Hello, everyone. It's Augustus again. I know you might be a little tired of hearing our story, but there's something meaningful in it for me and Hazel Grace, and I hope one day our children will read it and know how much we love them and how important it is to make every day the best we can make it.
So, with that said, allow me to continue on, shall I? Yes, I think so.

Today we are packing for our trip to Paris. The girls are downstairs with Kaitlyn and Isaac. Hazel Grace is proudly wearing the necklace I gave her. It swings a little when she moves, and I can't stop looking at her. I'm so lucky that I've been given such a great opportunity to love her. She taught me that as long as we make the time meaningful, we can get through anything. I turn to Hazel Grace and ask, "Okay, is that everything?"

Hazel Grace smiles and says, "Yeah, I think so. Can you believe we're going to Paris?"
I give her a grin and say, "Well, yes. I did arrange it after all."

Hazel Grace laughs, and I fall in love with her a little more. After a minute, she allows, "True."

As we go downstairs, I see Hazel Grace stop.

"Okay?" I ask.

"Okay," she answers. "Just... still getting used to walking without the oxygen. I got so used to dragging it along that it kind of became... a part of me. I mean, don't get me wrong. I'm so grateful to be well, to be with you and the girls.. There's nothing I love more. Ir just feels... strange. I just... remember the time you asked me if I had become my illness?"

I nod and say, "I remember."

"I didn't realize til we met," she continues as we reach the last stair, "that I had. My cancer had become such a part of me by then that I didn't even find myself able to imagine a new life. That was who I was. That was who I believed I would always be until my last day, and then you came into my life and you gave me an entirely new perspective. You changed me from waiting to die to living for the moment, and that is something I'll always be grateful for. You showed me that even though one might not have a lot of time, that time can be whatever you want it to be."

I can't say anything for a moment. Words aren't coming, and even though you'd expect that she might be, Hazel Grace does not appear to be waiting for my brilliantly crafted answer. I hadn't realized my impact on her had been so great. I had, as she'd pointed out, merely been living for the moment.

"Wow..." I say after what seems like forever. "I didn't realize..."

"Neither did I until way later," she responds, seeming to know what words I'm searching for even though I don't finish the thought. I don't finish it because I can't, and I can't because there's nothing else to say. She's put it way better than I could. Sometimes words just aren't a sufficient expression of thought because the concept is bigger than anyone can possibly explain.

After a minute, she says, "Augustus, where are you?"

"Just thinking, Hazel Grace," I say, taking her hand.

"Hmm, well will you tell me so I can join?"

"I was thinking of the enormity of a lifetime." I shake my head and correct, "No. Of our lifetime. How rare and beautiful a thing it is when one old soul finds another by chance, and together, they experience rare, beautiful things in ways no one else can possibly understand now, nor will they ever. It belongs only to us, Hazel Grace, and that is a gift of massive proportion."

"I love you so much, Augustus Waters," she says, whispering it so that this, too, belongs to us alone.

"To our infinity," I whisper back, tickling her ear with my breath.

She giggles and says, "Okay?"

"Okay," I say, and give her a kiss. We linger in the moment, and once again it feels like we are the only two people alive. This moment here and now is all that matters.