Chapter 29: Light
Jasper
Thursday, December 28, 2023
Forks, Washington
It's been our tradition to keep Christmas up until the New Year, a sort of lingering celebration that guides us into the next. This year, it feels even more important, more special, as we wake up each morning surrounded by lights and ornaments that tell the history of the love that makes our family.
Alice has her moments, times where she can't even look at me, can't look at anyone, she's so lost in her own foggy thoughts. She's still struggling, but it's slowly getting better. She has her first appointment with her OB/GYN next week, but already having talked about her thoughts and feelings with our loved ones has made a noticeable improvement to her.
The light in her is starting to grow stronger.
The days following Christmas and the perfect ceremony for our friends is spent comfortably, mostly dressed in pajamas and robes. We don't race off to work, we don't have to lock ourselves away to lesson plan or grade, we just get to be.
Alice and Evie have gone upstairs to take another nap, and in the silence I don't worry about the host of things that needs to get done eventually. Instead, I reach for my laptop and try to figure out how I can surprise my wife for our anniversary.
I want us to get away—not far, maybe Port Angeles or something. Just for a night for us to reconnect even more.
I think about the way Alice has been opening up to me, the way she's been slowly letting me in again, and my chest aches. I miss my wife, and I want completely uninterrupted time to tell her how much she means to me.
After a quick call to my mom to make sure she's still okay taking Evie for the night, and a final search letting me book all the things I have planned, my surprise is ready to be revealed.
My laptop needs charging, so I head upstairs, plugging it in in the office. I pause when I realize we've left a monitor on in here, and I can hear Alice's soft voice.
"Once, there was a little milk maiden who wanted to be a princess. She grew up believing in dragons and knights on shining white horses, and she wanted nothing more than to be whisked away into a fairytale."
I grab the monitor and sit down, caught up in her tale.
"One day, the little milk maiden met a farm boy. He did not own a great kingdom, nor did he command any armies, still, he was kind and brave and far more handsome than any other boy she'd ever met."
I smile as Alice continues.
"The milk maiden fell in love with the farm boy. With him, she had the most daring adventures. They fought off trolls, rescued frogs, discovered buried treasure, and so much more. The milk maiden hadn't known a life could be as great as things were with her handsome farm boy."
I bring a hand to my chest, rubbing the space over my heart.
"One day, a terrible storm arrived on the horizon. Dark as night and violent as a dragon, there was no escaping it. It consumed the entire village, making everything go dark and cold. The milk maiden was lost in the dark, unable to find her farm boy, unable to find anything."
I can feel my eyes burning as Alice speaks, and I blink hard, clearing my throat.
"The milk maiden thought all would be lost forever. Until one day, her farm boy found her. He was just as lost, just as scared, but he was kind, and he was brave, and he led her through the dark, never once letting go of her hand. Soon, the milk maiden realized that the farm boy was glowing, soft at first, but then ever brighter, until he was shining like the sun. He was a beacon, and with her by his side, the storm began to pass, the darkness ebbing away. He had shone more brilliantly than any knight ever could, and saved the milk maiden."
A tear slips past my eyes, and I quickly slap it off my cheek.
"When the storm cleared, the farm boy led the milk maiden to the greatest treasure they'd ever discovered. She was a baby, with beautiful black hair and the bright shining eyes of her father. She glowed with the love her father glowed with, and she worked the same kind of miracles. Together, the little baby and the farm boy saved the milk maiden from the dark, and showed her that even though night would come, light always followed."
I can't take it anymore. I stand up, putting the monitor on my desk, and make my way to our bedroom. Alice is on the bed, Evie propped up against her knees as she tells the tale. Alice looks up at me when I enter, and immediately she knows I was listening.
She gives me a small, tender smile as I slide onto the bed next to them.
"Thank you for saving me," Alice says, her voice thick with her tears.
I can't stop my own tears from slipping past as I wrap her and Evie in my arms. Alice is right, we can't stop the dark from coming, but I know that as long as we are together, the light will always follow.