you didn’t have any family coming, and I wanted him being here to be a surprise. He was okay after that.” Shaking his head, Jude grinned. “He started yelling at me, actually, when he didn’t see you because he thought I’d done something to piss you off.”
“Don’t you visit him without me?” I asked, puzzled.
“Yeah,” he nodded, “but he thought you’d be with me today. Crazy old man. I don’t know what I’d do without him, though.” He quickly sobered, his face growing somber.
“Hey,” I reached up and took his cheek in my hand, “let’s not think about that today. Okay?”
He looked down at me and nodded slowly. “Yeah, you’re right. Sorry.” He cracked a smile.
“Jude!”
We both looked to our right and there was Jerry, standing on top of a chair waving at us. “Pap!” Jude cried, running to his side with worry. “Get down from there! You’re going to hurt yourself!”
“Nonsense, boy,” Jerry grumbled when Jude tried to help him down. Jerry swatted Jude’s hand away rather harshly and Jude glared up at him.
“Pap,” he said warningly. “Get down before you break a hip.”
“I’m old,” Jerry grumbled, “not broken. I can get down just fine on my own. I got up here without your help,” he pointed out.
Jude shook his head and stepped back, but held his hands out in case he needed to steady his grandpa.
Jerry lowered and stepped off the chair. Straightening, he looked at Jude. “See, I’m fine. No broken hip.”
Jude let out a disgruntled sigh.
Jerry strode over to me and threw his arms around me. “I’m so proud of you.”
“Thank you,” I told him, tearing up a bit. Until he said the words I hadn’t realized how much I needed to hear someone say them.
Jerry released me and turned to hug Jude. “I’m proud of you too.” He lowered his head and whispered something in Jude’s ear that made him smile.
