The sun is bright and warm, glinting off the metal chairs lined up on the high school lawn, and the laughter and cheers of her classmates echo around her. Rue's done it. She's made it to graduation. As she stands there, her cap and gown a little too big on her slender frame, Maya balances carefully on her hip and feels a sense of pride she hadn't known she could feel. For so long, she'd wondered if she'd make it if this day would even come. But here she is, diploma in hand, her baby girl in her arms.
Maya squirms, her tiny fingers grabbing at the tassel on Rue's cap, babbling in her own language, her little face scrunched up with curiosity and delight at all the commotion around them. Rue laughs softly, adjusting her grip on Maya as she reaches down to pick up the large picture frame she's brought. Inside is a photo of Nate—young and intense, with that familiar look of pride and defiance that seems like a part of him.
The picture was taken during one of his high school football games, right after a win. He was holding his helmet under his arm, his mouth twisted into a rare, genuine smile. She hadn't brought herself to look at this picture much over the past year, too scared of the emotions it stirred up, but today… today, it feels right to have him here in whatever way she can.
She shifts Maya onto her other hip and holds the framed picture close, feeling the edges press into her palm. Her heart feels heavy, but there is a warmth there, too, a quiet sense of gratitude. She doesn't have him with her—not physically, not in the way she wishes—but he's a part of this day—a part of her and a part of the tiny, wriggling girl in her arms who looks more and more like him every day.
A photographer steps up, giving Rue a nod. She manages a small, watery smile, trying to steady herself as she looks down at the photo in her hands. She holds it closer, adjusting it so that Nate's image is right beside Maya's face, a makeshift family photo that's bittersweet in every way.
"Say cheese, Maya," she whispers softly, her voice thick with emotion. Maya just gurgles, tugging at Rue's cap again, her wide, innocent eyes shining up at her mother with trust and joy that Rue still can't believe she's been given.
The photographer snaps a few pictures, and Rue blinks rapidly, trying to keep her tears from spilling. She feels a hand on her shoulder and sees her mom, Leslie, standing beside her, offering a small, supportive smile. Leslie's gaze softens as she looks at the frame, at the picture of the boy her daughter had once loved with all the recklessness and intensity of first love.
"He'd be proud of you, Rue," Leslie says gently, her voice barely a whisper.
Rue swallows, her throat tight, and nods. "I like to think he would be," she said, her voice breaking slightly. She looked down at Maya, running a gentle hand over her daughter's dark curls. "He would've loved her, Mom. He really would have."
Leslie gently squeezes her daughter's shoulder, and Rue feels a surge of warmth and strength that steadies her, grounding her in the moment. For Leslie, she holds Robert in her heart the same way Rue holds Nate—in a way that eclipses all others.
For a long time, Rue's been afraid of what Nate's absence would mean for Maya and her own ability to be a mother. But now, looking down at her diploma, at the little girl in her arms, she feels something shift—a quiet realization that she can carry his memory forward, that she can make a life for Maya that honors the best parts of him without being weighed down by the worst.
As the photographer prepares to take another photo, Rue glances down at Nate's image again, her fingers brushing over the frame's glass. "I did it, Nate," she whispers, so softly that only she can hear. "We made it here. She and I… we're going to be okay."
She leans in, pressing a kiss to the edge of the frame as if sealing a promise between herself and the boy who's changed her life forever. Then, with a final, shaky smile, she turns back to the camera, holding Maya close, the picture of Nate nestled beside them. At that moment, in the bright light of graduation day, Rue feels a strange, beautiful peace wash over her, a quiet acceptance that even though the future is uncertain, she and Maya will be alright.
The photographer snaps the picture, capturing Rue, Maya, and Nate's memory, all together in one frame.
For the first time, Rue truly believes that they can move forward, carrying both the love and the loss and making something beautiful out of everything they've been given.