Nostalgic, I put Alex's picture back in my wallet, before yelling through the house:
"Babe, are you ready yet?"
No response so far.
Soon enough, a 4-year-old runs toward me, all smiles and laughter. My heart warming up immediately, I pick her up, before hugging her tightly.
The bedroom door opens, and Shelina steps out, her bright smile and long, bright hair just blowing me away one more time.
Maura smiles.
"Mommy, you look-" the child starts, but I cannot help but finish her sentence:
"Astonishing."
Funny how life goes, sometimes.
Four years ago, Shelina and I both lost the people that we loved the most on this planet, on the same day. It was ravaging, especially for her - I mean, Alex died saving my life, but Sam died because she was a serial killer. Either way, after long months of helping each other out in order to get through all the pain, suffering and loss, we started growing closer and closer, until I decided to kiss her that one day, at her place, when we were having a (somewhat romantic) dinner on her balcony.
Although it was hard to explain and accept at first, we slowly fell in love even more, to the point that we were now living together with Maura, whose legal guardian I now am - since I consider the little monster as my own daughter sometimes.
My eyes sparkle, as I witness the red, classy dress that suits her perfectly:
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She smiles as well, before staring at me from hair to shoes, before whispering:
"Well, red do look good on you too, my love."
Indeed, the red suit I was wearing matched perfectly with Shelina's - perhaps it was a metaphor of how well we matched together? - as well as Maura's (yes, her auntie Kelley, who had become Shelina's business associate at Press Corp, found a dress similar to Shelina's but less sexy and child-sized):
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