The following spring,
Nico bought a small house tucked between the birch trees and a small lake in the Adirondack Mountains.
He knew Lauren would love it,
With live wood countertops and shelving,
The kitchen was bright with huge windows in front of the sink looking out into the trees,
And the bathroom had the biggest bathtub he'd ever seen.
He wanted to replace the kitchen tiles to her favorite color,
Turquoise,
That would match so nicely with all the different wood features.
One afternoon,
He asked Lauren if she'd like to explore a new spot to go hiking,
And then surprised her by taking her to their new home.
She could hardly believe it,
Their own home,
Where they would be a family together.
They moved through each room,
Imagining how to bring it to life and make it their own.
Lauren loved how Adriana would wake before the birds,
Pointing at the mist that drifted off the lake as if it were magic.
Nico built her a swing on the old maple out front.
Every afternoon,
He pushed her gently on the swing,
Until her laugh echoed across the yard,
Carrying farther than seemed possible.
Lauren would watch from the porch,
Coffee cooling beside her,
Thinking that maybe this was what getting everything you wanted felt like,
Ordinary moments stitched together by love with this inner knowing that she could trust it.
They planted a garden that summer,
Tomatoes,
Lemongrass,
Lavender,
Wildflowers that refused to stay in neat rows.
Adriana toddled between them,
Her hands stained with dirt,
Her hair catching the sun.
Sometimes,
Nico would pause mid-task just to watch her,
The corners of his mouth curved in that quiet way he had when the emotions of the moment overwhelmed him.
In the evenings,
They cooked together while music played,
Sometimes they sang along,
Laughing when one of them got the words wrong.
Nico chopped while Lauren stirred,
And Adriana danced in circles on the kitchen floor,
Her little feet pattering against the wood.
After dinner,
They'd sit out on the deck,
Wrapped in blankets,
Watching the stars rise over the trees.
There was an ease to it all now,
An understanding that peace wasn't something they had to chase,
It was here to stay.
Lauren often thought about the promise she'd made her daughter that night on the porch,
That life could be gentle,
Standing barefoot in their yard,
Fireflies flickering like tiny lanterns around her.
She realized she'd kept that promise.
And even on the days that were messy and loud,
When Adriana was teething or bills piled up or silence stretched a little too long between them,
When the stresses of life caught up to them,
There was a trust underneath it all,
A knowing that whatever came,
They would meet it in the way they met everything now,
Together,
With love that was both steady and real.
