My body startles when a small arm wraps around the back of my legs. I lean away from Cal to look down and find Emily joining in on our hug.

Cal drops an arm from around me to rest it on the back of her head, and she peels her face away from his leg to look up at him.

"Can we go home now, Daddy?" she asks in a tired-sounding voice.

Cal removes his other arm from around me and crouches down to Emily's level. She quickly moves her arms around his neck, and he stands up with her while holding her close. "I think so. Let's just wait on your mom and uncle a minute."

He carries her around the front of the truck, and I follow after them.

April and Theo are still standing at the gravestone. April is looking over her shoulder at us but when she sees her daughter safely in her husband's arms she turns back to the headstone in front of them.

"My old daddy is in heaven, right?" Emily asks in a voice that sounds a little confused.

Cal swallows before he nods. "Yah, Monster, he is."

"And heaven's a good place..." she mumbles softly, and then asks in a clearer voice, "Right?"

Cal nods again. "It's the best. He's really happy there."

"So why are Mom and Uncle Theo so sad then?"

A heavy silence falls over us, and Cal shifts awkwardly from side to side as he tries to come up with a good answer for a six-year-old.

"They're sad because they miss him," I offer in a soft voice. I catch Cal's eye and wonder if I'm crossing a line, but he looks relieved to have me stepping in.

Emily turns her attention to me and nods slowly but then a frown settles over her features. "I don't miss him. Is that bad?"

Cal squeezes her a little closer while his eyes move across the cemetery to April.

She's leaning against Theo's shoulder with an arm wrapped around his back.

"You, uh..." he starts in an awkward voice, "You never met him, Emily. It's not bad that you don't miss him."

She nods again and then lays her head on Cal's shoulder. "I'm glad you're my Daddy that's not in heaven. I'd miss you."

Cal's eyes immediately fill with tears. He rests his head on top of Emily's and swallows back before answering, "I'm glad too."

"When you left before, I was really sad," she tells him almost as if she's scolding him.

His eyes close, and he reaches up to cradle the back of her head. "I'm so sorry, Monster. I didn't want to leave you, remember? I just... I needed some help so that I could be better for you."

"That's okay... I guess," she replies almost begrudgingly, "But don't do it again. Next time, just ask me for help."

A small smile pulls at Cal's lips. "You help me every day, sweetheart. Thank you."

Emily grins proudly and squeezes her little arms around his neck. "You're welcome, Daddy. Now, can we go home?"

Cal lifts his head from her shoulder to look for April.

I follow his gaze and find April walking back toward us.

She smiles as she gets closer. "Let me guess, you're ready to go home?" she asks with amusement in her voice.

Emily nods eagerly and wiggles in Cal's arms to be put down. She runs to her mom to hug her legs and then tips her head back to look up at her. "I'm sorry that you and Uncle Theo miss my old dad, Mommy, but I love the Daddy I have. The old one can stay in heaven where he's happy."

Fuck.

I can tell by the pale look on Cal's face that he's thinking the same thing.

Maybe we both should have kept our mouths shut and encouraged Emily to direct her questions to her mother.

April looks from her daughter to her husband to me and then a soft laugh bubbles out of her.

She looks down at Emily again and smooths a hand down her hair. "I love your daddy too. I think that's a great idea, sweetheart."

Emily beams up at her and takes her hand. "Yay! We can go home now, right?"

April laughs again and nods her head. "Yes, honey, we can. Go ahead to your seat."

Emily turns around to run the short distance to the minivan, and April gives Cal a loving smile. "I'll be right there."

Cal returns her smile. Once again, he looks relieved rather than pale and uncomfortable.

"I'm sure I'll see you soon, Em," he says to me while taking a step back toward the van. "Thanks. For everything before and for helping me now with Monster."

I nod and give him a short wave, and he turns around to follow Emily to the van.

My eyes move across the cemetery in search of Theo, and I find him still at the gravestone.

April comes to stand next to me. "He's okay," she lets me know in a soft voice. "He takes this day harder than the rest of us but he's come a long way."

"He told me what happened..." I don't know what possessed me to tell her that. Maybe I'm wondering how much she knows and whether or not she holds him accountable.

From the corner of my eye, I see her nod slowly.

"Did he... Did he sound like he blamed himself?" she asks quietly. "I mean, I know he still does to some extent, but did he sound like he was spiralling?"

I think back to my conversation with Theo and shake my head. "No, I don't think so. He's hurting but he still seemed..." I search my mind for the right word and come up with, "Strong."

April nods again. "That's Theo. Just don't let him think that he has to be too strong. That's when things get a little dicey for him. Speaking of..." She glances in the direction of her minivan. "How's Cal?"

I let out a long breath. "He was starting to spiral. I think he's doing better now though."

April's arms wrap around me to give me a hug. "Yes, he definitely was. Thanks for talking him down. It's really good to have you here."

"You could have talked him down yourself just fine," I point out while returning her hug a little awkwardly.

"Normally, yes. But this time? I don't know about that, Emilia. You're really good for him." She gives me one more tight squeeze and then releases me from her hold. "I think you're good for both of them."

We both turn our attention back to Theo, and April pats my arm.

"You may need to go get him or you could be waiting here for a while. Don't worry about interrupting. He loses track of time easily on this day and needs a little nudge to get back to earth sometimes."

"Okay. Thanks for the, uh, tip."

She pats my arm again and then turns to walk to her van.

"Hey, April?" I call after her before she can get more than a couple of steps away.

She looks over her shoulder at me, and I offer her a smile. "Thanks for getting me this morning."

She smiles back. "Thanks for trusting me and coming along."

----------

I give Theo some time, but eventually, I realize that April wasn't exaggerating, and I step off the driveway onto the grass to join him at the gravestone.

Without looking at me, he finds my hand and pulls me closer to his body. "Time to go?"

I lean into his side and shrug my shoulders. "I think we can stay a few more minutes. Or however long you need. I don't mind."

"Nawh. Let's get out of here." He speaks quietly but makes no move to walk back to his truck.

My eyes scan over the gravestone.

Benjamin Roger O'Malley
Loving husband, father, son and friend.

A pit grows in my stomach when I notice the dates in the inscription. The first one reveals the significance of the cake from yesterday... The cake that Theo was so set on not missing out on.

"I'm so sorry for leaving last night," I whisper the words, trying to keep my voice from cracking.

"Milia, you need to stop apologizing for things you couldn't have known about," he replies with a quiet sigh. "I was an ass for not telling you in the morning. I put you in an awkward position without any explanation which means you have no reason to say sorry. I'm the one who's sorry."

"I thought you just really loved cake..."

He chuckles softly and releases my hand to wrap his arm around my waist. "Well, I do really love cake. But not that much. You don't know how close I was to forgetting about it and going home with you."

"I don't think you were that close, Theodore. You wouldn't have left your sister on her deceased husband's birthday."

"I don't know... If it had just been vanilla cake, I might have."

I laugh and nudge his side with my elbow. "You're so full of it."

He chuckles quietly too and then turns our bodies away from Ben's headstone. "Speaking of cake, there are leftovers. Or at least there were. Maybe we should get over there before Cal eats it all. If you're okay with spending the day with them again."

I nod in reply, and he begins to lead me to the truck but I pause and look up at him. "Don't you have to say bye or something?"

"Bye?" he asks while looking confused.

"Yeah... to Ben?"

He gives his head a slow shake with a small smile on his face. "I said goodbye to Ben a long time ago. I don't come here to talk to him."

"You don't?"

"Nawh. He's too busy up there being happy to look down at me being miserable. Thank God for that."

"Oh. So what do..." I stop myself from finishing my nosey question but Theo answers me anyway.

"I usually start with talking to April and Emily. We talk about good memories and tell Emily little things about him. Then I talk to God. First with April and Emy and then just in my head in silent prayer. And then I usually talk to myself for a while. That conversation has gotten easier over the years."

"I always thought people went to cemeteries to talk to the deceased."

Theo shrugs. "I think some do, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that. We all believe different things and grieve in different ways. What's comforting to me may not be comforting to someone else."

He continues walking me back to the truck and opens the passenger door for me once we reach it. His hand brushes my hip as he assists me into the large vehicle. Rather than stepping away to close my door, he lingers where he's standing, staring up at me with an expression that's difficult to read.

His hand brushes my hip again, and I turn in my seat to run my fingers through his hair. "Are you okay, Theo?"

"Kiss me?" he starts his question half a beat behind mine and then grins at me as his hand closes around my hip, and he gives me a quick nod.

I lean toward him to meet his lips and am almost pulled out of my seat when Theo's hand comes up to grip my other hip.

He pulls me to the edge and positions himself between my legs, using his hands on my hips to pull up the long skirt of my dress. He doesn't raise it high enough to be indecent, much to my disappointment, but just enough to fit himself between my knees.

He leans his solid body into mine and wraps his arms around my lower back, and it's not until I feel him hum into my mouth that I'm brought back to reality.

We're making out in a cemetery after visiting his brother-in-law's grave...

I pull my mouth away from his and bring my hands up to press against his firm chest, attempting to put a little space between us so that I can get my words out without being consumed with lust for him.

"Theo, wait," I insist when he leans into my hands to brush his lips softly against mine.

He moves back and takes a hand away from my hip to rest it over my hands on his chest. "I'm sorry," he apologizes but he must realize that I'm not complaining because a slow grin spreads across his face afterward.

I can't help but smile back at him, especially when his thumb gently brushes over my knuckles. It's such a simple gesture but it makes my stomach flutter, bringing me back to the time in the diner when he first opened up to me about the accident in a small way.

Before I know it, we're leaning toward each other again, but I catch myself just in time and put some space between our faces. As much as I would love to lose myself in his affection, there are more important things at play here.

"Theo... You're kissing me to try to distract yourself again," I gently reprimand him.

He frowns but it's quickly replaced with a smile while he shakes his head. "No, Princess, not this time." His hand moves off mine to rest against my cheek, and this time it's my bottom lip that his thumb brushes over. "I'm kissing you because I want to kiss you. I really missed you last night, and we're about to spend the day around my family again... I just wanted to take a few minutes to have you all to myself before we're with them."

"Oh..." I move my hands off his chest and lightly grip his beard on either side of his face. "Well, I guess, maybe you should carry on then."

He laughs and gazes up at me with a look that feels just as electrifying as his lips on mine. "My pleasure, Princess. Get over here."