The Visit
Jaime knew Steve had joined her when she felt the warmth of his arms encircling her waist, so close she could almost feel his breath on the back of her neck. She smiled warmly to welcome him. "Hi, Steve. God, I missed you so much!"
"I miss you, too, Sweetheart - every minute."
"Can you stay this time?" she pleaded quietly.
"You know I can't."
Losing Steve over and over again made it all so much harder to bear, but Jaime tried to hold the memories of these precious minutes with him close in her heart, to sustain her through the loneliness sure to follow.
"I went to see our daughter. She's beautiful, Jaime; looks just like you. And she's growing so fast..."
"She'll be a year old next month."
"I know. Make sure she knows her Daddy is proud of her, ok?"
"I wish you could tell her yourself, but I don't think she'd understand. Probably wouldn't really hear you, in her heart." Jaime tried to lean closer to his warmth, to feel his arms tighten around her, but instead, Steve backed away.
"I'm sorry, Sweetheart. Not now." Her tears grieved him deeply, as did the knowledge that he was the cause of her suffering. He started to reach out, to caress her face, but knew he could not. "I need to tell you something," he said gently.
"What?"
"Tomorrow, Michael's going to call and ask you out to dinner."
"I can't."
"You have to. It's time, Jaime. It's been over a year..."
"One year, three weeks and two days."
"Sweetheart, you need to do this. Please? I'm asking you to do it for me." He'll make you happy, Jaime, and he'll be a great father for our little girl.
"No."
"What harm could one dinner do?" It'll take awhile, but, slowly, you'll grow to love him - not like we loved each other, but every love is different. Michael will be good to you, and I know he loves you.
"I want you, Steve; I need you! If you can't stay, then I'm going with you."
"Like Hell!" Extremely poor choice of words, Austin. "Jaime, you need to go on with your life, to let yourself be happy." Next year at this time, you'll be married, with a baby on the way. You'll have another one after that, before...
"I'll never love anyone but you," Jaime insisted.
"Do it as a special favor to me, then. One dinner."
"Alright. It's not gonna change anything, though."
"You always were too stubborn for your own good," Steve observed.
"Me? It was your stubborn-ness that caused all of this! You were retired, we were finally happy, but you just had to have that one last flight."
"It was what the fates had planned, Jaime; it was time. I love you, Sweetheart. Please know that I'll always love you."
As surely as she'd felt his arrival, Jaime knew he was gone; she could feel him no more. Slowly, almost reverently, she brushed off his gravestone, pulled the weeds and laid the flowers she'd brought with her at the base of the grave. She turned around with a new resolve and walked out of the cemetery toward a new life.
I'll be back in a few years, Jaime, and then we'll be together. Until then, live your life and be happy. That's the only way that I'll be happy, too.
END