Always With Me

Part 31- Ellie Harmon

Reagan got home after a few short hours. Dahlia and I had already gotten her children to bed, so she checked on them and then headed straight to bed. She looked exhausted, but she did talk to us for a few minutes before she headed to her room. Dahlia and I sat in the kitchen for a while and talked quietly about all of the things that we had going on. Prom was this month, and I had already begun looking for dresses. We made plans to go tomorrow with Becca after church and look on main street for dresses. Even though Dahlia was seven months pregnant, she still planned on going to prom. It felt odd, after everything that we had been through, that we would even consider going to prom. But, we were all very excited. Sam and I had already talked about it together, and I knew that he was going to be asking me. Brent and Dahlia made plans to go together, and I knew that it was going to be good for them.

We were looking up hair and makeup and dresses online when I got up and decided to grab a water bottle from the refrigerator. I dug around for a minute until I found one and I began to take a step toward Dahlia when an open book caught my eye. I didn't want to be nosy in a house that I was only a guest in, but I couldn't help but notice a picture on the page that caught my eye. I walked over slowly to the picture and locked my eyes on the blond haired girl in the picture. I gasped and motioned Dahlia to come over to the book in front of me. She took a few seconds to get off of the chair before she waddled over to where I was standing.

"Tell me that I'm not going crazy. But that girl looks so much like Becca!" I said as I pointed to a blond haired, grey-blue eyed girl in a picture with Reagan. She looked a lot older than Reagan, but their matching pajamas gave the Christmas card away that they were sisters.

"That's crazy!" Dahlia laughed as she pulled the book closer to her. The caption on the Christmas card indicated that her name was Angie. "I think that's Reagan's sister."

"I think it is too," I said as we stood and stared at the picture for a while longer.

"Well, I'm going to bed. I have to wake up early tomorrow," Dahlia joked as she rubbed her stomach and walked out of the kitchen. I took one last look at the picture before I turned out the lights in the kitchen and followed Dahlia to the room that she used at this house. I felt odd spending the night here, but I wanted to spend time with Dahlia and I knew that we would be babysitting late tonight. Plus, I loved the Elliotts.

We both got into bed, and Dahlia fell asleep almost instantly. I stared up at the dark ceiling, though. I still couldn't get the girl from the picture out of my mind. Why did she look so much like Becca?

"God, that is so weird. Why does she look so much like her?" I felt my heart pound in my chest. "You are doing something, God. I can tell."

I fell asleep after a long time of trying to connect Angie to Becca and Reagan. I knew that it wasn't that big of a deal that she looked so much like Becca, but I also didn't find it very coincidental that I found that picture. If I needed proof that God was doing something very big in all of our lives, that picture was the perfect indication.

I woke up the next morning and drove home to get ready for church. Dahlia decided to ride with Reagan and her kids so she could help them all get ready, so I went alone and then picked up Becca. Annie called Reagan this morning and asked if she would be interested in helping our Sunday School this morning, so she agreed. I was very excited to have Reagan in our class with us. She seemed to be very knowledgable, and I was glad that she had somewhere to go this morning.

Becca and I walked into the youth room, and Sam was already sitting at the table. He had his hands in his lap, and he wore a grey polo. I took a seat beside him and he smiled at me. Before we could speak, he raised his hands from his lap and handed me what was in them. He was holding a simple white rose with a gold ribbon tied to the stem. Attached to the ribbon was a note, and I flipped it over to read it.