Operation Endurance

CHAPTER 19

Julie took another photo of the old stone house, framing it perfectly so the rising sun reflected off the ridges of the white stone. The building was so beautiful. At least one hundred and fifty years old, it had an age and patina that builders just couldn’t replicate today. Add in the setting and she’d pretty much found Nirvana here.

She glanced up at the sky. The property was filled with huge, old cottonwood trees and bits of fluff floated around in the morning air reflecting the sunlight. If it wasn’t for the balmy temperature, she could have been convinced it was snowing. The perfection of it made her spin in a circle, soaking in the heat of the morning sun. She smiled as the hem of her dress twirled and danced around the tops of her knees.

The morning dew dampened her bare feet as she explored the old yard. She raised her camera, framing the tire swing within the photo of the house in the background. As she clicked the shutter, a man stepped out of the front door. She gasped and dropped the camera to the ground in shock.

“Aaron?” He stood on the porch looking just like she remembered, his tall, muscular form dressed in casual jeans and an oxford shirt rolled up at the sleeves. She could see the veins of his forearms from here. His glasses were perched on his nose and that dark lock of hair that she’d always loved fell carelessly over his forehead. How was he here? How was this possible?

She didn’t know, but she had so much she needed to tell him. She needed him to know how sorry she was. She ran up to the porch, but then skidded to a stop three feet away from him. She lifted a hand to touch him, but couldn’t. What if this was just another dream? The tears welled in her eyes and she didn’t have to move the last little bit toward him. He did it for her as he wrapped her up in a hug.

“Shhh, it’s okay. Don’t cry, Julie. Please, no more crying over me.”

She could feel his arms around her and it was just too much. She began to sob in earnest, savoring the heat from his chest, the pure alive throb of his heartbeat. Finally, she was cried out and she looked up at him in shock. “How is this possible?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. It just is. We live here.”

She hadn’t really paid attention before, but now she looked around. “Where is here? You died, right? Am I dead now, too?”

He pulled her down to sit beside him on the porch swing and shook his head. “No, you aren’t dead. It’s not your time yet, but Julie, you can’t keep on like this. You need to let me go. This is the way it was supposed to be.”

She began to shake her head. “No, you never would have died if you hadn’t known me.”

“Julie, my dying was out of your hands. My death was fate. That would never have changed, but because of you, I was able to die knowing what it meant to love and be loved.”

The tears welled up in her eyes again, but he took her face and held it so that she was looking into his eyes.

“Julie, honey, you have to stop blaming yourself for this. I know you loved Chris and there’s nothing wrong with that. I’m just thankful for the few months we had together. They were the happiest of my entire life and I died a happy man. You did that.”

“But how can you even think that way? I never gave you all of my love. You deserved so much better than the little bit I gave you.” Her voice clogged with tears.

He kissed her forehead. “Honey, our lives progressed the way they were supposed to. Your love was perfect for me and because of it I’ve received the best gift anyone could ever give.”

At that moment, a sweet tiny voice tinkled out of the trees. “Uncle Aaron, I found the flowers.”

Aaron’s eyes brightened with joy and a brilliant smile lit up his face. Julie turned to the newcomer, a sweet little toddler with dark hair and a long white dress, wet at the hem from the dew. She carried a handful of bedraggled daisies. She looked up and smiled at Aaron as she began to timidly climb the steps to the porch. Julie was enchanted by her dimples until she got a look at the brilliant sapphire blue eyes that were so familiar.

Chills swept over her and she glanced over at Aaron. He watched her carefully before turning back to the little girl. “Come here, darling. I want you to meet someone.”

Julie rose out of the porch swing, not sure if her legs were going to hold her as she crouched in front of the little girl who smiled shyly at her.

Aaron crouched down with her and grabbed the little girl’s grubby hand and set it within Julie’s. A zing of recognition flooded her, but she didn’t dare trust it. Her eyes filled with tears.

“Julie, this is Nalia.”

“Nalia?” she asked.

“Well, I couldn’t very well keep calling her Nugget, could I?”

Shock reverberated through her system and her knees completely gave out. She collapsed to the wooden boards of the porch, unable to tear her eyes off her little girl.

The little girl whispered to him, “Is she okay?”

“Yeah, baby girl, she’s gonna be just fine. She’s just surprised to meet you today. Why don’t you go pick some more flowers and then we’ll come push you on the tire swing, okay?”

“Okay.” The little girl skipped off happily, looking the very picture of innocence and health.

Julie turned her stunned gaze to Aaron. “How? How is this possible? How is she here with you? Oh my God, where are we?”

“Calm down Julie. It’s okay. I don’t know all the answers. It just is. What is this place? For me, it’s Heaven. I’ve been entrusted with your little girl and we have a wonderful life here, even if it’s the afterlife. You’ve given that to me. You gave her to me. I don’t know how it all works. All I’ve been told is that somehow our connection and your love for me brought her to my world. No, your love for me wasn’t the same as what you feel for Chris, but that doesn’t make it any less real or powerful.”

He smiled at the little girl skipping in amongst the flowers, the light shining in his eyes. That love for her little unborn baby girl, Nugget.

When he turned back to her though, his expression had turned fierce. “You are not allowed to regret us, because our love gave me the best thing ever. I love your little girl, Julie. She may not be mine, but I love her just as if she was and I’ll be here to take care of her for as long as you need me. You have a long, happy life ahead of you, but you have to get your head out of your ass about this. I loved you and you loved me, and everything worked out the way it was supposed to. Now you need to get on with your life. Chris needs you.”

He smiled back toward the little girl. “She has your sass, but his stubbornness.” He turned his smile back to her and told her gently, “You won’t have an easy path ahead of you, but if you trust it, you will have immeasurable happiness over the next few decades.”

“I don’t understand. I don’t understand any of this. It was just a year ago, but she looks older. How is this possible?”

“You’re not meant to understand it. Things work differently here. Just have faith. You can’t control everything, honey, but that’s the way life works. Embrace the chaos.” He brushed his pants as he stood up and offered a hand to her to help her up. “Now let’s go play with your little girl for a bit before you have to head back.”