FIVE MONTHS LATER


    ANASTASIA


    "Hey!" I waved at another of Amie''s friend who just stepped in with her


    mom.


    "You''re wee," I walked up to her and her mom


    "Thank you foring."


    She smiled, "It was either Ie or have Ka cry in my ears all day."


    Weughed and Ka blushed. I closed the door and as we walked further into the living room, I caught her looking at the picture frames hung on the wall, just like everyone else does whenever they stepped into our house.


    Her lips curled into a small smile and I followed her gaze to see the one that made her smile. I sighed as I admired the man next to me in the picture.


    Donned in his best suit, so he said, was Dennis as he wound his arms. around me and looked down at me. I still remembered that day like it was yesterday.


    The photographer got tired of telling him to look up and just took the pictures even as he had his gazes fixed on me. It was the same in every of our wedding pictures, he didn''t look at the camera because he kept asking if I was okay.


    "Are you sure that train isn''t too long? I don''t want you to trip. I can hold it up, do you want me to?" So many questions and worries that I started to worry that he might spend the whole day fussing over me instead of living our wedding day to the fullest.


    The only time he looked in the camera was when I held his chin and made him look in the right direction as we bothughed. In the same picture, Amie had jumped in at thest minute with a big smile. We looked so happy in that picture and it was the one with the biggest frame. And the one that always got everyone saying ''aww''.


    Then my gaze slid to Amie''s pictures that took more space even more than our wedding pictures. Amie, my resilient beautiful Amie. She looked happy in all of the pictures. Each shot as she giggled in pure innocence, captured the innocence in her eyes, a beacon of hope and a promise for the future.


    I would say Amie was the happiest when we made our intention to get married known to her. "Yay! My very own dad!" She yelled excitedly as she wound her arms around Dennis.


    Finally, Ka''s mom dragged her gaze away from thest picture - the one of Amie that was taken just a few weeks ago when she got


    discharged from the hospital.


    "Happy birthday to you..." she and Ka joined the chorus as Ka beamed and waved at Amie.


    "We wish you a long life and prosperity. Hip hip hip! Hurray!" Dennis got on his knees and hugged Amie and she hugged him back so tightly I feared she might hurt herself.


    When she pulled back, she ran up to me and hugged me. "Thank you mommy, thank you daddy."


    "Anything for my baby," Dennis told her as he lightly pinched her cheeks. She giggled and ran up to her friends.


    Dennis closed the space between us, curled his arms around me and I held his hand as we watched Amieugh and y games with the other kids.


    "She''s really excited about homeschooling."


    I smiled, shaking my head, "I used to think she didn''t like school."


    I looked up when I felt his gaze on me. "Are you kidding? She was always talking about school with me. Her friends, her teachers, what she learned..."


    I shrugged and said nothing as I returned my gaze to her. I guess I was too busy with work to listen to her whenever she tried to tell me anything about school.


    I sighed, relieved and just happy. "I am just so d that she''s responding well to treatments."


    The home treatment is by far the best decision we made concerning her health."


    I nodded, agreeing. She was doing so much better than she did when she was in the hospital.Text property ? N?vel(D)ra/ma.Org.


    "More candies," a little girl tottered up to her brother who was ying with Amie and others. When the boy paid her no heed, she tugged at his pants and lisped fiercely, "I want more candies!"