“I am,” I nodded. “But sometimes… I wish he’d have been less brave.”
“I understand that,” she nodded. “How has your aunt been doing?”
I hadn’t mentioned introducing the two of them recently. I figured I’d give Kristen some time to get used to the idea before I mentioned it again. “She’s doing well,” I nodded. “She’s seeing someone, actually.”
“That’s great,” Kristen smiled. “Good for her.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “She’s been so consumed with Henry’s death that she forgot to live her own life.”
“Something you understand very well,” Kristen said pointedly.
I smiled. “Okay, fine… I did the same thing.”
“Not that I blame you,” she assured me. “It’s not an easy thing to lose a spouse…and I can’t even imagine losing a child.”
“I know,” I nodded. “It was the most awful thing that had happened to our family. It nearly destroyed me, and it broke Uncle Ashton and Aunt Margo.”
“Is that the reason they divorced?”
“I think so,” I said. “They didn’t have any major problems before that. And, I remember all the fights preceding Henry’s enlistment. He had discussed enlisting with them, and Uncle Ashton was angry. He felt as though Mom had encouraged him to enlist because of the history in our family.”
“Margo is your father’s sister?”
“That’s right,” I nodded. I looked out towards the ocean. “Henry was the better sailor, though… That was one of the reasons I looked up to him so much. He was amazing at whatever he attempted. We used to sail miles out into the sea and then we used to eat burgers and talk about how we were going to enlist one day and distinguish ourselves as war heroes.”
Kristen looked sad as I spoke. “You miss him, don’t you?”
“He was the closest thing to a brother I had,” I replied. “Which is why the military helped me so much in the aftermath of his death. It gave me that same sense of brotherhood again.”
“I can’t imagine that kind of life,” she whispered.
“What kind of life?”
“Marrying a man who was fighting wars in foreign lands… I would be out of my mind with worry. I don’t know how your grandmother or your mother did it.”
“They were strong women,” I said.
“They must have been to have raised someone like you.”
“Someone like me?” I asked, not sure what she meant by that.
“Someone brave and strong and kind and…passionate.”
“You think I’m passionate?”
“You’re passionate about your work, about your military career, about your son… You were passionate about your wife while she was alive, and you’re passionate about your family.”
I smiled, noticing how easily she had mentioned Daphne.
“Do you mind when I mention Daphne?” I asked.
“No of course not,” Kristen said immediately, and I could tell from her tone that she was sincere. “She’s Noah’s mother, and I wouldn’t ever want to ignore that. I understand she was an important and cherished part of your past, and I respect that. I don’t want to compete with her memory because that’s one fight I know I’m going to lose. So I’m just going to do my best to be the best version of myself for Noah…and for you.”
I grabbed her suddenly and kissed her hard on the lips. She giggled against me and pushed me back. “People are watching,” she said self-consciously.
“I honestly couldn’t care less.”
Kristen looked at me with surprise. “You know, I never pegged you for the kind of guy who was okay with public displays of affection.”