This house will host future birthday parties and celebrations, maybe even a few family dinners. We’ll have our friends over. One day, our kids will have their friends over, and I’m looking forward to giving our future family the same sense of home and community that Hallie and I were raised with back in our old neighborhood. Hallie slips an arm over my shoulders as she sits in my lap, and while she watches the party happen around us, I can practically see the same picture being painted in her head of our future here. “I love you, Hal.” She turns back, smiling at me. “I love you, Rio. Always
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