Page 64 of Neptune

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AIDEN

I 've been waiting for this morning—I even dreamt about it last night. Wait, I remember my dream. That's so cool.

I'm so excited.

Today, I'm going to take a walk with Mom and Dad in this amazing city where they met for the first time, where Uncle Victor loved to paint.

Dad even told me that I can see real artists painting in front of the lake. I can't wait.

"Look! A snowman." Dad exclaims as we step out of the house.

I rush to it. The snowman is as tall as I am. His hands are made of tree branches, and he has a red hat on top of his head.

"What a coincidence," Dad says. "Coming all this way to greet Aiden, aren't you, Mr. Snowman?"

Dad speaks as if I don’t know that he made this snowman the entire morning. Standing beside the snowman, Dad crosses his arms over his chest, flashing a cocky grin, like he's the coolest person on earth.

Well, he is .

"Say hi to Mr. Olive," Dad says.

"Dad." I roll my eyes. "It's Olaf ."

Mom steps out of the house too, closing the door behind her. She walks toward me and puts a wool hat with ear flaps on my head to keep me warm.

"There you go." She smiles. Mom always worries about me. "Where do you want to go, Aiden? What do you want to have for breakfast? You can have it with hot chocolate too, with marshmallows." She raises her brows.

There are so many yummy things going in my mind now.

Croissant.

Cheese.

Hot chocolate sounds perfect.

Seeing me deep in thought, Mom giggles before bending down to hug me. I close my eyes and hug her back.

I wish she knew that nothing is warmer than her hug.

After saying bye to the snowman, we walk hand in hand toward the street, Mom on my right, Dad on my left.

I plaster on the widest grin that I've ever had on my face. What could be better? In this perfect winter, we're strolling around this beautiful town that has brought my parents together.

I have both of them by my side. We're going to be together for the rest of our lives.

I'm so happy that I feel like I could fly to the clouds.

I am Aiden Klein, and this is the best day of my life.