Remember Me

June 15th 

Kayleigh sat in the lobby of the elementary school with a dozen other mothers’ and fathers’ waiting for the bell to ring. It was a Thursday, and she just kept thinking just one more day of school and then her and her boy could go on their mini vacation. She had planned a weekend trip to the Kennedy Space Center for the two of them.

Kayleigh was a young mother of a rambunctious and curious eight-year-old boy, Nash. Despite having him at only 19 years old, she had raised him alone and did the very best she could for him.

“Hey Kay!” Another mother, Sarah, shouted as she wriggled her way through the crowd of parents. She made her way to Kayleigh’s side to wait for her child as well. Sarah was the mother of a boy in the same grade as Kayleigh’s son and the woman had become close friends since the boys had been in kindergarten.

“Hey, how is everything going at home? I haven’t seen you pick up Matt in a while?” Kayleigh asked.

“Yeah, with it being close to Father’s Day I let his dad come and get him this past week.” She sighed and rolled her eyes.

“At least Matt has a dad to be a part of his life. Nash doesn’t have anybody but his papa. I would be grateful for him to just know his dad.” She gave a weak smile and turned her head to the roar of children eager to get home.

“Yeah, but at least Nash’s dad wasn’t a deadbeat. You can tell him good stories about you guys and he will have those memories to hold onto. Matt has his dad, but what kind of influence is he?” Sarah let out a defeated breath.

“I can’t believe that it still hurts so much to talk about him. All of those memories that we had in the two years we were together. How am I going to tell Nash those memories without getting choked up?” She looked down at the ground.

“I would start from the beginning. Give him a little bit at a time and if you start to get too emotional just end the story. You can always continue later when you have had time to regain composure.” Sarah patted her back and stood to watch the flood of children.

“Maybe you are right. I think that he is mature enough to handle the truth of what happened. I can’t keep those memories to myself forever, which would be selfish.” She nodded her head and smiled when she heard a familiar little voice.

“Momma!” Nash called out from behind a large child walking in front of him. He tried to jump to see over but was unsuccessful. Kayleigh giggled as she saw the top of his head poking out as he leaped.

“I’m right here Nash.” She walked around the group and knelt down to his level. She looked into his dark brown eyes; he was starting to look so much like his father. “How was your day baby?” She kissed him on the cheek and as quickly as he could he wiped the spot on his face and pushed her away. Kay just laughed and walked outside with her son.

They lived in a small town in Southern Georgia. Kayleigh lived on a big farm with her mother, father and her son. She worked at the food stand they owned right off the highway selling peaches, mostly, and local farm fresh produce. She moved back in with her parents shortly after she discovered that she was pregnant with Nash. She had just turned eighteen and was pregnant, alone and depressed. Her parents welcomed her and the baby home and they have been that way since.

Kayleigh was a shorter woman with long, wavy, dark brown hair, and light green eyes. She had graduated with a 4.0GPA and was valedictorian of her class. Although she eventually made it through college a little at a time, it did take a lot longer while taking care of a child. Her son, Nash, had dark brown hair like his mother and dark brown eyes like his father. He was very smart and very active, and very charismatic. Making friends with everyone easily.

After Kayleigh and Nash got home from school she helped him with his homework and then it was time to relieve Grandma Claude from the produce stand. She and Nash got into the side-by-side and drove down the dirt road to the highway crossing where the small building stood.

The food stand was like a small market, the building itself had air conditioning and kept the more sensitive produce inside along with other local made products like muffins, bread, jams, jellies, and honey. Outside the building was surrounded by a large, covered roof to keep weather off of various shelves of more produce. All of their food was locally grown from their farm or their neighbors’ farms.

They also would host a farmers’ market once a week to help local crafters and smaller farmers as well. It was well advertised, and it would bring in about a hundred more vendors from around the area to set up on the property.

“Mama,” Nash sprung off the ATV and ran to his grandmother. She grabbed him in a hug and twirled him around, making him giggle.

“How are sales today Ma?” Kay walked up behind the two laughing.

“They were fine, it will get better once the schools let out for the summer and people head south for vacations.” She smiled and walked Nash over to get a snack.

Kay sat down at the desk and punched down some numbers. The business had not been doing as well as it used to. The prices gap between store bought and farm fresh was starting to get bigger and lowering prices was not an option. It almost cost more to produce the goods than they made. Soon she would have to take up another job to help support her family.

After the sun started to set in the sky, she and Nash packed up the store and headed back to the house. A quick dinner and fast bath later she was tucking him into bed.

“Momma, I don’t want to go to school tomorrow.” Nash said as he laid his head onto his pillow.

“Why is that sweetheart, you love school.” She sat next to him on the bed, concern etched in her eyes.

“Tomorrow is bring-your-daddy to school day; I don’t like it when people ask me about my daddy.” He sat up and hugged her tightly.

“I know. Listen; you don’t have to go to school tomorrow. I will call in the morning and explain why you won’t be in.” suddenly remembering what Sarah had told her about telling him stories about his father. “Nash, would you like to know a little about your daddy?” She rubbed his back gently.

“Yes, please.” He smiled slightly and cuddled into his pillow.

“Well it all started when I was a junior in high school….”

September, Eleven years ago

“Kayleigh, I want you to be partnered with Trent.” The teacher said. Kayleigh shot a look across the room at the known troublemaker. He tipped his head and gave her a sly smile. She rolled her eyes and waited for the bell to ring. She watched as the classroom cleared before she approached the teacher.

“Mr. Miller, please give me a different partner. I feel like I won’t be able to live up to my potential with Trent, he is such a slacker.” Kay pleaded like her life depended on it.

“Ms. Brenner, I am not switching you. I made this match in hopes that your good work ethic will rub off on Mr. Young. Now go along to your next class.” He gently coaxed her out the door.

Kayleigh started to stomp off but was faced with a snarky Trenton Young waiting next to her locker.

“Look, I know you don’t want me as a partner, it’s obvious.” He shrugged his shoulders. “So how about you do all the work, and I won’t bug you.” He winked at her and started walking away.

“Ugh!” She slightly pounded her head against her locker as he left. Then she suddenly worked up the courage and ran after him.

“Trent!” She called down the hall. “You can come by my house tonight to work on that project.” She grinned, as his expression fell and he started back towards her.

“Why?” He scowled.

“Because, because I am not letting you take credit if you do not help. So either you come by my house tonight, or I will tell Mr. Miller that you had no part in the project at all.” She firmly placed her hands on her hips and grounded her feet. She will not let this ‘out of control’ teenager mess with her and her perfect grades.

“Fine,” He put his hands in the air in defeat. “I just don’t know why you have to start it now. It’s not due until the end of the year.” He walked away grumbling.

Kayleigh walked away smiling as if she had just conquered a stubborn video game. She was being made to partner with the least motivated teen in her class; she was not going to let him bully her.

Present day

“Are you saying that you and my daddy didn’t get along?” Nash interrupted her story.

“Not at first, in fact we hated each other with a passion. See your daddy and I had been in the same classes in the same school since we were your age. He was always the troublemaker and I was always the teacher’s pet and smarty pants. So we butted heads …a lot.” She smiled and kissed him on the head. “Ok, that’s enough stories for one night. I will tell you more tomorrow.” She tucked him in and shut off the lights, blowing him a kiss goodnight as she left the room.

“Kayleigh,” She heard her father call from the dining room.

“Hey, I’m not sure if we should go to the space center now. The market hasn’t been doing very well and it’s an unnecessary expense.” She said as she sat at the table with her parents and laid her head down.

“Darling you have been working so hard these past few years. Working here on the farm and taking those college classes while Nash is in school. You and him need some quality time together for a bit. Don’t worry about the money.” Her mother reached across the table and gave Kayleigh a gentle squeeze.

“The farm is struggling. We are losing money on the stand now. I just don’t think that the vacation is a good idea right now.” She looked at them concerned that they didn’t seem worried.

“Kay, we got an offer on the farm. It is quite substantial and we are going to take it.” Her father said bluntly.

“When did this happen?” She shot a look at her parents.

“Couple days ago, we wanted to wait to accept the offer until we knew where you and Nash would end up, and then you got this letter in the mail today.” Her mother handed her an envelope from the space center.

“Oh my God, did I get it?” She sat up in her chair with her heart racing rapidly.

“Congratulations Kayleigh. You got the internship at the space center!” Her mother hugged her daughter as Kay looked at the letter.

Kayleigh had finished her bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering. She had applied to the space center through Pathways for an internship on a long shot. She never guessed that she would actually get it.

“Wow, I can’t believe this.” She sat down and smiled at the letter, her future in the palm of her hands. Pathways was a program that NASA works with to find candidates out of college for paid internships for five years with the guarantee of a job upon completion.

“And so, we decided to sell the farm so you can pursue this. With the money we get from the sale we will have more than enough to buy a nice house for the four of us near Cape Canaveral. Take Nash down there this weekend and get a feel for things. Maybe tour some schools for him and get ahold of a real estate agent. We are moving to Florida.” Kay’s father said as he started walking towards the bedroom with her mother.

Kayleigh sat in the living room for a long moment just looking at the letter. Suddenly her heart lurched and she remembered her first time seeing the space center. They were launching a shuttle and Trent took her.

July, Nine years ago

Kayleigh and Trent were fresh out of high school. They wanted to travel a little before college started up in the fall. They got all of their savings together and pooled it in for a road trip. They took a tent and some supplies and made their way south. Cape Canaveral was the first stop along their trip around the coast.

“Trent, can you please take this off. You know I don’t like surprises.” She giggled as he led her to the lookout.

“We are here.” He untied her blindfold and watched as she realized where they were.

Kayleigh was a big space science buff and loved anything to do with the mysteries beyond the earth’s atmosphere. He knew this would be the perfect setting for what he had planned. They sat in a couple of lawn chairs on the lookout bridge and watched as the shuttle was surrounded in a cloud of smoke and the loud rumble of takeoff.

“This is wonderful Trent, wouldn’t it be amazing to work with NASA and be a part of something so big, to be able to see this all the time.” She smiled ear to ear as she watched the shuttle disappear into the sky with a trail of smoke cloud behind it. She turned around to hug Trent; he was down on one knee in front of her holding a small black galaxy decorated velveteen box.

“Kayleigh Brenner, I know we are young. I cannot imagine spending any amount of time with you and getting bored. You are an amazing woman and I love you more than the stars in the sky and the grass on the ground. You are… my everything. Will you marry me?” He opened the box to reveal a small diamond setting in white gold band.

“Yes, yes I will marry you Trent.” She could hardly contain her excitement as he slid the ring on her hand. She threw her arms around him and he twirled her around as they kissed.

Present

Bringing herself back to reality, she suddenly realized how much pain and emotions were going to be flooding back to her when they go south. Mustering up the strength from the painful memories, she headed to bed. Tomorrow was a step towards her new life. The life she had dreamed of on that day of the shuttle launch. She would finally be getting that dream, but without the love of her life, without Trent.