To the moon || Luke Hemmings

Chapter 73

'Hey V?' Luke said as he was looking for another movie to watch.
It was Saturday and we had decided to spent our entire day cuddling and watching movies.
I put the paper bag filled with corn in the microwave and turned it on.
'Yes?' I replied, turning around to see he was no longer in the living room.
'Luke?' I asked, the corn slowly started popping in the microwave.
'Remember that picture of my mom that we framed as a joke? The one we put away after a week because we felt like we were being watched.'
I smiled and nodded 'Yeah I remember that. Why?'
'Do you know where we left that frame?' Luke asked.
'I think it's in the spare room.' I frowned.
Luke nodded and walked away. I could hear him rummage through some boxes as I pulled the popcorn out of the microwave and threw it in a bowl.
I walked back to the couch and put the bowl on the table.
'Found it!' Luke smiled as he walked out of the spare room and into our bedroom.
'What are you doing?' I grinned as I made myself comfortable on the couch and waited for him to come back.
Luke didn't reply but he showed up a few minutes later.
The picture frame in his hand.
He sat down beside me and looked at me with a guilty look on his face.
'I might have done something the other day and I'm not sure if you're happy with it or not.' He said.
'What did you do?' I frowned.
'Well...' Luke started 'I found a picture on my phone and I didn't want to risk losing it so I printed it out and I didn't really know where to leave it because I don't want it to go to waste but I also don't know if you want to have it somewhere here in the living room or if you'd rath.-'
'You're rambling.' I interrupted him, trying to bite my smile.
Luke took a deep breath and smiled 'Sorry.' he said.
'Let me see the picture?' I said, holding out my hand.
Luke looked at the picture frame he was holding upside down before sliding a picture away from underneath it and handing it to me, biting his lip nervously.
I turned the picture around and looked at it.
It was a picture of Lilly. The one Luke had made when he was so sure she'd survive. When he had wanted to post the picture on Instagram and I told him not to.
Lilly was lying on her back, her little legs curled up and her tiny fingers clutched around mine.
Her face was turned away from the camera and het little baby bum dressed in the diaper with the red pony on it.
I remembered she was looking at me while he took this, barely able to keep her eyes open.
I looked at the frame Luke was holding and took it from his hands, the picture of his mom still inside it.
'We don't have to put it anywhere if you don't want to or if you think you're not ready yet. I just wanted to tell you because it's been in the drawer of my nightstand for a week and I needed you to know that that picture still exists.'
'I totally forgot you made this,' I mumbled, looking up at him slowly.
After being home for a couple weeks and not having seen anything that had to do with her, no reminders that she ever existed. It all had started to feel like a dream.
A dream that had ended in a nightmare.
'But you're right. We can't let this go to waste. How about we put it in the frame and keep it around for a bit. I'm not sure if I can...see her face multiple times a day knowing we'll never see more of her than this' I suggested.
Luke nodded 'Good idea.'