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Reece is glad he and Freda have the beach all to themselves. The late afternoon sun shines mellowly, a few pinkish-white clouds hover in the sky, and only the gentle splash of the waves, let alone a kookaburra or two in the distance, accompanies their chatter rich in significant pauses and hesitations but otherwise friendly, like in the old days, albeit only minus the level of affection they once had when they were more than friends. It felt like a long time ago, to be honest, Reece thinks.
Freda holds his hand up, the one with his engagement ring. It’s mostly silver, with a tiny diamond gem and a golden band in the middle.
“It’s beautiful,” she says with a small but genuine smile.
Reece shyly snickers. “Yeah, it is.” Like what we used to have. It was still beautiful, their past, but it’s just that: the past. Reece hasn’t yet decided whether he’d take Patrick’s last name, but their wedding is in a few weeks. This is a good time for closure or at least something like it.
“You know...” Freda releases Reece’s hand and glances to the horizon. “It’s not like high school anymore, but...” Her voice cracks a bit. “...I still love you.”
She wipes a tear with the back of her palm, but a few more streak down her cheeks.
Reece’s face saddens. “Yeah... me too.”
He draws near Freda, her face in her hands, and wraps his arms around her. “I’m so sorry.”
He has been trying his best to suppress his own tears, but what he just said breaks him.
Freda shushes him through sobs. “It’s all right. Don’t be sorry for loving Patty.”
They stay held by each other for some time. When they break apart, Freda sniffles and wipes her tears again. “At least Leila will have more dads.”
Reece sniffles, too, and smiles. He then caresses Freda’s chin. “With one mum to rule them all.”
Freda chuckles.
And she was right. The day of the wedding, she accompanies Leila as the little girl takes the rings to Reece and Patty down the aisle. Mother and daughter both clap and cheer when the officiating minister proclaims, “I now pronounce you, Reece Walsh and Patrick Carrigan, a married couple,” and the two men share their first kiss as, well, a married couple.
“Dad is Dad Number One,” Leila would say, “Uncle Patty is now Dad Number Two.” A few years later, Freda marries, and Leila has a Dad Number Three.
The present does become the past. Nevertheless, it's still beautiful.