Gerald opened the door to his apartment and held Kim up by her elbow. She was released a couple of days after the service, but he could tell she was a little hesitant. “Are you okay?” He asked.

“Yes,” Kim answered. “I was okay when we left the hospital, I was okay when we got into the car, five minutes after we got into the car. I was okay when you parked your car, and I was okay when we got into and off the elevator, Ge.” She took a seat on the sofa. “I’m okay.”

He laughed at himself, “Is that your way of telling me I need to back off?” He took her coat, and hung it in the closet. “Can I get you anything?”

Kim just looked at him. He nodded, remembering when she asked him never to ask that question. “I’m sorry. I guess it’s just a habit.” He took a seat next to her, “I’ve been giving a shift today at work, but I can always say no if you want me to stay with you?”

She shook her head, “It’s fine. Really, I’m okay. Go to work, you’ve already missed so much when you’ve been looking after me.”

“I can call Darling, it’s not a problem.”

She took his hand into hers. “I’m going to be okay. You need to go. We prolong this any longer. I’ll call you the minute I can’t stay by myself.”

He smiled, “I’ll be waiting for that  phone call.” He got up and went to his desk. “I went grocery shopping yesterday, but my mom came over and dropped some food off, it just needs to be heated.” He paused to find her staring up the staircase. “It’s still in tact.” He said. “The room; I didn’t touch anything.”

“You’ve been inside?” She asked.

He nodded. “It’s hard, Kim. I don’t really care about things like clothes, or toys or anything like that, but…it was so hard to walk in that room and still be able to breathe.” He caressed her cheek with the knuckles of his hands. “Don’t rush, Kim. Don’t push yourself until you’re ready.”

Kim agreed with him, “Okay.”

“I’ll be back early,” he kissed her temple and squeezed her hand.

He left the apartment and she took a nap on the couch. Her room attached to the nursery, which meant that she couldn’t sleep in there without thinking about it. Her nap didn’t last long, but it has been the longest sleep she had in a really long time. She got up and walked around the apartment. It was quieter, she thought. Her gaze stayed on the staircase; before her feet moved, a knock sounded and jumped at the sudden noise. “Ms. Chiu, Ms. Anderson would like to see you.”

She walked to open the door, and Darling wandered in. “That was fast, even for Gerald, I told him I didn’t need a chaperone.”

“What,” Darling asked. “I’m sorry?”

“Nothing, I thought…never mind.” She said. “I thought Gerald called you in.”

Darling shook her head, “No. I haven’t spoken to Gerald all day. Are you alright?”

Kim scoffed, “Depends on your definition of alright.”

“Okay, well, obviously, my brother isn’t here so…”

“Do you want to talk about it? I may not be as wise as Gerald, but I’m a good listener.” Kim offered.

“I don’t want to add on to your burden, you have so many things on your mind.” She smiled.

“Actually, you’d be making me feel useful,” she smiled back, and taking a seat on the place where she woke up. “What’s up?”

Darling took her offer, “David wants to move up the wedding, but I’m not sure. We had this huge fight last night and we yelled and fought…and then he walked away. He said if I didn’t want to marry him now, than I’m telling him I don’t love him.” She laughed. “So I told him that if we doesn’t want to wait, than obviously he doesn’t love me because what’s the difference between now and then?”

“Where’d he go?” Kim asked.

“To his sister’s place. It’s out of town, and he already packed his things. I don’t know what to do. I mean, in soap opera, it’s easy. The guy walks away, they spend a couple of days away from each other and then they realize how much they love each other and all is well. But this isn’t a soap opera, because none of us is budging.”

Kim took her hand, “Why did he want to make the wedding sooner?”

“We’ve been engaged for three years now,” she confessed. “I think he’s sick of not being married. The wedding was supposed to be next year, in the summer. I guess it’s too long to wait.”

“Well, you’ve made him wait three years, honey. I think it’s about time to tie the knot.” Kim chuckled. “So why haven’t you decided to marry? I mean, Darling, it’s been three years. If you said you’d marry him and accepted his proposal, why wait? Isn’t the blushing bride the one who’d want to move up the wedding than push it back?”

Darling’s smiled disappeared. “When I said I’d marry him, I was sure he was the one for me. I was sure I’d marry him the first time we met. But then I was planning the wedding, and I realized that I was more excited about the wedding than the actual marriage.” She felt ashamed. “My wedding is has always been a dream of mine since I was a little girl. You know, by my eighteenth birthday, I already had my dress picked out, my wedding song picked out, the colour of my bridesmaids’ dresses, and centerpieces. I only needed the groom. And then I found it. That’s not a marriage, Kim. It’s settling. I don’t want to settle.”

Kim nodded. “When I met Michael, I thought I had everything. You know, when we first dated he was this amazing guy who’d surprise me at work, who’d bring me flowers everyday. Michael threw this grand surprise birthday party, and I knew I wanted to marry him. I was madly in love, and I planned a life surrounding the two of us.”

“Are trying to make me feel bad?” Darling asked.

She shook her head, “Honey, life doesn’t go as planned. We know that, I know that. You  planned a life before Kevin, I planned a life with Michael; two different scenarios which proves that none of us was right.”

“So what do I do?”

Kim shrugged, “Do you love him?” Darling nodded. “Can you picture yourself having a life with them?” Again, a nod was received. “Is he the one you want to see when you are having a bad day? Is it his arms you want around you so you could feel safe? Is he the one you want on your side when everything in the life in the world is crumbling before your eyes?”

“Only him,” Darling breathed.

“Than it’s not settling. It’s not settling for a wedding when you have your own Prince Charming with you. You know, like every girl’s dream to have her own fairy tale. But we know that’s not how it works. So stop worrying about the future, and worry about the now. You want to be with him now, right? So stop waiting. Stop waiting until everything you have and everything that makes you happy disappears in a blink of an eye. Marry him, Darling. Stop worrying about things you’re unsure about, and start thinking about what you are sure about – you love him, he loves you. It doesn’t get better than that.”

Darling smiled, “You are way better at this than Kuya Gerald. He’d probably side with Kevin because of the male solidarity thing. But then again, you could be siding with because of gender bias.”

Kim shook her head, “Darling, don’t let your fears dictate the truth. Not everyone gets a happy ending, so take it when you have the chance.”

Darling noticed Kim constantly checking out the stairs. She knew what was up there, and Kim’s thoughts at that moment. Since she helped her fix her problem, the least she could do would be the same. She took Kim’s hand and pulled her up. “Let’s go.”

“I don’t know if I’m ready,” she answered hesitantly.

“If you don’t go now, you’ll never be able to. At least you won’t have to do it alone.” Darling pulled her close and squeezed her hand, letting her know she wasn’t alone.

They walked up the stairs and Darling was the one who opened the door. It was dark and everything was left as it was in the room. The baby’s crib was already set up with a light pink comforter and little unicorns embedded on it. She had a Disney mobile hanging on the top, which also was a nightlight. Everything in the room, right down to all the baby books, was picked out specifically for the little girl that was no longer with her. She wanted to pull back, she wanted everything to just go back in time and not meet Michael. She wanted to go back in time and prevent this hurt. “I think she would’ve liked it.” Kim whispered.

“She would’ve loved it,” Darling confirmed.

“Gerald said it hurt when he came in here.”

“How do you feel?”

She sat on the rocking chair. “Almost surreal. I know she’s gone and I know she’s never coming back, but this room,” she sighed. “This is who she was. Everything I picked out, I’d feel something. When I picked out these sheets, she kicked. The mobile, she moved. A single hint showing that she wanted it, I did.” She got up and went to the closet. Kim opened the door and took out the box she kept of the crib.

“Kim, what are you doing?” Darling asked.

“It has to go. All of it.” She took the tape out of the drawer from the hallway, and began folding the cardboard into an actual box. She began putting all the toys in the box. “Do you mind going downstairs and asking Jimmy for more boxes?”

Darling grabbed her hands and felt them shaking uncontrollably. “Honey, are you okay? You don’t have to do this now. You don’t have to do it at all. I mean, you have to be sure before you throw it all away.”

“Darling!” Her voice rose, and she grabbed her hands back. “I need to do this. Having this in here is only going to make it harder to move on. And I can’t go in my room and burst into tears. I need to do this. You can go if you’re not going to help me, but either way, I’m packing my daughter’s things and giving it to a family who really needs it.” She gave one look to Darling before continuing.

Within three hours, all the things were in boxes and outside in the hall. Kim had her hair up high in a hair tie, and Darling was the one who opened the door to an angry Gerald. “Why didn’t you call me? She shouldn’t have done this alone.”

“I wasn’t alone; Darling was here.” Kim answered.

“She would’ve done it with or without me. I chose with.” Darling said. “Now I got to go and win my fiancé back.” She kissed Kim on the cheek. “You’ll call me tomorrow? Let’s have lunch?”

“How about I just call you?” Kim said.

Darling nodded. “Take care, okay? Get some rest.” She hugged Gerald and left, walking around the stacks of boxes.

Jimmy came upstairs to take the boxes downstairs. “This is everything, Miss. Chiu?”

Gerald walked into the hallway first, “Yeah. Um…can you just make sure that people who get it, need it, okay?”

Jimmy nodded, “My sister works with foster care, so she’ll make sure of it.”

Kim snapped her fingers, “Just one second, I forgot about something.” Kim ran back into the apartments.

“Hey,” Jimmy started, “Is Miss Chiu going to be alright?”

Though Gerald was hesitant about answering, he nodded. “Yeah, it’s just hard for her right now.”

Kim returned with a teddy bear. “I was going to keep this, but…here,” she handed it to Jimmy. “And Jimmy? Can you call Kim from now on? Thanks,” she smiled and walked inside.

Gerald followed her, “Kim, it’s not too late to stop him. If you don’t want to let go of the baby’s things right now.”

She shrugged, “There’s no point in keeping them. It’s fine.”

“Are you okay?” He asked, risking her ripping his head off.

“Yeah, fine,” she answered quickly, looking down. He knew she did that when she was lying. “No,” she admitted, her hair getting in her face. “I’m screaming inside, and I’m trying not to hear it.” She sighed, steadying her racing heart. “I’ve had to deal with pretty difficult stuff in my life, but nothing had come to be this bad.”

Gerald nodded,  “I understand.”

“I know you do. I’ve never had anyone show so much kindness and understanding than you have. I want to thank you for being patient with me, and helping me. I don’t know how I would’ve done this without you.” Kim said.

Gerald took her hand and pulled her to the terrace. “I wanted to show you something.” Kim let him lead her. He opened the sliding door and pointed to the diamond sky. “I noticed it on my way home.”

Kim looked up and smiled. “There’s stars tonight.” Her eyes watered, but for a completely reason than the last couple of days, let alone last three weeks. When she turned around, she gasped.

There was Gerald holding a gold star necklace. “Now, there will always be one star no matter what.” He held up so she could see it up close. It had Kim’s name, Gerald’s name and Ysabelle’s name on each line. “And she’ll always be with you.”

“Ge…” she breathed, covering . She spun around, and pulled her hair to the side. She could feel Gerald’s hands on her skin, and she tingled.

“I was driving tonight, saw first star, and said that old nursery about making a wish. I wished for something to make you feel just a tiny bit better. I hope I didn’t jinx it because I told you, or because you’re crying and I don’t know what that means.” Gerald rambled.

Kim shook her head, “You are amazing.” She breathed. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me in a really long time. This is the one of the best gifts, thank you.”

He pulled her into his arms and held her. “You said how feel,” she mumbled and laughed. “That’s a first.”

Gerald nodded, “Don’t get you used to it,” he said. “Let’s go inside.” 

“Actually, I think I’m going to stay out here for a little bit. Just for awhile.” Kim answered.

“Do you want company?”

Kim shook her head, and held the pendant in her hand. “I’m okay. I just…after packing her things, I want to feel…” she looked up and smiled. “I want to feel peace.” She took a seat on a lounge chair and relaxed.

Without thinking, he changed his mind, and took a seat beside her. He took her hand into his, and the two of them would find peace together tonight.