Page 39 of June First
“Look at that, June,” I say, standing to my feet. “I guess you don’t need a sword to be brave, but it sure is nice to have.”
“I love it! Santa is the best!”
I chuckle, reveling in the enchantment glowing in her eyes. Someday she’ll know who really made her that sword, but for now, there’s nothing more special than Christmas magic.
Mr. Bailey clears his throat, slapping a palm against his wife’s knee and rising from the love seat. “Well, since we’re on the subject of surprises, I think Santa might have one more trick up his sleeve. I found something this morning with a tag that said ‘For June, Theodore, and Brant.’”
My heart stutters, and I share a surprised look with Theo and June.
We’ve already received so much for Christmas… What else could there be?
“I’ll be right back,” Mr. Bailey declares, disappearing down into the basement. He returns after a few moments of curious silence, while Mrs. Bailey sips her coffee through a smile. His arms are full of a giant box wrapped in glittering Santa paper that he sets down between us on the rug. “Go on. Open it up.”
We all glance at each other again.
Theo dives in first.
June and I lean over the box while paper flies and cardboard tears, desperate to get a peek of what hides inside.
When the final flaps are pulled apart, Theo jumps back.
June screams.
The Baileys laugh.
And I…
Well, I jump up from the rug, hop up and down, and shout to the heavens with my arms stretched high. “A puppy!”
It was a puppy, all right.
A tiny black-and-tan dachshund, hardly bigger than my hand, and something I’d been wanting since the neighbor dog licked my fingers through the fence of my old backyard.
It took six years, but I finally got the puppy I’d always dreamed of.
I’ll never forget standing on my front porch beneath cotton-candy clouds, telling my mother I was going to name him Yoshi…so, that’s exactly what we named him.
Yoshi was a constant companion over the years. For a little while, we pretended he was actually Yoshi and continued to act out our heroic video game scenarios with June as the princess in peril. We didn’t have the tree house anymore, but we still had fruit trees and gardens and many wild acres to explore in our backyard.
But Theo and I were getting older.
And as the years pressed on, our imaginations faded, replaced by something far more intriguing…
Girls.
9
FIRST KISS
BRANT, AGE 15
Today is June’s ninth birthday, and Aunt Kelly is here because it’s also the nine-year anniversary of my parents’ deaths.
It’s a celebration and a mourning all in one, and it’s a combination I’ll probably never get used to.
The adults are gathered on the patio, chatting beneath the freshly bloomed trees with tea, cappuccinos, and a basket of cookies and muffins I baked, while June and her schoolmates run through sprinklers in the backyard. Yoshi is hiding from the sun beneath the patio furniture, and Theo and his new girlfriend—who happens to be Monica Porter—are cozied up on the swinging bench, lazily kicking their feet as their laughter floats over to me through the screen door.
“You should go this year, Brant,” Mrs. Bailey says, coming up behind me with a tray of vegetables and dips. “Kelly really wants you to.”