Names

"Annie!"

The tiny child raced to meet her mother's arms. The older woman sprang her up to meet her face and their noses touched.

"Belle, what happened? I called you twenty times last night."

She leaned against her locker, watching an ant crawl into a small crack in the ground to safety. The teenage boy breathed out heavily before walking away for the last time.

"Annabelle Clarice. Four years on the Dean's List and outstanding research in the medical field. It is my honor to award you this certificate."

The young woman, with breath held, steadily drifted onto the stage. Receiving the certificate, she turned to spot her frail mother in the crowd.

"Mrs. Mathews, why did you stop being a doctor?"

The woman smiled down to the child. She placed a hand on the young student's shoulder and explained the story of how she met her husband.

"Cooper. What a lovely name."

The woman, spent, could hardly hold open her eyes. But the warm, wet bundle in her arms made none of it matter. The tiniest fingers gripped around her thumb and soothed them both off to sleep.

"Cooper Adam Mathews, get back here!"

The boy, a giggling mess, bounded off around the staircase. His mother's shoes clasped against the tile floor until she tackled him into the denim couch.

"Coop, we're proud of you."

His father ruffled his hair and placed the square graduation cap back in place. He smiled up to his father and turned to give his mother a long awaited embrace.

"A mother, a wife, and my best friend. Annabelle Mathews."

His son went up to the stage to help his father back to his seat. The father's eyes were locked on the casket that held his wife.