July. Five.

The little boy ran up to Natalie as she swung lightly on the swing set. "Hi. I'm Jake. Who are you?" he asked. Natalie beamed at him; even at five, she had a smile that could light up the world. "I'm Natalie." she said, sweetly. Jake brandished a flower at her; it's stem was bent and sweaty, having been clutched in his hand for 10 minutes, as he got up the courage to approach her. The petals were crushed on one side, with missing petals. To Natalie, it was beautiful. She didn't have the words to express her gratitude, so she kissed his cheek. The little boy pressed one hand to his cheek in awe.

"I'm gonna marry you one day." he told her. She looked at him seriously. "Promise?" she asked, infatuated with this charming boy. He looked back at her just as seriously. "Pinky swear. You're mine now." he replied. She nodded, accepting this. From the bench, the two mother's gave little half smiles to each other, each thinking something along the same lines. "They're never gonna make it past kindergarten."

To Natalie and Jake, the entire dynamics of their relationship had changed.