Chapter 6: The Proposal
1282 Words
The snow started falling on a Tuesday.
Not the soft kind. The kind that came sideways and stuck to the windows and made the whole world look like it was holding its breath.
I was in the kitchen. Hope was on my hip. She was 3 months old and already had Damian’s stubborn chin.
Lily was at the counter doing homework. Leo was on the floor with his laptop, building something.
The house was loud. Normal. Ours.
Damian walked in at 5:15. He always came home at 5:15 now. No more late nights at the office.
He kissed Hope’s head first. Then me. Then he ruffled Leo’s hair and asked Lily about her test.
Rough day, I asked.
Board meeting, he said. Dropped his keys on the counter. They were fine.
He looked tired though. Dark circles. The kind he got when he was thinking too much.
Dinner was pasta. The twins talked over each other. Hope fussed and then fell asleep in Damian’s arms right in the middle of it.
After we put her down, Damian didn’t go to his office.
He came to me in the laundry room.
Can we talk, he said.
My stomach flipped. That was the tone. The serious tone.
Yes, I said.
He took my hand. Come to the study.
We sat on the couch by the fire. The snow was hitting the window.
Elena, he said.
Yes.
I’ve been thinking, he said. For a long time.
About what.
About us. About this house. About five years ago. About now.
I waited.
I don’t want to waste any more time, he said.
Damian.
I love you, he said. I’ve loved you since the first night you slept in Lily’s bed and I found you there in the morning. I loved you when you left. I loved you when you came back. And I don’t want to spend one more day pretending this is temporary.
My eyes filled up.
What are you saying, I whispered.
I’m saying I want to marry you, he said.
The words hung in the air.
Damian, I said. I’m twenty seven. You’re sixty seven. We have three kids. The whole world will talk.
Let them, he said. I don’t care. Do you?
I thought about it. About the stares at the grocery store. About the comments online. About my sister saying "are you sure".
No, I said. I don’t care.
Good, he said.
He got up. Went to his desk. Opened the drawer.
He came back with a small black box.
Elena Carter, he said. Will you marry me?
I started crying.
Yes, I said. Yes.
He slid the ring on my finger. It was simple. A diamond. But it was warm from his hand.
He kissed me. Soft. Like a promise.
When we pulled apart we were both shaking.
The twins, I said.
We’ll tell them tomorrow, he said.
But Lily heard us.
She was in the doorway.
Did Daddy just propose, she asked.
We both jumped.
Yes baby, Damian said.
Lily screamed. Then Leo was there.
Are you getting married, he asked.
Yes, I said.
Leo grinned. Does this mean we can have cake.
Damian laughed. Yes. We can have cake.
That night I couldn’t sleep. I kept looking at the ring.
At 2am Damian came to my room.
Can’t sleep either, he asked.
No, I said.
He lay next to me.
Are you sure, he asked quietly. About this. About me.
I turned to him.
I’ve never been more sure of anything, I said.
He kissed me. Long and slow.
Good, he said. Because I’m not letting you go again.
The next morning the house was chaos.
Lily called her friends. Leo told his coach. Mrs Delgado cried and made a cake.
We have to do this right, Damian said at breakfast. Big wedding. Family.
Damian, I said. We don’t need big.
I want big, he said. I want everyone to see you’re mine.
So we planned it.
Garden wedding. In June. When the roses bloomed.
The next two months were a blur.
Dress shopping with Lily. She picked something simple and white.
Tux fitting for Damian. He complained the whole time.
Invitations. Venue. Catering.
Hope was in every photo. Drooling on the invitations.
One night a month before the wedding, Damian took me out.
Just us.
Where are we going, I asked.
Dinner, he said.
He took me to the restaurant where we had our first date five years ago. Before everything went wrong.
Remember this place, he asked.
Yes, I said.
I was so scared then, he said. That you’d say no.
I almost did, I said.
Why didn’t you.
Because of the way you looked at Lily when she had a nightmare, he said. Because I knew you were good.
He reached across the table and took my hand.
I’m still scared, he said.
Of what.
Of messing this up. Of you waking up one day and realizing I’m old.
Damian, I said. Look at me.
He did.
I don’t see old, I said. I see the man who drove six hours to sit in a hospital with me. I see the man who learned to braid hair from YouTube. I see the man who chooses me every day.
He squeezed my hand.
I choose you too, he said.
The wedding day came.
June. Sun. Roses everywhere.
I was in the bridal suite with Lily and Mrs Delgado.
You look beautiful, Lily said.
Thank you baby, I said.
Are you nervous, Mrs Delgado asked.
No, I said. I’m ready.
The music started.
I walked down the aisle with Leo on one side and Lily on the other.
Damian was waiting. In a black suit. Gray hair. Tears in his eyes.
When I got to him he took my hands.
You’re here, he whispered.
I’m here, I whispered back.
The vows were short.
Damian went first.
Elena, he said. Five years ago I let you go because I thought it was right. I was wrong. You are my right. You are my home. You are my every day. I choose you. Today and all the days after.
I cried.
My turn.
Damian, I said. You taught me that love doesn’t have an age. That family isn’t about blood. That it’s okay to start again. I choose you. In the hard times and the good ones. Every day.
We said I do.
He kissed me.
The crowd cheered. The twins yelled. Hope slept through the whole thing.
The reception was in the garden.
Food. Music. Dancing.
Damian danced with me first. Then with Lily. Then with Hope in his arms.
At one point he pulled me aside.
Thank you, he said.
For what.
For saying yes. For coming back. For staying.
Always, I said.
That night we went to the cabin. Just us.
No kids. No phones.
We sat by the fire.
Mrs Carter, he said.
Mr Cole, I said.
He laughed.
I love you, he said.
I love you too, I said.
We talked until dawn. About the kids. About the future. About Hope’s first steps. About Lily going to college. About Leo’s dreams.
About us.
In the morning we walked to the lake.
Do you regret it, he asked. Any of it.
No, I said.
Even the hard parts.
Even those, I said. Because they got us here.
He pulled me close.
I choose you, he said. Every day.
I choose you too, I said.
The snow had melted. The flowers were blooming.
And for the first time in a long time, the house at the end of the drive didn’t feel like a place we were surviving in.
It felt like home.
Chapter 6 End
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