Risk & Reward

Twenty-Nine

Shi can't help but smile as she walks across the cemetery lawn, seeing Erin already sitting in front of Sabi's grave the same way she had been a month and a half prior. Shi had purposefully shown up half an hour early, but it's not surprising she wasn't the first one here.

"Hey." She says quietly, sitting down softly on the grass, leaning her head softly on Erin's shoulder.

"Figured you'd show up early. Surprised you weren't here an hour ago though." Erin chuckles softly, her head leaning to resting comfortably against Shi's.

"My boyfriend showed up last night to stay with me, I lingered a bit longer this morning to spend a bit more time with him. He's headed to Fiji and Australia for the next two weeks."

"That's so sweet. Have you brought him here yet?"

"No, but I need to, and I want to. It's just hard, you know?"

"Yeah. I was also kind of glad you were late, I had some things I needed to talk to her about."

"Everything okay?"

"I don't know. Logically I know I'm not doing anything wrong, but it's been an eventful few months for me, and I'm trying to make sense of it all emotionally." Erin sighs.

"E? Did you meet someone?" Shi can't help but read through the lines, sitting up to face her friend.

"Maybe? It's complicated."

"Then uncomplicate it. You deserve to be happy, E. In some other parallel world you're living out the life you deserved with Sabi, but in this world she's gone, and she'd want you to be happy, to find someone to spend your life with. It doesn't have to be the same thing you had with Sabi, but you deserve something equally as good."

"She's a little older than us, thirty-three actually. And a widow, her wife died of cancer a couple years back. We met through a support group online. She understands a part of me no one else ever truly has, and she understands it the way I feel it."

"That's amazing, E. Don't run from it, Sabi would want you to be happy. Just remember I still get to be auntie Shi to any of your future kids." She adds with a laugh.

"She has a four year old daughter, and I might love that kid more than I love Lexi and Ari."

"Good. You should love that kid, if you're truly looking to form a bond with her mom at least."

"You're not mad?"

"Never. As long as you're happy, I'm happy. And it sounds like you've found someone who will let Sabi continue to exist in your life the way she needs to. And that is all I could ever wish for for you."

"I want you to meet her, eventually."

"I would be honored to meet her. You're still family, even if you create a family of your own away from ours."

"Thanks."

"I'm hoping if I can get work to calm down that I'll be able to come up the mountain and visit you soon. And I'll bring my boy along, I want you to meet him too."

"Yes please."

Their conversation dies out into silence for a few minutes, both of them watching the stone in front of them while their minds wander. Their focus being pulled as a door closes loudly nearby.

"Auntie Shi!" She can't help but laugh as the two year old bolts from his moms arms, racing over the uneven grass until he trips and falls right into her arms.

"Oh buddy, I needed a big warm baby Tatum hug today." She chuckles, squeezing the little boy until he groans before letting him go, only to have him giggle and hold on tighter.