1993

Somewhere over the US

Home. Sam had never thought he would find home again after Maggie, certainly not in dreary Seattle. And yet, after one magical night he had just had with a woman he barely knew, all of sudden everything made sense. Annie was the one. The one he was meant to be with, the only person in the world who could have mended his broken heart. Now they were on a flight back to Seattle, back to the home he shared with Jonah, and soon would with Annie. They would be a family again. Sam sighed as he gazed to his side at an exhausted Jonah leaned over on Annie's shoulder in a deep sleep. It wasn't a surprise. This young boy had literally crossed the country by himself, risked God knows what, his own safety, his life, just to give his dad one more chance at true love. The kid deserved a nap and so much more.

Sam's eyes met Annie's. She smiled softly at him. She was still awake, but only barely, as she gently ran her hands through Jonah's hair. They already look like mother and son, Sam thought. One day, Jonah was going to realize that Annie was not Maggie, and she never could be. But seeing them like this now gave Sam the hope that they would be alright. He already knew that Jonah had a remarkable instinct for finding people. He'd been right about all this, after all, as insane as that seemed. An eight year old teaching a grown man about love? Sam smiled and shook his head, he should have known better. He and Maggie raised a good child, they gave him all the values he needed to be a success in the world. And one day, Jonah would find a love of his own. Sam leaned in and gently put his arm around his new family. This was not the end, this was only the beginning of something special.

Seattle

Airport

"You're gonna love Seattle, Annie, it rains all the time, and scientific studies say that rainy days and romance go together like PB&J!" Jonah was telling Annie.

Annie laughed that wonderful laugh of hers. "Oh my, you really are an intelligent boy, where did you learn that, Jonah?"

"My friend Jessica told me."

"Well Jessica must be a bright girl herself to know such things," Annie replied good-naturedly.

"This is the same Jessica who said that we fell in love in a past life or something like that," Sam whispered to Annie, who laughed again.

"He sure has interesting friends, doesn't he?"

"That he does," Sam agreed. "But enough about that, Jonah and I are going to give you a tour of the city."

Annie had a huge smile on her face. It was a smile Sam hoped he could always keep and treasure, even years from now. She slipped her soft hand in his. "I can't wait."

Three months later

Seattle

When Sam and Annie got married at St. Mark's that spring, Jonah was chosen to be the ringbearer while Jessica was one of the flower girls. Jonah obviously hadn't been present at his parents' wedding, but when he saw his dad at the altar standing next to Annie, who might as well have been an angel in white as beautiful as she was, Jonah couldn't help but think that this was as happy as his dad had been since his first wedding day. And to think this day might never have come if it wasn't for him taking the drastic action of getting on a plane to New York. Well, he hadn't exactly accomplished that feat alone...

"... I now declare you man and wife, you may kiss the bride."

Everyone clapped and cheered as Sam and Annie closed the distance between them with a deep, passionate kiss. Even Jonah, who by now knew to reflexively look away from any kissing lest his manhood be questioned by his pals at school, found himself spellbound by the moment. This wasn't just any kiss, it was...how had his dad put it once...it was magic. So this was what it was like for two people to find each other. At his age, there was no way Jonah could truly understand the depth of what that meant. All he knew was that Annie made him happy and she made his dad happy, and that was all that mattered

The festivities had moved on to the reception, which was taking place under a giant tent that gave shelter from the steadily falling rain, and while the adults were toasting to a long and happy marriage, Jonah was enjoying the simpler pleasures, namely: a slice of the wedding cake, which was his favorite flavor, chocolate.

"So I guess you did it, huh?"

"Wha-" Jonah nearly fell out of his chair, so startled he had been by the sudden presence of a familiar voice. He turned his head and saw Jessica standing next him, having seemingly popped up out of nowhere. She was still wearing her flower girl costume: a white dress and a colorful flower headband that complemented her neatly done auburn-brown hair and brown eyes. He supposed he could tell her that she looked nice, very nice actually. Somehow that seemed like an inadequate term, but he couldn't think of anything more to say, and it's not like this was the kind of thing you said to your friends. Those kinds of words only make sense to grown ups, he guessed.

"You made it happen. The wedding, I mean."

"Oh," Jonah said in realization. That's right, up until his stubbornness had brought them together, his dad wanted nothing to do with Annie. In a way, he had caused all of this. But he'd had some help too.

Jonah decided he'd try to play it cool while still not being a total jerk. "Well...I can't take all the credit, you got me the plane ticket."

Jessica giggled. "Do you have any idea how angry my parents were at me for that? They grounded me for a week, no movies, no play dates. I was thinking MLIO."

Jonah had known Jessica ever since they'd moved to Seattle, yet he still had trouble picking up on all of these acronyms that she threw at him. "MLIO?"

"My life is over," Jessica explained with an exaggerated sigh.

Even though he knew it was for a good cause, hearing that Jessica's parents had grounded her because she had helped him caused a new emotion to stir up in Jonah. It wasn't one he immediately recognized, but he supposed it was...remorse.

"I'm sorry."

"Huh, what for?"

"You got in trouble 'cause you were helping me."

Jessica grinned, it was like watching the sun rise, Jonah decided. He'd watched sunrises with his parents in Chicago when they woke up early to prepare for Cubs games, and this was exactly like the feeling he had gotten then. Warmth, comfort, the dawn of a new day.

"Well Jonah, first off, those two were obviously MFEO (Jonah already knew this stood for "made for each other"), so I was just doing my part to bring them together is all. And second, I was helping you because I like you, so I don't care about being grounded for a week. I would do it again."

Jonah's mind was taking longer than it should have to process that statement. He kept getting stuck on one part in particular. "You...like me?"

Jessica went on without missing a beat. "Course I like you, you're like my second BFF at this point."

A lump formed in Jonah's throat, so he wasn't number one. Why did that bother him so much? It shouldn't matter. "Who's the first?"

"Probably Bethany, she's in my class, we met when we were in first grade."

Jonah slightly slumped into his chair, unable to hide his disappointment, which he still didn't understand. "Oh."

Jessica seemed to have noticed his sudden change in demeanor and she sat in the vacant chair next to his. "Aw, don't worry Jonah, you're only behind her because I've known her longer. You'll always be my first boy BFF, okay?"

Jonah sat up a little straighter at that. At least he didn't have any competition from the boys. "Okay," he replied with a grin. "Want some cake?"

Jessica shook her head. "Maybe later, I have a better idea." Then she leaned in closer, as if to whisper conspiratorially. "RAWM."

Jonah's mind went blank again. "What's that?"

"Run away with me." Jessica held out her hand.

"Run away?"

"Yeah, it'll be totally fun, like an adventure, just the two of us!"

"Gee, I don't know..." Jonah looked down at his cake uncertainly. Then he looked out at the large group of people at the reception. They were still toasting and chatting and having a jolly good time. It would be some time before his dad and Annie made their way over to the table. But still...

"Come on, they're not even gonna notice we're gone! We'll be back before they even know we left," Jessica reassured.

She made a good point, Jonah and Jessica were just two kids in a crowd, they could get lost for a little while without anyone noticing. It occurred to Jonah that he'd never really spent time alone with Jessica without any adult supervision.

"What about your parents? Or my dad and Annie? Won't they be mad?"

"Jonah, trust me." Jessica said simply.

Trust was such a big thing, Jonah thought. He trusted his mom and dad. He didn't trust any of the women his dad dated until Annie. Did he trust Jessica? Did he trust her the way he trusted Annie to treasure his dad's heart? He found that he didn't need to think about that question, because he already knew the answer. He slowly reached out and took her hand.

Jessica grinned, and Jonah returned it. And within moments they were hand in hand, running off into the green fields of the church ground together, laughing and frolicking the rainy spring afternoon away without a care in the world. And almost without thinking, as if he subconsciously knew what was to come, Jonah found himself suddenly wishing that this perfect day would never end.