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The sky was as blue as he’d ever seen it. White, fluffy clouds dotted it in intervals so precise it looked like they’d been placed there specifically for their viewing pleasure. The trees were full and green and generously throwing out shade around the backyard. A cooling breeze offset the warmth of the day so that it was comfortable to remain outside on the patio in their porch swing.
Hannah was playing catch with Micah in the back corner near the orange tree Stede had planted when they’d first moved in 30 years ago. Hamilton sat beneath the pergola with his girlfriend, Lexie, playing the acoustic guitar, its melody the soundtrack to Jessie’s gymnastics routine as she tumbled across the lawn.
Alma and Louis sat in lawn chairs with their significant others, an ice chest open in the middle of their circled chairs, and every so often they’d get up and move to remain in the shade of the large umbrella he and Stede had bought at Costco the previous summer.
He surveyed all of it and while he’d never been a praying man, not really, not any more than the next man who’d send words out into the universe on occasion, he sent up a little prayer of thanks. To God or the cosmos or maybe just to himself for all that he had; for being brave enough to walk up that night in the bar and say hi. For throwing caution to the wind and flying off to Vegas. For putting in the work to get the reward.
The screen door squeaked and then slapped shut against the wood frame as Stede exited from the house. His steps were slower than they used to be, a nearly imperceptible shuffle to the left step had developed after breaking a toe six months earlier. No one else would be able to tell but Ed.
“Here we are.” Stede handed him his glass of sweet tea.
“Why thank you,” he took it and let Stede settle in beside him.
They sat in practiced, comforting silence, sipping their tea and watching their family. Eventually, Stede slipped his hand into Ed’s, pulling them to rest on his lap.
“This is nice, don’t you think?” Stede looked at him, face relaxed. His hair had thinned just a touch at his temples but still curled, white and tempting, at his neck and ears. His eyebrows had gone white in the last year. He kept them trimmed behind the frames of his glasses. Small wrinkles had settled into his worry lines on his forehead and around his mouth. He’d never looked more handsome than he did right now.
“This? Perfect.”