What's a Heart to a Soul

2.15 Alliteration

"Charlotte Cecilia Castillo, slow down right now!" I called after my daughter as she sped down the sidewalk on her bicycle with freshly removed training wheels.

Her wavy brown hair whipped behind her, and I could picture her tongue bit tightly between her teeth in concentration, her electric blue eyes wild as the world sped by her. I ran to catch up but was too late as she turned the wheel too suddenly and fell onto the cement. There was a small girl with copper tone skin who's brown hair was tied into pigtails with red ribbon sitting on the front lawn playing with her dolls. She immediately got up and raced to Charlotte, beating me by a landslide.

"Are you okay?" Her small voice called out as I reached them, sending a wave of deja vu through me.

Carter now came up beside me as we both crept down to assess Charlotte's injury.

"Yeah I'm okay." She mumbled as she propped herself up and onto her elbows as she looked at the girl with ribbons in her hair.

The girl looked at her knee and her caramel colored eyes went wide as she pointed toward it "You're not okay, you're bleeding!"

I looked to see a tiny scratch on her knee, nothing rubbing alcohol and a bandaid couldn't fix.

"It's gonna be alright," I stated calmly as I smiled kindly at the girl, "we're gonna take Charlotte back home to take care of her boo boo and make her feel all better."

Carter was in the process of carefully picking her up and the girl seemed wary as she watched her.

"Can Charlotte come back and play someday?" The little girl asked as I stood.

I smiled back at her, "Of course, and if you ask your parents permission you're welcome to come over and play in a few minutes once she's all better. We live three houses down." I turned and pointed,"it's that one right there."

She smiled brightly, "I'll go ask right now!"

"Wait," Charlotte said, causing the girl to look up at her, "what's your name?"

"Cameron Catherine Castle and it's nice to meet you." She paused, "I promise I'll be over soon."

Carter and I exchanged a knowing look and Charlotte scrunched her face. A curious expression took over as the girl ran off. It was a beautiful day, the sun bearing down and a gentle breeze blowing the scent of spring through the air. I picked up her bike, the wheels squeaking alongside us as we made the short walk back to our house. We had bought it from Brandon awhile back, after mom had passed since he had no interest in living here but was happy to keep it in the family. We were able to clean the wound and patch her up in no time. We went back outside to find Cameron standing in the lawn waiting for us.

"You came!" Charlotte smiled, running over to the girl.

The two launched into conversation, deciding to head into the backyard to play on the playground. We followed after them, and settled in under the oak tree as we watched them play.

"I think someone found a new friend." Carter stated as she turned her gaze to me "It's crazy how fast time goes by."

"It really is." I agreed, thinking back on when we'd first brought Charlotte home "We certainly are making the most of it though."

She took my hand in her and kissed my knuckle "I love you so much and I'm so glad to have you. I don't know what I would've done without you."

"I love you, so so much." I smiled in return as I gazed into the electric eyes of my one true love "You'll always have me, I'd find you in a million lifetimes and pick you in every single one."

***

(A/N) I hope you all enjoyed reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it. I always struggle with letting go of a concept, and especially of the characters, when I finish a book. This is no exception, if anything this is the hardest goodbye I've faced yet. This is my favorite book I've ever written and I put my heart and soul into it. I hope now that you've finished reading that maybe, just maybe, you've been provided with some clarity on the question, what's a heart to a soul anyway?

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