He knew from the moment he lifted the shoebox from the top shelf of the closet that it was a mistake. It was a mistake when he carried the box carefully in his arms and sat down in his chair. But the biggest mistake of all was lifting the lid. His life was inside of that box. Or rather, the life that he once knew.
He shuffled through the contents, even though he'd gone through them hundreds of times before (especially in the beginning… after… It helped, he had to admit), but this was the first time that he'd opened the box since his new life had begun.
It was wrong of course, looking at these now when he was supposed to be so happy. And he was happy. He had everything that he could have ever wanted. He had a nice home, a beautiful wife (who loved him; of that he was certain), and a wonderful family. But he couldn't ignore the force (or whatever the hell it was) that had beckoned him out of his favorite chair (in the middle of a Mariners' tenth inning slaughter of the Yankees!) and down the long hallway to the closet.
He couldn't understand it. The last time he'd looked in that damned shoebox was not by choice. Daphne had discovered it while she'd been snooping in his room. Although she claimed that she had merely been putting away his clothes, he knew better. She was always meddling in people's lives, wanting to know everything about them. He certainly couldn't fault her for it. In fact, it was one of the things he loved about her. No wonder Niles had fallen for her at first sight. The memory made him smile.
But Daphne wasn't standing beside him now so he couldn't pin this craziness on her. It was all his doing and he'd be damned if he could figure out why on that day, of all days, he'd had such a strong urge to go back to his long-ago past.
He returned his attention to the pictures, scattered haphazardly in the box and removed one. Like all of the others, it was worn and faded, but it instantly brought back a rush of memories.
The woman in the photo gazed longingly at the baby in her arms. Martin could see the baby's small features clearly and ow he remembered the moment as though it was yesterday. His first born son. He was so happy. And he was more in love with his wife than he'd ever been before.
Hester…
He felt the emotional pull immediately; the familiar numbness that he'd felt so many times before and he sighed deeply.
There were more pictures in the box; many, many more. He smiled at the image of himself standing happily beside his brand new bride. She looked beautiful in her wedding dress (the one that she said was too 'plain'… how wrong she was!) And Martin had to admit that he looked pretty sharp in his uniformed finest. He was proud to represent the Seattle Police Department as a detective. The photo may have been in black and white, but the colors were vivid in his memory. The day he married Hester Palmer was the happiest day of his life; until Frasier and Niles were born. His eyes scanned the picture moving from his face to that of Hester.
God how he missed her.