Cultivate

2Above the Hole

When Alex walked through the front door, he could feel the excitement. There was a row of matching luggage lined up at the front door, and he could hear 70s pop music blasting from the kitchen. This was a good sign. When Christy was channeling her inner teenager, it meant she was feeling happy, excited, productive, and focused. He hugged her from behind and gave her a quick kiss as she dried the last dish and put it away, never missing a beat from her favorite pop song. Alex was just as invested and alert at home with his home people as he was with his work people.

“What can I do to help?” he asked Christy (the CEO of the home) as he moved out of her way.

“Maybe check on how the boys are doing in the van? And clear out the refrigerator so our food doesn't go bad when we're gone? I'm almost done in the kitchen,” Christy said, drying her hands on her apron.

He loved the way she looked when she was excited about something. It was the same way she looked when they went to prom together in high school and when he surprised her with a romantic proposal a few years later. And when she graduated from college, got her dream job, and saw two blue lines on that pregnancy test. And now, as she prepared her family for a well‐deserved trip to sunny Florida. He made a mental note to tell her how beautiful she looked when she was happy.

Alex followed the sound of bickering to ...