I awoke to a frantic high-pitched beep resounding through the house. As I sleepily stumbled down the stairs I realized that I something burning. I found Landon in the kitchen, standing on a chair under the smoke alarm. The room was filled with thick smoke. He was waving a towel and trying to clear the air.


"Hey...uh, I made you breakfast." He said, jumping down and pulling a smoking cookie sheet out of the oven.
"Looks delicious. What is it exactly?" I asked, trying to make sense of the charred black blobs that Landon was working to scrape off.
"Pancakes. Want some", he offered.
"No thanks. And what were pancakes doing in the oven? You make them in a pan...hence the name. Here, let me help." He wrapped me in a bear hug as I poured some batter in a pan and we made breakfast together.

We decided to eat on the front porch while the smoke cleared from the kitchen. Landon rocked the porch swing with his foot as we sat together and talked.
"I want to get to church early today; I have to put out the sign up sheet for vacation bible school." I casually remarked through a mouthful of pancakes.
"We're going to church? Aren't you tired from the wedding? Maybe you should rest...I don't want you to overdo it." He studied my face, trying to see if I was feeling alright.
"Don't worry, I'm fine. Besides, the service is only an hour."

Landon winked at me from the second pew as I took my place in the choir loft. I winked back and mouthed "Forty two...", at which he stared to laugh silently. I could hear my father saying something about a fundraiser for the youth group, but I couldn't concentrate on the announcements as Landon stuck his tongue out at me and I tried not to laugh.
My father gave a sermon on God's grace and the importance of forgiveness. "Be merciful, just as your father is merciful. Do not judge and you will not be judged. Do not condemn and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven." I looked over at Landon and was surprised to see that his head was bowed in prayer. I was filled with joy at his new relationship with God. I knew we would both need faith to endure what was to come.

On the ride home from church, Landon was extremely quiet. He pulled over in the street in front of the pier and didn't say anything for a few minutes.
"What's wrong?"
"Jamie, I don't know if you'll ever be able to forgive me, but I'm so sorry for everything I ever did to hurt you. I'm sorry for the time in kindergarten when I dumped sand in your hair at the sandbox, and all the times I made fun of your clothes, and in 7th grade when I hung that plastic alien on your mobile of the solar system, and last year when I ignored you in front of my friends..."
"Landon, its okay. I forgive you."
"You do?"
"Mmhmm. I forgave you a long time ago. Oh, and by the way, you missed one. You forgot about my birthday in second grade when you hid my cupcakes in the closet." We both started laughing at the memory of our teacher searching the classroom while I stood at the front of the room in a cardboard birthday crown.
"I promise I'll make it up to you. As soon as we get home I'm going to make you some cupcakes."
"Oh no you're not. After this morning's events, you're not allowed to play with the oven anymore."

We pulled up to the house just in time to find Landon's mom unloading the last of the wedding presents into the house. She came over and embraced both of us.
"Jamie, you sounded beautiful in church this morning."
"Thank you."
"She always sounds beautiful...the voice of an angel." Landon laughed as he nudged me with his elbow.
"So this was why you were in such a hurry to leave church this morning.", I had been curious what she was up to the way she hurried out of the sanctuary so quickly after the closing prayer. "Why don't you stay for lunch? I'll make us some sandwiches."
"Oh, thanks for the offer sweetie but I have a few things to finish up for the office tomorrow. Besides, you two probably want some time alone."

As I watched her drive away, I couldn't help but think that for the first time in my life I felt like I had a mother. I was lost in thought when Landon lifted my face to meet his.
"What are you thinking about?"
"The presents.", I smiled. "What do you think could be inside all those boxes?"
"I don't know, let's go find out."
When I opened the door, I almost tripped over a pile of stray gifts lined up in the hallway. The living room was filled to capacity. If I had collected all the presents I had received on every Christmas and birthday of my life, I wouldn't have half this many.

Jamie was speechless as she took in the sight of all the gifts filling our house. I led her over to the couch, and she sat down without taking her eyes off the presents.
"Where should we start?"
"This one." Jamie answered. "It almost looks to pretty to open." The medium sized box was wrapped in blue paper covered with doves and tied with a silver ribbon. "Let's open it together.", she suggested.
We untied the ribbon and pulled the paper off in unison. "Congratulations Jamie Carter! You are the proud owner of a new blender!" I pulled it out of the packaging and handed it to her to admire.
"Just what I always wanted." She laughed, as she opened a set of dishes. I tore open another package and found a set of silver candlesticks and a matching picture frame.

Two hours later, we were down to the last box. It was from Mrs. Washington, an elderly woman from church who had baby-sat Jamie many years ago. I sat back and enjoyed watching Jamie unwrap it. She had all the enthusiasm of a small child at Christmas. "It's another blender!" she laughed.
"Well, that makes 4. I guess we'll be having smoothies for dinner tonight."
"Speaking of dinner, it's almost 5:30...I better get started." She gave me a quick kiss before bouncing off to the kitchen carrying her new baking pan.

I could hear Jamie singing softly to herself in the kitchen as I cleaned up the wrapping paper and boxes strewn around the living room. I carried some of our new dishes into the kitchen and put them away in the cabinets. The air smelled like cooking spices as I walked up behind Jamie and put my arms around her. She turned around with an oven mitt on her hand and kissed me. We must have gotten carried away, because a few minutes later we were interrupted by the oven timer.

A warm breeze drifted through the window as we sat in the kitchen eating the Lasagna that Jamie made. At least one of us knew how to cook. "Hey do you realize its only four days till Thursday?" We had decided to wait a few days before taking our honeymoon, so Jamie would have enough time to rest from the wedding.
"Mmhmm. I finished packing this morning. I can't believe I've lived this close to Virginia Beach my whole life and I've never been there." I smiled at Jamie's comment. If only she knew where we were really going...
"What are you smirking about?" She asked playfully.
"Oh you'll see." I looked across the table at Jamie and couldn't help noticing that she looked paler than usual in the fading evening sunlight. "Baby why don't you go rest while I clean up dinner."
"Are you sure you don't mind? I guess we did have a busy weekend. But it was definitely worth it." She said with a glow in her eyes.

I was just finishing washing the dishes when the phone rang. I jumped to get it so it wouldn't wake Jamie. I grinned as a recording confirmed our hotel reservations and arrival time. This was going to be great.

Jamie was still sleeping when I made my way into our room later that night. I quietly opened her suitcase, trying not to wake her. I surveyed what she had packed and removed one of her sweaters and a pair of jeans and replaced them with shorts and a few t-shirts. She stirred slightly as I climbed into bed and kissed her goodnight.

I realized that up until now I had taken it for granted that I would be able to see her face every day. I couldn't sleep, and I lay awake wondering how much time we had left together, wishing it could be a lifetime. I had known her my whole life. Why had it taken me so long to realize how wonderful she was?

I woke up in the middle of the night and noticed that Landon was not among the disheveled mess of blankets on his side of the bed. I glanced at the clock - 2:23 am. Where could he be? I found him in the darkened kitchen with a carton of ice cream.
"Phish Food, my favorite.", I said as I picked up a spoon and led him out the door to the porch swing. "I wonder how they get the caramel inside the fishes..." I mused, breaking the silence. He obviously had something on his mind.
"I don't know, but its genius." He replied, a smile finally forming on his face.
"Don't you ever wonder what God was thinking when he created the universe?"
"Only you would think of something like that." Landon replied, popping a chocolate fish into his mouth.
"No really, I wonder if he strategically placed each galaxy, or debated what color to make sunflowers. Or why did he give ostriches wings if they can't fly?"
"I never really thought about it that way. Sometimes I wonder why he gave me a second chance. Where do you think I'd be right now if I hadn't gone out to the factory with Clay Gephardt that night? What if I never got sentenced to the spring play...if I had never asked you to help me with my lines?"
" Then I guess we wouldn't be sitting here eating ice cream together right now. Which would be a shame, because everything feels so perfect."
I leaned back on into the swing as Landon ran his hand through my hair. I must have fallen asleep, because the next time I opened my eyes I was in bed, with the moonlight shining through the window.