My dads met in pretty much the most explosive way imaginable. According to them (and the numerous articles that were written about them) neither of them had ever planed to take their gloves off. Cedric (pops) and his wife had committed to a lifetime covering their skin to stay together. Lots of couples do this. They choose each other, and never touch a stranger to keep it that way.

Aaron (dad) always said that he honestly thought the world was overreacting about the whole "soulmate junk" and had committed to the life of a Perpetual Bachelor. He wasn't strict about gloves, but he never put much real thought into it. There was no risk in something that didn't exist, but socially, not being covered made people nervous.

One day, Pops and his wife of three years picked up his in-laws from the airport. Three miles from their home, the car directly ahead of them lost control. The driver later said that there was a plastic bag on the road, and read somewhere that it could be abandoned puppies or a baby or something. To avoid having dead puppies on his head, he swerved across traffic, sending pops into a tailspin. The other driver was fine, but pop's car ended up slamming into another car and landing on its head.

Dad was there too, just a few cars behind them. He had to slam on his brakes and watched as the little red car flipped over. As a trainee paramedic, he rushed out of his car and raced to help. He saw pop's wife in the passenger seat, unconscious. with his training ringing in his ear, he checked her pulse. He decided to start with her and pulled her out of the car through the window.

He says now that he could smell gas, but pops rolls his eyes whenever he says it. "It never caught fire, it would have caught fire if you really smelled gas" and pops says "You know it doesn't work like that!

Pops even think about the risk of skin to skin contact, but when Dad saw him brush her skin with his ungloved hand he went ballistic. I used to scowl at this, but I think I understand now. They had chosen their lifestyle very carefully, and maintained it for years, knowing they weren't soulmates. they'd built a life together, and a single touch could ruin everything!

Dad scrambled out of the car, fuming about the possibility of losing everything he built with his wife. In a fit of rage, he punched pops Square in the jaw, Neither of them noticed the tear in his glove over the knuckle.

The absolute millisecond the skin of his hands touched the skin of Pops face, both of their worlds shifted, and centered around one another. They both knew it before they even locked eyes. Pops didn't even try to swing back at him, just looked up at him and took a step toward him, overwhelmed with the way the man was all of a sudden everything.

Dad took a step away from him. He looked from his wife, who was now rubbing her head and watching the situation unfold, and to his new center of the universe. Pops touched the hand to his freshly busted lip and took a second stumbling, unsure step forward. Dad started to cry. Guilt, over hitting this man, over being so reckless, of being the reason his wife's hand fell from her head and landed on her mouth in shock. For this happening in front of his In-laws that had to wait for someone else to help them out of the car.

Love, for his wife, for this man. Sorrow, for knowing he was going to break his wife's heart... knowing this was going to be the worst day of her life. He was going to lose his life. She was going to lose her partner, and he was gaining one. The audacity.

He felt so foolish for thinking what he felt for her was love. He felt guilty for even thinking that.

He started to sob right there. Next to his totaled car, his concussed wife, his confused in-laws and his new soulmate. Pops took dad's hand and it only made dad cry even more. he'd never felt more comforted in his life, and he should have with his wife. When they hugged, his whole body relaxed until he looked to hid wife.

She, of all things, was smiling.

They left the scene hand in tentative hand, Each of them leaving everything they thought they were behind.

When they reported it, they had to bring all kinds of proof. They ended up doing a bunch of interviews, and to this day, you can find youtube videos of the first few weeks after they found each other. Fundraisers, articles, the whole shebang.

Now, Dad's ex-wife is my aunt, and she has four kids with her French soulmate Alexandre. She met him six weeks into her three-month sympathy vacation, funded by the public. My birth mother reached out to my dads and a year-and-a-half after they adopted my brother, they adopted me. Neither of them really wanted to have kids before, but when they found one another, everything seemed to fall into place for everyone.

My dads realize now, that the lives that they'd committed to was never going to work for them. In that case, neither did what they thought they wanted. I have six brothers and sisters now.

Sometimes I wish I'd had an explosive meet-cute as they did. But Lachlan and I have always been a simple couple in comparison. We don't need the fireworks and things, we just need each other, time difference be dammed.

Sure, we've never touched, but when we do, I know what the result is going to be. He's been a part of my soul since I was fifteen years old, and he will always be part of me. He's my soul mate.

We're in our early twenties now, and we'd planned to have been together years ago by now, but we're both in school, and it's become virtually impossible for one of us to fork up the amount of cash it takes... plus, to be honest, we're comfortable in our routine.

In our situation, you guys are our only chance to have the opportunity to make the wait worth it... so, please consider helping us make our first day together as amazing as my dads's story.

I look forward to hearing from you,

-Dove