Unspoken Part 2

She didn’t know what to say to him, at that moment she didn’t want to burden him with her feelings. She looked over to find him smiling with the same smile that got them through her cancer last year. She reached for his hand with just her fingers and he slowly grasped her hand and fit it perfectly between his. Without looking over to check on her he smiled a little more and put both their hands in his lap as she lay her head on his broad polyester shoulder. She let a single tear fall down her cheek and at that moment he put his other hand on top of hers and sat there for a while in the peace of the fall trees. She lifted her head slightly as he turned to face her with eyes saying that everything will be alright. In that moment, she needed that more than she hoped he knew. He took his from the top of hers and curessed the side of her face as she lay her warm cheeks in his calaced palm and as she nuzzled into the warm embrace she couldn’t help but let a couple more tears fall. The man heard the army bus start to turn that corner to proceed that long driveway to their house that they drove up to 30 years ago and while slowly letting go of her cheek and sliding her fingers out from between hers, she tried to catch his wandering hand as it left but it was to far a reach as that he was standing now. He reached for his cane and she realized that his smile hadn't completely left him but you could tell he was focused. safely resting on the bench on their front porch the woman sat still with both hands in her lap as she watched her husband stand proudly in the fall winds. At that moment he looked 25 again, she didn’t see the cane, just the strong man she fell in love with all those years ago. The woman then stood up to watch as her husband made his way down those steps from their porch that they both walked up for the first time so many years ago and prayed that it wouldn’t be the last. He walked down the pathway and got on the bus without once ever looking back to check if she was still standing there, he knew she was. She watched him through the bus window as he went to take his seat. She stood there, still, without a tear to show, she knew in that moment, that it was her time to be strong now.