to live for the hope of it all.

Chapter 69

May 24th, 2024

"I'm waking up, I feel it in my bones,
Enough to make my system blow,
Welcome to the new age, to the new age..."

Beckett

"Beckett!"

Spinning around from my friend Drew, I find Bailey running towards me with a beaming smile. I get only a millisecond to prepare, and then she's crashing into me. I laugh at her enthusiasm as I hug her back just as tight.

"We did it, Bailey," I say in her ear, burying my head into her shoulder as she grips me tighter.

"Thank you," she swallows. "For everything you've done these last few months. For making this moment what it's supposed to be."

"I didn't do anything, Bailey. That was all you, you chose to be here," I smiled, pulling back to wipe at her tear stained cheeks. Happy tears, for the first time in months, Bailey had happy tears in her eyes. "Let's go find our family, yeah?"

"Yes, please," she grinned, interlacing her fingers with mine and pulling me through the crowd that had gathered on the field.

It only took a few wrong turns, and I laughed every time Bailey jumped to try and see over people's heads. But we eventually found them in the far corner of the track, and I was engulfed in a hug from my mother while Bailey went straight to her grandfather.

"Beckett, my sweet boy, I am so proud of you," my mother cried. "You are gonna do such great things, son."

"I love you, mom."

"I love you too, sweetheart," she smiled.

"Bubba! You did it!" Delilah yelled, and for the second time tonight, I had a millisecond to prepare before a weight crashed into me.

"Hey Delilah," I laughed, wrapping my arms around my little sister.

"Did you see Caleb's backflip? Wasn't it so cool?" She asked, looking over my shoulder where my cousin was hugging his parents.

"It was pretty cool, why don't you go tell him?"

"I will!" She laughed, wiggling out of my arms and scurrying off in his direction. "Love you!"

"Love you too!" I shouted after her.

"Boyo!"

There he is.

"Hey old man," I laughed, squatting down to his level and holding up the diploma. "What do you think? Is this good enough, do I really even need college?"

"Easy son," he grinned lightly. "Don't push it."

"Alright, alright."

"I'm proud of you, Beckett. I'm really proud," he coughed out, reaching a hand up to my chin. "Whether you want the title or not, you're my grandson. I'll never not be proud of you."

Waterworks.

That's the only way to describe the wave of emotions that crashes over me at his words. As light as I can, I lean forward to wrap my arms around him while his weak ones pat my shoulder.

"I'll wear that title with pride for the rest of my life, old man."

"I take it back," he laughs lightly. "Keep calling me old man and you'll lose my blessing to ever marry my granddaughter in the future."

"Grandpa Matt!" Bailey yelled, her face flushing a dark crimson as her eyes met mine sheepishly. "Sorry."

"I love you," I whisper in his ear. "But as long as she wants me back, I think I'll still marry her with or without that blessing. But again, I love you, Grandpa Matt."

"I love you too, boyo." I pull back and match his own soft smile with one of my own.

"Oliver!"

"Harlow," he beams, and Bailey and I grin as he reaches out to touch the blonde's hair affectionately from where she crouches in front of him. "Some speech you gave up there. Made me damn proud to call you my own."

"Yeah?" She asked hopefully, like his opinion is the one that matters the most to her.

"Hell yeah, that promise you made meant the world to me," he smiled, reaching out to Bailey's hand. My girlfriend crouched on the other side of his chair next to Wren as they both listened to him. "I'm proud of you both. Always."

The girls stood before wrapping him in a gentle hug that he returned to the best of his abilities, and then my mother was calling out for pictures. She passed her phone to Sarah, who took the job with pride as everyone posed for at least 100 photos.

At the end, a big group one with Bailey and Wren crouched on one side of Grandpa Matt, and Caleb and I squatted next to him on his other side. I think all of our smiles were genuine in that one, and the energy around us was buzzing.

Today, at this moment, we're all okay.

And that's all I could ever ask for.

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