Never Forget

In high school, I had a secret crush on my brother’s best friend.

But I was told he was strictly off limits.

A few years later, my brother died after running back into a fire to save a little girl.

And I became the only family his daughter had left.

So I left my life in New York and came home to raise her.

Last night, we snuggled up together in my childhood bed.

But a few hours later, I woke to her crying beside me, and the whole room smelled like smoke.

I grabbed her from the bed and ran for the door.

But black smoke was already pouring in through the hall.

I shoved at the window with one hand, but we were three stories up.

I backed us into the corner and pressed my shirt over her mouth, as she sobbed, “My uncle’s coming. He promised.”

The smoke got so thick I couldn’t even see the door.

Suddenly, heavy boots thundered through the hall, and the door exploded off its hinges.

A firefighter burst through the smoke and lifted both of us off the floor.

He carried us outside as Rosie clung to his neck, coughing against his coat.

The second we hit the grass, she looked up at his mask and cried, “I knew you’d come!”

He pulled off his mask, and my whole body went still.

It was him.

The same man I fell in love with years ago.

Still holding my niece against his chest, he stepped toward me, soot streaking his face, and said.

“I promised your brother I’d protect you both… and I’m not failing him again.”