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The service for Coop was one of the s I had ever experienced All of the boys wore their Dress Blues, and they looked breathtaking I wasn’t even shocked to see Asher sitting front and center in a uniforuys took their seats next to Asher, and all five of Coop’s ‘brothers’ sat stoically They didn’t flinch when the rifles went off, not a twitch in their faces when the bugle started playing, and when Asher was presented with the flag that had been draped over Coop’s casket, they each kept their faces forward and eyes on Coop

They didn’t ravesite It wasn’t until Izzy grabbed raveyard that I watched those strong men crack a little

I hadn’t seen Sway since that day I knew that he had watched the kids for Izzy and Melissa when they came to the hospital, and that he closed the salon for the last two days out of respect for Coop

Watching Salk across the grass, weaving to avoid stepping on any arb, and in its place is a perfectly tailored black suit His tradeone, and his normal hair which I have never seen before is buzzed close to his scalp There is nothing about this version of Sway that I have ever seen before

He did this for Coop

I knoaited for the service to end and the crowd to clear before he paid his respects Melissa reaches over and takesto see what happens next Fro out All five of the le mason jar on top It has a beautiful red, white, and blue ribbon tied around the top, and when my eyes take in the contents, a sob bubbles out before I can stop it He presses his hand against the wood next to the gold, glitter filled jar and dips his head He takes a few minutes before he pats the top twice and stands back

At this point, all of us are sobbing uncontrollably, but what isto me is that all five of the men across the way have finally cracked Obviously, Coop had filled his brother in at solitter prank because even his eyes are shining despite the s, proudas they look at Sith small smiles

Sway dips his head before he walks back off in the direction he came His shoulders are bent and his soft cries trail behind him He le dry eye left as we all take in the beautiful glass jar full of the si of happiness

Chapter 29

It’s been teeks since we said goodbye to Coop Sos are slowly starting to pick back up to noruest roos are a bit aard She hasn’t told anyone other than me about the baby, and I respect her wishes that I keep it to ood about it Asher should know that there is a part of his brother that will live on, and for better or worse, Chelcie needs to let him in her life so that her child will know a part of their father

Beck has been to speak with Dr Maxwell three ti We’ve spent al I feel closer to him than I ever have before He’s been here for me when I wake up in a cold shen the events of that day play out in s that I hen those darkoff into space, and I know those are the ti about Coop

No one really kno to coether, there’s always thatfor Coop to coh with so that we could just see his blue eyes twinkling with humor one more time

Grief is such a bastard

Asher’s decided to stick around for a while I know he’s taking his brother’s death the hardest out of all of us There have been a few nights when he’s come home, drunk out of his ony echoing through the walls is overwhel’s for sure, he’s not healing, and at this point, I’ Chelcie intothat Coop’s death has driven home is that tomorrow is never promised, and there should never be an excuse to not live your life to the fullest No regrets and no fear of the unknown So today, Chelcie will start a new chapter of her life in Georgia, and I will start mine with the man I love

"Are you sure you don’t want to stay another night, Chelc? You know you’re alelcome here"

She smiles weakly but continues to pack up the last of her clothes She doesn’t have ht down, and a box of things that she didn’t want to leave behind

"No, I need to be alone right now I need to figure out where I go from here"