"You haven't told her about that yet?"

Steve sighed at Soda's tone of surprise, as he scanned the notes from his skills and techniques class. "No. She knows something happened when I was a kid, but she doesn't know what."

Soda flexed the fingers of his right hand, tapping them on the coffee table in their shared living room, his TSC cap still on his head. "So are you going to soon?"

"I don't know. Maybe."

"Are you worried about how she'll react or somethin'?"

"I'm more worried about how I'll react. I don't want everything to be about that again."

"I can sure understand that, buddy."

"It still affects me, Soda. Not in the same way and sure as hell not as bad, but it does." Steve eyed some of the headings in his notes: Listening, Questioning, Reflecting, Focusing. "And when I'm spending time with Katie, I like to forget."

"Daddy! Did you see how high I was swinging?"

Samuel gave Emily a big smile, her enthusiasm contagious. "Yeah, I sure did, sweetie."

Emily turned around and ran back toward the swings, her feet carrying her past the slide and the monkey bars.

Nicholas sat on the park bench beside Samuel. "I think she's the happiest kid I've ever seen."

Samuel watched Emily on the swing, pumping her legs, so she could go higher. "She is, isn't she?" She has every reason to be, he thought. Because she couldn't be more loved and wanted.

"Well, hello, my hero."

Darry kissed his wife, Maryanne, on the lips, his fingers threading through her dark hair. "Hero, huh?"

Maryanne, her brown eyes lit up by the purple blouse she wore, let her hands rest on Darry's hips. "Cause you are, Darry. That's why I love you."

"I love you too, and I'll show you how much of a hero I can be later tonight, if you know what I mean."

"Oh, I do. And speaking of that, I have a question for you."

"You're such a sweetheart, Steve."

Steve smiled at Katie, her amber eyes making his heart flutter. "Well, I try. I really like you, Katie. And I haven't felt that way about anyone in a long time."

Katie, her honey-colored curly hair pulled back in a ponytail, touched the petals of the daisies Steve had given her. "I really like you too."

Steve pressed his lips softly to Katie's, the kiss long, but chaste. Butterflies darted around in his stomach, the feeling now even better than he remembered.

"Mommy! Can we look at my baby book again?"

Vivian reached under Emily's pillow, pulling out the book with a pink cover and her daughter's newborn picture on the first page. "Of course we can. But after that, it's time for you to go to sleep."

Emily looked at her baby picture, as she cuddled up in the cozy covers of her bed. She saw her birthday written in her mom's perfect script: January 4, 1968. "Tell me about why I was born then, Mommy."

"I haven't felt like this in a really long time, man."

Soda took a bite of lasagna, as he sat down at the table across from Steve. "Yeah, I know that, Stevie."

Steve picked up his fork, tapping it on his own dinner plate. "You know what? I don't want to risk this. I'm not going to tell her."

"You made mac and cheese, Daddy!"

Samuel chuckled at Emily's glee, as he spooned some of the dinner onto a kid-sized plate. "Yes. I made you your favorite."

Emily looked at the beloved macaroni and cheese, her tiny nose wrinkling up. "How come it's orange?"

"Because it's cheesy. What other color would it be?"

"Last time I had mac and cheese, it was blue."

"Sounds like your Uncle Soda must've had a hand in that one."

"Yep! He made it that time, and it was really yummy."

"Well, I promise this will be just as yummy."

"Promise with a cherry on top, Daddy?"

"Yes, sweetheart. I promise with a cherry on top."

"You're not ever going to tell Katie what happened to you?"

Steve cut another slice of lasagna for himself, as he replied to Soda. "I'm not going to tell her right now. I don't know if I ever will."

Soda finished the lasagna on his plate, licking the sauce from his lips. "I think you'll have to if ya'll get serious. And you sound like you're wanting to."

"Well, I don't know if I'll really have to, you know? It'll always be mine to tell or not, won't it?"

"Of course, but this is a big part of your past, Stevie. It's not a little thing that didn't matter anymore once it was over. It's something that still affects you now."

"I just can't stand the thought of a woman looking at me through that lens."

"I know. But if you don't tell her about that, it'll even be hard to explain stuff that didn't happen as long ago. It seems like a lot of history to have to hide."

"Yeah. I'll figure it out when the time comes. It seems like too much to spring any of that on her now. We're only just getting started."

"I guess I'm just thinking of you here, man. Cause that sounds like a lot of pressure in a relationship. Especially since the only way to deal with the worry is to confront it. You don't want to get serious about Katie, then realize you're still scared of how it'll play out when she knows."

"You've been listening to me too much over the years."

"What? You think I've picked up some wisdom too?"

"You always had it, buddy. And you're right. I know you're right, but telling her's still not an option I'm ready to even consider putting on the table."

"Daddy, look at my castle!"

Samuel went over to where Emily was in the middle of her bedroom, pink and white Legos stacked in a square along the carpet. "Yeah, I see, sweetie. It's beautiful."

Emily chose more Legos from the plastic bin, adding them to the tower that was getting taller. "Do you think my brother can see me from Heaven?"

Samuel looked at the train not far from where Emily was playing, the toy one she knew had once belonged to Matthew. His own memory still conjured up the cherished image of his son, as he watched his daughter play in the same room, where her brother had built his creations more than a decade before. "Of course, sweetheart. He sees you, and he watches over you each and every day."