“Jake?”
“Yeah, Sweetness?”
“Do you ever wonder if it will always be like this?” Her voice is eerily quiet.
“What do you mean?”
“Never mind.”
A minute passes and she rolls away from me. Emily turns her pillow sideways as she tries to get comfortable. She turns towards me with a huff, but keeps her eyes closed. I angle myself towards her and prop my head up with my hand. Emily pops open an eye.
“Aren't you going to ask what's wrong?”
I shake my head and grin. “You seem to be handling it fine on your own.”
She glares at me with piercing eyes. “Just ask.”
“Alrighty, Sweets. What's worrying you?”
“I'm not worrying. Not exactly. I'm wondering.”
“What's the difference?” I ask, earning myself another dirty look.
“One is concern and the other is curiosity. Anyway, I've been wondering if we will always be like this. Will we always fall sleep in each other's arms? Will we want to? What if we change into a person the other can't stand? What if one day we aren't attracted to one another any more? What if we fall out of love and we end up just going through the motions unhappy?” She's really worried about this.
“Sweetness, things change. People change. It's inevitable, but you can't worry about it for the rest of your life. I said always and that's exactly what I mean. That is one thing I can guarantee won't change. My love for you is never ending, constant, continuous. Sweetness, that's never going to change. You can't keep worrying about us and the what if's. Keep on and you won't enjoy life because you'll be too busy worrying.”
She cuddles up to me and sneaks her face into the crook of my neck. “Why do you always have to be right?” she grumbles.
Chuckling and wrapping my arms around her, I say, “Someone has to be.”
Emily kisses my neck just as there is a knock on our door. “Can I come in?” Drake asks from the other side.
“Yeah, buddy.” We untangle and sit up as Drake opens the door and turns on the light, making everyone's eyes squint. “What's the matter?”
“I can't sleep.”
“It's only been an hour, Drake. Go back to bed,” my voice stern.
Emily elbows me with a glare. “Come here, Drake,” she says patting a spot on the edge of the bed. When he sits, she asks, “What's going on?”
“It doesn't feel like home. I miss Dad.” His eyes never wavier from Emily's and I wonder if he's nervous about saying that he misses Dad in front of me. He shouldn't be, but that doesn't mean he isn't.
“Aw, buddy. This will feel like home soon. And I think we all miss your dad. Right, Jake?” Emily looks at me expectantly.
“Yeah. We all miss Dad, Drake. You two go in the living room and I'll be there in a second.”
Once they leave the room, I take down one of the boxes on the top shelf in our closet. Inside is the onesie and teddy bear Emily bought for the baby and all the video tapes my dad kept. I rummaged around until I find one from Drake's fourth birthday. Emily is sitting in the middle with Drake to her left on the couch. I crouch in front of the television and turn it on, popping the tape into the old VCR.
“What are we watching?” Drake asks.
“You'll see.” I rewind the tape so it'll start at the beginning. Once it clicks to a stop, I press play and sit on the couch beside Emily, laying my arm on the back of the couch as she leans into me.
It starts with an unsteady view of Mom lighting the candles on the cake and Dad laughing at something she said before he started recording.
“Hurry up, baby. There's going to be wax in the cake if you keep taking your time. There's only four candles,” Dad says from behind the camera.
Mom gives her trademark, full smile as she sets down the lighter and picks up the cake. Dad follows her outside where Drake, a few of his friends, and myself are waiting at a picnic table. Mom places the cake in front of Drake and rests her hands on his shoulders. She leans down and whispers in his ear. The camera doesn't pick it up because of how rowdy the other four year olds are, but I know what she told him. Same thing she told me on my birthdays before I would blow out the candles.