Loving Catalina was the easiest thing Eddie Diaz ever had to do. Almost losing her in a car accident became the immediate worst.
Catalina loved her husband and son more than anything else in the world. They were all she had left.
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Eddie shook his h...
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Mornings at the Diaz household were calm, for the most part.
Catalina loved mornings. The idea of waking up with the sun and hearing the birds chirp outside was delightful to her. Her husband, Eddie, on the other hand always had more trouble getting out of bed.
Some mornings she was tempted enough to cause a small fire if it meant getting him out of bed.
Thankfully, their son, Christopher, is a bit more like his mother and likes mornings.
Eddie stretched out after turning off his alarm clock. He glanced to the side, his eyes catching the wedding picture he had framed on his bedside table.
With one final look at it, he stood up and walked over to Christopher's room to wake him up. "Good morning, little man," Eddie said with a smile as he knocked on the door.
Today felt like one of those off days. One of those days when they didn't feel Catalina around the house. Eddie hoped that maybe he'll feel it while on the job like he usually did.
He likes to think that her presence follows them around. It kept him sane most of the time.
Whenever one of these off days comes around, he has to stop himself from calling the hospital and checking up on her. That, coupled with the rational fear of getting a phone call from the hospital saying she's passed.
Eddie shook his head to rid his mind of those thoughts before continuing to put his clothes on for work.
Soon after, he went back to his son's room to check that he had finished dressing. Christopher struggled with his socks for a second, making Eddie flinch forward in an attempt to help but stopped himself once he realized that Christopher could do it on his own.
He was always going to need his father's help.
They sat at the table, enjoying their cereal when Christopher popped the same question he asked every morning.
"Dad, can I stay with mom today?" Eddie sighed. "Not today. Today you're staying with abuela but maybe after work, we can stop by like we usually do." Christopher tried to argue but Eddie held his ground.
If Christopher had it his way, he'd spend all day and every day with his mother.
Eddie dropped him off at his abuela's place before getting back into his truck to head back to work. As soon as he closed the door, he felt a sudden calmness come over him.
"Hey, Cata." He said with a small smile on his face as he started the car to get to the firehouse before another call came in.
"Hey, Eddie. You gotta stop worrying about me so much. You know I'm not going anywhere yet." She told him as she grabbed his free hand, squeezing it to let him know she was there.
Most people would think he's crazy for believing his wife followed him around as some sort of ghost—especially considering he didn't even believe in ghosts—but there was only one person he knew that would believe him.
