Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 63915 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 320(@200wpm)___ 256(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63915 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 320(@200wpm)___ 256(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
He shrugs. “Family, son.”
My mom passes out the cake because she was born knowing how to transfer slices without them falling. Doll makes a speech that starts with “I’m not gonna cry” and ends in tears. Crunch pulls me into a bear hug that cracks my spine and says in my ear, “You earned this.” Red shakes my hand like we’re closing the best deal we’ll ever make and then slips a small envelope into my pocket. “No arguments.”
When the night thins and the last brother swears he’ll get his plate tomorrow, when the music winds down to a hum and the chairs clack in careful stacks, when the lights over the arbor burn steady and the oak holds all our vows in its bark, I take my wife’s hand and we walk back into our house.
She leans against the doorjamb, hand on her belly, eyes on me like she’s memorizing something she forgot she’d need later. “Hey, husband.”
I swear that word could fix roads.
“Hey, wife,” I say, and kiss her as if the world didn’t try to keep us from this.
We retreat to our bathroom and then our bed. After making love gently we settle in against each other and I feel like everything is right in the whole world.
I close my eyes and say a thank you I don’t address to anyone in particular. Then I sleep like a man who knows the ride he’s on and the road he’ll take to get where he’s going.
From brutal to beauty.
We’re moving. And for once, it’s not running. It’s arriving. And we’re going to be right on time.
The End
Until the next ride …