“When that curtain comes up, your cousin, Jade, will be there.” I lean down and whisper into my daughter Brittany’s ear, and her face lights up like a Christmas tree. 

Brittany was the second greatest surprise of my life so who better to name her after then the woman who helped me find my way home. Brittany was overjoyed when I told her I was naming my daughter after her, claiming that if it wasn’t for our conversation in the restaurant that day my life would’ve taken a different path. She laughed it off, but I hope she understands what that conversation meant to me. Brittany is still dancing her heart out. I managed to make it to opening night of Swan Lake before Brittany was born but haven’t made it back since. 

Although I was never able to make my dream of becoming a prima ballerina come true, I’ve taught a new generation of dancers how to soar just like Ms. Cassandra did for me. Not all my students continue dancing when they go off to college, but Jade and Love have continued to dance in college, much to both their parents’ delight. It seems it’s rather hard to find time for partying and boys when you have practices almost every day of the week.  

“I am so excited,” Brittany squeals as she claps her hands, bouncing in her seat on my lap.  

“We all are,” Vance replies from beside me before wrapping his arm around my shoulder and leaning down to whisper in my ear. “Although I’d love to see you up there dancing for the entire world to see.”  

I lay my head on his shoulder, sighing softly as I melt into his side. “That time in my life has passed.”  

“Do you regret it?” he asks for what feels like the millionth time.  

“Not one bit,” I say with conviction as the lights in the room dim slightly, signaling the show is about to begin.  

For the first few years after turning down my audition, Vance was worried that I’d resent him. That at some point, living in Tyson’s Creek and teaching everyone else to dance wouldn’t be enough for me, but he was wrong. Sure, the director of the company has called numerous times, begging me to come back and dance one more time, but that time in my life has passed.  

I still spend some nights training, wanting to keep myself in top physical condition so I don’t injure myself again while dancing, but I love nothing more than coming home to Vance and our little girl. Being able to give her a kiss goodnight and tucking her into bed after reading a bedtime story. Or spending late nights with Vance, just talking while we sit on our porch swing, which hangs in its place of honor on our front porch.  

If someone asked me right after my injury if I imagined my life would’ve turned out like this, I’d tell them they lost their minds. Before coming back to Tyson’s Creek, I was going through the motions, moving through life in a fog. I was dancing, but the love I once had was no longer there. I believed that if I trained hard, it would come back eventually, but I was wrong.  

It took running into Vance again to make me realize I didn’t have to keep running from the small-town girl I once was and that she was always a part of me. A part that I had closed myself off to after Lydia’s funeral. I no longer loved dance because I didn’t love the person I had become. Vance dragged me, kicking and screaming, out of the box I had tried to shove myself into and helped me find who I was again—both as a dancer and a person. I have no idea where my life would have ended up if it wasn’t for Vance, and I have no interest in finding out.  

“Jadey so pretty,” Brittany says in her tiny voice as she points toward the stage. 

“She’s the most beautiful girl on the planet,” Connor responds from behind us, causing me to laugh softly.  

“You are just a little biased, honey,” Audrey whispers.  

“Like you aren’t,” Leia retorts as she leans forward, her head coming over the seat between Bristol and me.  

“Shh. We are trying to watch our niece dance. Please keep your voices down,” Bristol scolds them both as Seth winks at us over her head. “Who knows when we will be able to get away and see Jade dance again.”  

This is probably the first time we have all been able to go out together at the same time since Audrey and Connor got married. Audrey and Connor thought they were going to have an empty nest when the girls went to college, but Audrey ended up pregnant before they could leave, and Bristol wasn’t too far behind them. Audrey had a little boy, Kendrick, a few weeks before Christmas last year, and Bristol had her little girl, Cassidy, a few weeks later, on New Year’s Day.  

Luckily, Love chose not to dance for this performance, wanting to give her sister all the spotlight for her special dance. We’re all sad that she isn’t here to see her sister perform with all of us, but according to her, it’s just a regular Tuesday. She’d rather be at the hotel, hanging out with her baby brother and cousin than us anyway.  

“’Cause all the babies, right?” Brittany asks. Vance and I stifle a laugh.  

“Yes, because of the babies, sweetie. Do you like babies?”  

Brittany nods her head before a bright smile spreads across her face. “We have babies coming soon, too. Not right now, ‘cause Momma says it has to grow in her belly, but I can talk to it whenever I want.”  

“Wait, what?” Audrey pulls on the end of my ponytail, attempting to get my attention. “You’re pregnant?”  

“Yup,” Vance responds, puffing his chest out like a peacock, as if he’d just won the lottery.  

“But there’s only one baby,” I chime in as I send up a silent prayer of thanks that I’m only having one baby instead of two. Not that I have anything against twins, but with dancing and Brittany starting kindergarten this year, having twins would be a lot. But I’m happy to say that after my ultrasound yesterday, there is only one baby.  

“Oh my god. Why didn’t you tell us?” Bristol huffs. “But I guess it’s okay that Brittany knew first.”  

“I’m glad you approve of me letting our daughter know she was going to be a big sister.” I laugh softly before turning my attention back toward the stage.  

“I’m going to start taking bets on which one of you ends up pregnant next,” Seth whispers as he pulls Bristol to his side and plants a kiss on the top of her head.  

“I know one person it won’t be, and that’s me,” Leia responds with conviction before kissing me on the cheek and leaning back into her seat.  

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that one, honey,” Riggs responds before I hear a soft thump and him chuckling behind us.  

Leia and Riggs are a very odd pairing, especially because they couldn’t stand each other a few years ago. I guess all it took to get these two together was her meddling older brother, Walker, but that’s a story for another time.  

“Now, shh. We can talk about this more later. This is my favorite part, Odette’s dance,” I whisper as I vibrate in my seat as a spotlight appears at the center of the stage. 

When Jade told me she was dancing Odette’s dance for this year’s performance, she was nervous. She worried she’d disappoint me for not performing it exactly how I envisioned it. I tried to reassure her, but there were no number of words that could’ve taken the stress she felt away. So, I promised her we would be here front and center on opening day, and I would cheer the loudest, even louder than her parents, the moment she ended her dance because it wasn’t about being perfect; it was about dancing from the heart.  

I can see Jade’s silhouette as she strides towards the spotlight, taking her position directly in front of us. The entire room is silent, waiting on pins and needles for the music to begin. 

“Hi, Jadey!” Brittany shouts, waving up at her cousin, and the entire room laughs softly at her outburst. Even Jade cracks a soft smile just as the music begins. 

We all watch in awe as Jade glides across the stage. Her entire body moves to the music with an ethereal quality. Each one of her flowing movements tells a story to the audience, a story of love for a prince and her love for dancing. When she finally comes to a stop near the left side of the stage, the entire room erupts into applause. 

All of us leap to our feet as Vance places Brittany on his shoulders, and we scream in glee at Jade’s success. 

“Jadey! Jadey!” She waves her small arms above her head, trying desperately to get her attention. 

“Hi, Bri Bri,” Jade whispers as she gets down onto the stage and leans forward, planting a kiss on Brittany’s forehead. 

“Did you know I gets a baby soon now, too? We can match.”  

“Oh em gee!” Jade squeals as her head swivels between Vance and me. “Is she serious? Please tell me she is serious.”  

“Yes. She’s serious,” I whisper, as tears stream down her cheeks. The entire auditorium erupts into cheers and words of congratulations on the newest edition to our family.  

“Heck yeah. We get a new baby to spoil!” Jade fist pumps in the air before giving a quick bow and prancing off the stage.  

When I gave up my chance to become a prima ballerina, most people believed I was insane, but I knew better. Never in a million years could I have imagined my life turning out like this, and I wouldn’t change a single moment of it.