ELEVEN
Emerson
Twenty Years Later…
I smileand clap as Denver finishes his speech on the stage. He’s retiring from the military today and our whole family is here to celebrate with him. Both of our kids are in college now, but they came back for the ceremony today and they’re going to stay through the weekend. Simon, our oldest, will graduate next year and Beth will be the year after. They both chose schools on the East coast, so we still see them regularly. It’s been nice having them back in the house.
We had our kids a year after we got married. We were living in Germany at the time and we left shortly after Beth was born to move to Montana. We’re stationed in Virginia now and have been for the past two years. We’ve lived all over though. Japan, Germany, Alaska, Italy, Hawaii, Montana, Florida, Colorado, Florida again, and countless others. I finally got to see the world and I did it with my soulmate by my side.
I went back to work after our kids started Kindergarten and worked on the base as a secretary again. It was nice to get back into the workforce and meet new people. I missed being home with the kids, but I must admit that it was nice to have conversations with grown-ups again. It didn’t hurt that Denver and I had the same hours, so I got to see him more. We got to spend all of our free time with each other and our kids and we had lunch together most days too.
I stand with our kids off to the side of the stage as we wait for Denver to finish shaking hands with everyone and making his way over to us. He grins down at me and I smile back. He looks older now, with salt and pepper hair and wrinkles around his eyes but, to me, he’s still the most handsome man that I have ever seen.
He comes down the steps and wraps me up in his arms, kissing me on the lips before he hugs each of our children.
“Congratulations, Den.” I say before I kiss him quickly.
We say goodbye to everyone that came to the party and make our way out to the car. We’re headed to grab dinner now and then back home. We’ll spend the next two days with our kids before they head back to college.
Next weekend, Denver and I are going on our first post-retirement trip. Denver has promised that he’ll show me everywhere else that I wanted to see so we’re starting with Greece next weekend. From there, we’ll head to Australia, and then spend a week in Bora Bora before we head back to Virginia. We’re still trying to figure out where to go with the kids over the summer but as long as I’m with Denver, I know that I’ll have fun.
We get to the car and Denver opens the door for me, stepping closer as I start to slide in.
“Hope you’re ready for tonight.” I whisper in his ear.
“What’s tonight?” He asks, looking interested.
“Your retirement present.” I say with a wink as I slide into the car.
Denver chuckles, giving me a sly grin as he closes my door and rounds the car, slipping behind the wheel. He reaches over, giving my knee a squeeze, as we head to dinner.
I don’t know how I got so lucky to marry and spend my life seeing the world with the man of my dreams, but I thank every lucky star I have that my wish came true.