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"Sure thing, darling. This one here is a rose. It's the most romantic flower there is," I said with a chuckle.
"O-mantic? What's that mean?" Sally asked, furrowing her brow.
"It means it's associated with love and affection. Like when I used to bring flowers for you and Mommy every Sunday at dinner, remember?" I explained, my smile fading slightly as I mentioned her.
Sally looked up at me with her big, curious eyes. "Daddy, where's Mommy?" she asked softly.
I took a deep breath, steeling myself for the difficult conversation. "Mommy's not with us anymore, sweetie," I said gently.
Sally's eyes widened with surprise. "Why not? Why did she go?"
"She had to go somewhere else, honey. Sometimes, even though we really love the people we find in this world, we get other, really important jobs we have to do," I said, trying to keep my voice steady.
"Oh," Sally said, looking down at the ground.
“And you know why we must do them?” I continued, trying to smile.
Her eyes almost broke my heart. So much curiosity, so much hope.
“Why, Daddy?”
“Because your mommy had to go be a superhero for you. She got a really important task, and that was to keep you safe here so you could spend time with me.”
Sally smiled. “So, she ispwotectingme?”
She still hadn’t gotten the hang of her rs. The articulation issue worried me on occasion, but no matter what happened, she and I would face life together.
I nodded and put my arm around her small shoulders.
"But you know what, Sally? Mommy loved flowers too. She loved to grow them and take care of them, just like you. And every time you look at a flower, it's like a little piece of Mommy is still with us," I said, feeling a lump form in my throat.
Sally looked up at me with a small smile. "Twuly, Daddy?"
"Really," I said, smiling back at her. "And you know what? I have a little story to tell you about Mommy and flowers. Would you like to hear it?"
Sally nodded eagerly, her eyes shining with curiosity.
"Once upon a time, when Mommy and I were just married, she grew me a garden for our first anniversary.”
June was the one with the green thumb. I’d kept the garden alive in her memory.
“And I remember thinking, 'Wow, this girl is really something special.' And she was, Sally. She was the most amazing woman I’d ever met," I said, feeling something uncharacteristically hot prick and burn at the corners of my eyes.
Sally looked up at me with a look of understanding. "I miss Mom, Daddy," she said softly.
"I know, sweetie. I miss her too. But she'll always be with us, in our hearts and in these flowers," I said, gently stroking her hair.
Sally leaned into me, and we sat there in the garden for a while, surrounded by the sweet scent of flowers and the memories of a woman we both loved dearly.
I stayed with her until she fell asleep, and then I carried her to her room, knowing she’d wake up refreshed after her nap. I had a lot of papers to grade, so I got busy with work.
But try as I would, I couldn’t take my mind off Aurora. Frustrated with my lack of focus, I called Noah. He was in his studio, no doubt thinking of ways to commit our chatroom conversation to memory.
Part of me wondered whether we should have done this. Maybe I was better off without the feelings it left me with. An unquenched thirst for more. And that ever-present sly little minx... hope.
There was the truth of it. Aurora had left me with hope. For the first time, I actually felt like there was something there and that it could go beyond just the chemistry of touch.
“Hey, brother.” Noah was breathing hard, a sure sign he’d been making something with clay.
