The Dance Between Darkness and Light (girlxgirl)

Jack

Ali always tells the story of how we met like it was an accident. I've never had the heart to tell her it was most definitely not, that I spotted her across the lawn and immediately wanted to take her out on a date. It was all about what I wanted. I wanted an excuse to talk to her, to be near her, to see her up close.  She was so beautiful from where I was standing, I just had to talk to her.  That long blonde hair hung all the way down her back and I could see how blue her eyes were even from where I was standing.  Her brow slightly furrowed, buried in whatever book was in her lap.  Ali was my dream girl, so I gently threw the frisbee in her lap.  And my little ploy? It obviously worked like a charm.  Whoever that was next to her never even looked up and I went for it. I slipped her my number and she called me an hour later, the next day we were on a date and the rest is history. I still have that old frisbee, I keep it on the dash of my work truck, with a sun faded photograph of us on the inside of the disc.

Speaking of work, leaving this morning didn't go exactly as I'd hoped. I loaded my truck, spent extra time with Mya and pulled Ali in for a long and passionate kiss. When I pulled back, she was crying. She's never cried before when I've left on extended work trips, but this time was obviously different. She asked me to stay, to cut back on my hours, to send someone else and stay home. I'm away a lot, so I don't get why this time was any different. This is how it has been for us the last couple years now. My electrical business is growing and in order for me to keep providing for Alison and Mya I need to keep up my work. Simple as that. I've never thought much about it until Alison cried today, but I always get asked if I'm married.  It's not a strange question in my work with how long I'm gone.  Most of the guys working for me are single, and for good reason.  It's hard to keep up a relationship when you're gone for long stretches.  But I'm married, we have a beautiful daughter, and we are rock solid.  I'm sure of it, so why the tears? When I come home from being away, Ali and I don't miss a beat, it's as if I never left. We only had 4 days this time before I had to leave again but we made the most of it if you catch my drift. I don't think we hardly left the house.

I'm obviously partial, but my wife and daughter are gorgeous; both blonde haired and blue eyed. Like mother like daughter as they say. My daughter, Mya? I love her so much, the guys usually find me taking lunch in my work truck, just staring at her picture. I'm usually wondering what she's up to, wishing I could hug her wanting to see her little smile. I'm not blind, though, I'm not without regret in my line of work. I've missed a lot of Mya's life so far and it grates on me like you wouldn't believe. I miss her every minute of every day, but I'm not so sure Ali knows that. Those tears tonight were not typical of my wife, if you'd ever met her family you'd be as stunned as I was. People cry all the time, right? Not Ali. Not anyone from the DiLaurentis family. She's a solid rock in our little family, always has been, always will be as far as I'm concerned. In fact, we are so solid, we've been trying now for a year to have another child, both of us feeling our little family isn't quite complete yet. I'm not surprised it's taking us so long, I'm just not home all that often. But we are still young, we have years ahead of us to keep trying. I'm confident that Ali is just stressed that her job changed a little this year. I think having to share a classroom with an inexperienced teacher is wearing on her and it just came out tonight as I was leaving.

The job I'm headed to is about 7 hours away by vehicle. Too far for me to come home, so I'll be staying the month. Like I said before, I haven't always been away this much, it has just kind of turned into that.  I've got a good business established in Rosewood, Ehrens' Electrical, and it provides a pretty good life for Ali and Mya. I'm really a pretty simple guy by any standard definition. I work hard, I provide for Ali and Mya, we have a modest house, all our basic needs are met, and my wife's a school teacher. How much more classic can you get than that? All we are missing is the 2.5 children and a dog. I'm hoping for us to have that other '1.5' children within the next year getting us one step closer to our perfect little family. I know what you're thinking. That standard for a family is so outdated, it's just not the norm anymore. I disagree, Ali and I are on our way to achieving it, you just wait and see.

It's been so easy with her, like everything was perfectly aligned when we met. Neither of us needed much time to know we wanted to be with each other, so I proposed right away. There was no way I was risking any other guy taking a shot at her. I know she's beautiful, I see the way other guys look at her when we go out. I kind of like it, knowing I won out over every other guy; knowing without hesitation that Ali chose me. After we married, we bought a house, she started teaching and then we had Mya. Our parents were both hesitant at first that we were making a huge mistake, that it was too fast, too much. But my parents quickly fell in love with Ali, and fell in love with us together as a couple. They could see we were meant to be. Even Ali's parents grew to love and accept me. And when Mya came along, it was icing on the cake, they were grandparents and now they spoil my little girl rotten. When I'm not there, our parents often help out with Mya, too. So you see, mine and Ali's life is picture perfect, the ones that you hear about in storybooks, the ones that don't seem real. We've lived in Rosewood for 8 years now. Eight! Ali is 29 now and I'm 31, our little Mya is 6 and starting first grade in a week.  Ali is well respected in Rosewood, and has been teaching at the local school for 8 years.  I don't know how, but everyone seems to know her when we go places.  I mean literally everyone.  We can't even go to the dry cleaner without someone stopping us.  This next part makes me so proud; everyone who starts at the local school requests their kid to have Ali as a teacher. See, she's perfect.  Who could ask for anyone better? Who could ask for a better life?

I know I won't be back for a month, but I never worry; Ali and I have an ironclad relationship. It's one that has worked and continues to work because we stay connected, because we have molded our lives to work this way. We talk on the phone, text and we FaceTime. I don't always get to talk to Mya because she's in bed or at a sleepover, etc., but we do alright. Ali answers every time I call and she always has a huge smile on her face. One full of love I like to think, full of happiness. A smile that melts my heart and I fall back in love with her all over again. The woman who I tossed the frisbee in her lap just so I could talk to her. She's a constant in my life, she's reliable, she's loved. Without hesitation I would do this all over again, I wouldn't change a thing except to be able to be there more often for Mya. I'm hoping by the time I'm back we might have some good news about another little blue eyed blonde coming our way. If it's not this time, it's certainly not for lack of trying.