After I wash my face, Jai and I walk back outside to join his family at the table. Aleysa is sitting next to Veronica, and she has a smile on her face. "I would love to go there, " she says, looking at me. Veronica said we should go on a holiday somewhere. She suggested Paris. We can go there for my thirteenth birthday."

Her birthday is next month, so the timing is perfect. She deserves to have some fun with everything that's happening with her.

Nate and I need a break, too.

Jai wraps his arm around me. He looks at Aleysa. "I'm looking forward to celebrating your birthday with you. When it?"

Aleysa looks at him. "October 19th." She moves her finger in a 'come here' motion, and he moves towards her. She whispers. "I want a pony for my birthday."

Moving over to her. "Can we make a sacrifice on that one, sis?"

She looks at me. "What sort of sacrifice?"

"Before we go to Paris we'll take your horseback riding?"

Nate steps next to me. "I'll come too. You can make fun of me, Aleysa."

She laughs. "I can't wait to see you on a horse, bro. Can Jai come?"

"If he wants."

Jai kisses my cheek. "I will be wherever you are. I know a place we can go to."

Veronica looks at us. "I will give Sean a call. He's going to love seeing you again, Jai."

"Sean is a guy that Mom and Dad met when they used to live in Los Angeles. They accidentally trespassed on his property when they were horseback riding one day, and he told them they could come back, but only if they rode his horses instead of the neighbours'. It turns out that the horses we rode were from a couple of thieves, and the bank owned the house we were at."

Veronica laughs. "It turns out the couple stole horses from Sean's yard. He knew we weren't the type to steal. We left the horses to him and he gave us a ride to his neighbours, but when we got there, our car was stolen."

Mr Marshall takes over telling the story. "Sean was nice enough to drive us home. His jaw dropped when he saw our place. We invited him and we talked until the early hours of the morning. We told him to spend the night." He looks at Jai. "In the morning, you woke early and went into the kitchen to make breakfast."

Veronica laughs. "You were four years old then, and you pulled out the drawers and used them as a ladder. You climbed onto the table, pulled out a box of Lucky Charms, and put some in your mouth. While you were eating, you spilled the box of cereal on the floor."

"When your mother woke up, she saw how the cupboards were and the lucky charms on the floor. She knew it was you. You were the only one of your siblings who was creative regarding the food they wanted."

I laugh. "I never used to have lucky charms at my place, and now we have four boxes in the cupboard. At least I know he won't make a ladder out of my drawers to get his cereal." I kiss his cheek.

Jai pulls me closer to him. "Our children will think of creative ways to get something they want from the cupboards, too."

Nate looks at us. "You two are starting to make me sick."

Elbowing my brother in the stomach. "Shut up! You're just jealous that you don't have a girlfriend." I stick my tongue out at him."

He rolls his eyes. "I'm asking Liane to the homecoming. Then she will be my girlfriend."

Nate never told me he liked a girl.

Pinching his cheek. "Aw, my little brother is growing up. Tell me more about Liane."

He looks at the ground. "Liane's the head cheerleader. I hope when I go to school on Monday, I'm not too late to ask her."

Later that night, Veronica shows Aleysa and Nate to their rooms.

Jai pulls the letter out of his pocket. He looks at it. "I think we should open it in the bedroom." He looks at the room where some of his family is still gathered.

"I agree. I don't want your family to see me cry again." I take his hand.

Jai looks at his family. "Chloe and I are going to turn in for the night. It was good to see you all again." He looks at me. "I think Chloe and I should come here more often."

His family agree.

"It was nice meeting you all. You should come to LA as well." They agree to that as well. "Goodnight."

Jai and I climb the stairs to his bedroom.

Veronica is at the top of the stairs and looks at us. "Are you two turning in already?"

"Yes, Mom. Tonight we were given a letter from Aleysa from their parents, and I don't want to read it with the family around."

Veronica hugs me. "Goodnight, sweetheart. You have great siblings there." She looks at her son. "I don't want you to go back to LA. You should stay here."

Jai shakes his head. "My life is in LA. Chloe and her siblings have a life there, too. It won't be fair if we pull Nate out of his school in his senior year. He might not get the scholarship he's tried his hardest to get since he started high school."

Veronica looks away. "I didn't think about Nate being a senior."

"Mom, you can visit us soon if you want."

Hugging her again. "I would love to see you again soon, Veronica."

She smiles.

Jai and I walk to his room. He opens the door, and we walk over to the bed. He opens the envelope and pulls the letter out, placing it on the bed between us.

Dear Chloe and Fiancé,

Your father and I left this letter with Aleysa, as she's the one we trusted with this. She could keep it safe until you found the one you loved.

Chloe, we're happy that you found a fiancé and wish we were there to meet him.

To the fiancé, you chose a great girl to be with. I might be biased since she's my daughter. If my husband and I were there now, I would tell you many embarrassing stories about my princess.

As her mother, I'm going to leave you with one anyway.

Oh, no. She's told me all her stories. I hope it's not the worst one.

Jai looks at me. "Should I read this out loud or to myself?"

"Read it to yourself. I don't need to live through that day again with you doing a voice-over."

He laughs. "Fair enough."

I look at the piece of paper again.

When Chloe was three, she used the bath as a toilet. It wasn't a number one, but a number two. My husband and I were going out, and we had a few friends stay over while we went on a date. They fought over who was going to scoop it out. I was in a dress, and I scooped it out and flushed it. After that, Chloe was ready to get out of the bath.

Jai begins to laugh. "That's funny. I wish your parents were here to see us."

Touching my heart, I say. "My parents are here with us all the time. They would have loved you and this family."

Jai looks at the letter. "Do you want to read the rest?"

Shaking my head. "I think I'll look at it tomorrow." I yawn. "I'm tired."

Jai and I climb into bed and I lie my head on his chest.

It is the first time we've shared a bed.