Page 171 - In Five Years

Tonight” under the most delicate strands of white-and-gold twinkle lights. The
entire ceiling will be made of roses. We’ll plan a honeymoon in Tahiti or Bora
Bora. We’ll leave our cell phones in the bungalow and swim out to the edge of
the earth. We’ll drink champagne under the stars, and I’ll wear white, only white,

for ten days straight.
We’ll make all the right decisions.

But then I hear the clock on the wall. The tick tick ticking of the second hand,
bringing us closer and closer to December 15.
I take the dress off. I pay for it.
On my walk home, Aaron calls me. “We got the test results back from the last

round,” he says. “It’s not good.”
I should feel surprised, shouldn’t I? I should feel like I’m stopped dead in my

tracks. The world now, in light of this news, should slow down, stop spinning.
The taxis should sputter still, the music on the street should stretch until silent.
But I’m not. I’ve been waiting.

“Ask her if she wants me there,” I tell him.
He pauses. I hear a lapse in breathing, the white noise sounds of apartment
motion, somewhere a few rooms over. I wait. After about two minutes—an

eternity—he comes back to the phone.
“She says yes.”
I run.