One Day Soon (One Day Soon, #1)(120)

“But the ending’s the best. Because they live happily ever after. All good stories end with a happily ever after,” Ava said with a silly smile on her face.

“Tell it again!” she pleaded and I laughed, never able to deny anything to the six year old that had healed the last wound on my scarred heart.

“Should I tell a different one this time?” I asked her, wiggling my toes in the sand.

“As long as it’s about Yoss and Imi. That’s your name too, Mommy,” Ava announced with the brightest of bright smiles.

“You like the stories about Yoss and Imi, don’t you?”

Ava nodded emphatically. “Are they about you?”

I leaned down and scooped her up in my arms, loving the way she giggled. I nuzzled her sweet smelling hair before setting her back on her feet. I settled down beside her again and I told her stories that made her happy. That made me happy.

That allowed us to envision a perfect world where Yoss and Imi were always happy. Always together.

I told her the words by rote. A story of two people who fought a lifetime of hardship to be together.

In this story there was no heartache. No well-intentioned dishonesty. No tears that never seemed to stop.

But there was the villain. Every good story had one.

“Oh, I hate Manny. He’s the evilest wizard ever! And he’s so mean to Yoss and Imi. Always making Yoss go off and fight the mean dragon. But Imi saves him, doesn’t she? She’s the hero.”

“I don’t know if she’s the hero, but she’d do whatever she could to save the boy she loved. Because true love never dies, Ava. Never ever.”

I stared out at the rolling ocean and could hardly believe I was finally here. It was just about perfect.

Except for that one thing that was missing.

“Yoss defeats Manny though and he rides off with Imi on his white unicorn!” Ava exclaimed enthusiastically tossing a handful of wet sand into the air. It landed on her head and she laughed and laughed.

“That’s right, sweetheart. They rode off into the sunset.”

Into the sunset.

Always together.

Ava ran towards me and wrapped her tiny arms around my waist. She looked up at me with the adoration of a child. One that had seen too much in her short life but knew that now, she was safe.

“I love you, Mommy.”

I kissed the tip of her tiny nose. “I love you, Ava.”

“Can you tell me another story about Yoss and Imi. What about the story where Yoss gets a new heart because his old one is broken by the evil wizard Manny?”

My stomach twisted and turned.

That was a hard story to tell.

A heart that wasn’t really a heart…

But I couldn’t tell Ava about liver transplants and hours of waiting. Of blood and pain. I didn’t want to share the terror of not knowing.

So the dying liver became a broken heart.

The streets became a beautiful kingdom.

The predatory pimp was now the evil wizard.

But Yoss and Imi were still in love. Still looking for the ending they deserved.

“You know how that one goes,” I told her lightly.

“Imi gets him a new one!” Ava giggled.

“That’s right. Imi gets him a new one. And…”

“They lived happily ever after,” Ava finished, pulling out of my arms so she could dig in the sand again.

“Why do you like these stories so much?” I asked her.

I knew why. It was the same reason I told them.

To change history. Just a little bit. To give her a story to smile about.

But it wasn’t all make believe. All fairytales start somewhere.

In truth.

“I just do,” Ava shrugged.

The sun sank lower in the sky. Another end to another day.

“I know why you like them,” I said softly, the water lapping at my toes.

I felt him before I saw him. Before I heard him.

I knew he was there.

Ava looked up as if she too sensed his presence. Her face brightened. She gave him a delighted smile. Her heart in her eyes.

“She loves them because they’re true.” I felt his deep voice in the parts I had locked away for so long. The parts that were now open wide. Free.

Yoss leaned in close, his lips next to my ear and I could feel his breath on my skin. He placed a soft kiss on my temple. It was a kiss that told our story. The best story. The one that didn’t need fairytales and magic creatures.

The real one.

The one that belonged to us.

“And they lived happily ever after,” he murmured, sinking into the sand beside me.

“The end,” I whispered back, looking back at him. His skin no longer yellow. His smile bright. His eyes even brighter.

This was what joy looked like.

How we got here was another story, for another day.

But we were here now.

And I was the woman who believed in promises.

In fairytales.

In second chances.

I had experienced them. Lived them firsthand. I knew how quickly they could be snatched away.

And how quickly you could be handed them back.

Just when you had forgotten what faith felt like.

But I felt it now. And I trusted…

In us.

In our new family.

In happily ever afters.