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Sarah Nelson has known Charlie Spring a majority of his life by now (and a third of her own! but that might be too much to contemplate today of all days). Twenty years. As she watches him dance around the home he now shares with her son, she remembers the slender boy she’d met when he was just fourteen.
They’ve all come so far in those two decades. Sarah had learned how to be an empty nester, started dating again. David had learned how to be a proper big brother and decent son and wonderful partner. Not yet a dad, maybe never. She swallows over the lump in her throat. All she’s ever wanted as a mother is for her boys to be happy and now they are. Loved up and secure. It makes her heart overflow.
Charlie’s humming as he works at the kitchen counter. She can hear him from where she’s trapped on the sofa. She sways in place and reflects on Charlie’s journey the last 20 years. He has learned how to take care of himself and when it includes asking for help. Among other things. And Nick? Nick has learned how to balance his need to nurture with a respect for everyone else’s autonomy. It bodes well for the next phase of their lives.
Charlie finishes up and comes to sit with her, taking the padded chair closer to the fireplace and to where Daisy is curled up sleeping on her dog bed. They smile at each other, loath to break the easy silence. She notes the circles under his eyes. “You can go join Nick for a nap if you want,” she murmurs across to him but he shakes his head, his eyes drifting sleepy but full of love.
“Nah, I want to enjoy this,” he gestures at her vaguely. “And have a natter with you.” She tears up. Again. She blinks them away and lets her face reflect all that she’s feeling in this moment. He grins at her, nodding in understanding.
How did the Nelson clan get so lucky, to have this man grow into their family as naturally as breathing? His devotion and sweetness remain unsullied by the passage of time and all its challenges. He’s still the same wonderful person she and Nick both fell in love with.
They chat quietly for a few minutes, all the other updates they haven’t had time for recently. Olly’s career. Michael’s contentment as a full-time house spouse and father now he’s retired from skating. Her sister Diane’s latest adventure.
At some point, he brings her a cup of tea and she manages to drink some. He gulps his own as soon as it’s cool enough and then bounces back up to carry his dishes to the sink and grab another drink for someone who’s starting to stir.
He’s back in a flash, a question in his eyes. She answers with a lift of her eyebrows, almost a plea in how they bend. He hands the body-temperature bottle over happily and settles back into his seat where he can watch the new Nan enjoy baby Juliette.
Shifting carefully and pulling the small bundle off her shoulder before resting the tiny head in the crook of her arm, Sarah then works the teet into the rosebud mouth and feels a flush of warmth when her granddaughter, wee dark curls plastered flat against her forehead, settles in to suck without fully waking. Success!
Sarah closes her eyes for a moment, overcome once more by gratitude. She’s grateful to Nick and Charlie for wanting her involvement as they navigate this huge transition. To Tori for carrying this baby nine months, only about a year after birthing her own child. To a universe that brought her youngest the love of his life so young. And she’s grateful most of all that each of them know how fortunate they are, to have relationships which are so connected and healthy.
She opens her eyes again to stare down at the pale skin and long eyelashes of the new love of her life. And then she raises them to Charlie’s, the deep blue there mirroring back to her every ounce of profound joy she feels. Then he’s crossing to her and squeezing in along her side and wrapping them both in a hug that manages to say everything without further words.