Forever and Always

Chapter Two {Part 1}

As we eat, Kennedy leans over and murmurs, "Nice necklace. Christian?"

I nod. "He gave it to me just after we came down."

"It matches your eyes," she observes. "He has good taste."

And he's also sitting less than two feet away. "Mhm." I keep my eyes on my plate, hoping he can't hear our conversation.

After we're finished, Kennedy and I open our gifts. It's mostly sweatshirts, gift cards, funny socks, and candy, all of which we welcome with much joy. Ellie's strange shaped gift turns out to be a movie basket: a basket filled with popcorn, candy, and several of our favorite movies. Zach and Conner give us t-shirts that say, "Once in a while, someone amazing comes along, and here I am" in black letters.

Fletcher gives us both Belmont University sweatshirts, while Dylan presents us with New York University sweatshirts. The others give us gift cards, candy, and stuff for our rooms, which are totally awesome presents.

When we exchange gifts to each other, Kennedy is thrilled by hers. "It has everything!" she says, smelling the candle. "Birthday cake? I didn't know they made birthday cake candles. And these socks are so cute," she squeals, lifting out the colorful pairs.

The entire theme of her gift is supposed to be confetti. Seriously. Kennedy loves confetti, and though I'll never understand why, there's something about those colorful bits of paper that make her happy. So, I gave her a giftcard to Confetti Donuts, a cute shop here in Nashville, a t-shirt from the Little Mix album, "Confetti," and the picture.

Kennedy finds the picture last. It's a special photo--the last one we took before her diagnosis. Her eyes widen slightly as she pulls it out. "Oh!"

Her surprise makes me nervous. "Is it okay?" I ask quietly.

"It's just right." She hugs me tight, then hands me her gift. "Open it fast," she urges as I rip the paper away.

There's a box inside. Inside, there's a mug (great minds think alike) that says, "SISTER: Nutrition Facts'' and all the "facts" below. There's also a bag of Reece's Peanut Butter Cups, a bag of Mike&Ikes, a Starbucks gift card (what can I say? we like the same stuff), and at the bottom, a small photo album with "Travel" on the cover. I lift open the cover to the first page, which reads, "Our Trip to Australia".

I suck in my breath when I see the photos. There are tons of them, some taken on the beach, some in the mountains, and many from the cities we visited. There are pictures of us doing everything from sailing to camping to shopping and eating exotic foods.

My eyes burn with tears of joy and sadness as I turn the pages, each one holding more and more memories. At the end of the book is a snapshot of us as we board the plane, waving goodbye to Cal. I gently trace over it with my fingers, then close the book and hug Kennedy as hard as I can.

"Thank you so much," I say, my voice muffled in her shoulder.

"You're welcome," she says, hugging me back just as hard. "Now you see why I was surprised. I didn't think you'd have the same idea."

"Well, not the same," I say, wiping my eyes.

"Aww are you crying?" Kennedy asks, half-concerned, half-teasing. She squeezes me hard, but not hard enough to keep me from laughing. We pull away and thank everyone again for the gifts as we gather up the empty boxes, wrapping paper, ribbons, bows, and tape.

Then the dancing starts. Jackson starts out with my favorite, "What Makes You Beautiful." Not only do I love the song, but the dancing is actually not that difficult.

Correction: It's not that difficult if you haven't eaten way too much and you're not wearing heels. Which I have. And I am.

Kennedy and I may have practiced a lot, but it's still not as easy to dance as I thought it would be. It does get simpler as we go on, though, so at least no one breaks their ankle (although I think we might have several sprains).

Eventually, I just take off my shoes, although it means getting my feet kind of dirty. But it's worth it, because it makes dancing much easier. We play all the favorites-- Jackson even puts on "Time Of My Life."

When the video for that starts up, Kennedy races over. "Ready?" Her eyes sparkle with excitement and laughter. Kennedy and I have always done this dance together, even though we end up falling down every time.

On the bright side, while the girls who are dancing with guys are all blushing, Kennedy and I are cracking up. There's nothing funnier than failing when you're failing with a friend.

At the end, when you have to do a lift, I brace myself. Kennedy launches herself at me, and I try to lift her up. I manage it—for about two seconds. Then, my muscles fail me, and we tumble to the ground, exploding with uncontrollable giggles.

I roll onto my side, clutching my rib cage as I gasp for breath. Kennedy stands up and holds out a hand to me. "Need help?"

I grip her hand and stand up, gulping in the air. "We totally bombed," I say, then groan. "Ohh, my ribs hurt now." Despite my pain, I let out a rueful laugh.

"Sorry," Kennedy says, sounding more amused than sorry.

Even with my bruised ribs, it's a ton of fun, although we spend just about every song after that half dancing, half doubled over with laughter. I don't even want to think what my feet look like, considering that our backyard is not the cleanest. Then again, nobody's backyard is really clean per se, since it's literally filled with dirt, and you can't exactly clean dirt.

Thanks for reading! 💜