The Meridians(2)

That was why his marriage to Amy was so odd. Because in his mind, it began once upon a time.

Once upon a time, there were two people, named Amy and Scott. And the reason they began once upon a time was because Scott could not remember a time without her. It was as though she had sprung fully formed into his life: a child he remembered in his earliest memories. A girl he had spent every day in high school with. A woman who had moved from the small town of Meridian, Idaho, to follow him to college in Los Angeles. A bride he had wedded his first year at the Academy. A mother who bore him their son and then raised him so well that Scott sometimes felt like simply standing beside her and admiring as she did her work.

Once upon a time, there were two people, named Amy and Scott. And once upon a time, he fell in love with her. And now it was decades later, and every day was still once upon a time, because he was living in his own fairy tale, and it was a fairy tale that, like his life with Amy, had begun once upon a time - because they were one and the same.

Now, he watched her walking in front of him. She was beautiful, like a fairy, a creature that never quite stopped moving, any more than a breeze stopped moving. To stop moving would be death to a breeze, and surely death to her, to this creature who was so beautiful that she could capture hearts with a smile, yet so strange that she had chosen to love him.

He smiled, and smiled still more as he watched her holding hands with their son. Chad was eight, and beautiful as his mother was, as though both of them had fallen from the same neighborhood in Heaven and against all odds had reunited in the earthly form of his family. Though if Amy was a breeze, Chad might be a full-blown gale: just as incessantly moving, but somehow more grand, more loud, more present than anyone Scott had ever seen before.

He and Amy talked about it some nights, after making love, when they were in one another's arms and talking about the same thing they always did during their pillow talk: their family - what it was and what it would one day become. And when they spoke about Chad, both of them agreed that he was something special, something powerful and wonderful and good packed into a small body that would one day grow to become a man who would - no doubt - change the world in great and meaningful ways. He might become a brilliant scientist, or a famous artist, or even - God willing - a good husband and father. But no matter how he channeled his energies, he was special, and there was no doubt about that.

Amy turned at that moment, half-swiveled her body as she looked at some fruit in a street-vendor's stand, and Scott quickly dodged behind a nearby trash bin. He had nothing to hide, but he loved to follow them, loved to watch them both from afar as they did nothing more nor less miraculous than living.

Once upon a time, Scott Cowley had a family.

Amy turned back a moment later, and resumed her walk, still holding Chad's hand in her own. Chad's other hand was also holding something: a pretend police badge that Scott had given him for his eighth birthday a few weeks before. It wasn't much, it wasn't a trip to Disneyland or a real pony or a trust fund, because they were still a relatively young family and though Scott had finally made Detective the year before he was also supporting a stay-at-home family in Los Angeles on a cop's salary, which meant that every penny was spoken for, every dollar spent almost before it was earned. But in spite of the relative paucity of the presents, Chad's eighth birthday had been a special one, with enough presents to feel like a birthday and enough love to feel like a true party. Scott gave him the badge almost as an afterthought, and yet it was that toy that Chad had gravitated toward and used almost every single day since then, playing cops and robbers in a lovely world where the bad guys were always caught; where justice always prevailed.

Scott watched them walk for almost a quarter-mile before he finally did what he always did: he reached into his pocket, past the bulge under his armpit where he wore his firearm, and pulled out a cell phone. He increased his speed, coming to within a half-block of his family, then dialed a number. Ahead of him, he could barely hear the electronic chirp as Amy's own cell phone rang. She pulled it from her pocket, and he heard a click on his own phone as she answered.

"Hello?" she said.

“Hello, beautiful,” he answered.

“Scott!”

Upon hearing his name, Chad shouted, "Is that Daddy?"

"He's on the phone," said Amy, and handed the boy the cell phone.

"Hi, Daddy," said Chad. "Where are you?"

"Right behind you, kid," answered Scott. Chad turned, and even at this distance Scott could see the grin that widened his son's features and made them even more beautiful, if that were possible. Chad waved the hand with the badge at Scott. "I see you, Daddy," he shouted, glee making his voice almost loud enough to be heard without use of the cell phone.

“And I see you, bud,” answered Scott.

Ahead, he saw his son thrust the phone back to his mother, then grab her hand and start pulling at her. "Hide from Daddy, Mommy! Hide from Daddy!"

Scott heard his son's laugh, and it warmed him like a cup of hot chocolate on a cold winter's day. Once upon a time, Scott had a son, and his son's laugh was magic.

Amy had barely a second to say into the phone, "Looks like you're going to have to chase us, honey," before she hung up and ran with her son.

Scott put his own cell phone back into his pocket, almost scratching himself on the LAPD badge – a larger version of the one his son held – that hung from his belt. He laughed and gave chase, going slowly so as not to gain ground too quickly - wouldn't want to disappoint Chad - but catching up, bit by bit.