Five Minute Friday: Vivid. -or- When the Cat Gets Out of the Bag

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Five minute Friday.  Today's prompt?  VIVID.

{GO}.

Husband has a surprise.  A big one.

But he delights in my delight and is no good at keeping things from me.  He wrestles with the secret; his mouth corners turn up in excitement.

A friend spills a few words, innocent, and oops… the cat is out of the bag.

I know that within hours, I'll throw my arms around my dear, dear friend, taking to the skies to make this a memorable birthday.  I try and count… how long has it been?  How many years? 

I can't remember.

But I think of him and hear his laughter, our laughter, and it feels as if he's in my living room already.  I see our faces, lit in hysterics and the kind of joy that knew me before I even knew myself.  I giggle at my son's antics and I know that soon he'll be laughing along with me, and the sounds of my friend's laughter echoes in my ears -- so very vividly.  His eyes dance vivid, too, and my kids throw arms around their "uncle", because we are the kind of friends that morph into family and he might as well be a brother, an uncle, a permanent fixture in the story of my life.  He loves my family because I love them, and he adores the children and oh, man, he hasn't even met my youngest, yet, the one I secretly carried within me the last time I saw my friend.  I can't wait to hear that laugh again.  Excitement tears through me even while I wonder how badly I'll miss the others -- the rest of the group that made up our little crew of friends, those hearts that leaned on one another while we inched into adulthood, while we helped each other become.

{STOP}

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