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And Life Goes On

A Love story

By Nicholas McKennaPublished 3 years ago 5 min read
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And Life Goes On
Photo by Elijah M. Henderson on Unsplash

Andrew and Erin were driving through the Adirondacks on their way to a special spot. It was a beautiful fall Saturday in upstate New York. The leaves had already started changing colors and some were falling off the trees. The sides of the road were covered in reds and oranges and yellows. They both loved all the different color of leaves this time of year, which is what made it their favorite place to visit. Erin was staring out the window as Andrew drove them through the mountains.

He looked over at Erin “We should be there any minute now.”

Erin continued looking out the window.

“Babe!” Erin snapped back to reality and turned to Andrew. “Yeah that’s great!”

Andrew laughed. “You know we come here to relax. Let everything from work and life in general go and just enjoy the scenery.”

Erin smiled. “I know I’m just having trouble clearing my mind.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Andrew asked.

“Not just yet.”

The two kept driving for another mile until they saw a familiar landmark. Two boulders that had been left in the side of the mountain when the road was being put in. They weren’t the only boulders left in the side of the mountain, but they were they only ones left on top of each other, which made it easy to find.

Andrew pulled over to the side of the road. “We’re here.” Andrew couldn’t stop smiling. He turned the car off and hopped out so fast he barely heard Erin begin talking to him. He went around to open her door.

“Did you say something?”

Erin looked down. “It can wait.”

They began walking down the side of the road until there wasn’t a wall of stone next to them. Then they started walking up the grassy side of the mountain.

“Do you remember the first time we came here?” Erin said. “We were wondering what we were going to do after college. You were freaking out because your roommate had gotten some girl pregnant, and you didn’t want that to be us.”

Andrew turned to Erin. “Hey, Kevin and Jess are great together and little Morgan is the cutest five-year-old. You said it yourself!”. The two laughed and continued up the mountain.

Half way up, Erin had to stop to catch her breath. “You need to go back to the gym babe.” Andrew laughed and sat with her against a tree.

“I’m in better shape than you! I just ate too much before we left.”

“I told you not to eat that whole burrito.”

Erin looked at Andrew with a shocked look on her face.

“You know I love Guacamole.”

She sighed, shook her head, and stood up. “Come on, we’re almost there.”

They continued walking until Erin needed to rest again.

“OK, you can't blame the burrito now.” Andrew said.

“Can too!” Erin shouted.

“Do you want me to carry you the rest of the way?” Andrew asked in a sarcastic tone.

Erin sat on the ground with her arms reaching up towards him and a pouting look on her face like a kid who didn’t get the gift they wanted for Christmas.

Andrew walked over and squatted down with his back facing her. She wrapped her arms around his head, and he began to stand up. She leaned forward and moved her legs around his waist while he caught them and hooked his arms over her legs. He then began the piggy back carry Erin the rest of the way.

“Let me know if you have to throw up. I think you can do that on your own.”

Erin whispered in his ear. “You mean you won't be there to hold my hair back?”

“I just meant I don’t want you throwing up on me.”

Erin chuckled. “Don’t worry, the indigestion passed while we were in the car.”

“I also don’t want you throwing up in the car!”

Andrew walked the rest of the way to their favorite spot. A part of the mountain that overlooked the forest with the sun setting behind the tree line. Erin jumped off Andrews back and stared out at the beautiful view. Andrew collapsed on the ground and laid against a tree gasping for air.

“Now who needs to go back to the gym?”

Andrew caught his breath. “I thought we already agreed that you are in better shape than me?”

Erin laid down next to him. She leaned her head against his chest, and he put his arm around her. They just laid there listening to each others breathing and watching the sun set behind the trees. “Even on a cool day like this you keep me warm” Andrew said.

While part of the sun was still visible, Erin looked up and noticed that they were laying against their tree.

“I love seeing this tree. It takes me back to when we carved that heart into it.”

Andrew smiled and looked up. "What about when I proposed? I did that here too. And then we had to stop here before going on our honeymoon to carve our wedding date under our initials.”

Erin laughed “And we had to change my last initial to match yours.”

She snuggled up against him and the two took a giant deep breath in and exhaled.

“I don’t think this place could make me happier.” Andrew said.

“How about a picture then?” Erin asked.

“I really don’t want to move though.”

Erin reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a picture. “You don’t have to.”

She handed it Andrew. “What’s this?”

Andrew stared at a dark image with white squiggly lines an a white bean in the middle. Then it hit him.

“Is this a sonogram?!?!”

Erin was smiling from ear to ear, nodding yes.

Andrew grabbed her and squeezed her tight. He never wanted to let go.

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier? I would have gone with you.”

“I wanted to tell you here. This is where we have shared most of our special moments and I wanted to continue that.”

Andrew kissed Erin. “I love you.” “I love you too.”

They sat against the tree and watch the sun finish setting. As they got, up Erin realized something. “We need to fix this heart now. Its not just going to be us.”

“You’re right.” Andrew pulled out his pocket knife. And carved +1 next to their names.

They both stared at the heart and simultaneously said “Perfect.”

Short Story
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About the Creator

Nicholas McKenna

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