Beside him, the empty plastic swing creaked in the gentle breeze. Connor sat in the other child's swing; not swinging, just trying not to think: bills, Matthew's school fundraiser, Melissa's school fundraiser, groceries, work at the law firm, et cetera, et cetera.

He heaved, then turned his eyes up to the bright circle resting among the stars in its black bed. Peacefully resting in comfort and without pain. Serene. Silent.

"I hope it's everything you dreamed it would be," he whispered into the silence, his only audience the moon and stars. Every time he looked at the moon he couldn't help but to think of Elise. He wished he could go back; things were so much simpler then.

Connor didn't need his parents to tell him Elise was different. He already knew that, not because she was small, sickly, and frail, but because of the way she acted, looked at things, and kept a smile on her face.

"Please be careful with Elise, Connor. Don't be rough with her and let her take a lot of breaks."

Growing up neighbors on the same street, they played together all the time; they had friends at school but only the two of them mattered. She couldn't always keep up with him but it wasn't a problem—they'd rest right where they found themselves and she would point out normal, bland trees or bushes and weave together stories about them. He preferred to stop and listen to her instead of running around.

Nightfall was their favorite, though. They'd swing on her swing set as high as they could to touch the moon. For some reason Elise could swing higher and she was so close to the cool ball of light.

"I'll touch it first! Just watch me!" she would say.

"Why? What's up there?"

She beamed as radiantly as the moon. "Heaven; heaven is up there. It's white because of the angels' wings! When the moon becomes dark, the angels are resting and curled in on themselves. It's all quiet and peaceful; no pain, no worries. How wonderful would that be? That's why I want to get there first!"

Everything changed when she touched his hand. He could still feel her frail, cold hand—he just knew she was the one for him. Yes, they were only children but he knew it in his heart. She had grown tired of jumping on the trampoline and they had lain down, admiring the night sky. Elise had begun weaving a fantastical tale about the Brother Moon watching over his Sister Stars when her hand intertwined with his. It didn't shock or surprise him—it felt natural and he held tight.

Since then throughout their school years they never separated. Elementary, Junior High, and High School, he was her Brother Moon and she his Sister Star.

Their classmates snickered at them: first it was cooties then it became he pitied her which turned into they were having sex. "Come on, Connor; look at her! She has nothing to her and she's so ugly!"

"Come on, Connor. We can have a really good time. I can give you what she can't," the girl said, trying to seduce as she stroked his back.

He brushed her hand off. "Not even close."

They never drifted apart; even though their classmates picked at Elise and suggested him to find someone 'better looking', he didn't. It wasn't long after graduation before a ring was put on Elise's finger and they married. They bought the empty lot beside Elise's parents' house and set toward college.

Then Elise became pregnant—with twins. Becoming parents was daunting, but exciting. But Connor's enthusiasm turned into concern when Elise had to rely on a cane to walk and before long, she had to use a walker. The smile never faded from her face or eyes. "Everything's fine," she kept promising.

It wasn't.

The twins were turned wrong and if they didn't perform a C-Section on the premature babies, they would die. But if they did, Elise would lose too much blood and as frail as she was, she would die.

"What do you want me to do?" With tears in his eyes and emotion swelling his voice, Connor sat beside his wife on her hospitable bed with a swollen belly and paler than ever before.

A fragile smile appeared on her lips as a hand wiped away his tear. "Choose the children. I always knew I would touch the moon first."

He did. Matthew and Melissa lived, and Elise didn't survive the blood loss. He had to bury his wife first then wait and pray for his premature children to survive. Three and a half months passed before Connor could take his children to an empty and hollow home.

"We knew Elise would die early," her parents explained one night. "We didn't know how to tell her so we told her she would reach the moon before others; we told her Heaven was on the moon."

Elise's parents and his helped him out with raising the twins and they carefully suggested for him to move on—the children needed a mother. He couldn't do it; it didn't seem right and carried on without a wife.

Now he was in his late thirties, the twins were in middle school, and he was here again in the same swing set he and Elise enjoyed and now their children enjoyed as well. He told them all of the same stories that Elise told him, especially about Brother Moon, his Sister Stars, and Heaven being on the moon.

"So who will reach the moon first?" Melissa innocently asked, not knowing the true meaning behind those words.

"Let's make it a race!" Matthew suggested and they began swinging just the way their mother and father used to do.

After they had worn themselves out, Connor took them back to the house for bed and now sat alone, pondering over his daughter's words. With growing fear, he had noticed she was smaller and frailer than her twin brother.

Connor looked up at the bright moon. "Make it a slow race, Elise. I don't want to know who will reach you first."