Lillie and Eli were set in stone. Trees were carved, forever etched with shaky hands and pocketknives. Eli had green eyes, and Lillie had brown. When Lillie was young enough to fit under coffee tables she dreamt of eyes. Hazel eyes. When Lillie was old enough to shop at Victoria's Secret she saw Eli's green gems with her own brown shining through to create unimaginable depths of color. Eli only ever had a crush on Julie Caldwell, and she moved to Ottawa. He realized how much he was using Julie to fill the void of love he had in his life when he didn't miss her, and instead wondered why anybody would move from Chicago to Ottawa. Lillie was in the park one unusually warm autumn day sitting on a red plaid blanket with pad Thai in a Ziploc container to finish her American Lit homework with fresher air than that stuck in the walls of her home when Eli spotted her. He wandered over slowly, a smile on his lips. Lillie was humming Bohemian Rhapsody, he realized, and decided to sing along.
"Thunderbolts and lightning, very, very fright-en-ing!" He concluded with a grin and looked for the fascinating girl's reaction. She laughed. He did too. She noticed the retainer on his upper teeth. He saw the way her hair curled differently by her right eye than her left shoulder. Sparks flew. Dogs barked. The whole world collapsed in a fiery inferno of true, inflammatorily passionate love.
"I'm Eli."
"Lillie. With an i-e."
"May I join you? I have some piling Trig homework and a poppyseed muffin."
"Poppyseed?" Lillie smiles.
"Did you know it's like a drug? You can get addicted to it." Lillie ponders.
"Like love?" Eli blushes.
"Like love."

3 years, 4 months later. It's New Year's Eve, and these two love struck idiots are huddled together under a barren, snow-covered tree waiting for the year to change. Eli gets a call from a friend informing him there's one minute left, according to loud TV on in the background. Lillie starts counting down from fifty-nine. Forty-five. Thirty-seven. Twenty-three. Sixteen. Nine. Eli takes the box out of his pocket. Lillie closes her eyes. Four. Their breath intermingles in the December air. Two. One. Lillie feels Eli's hot breath on her tongue and the tingle of something cool on her finger. Somewhere in the distance, joyous screams and laughter can be heard. Lillie's head spins as she opens her eyes and sees Eli on one knee. Goosebumps ensue.
"Lillie. Marry me."

Seven months later, Lillie and Eli are exchanging vows. They say to each other,
"You are my poppyseed."

Nine months later, Noella is born.
And she has hazel eyes.