Love's Suicide(143)

“Is it a car? Did you buy me a new car?”

He spun me around, so I had no idea what direction we were facing. Then we began walking again. Abruptly we stopped and I felt him loosening the blindfold. I was standing in front of a door, but it wasn’t their door. I recognized it immediately and turned to look into the eyes of Brooks.

He smiled and opened it for me to walk in. I looked back to see the family standing there waiting for my response.

The house was empty, but it was exactly how I remembered it. The previous owners hadn’t changed anything.

Beautiful memories of my parents came flashing back, especially when he took me into the kitchen and up the stairs. “Where are we going? Did you ask the realtor if you could see this place? I don’t understand.”

He kept pulling me along. “We’re almost there. Keep walking.”

We got to what used to be my bedroom. The door was closed and he turned to face me and smiled before opening it.

This room was different. Butterflies were painted on all of the walls and in wooden block letters the name Brooklyn was spelled out. It was full of furniture, including a beautiful fluffy rug that matched the walls and a princess bed that any little girl would love to have. He put his arms on my shoulders.

“Kat, my job is here and so is our family. You don’t have to run anymore, so I thought if it’s okay with you, our daughter could grow up in the house that your parents built to raise you in. We can take old memories and make new ones with our own children. I know I took a huge leap, but I know you and I-”

I didn’t let him finish talking. His gift was better than any ring or proposal. My lips were on his and I was overwhelmed by so many emotions.

He finally pulled away and looked right at me. “So, it’s okay that I already bought it?”

I nodded. “Yes, it’s very okay. It’s the most beautiful present, aside from B, of course.”

He shrugged and laughed. “Of course.”

I looked around the room and walked up to the pink four-poster canopy bed. “It’s beautiful.”

“This room was all Mom and Dad. They hired someone to come in and make it perfect. Do you think she’ll like it?”

“She won’t want to ever go home.” Then I realized that we now had two houses.”

He saw the realization on my face. “We can talk about it later.”

I shook my head. “No. We’ll sell it. I don’t even care how much I get for it. There’s not another house in the world that could mean what this one does to me. I don’t even know what to say right now.” I walked down the hall and he followed me, stopping when I was in the middle of what used to be my parent’s room. It was so empty, but I could see what everyone else couldn’t. I could see their bed and my mom in her nightgown, with a book in her hand. I could see my dad with the stubble on his face, teasing her until she looked at him. I closed my eyes and pictured a miniature version of myself climbing in between them and feeling like I was in the safest place on earth.

Brooks wrapped his arms around me and tucked his head inside of my neck. “I think they’re happy we’re here, Kat. They’re watching us, you know. I think they always have been.” He spun me around so we were facing each other. “I never told anyone this, but there were so many times that I could have died, that I should have died. I swear someone was keeping me safe while I was out there. Now I know for sure that it was them. I think they brought us back together.”

His words were beautiful and I knew he meant them. I wrapped my arms around him and pressed our lips together. As we pulled away I was smiling and crying all at the same time. “Thank you for waiting your whole life for me.”

He wiped my tears with his thumbs. “Maybe in our next life you won’t make me wait so long,” he teased.

“Let’s enjoy this one first.”

The room filled with people, even a little girl in a wrinkled dress. As I turned to look at them, Brooks dropped down to his knee. “There’s just one more thing, Kat.” He held a velvet box in his hand and opened it.

There it was.

My mother’s engagement ring from my father. I put my hands over my face, unable to respond to everything he was offering me.

“I’d very much like it if you had my name. What do you say, Kat? You think you might want to be my wife?”

I dropped to my knees and let him put the ring on my finger. The perfect fit only reminded me how it was always meant to be mine. I placed small kisses over his face, tasting the tears that were now falling down his cheeks. “Yes,” I whispered. “Of course.”

B came up and wanted to be in on our hug, as well as the rest of the family that stood there silently, waiting for us to have our private moment together. It was so beautiful and Brooks had been right. They’d been with us all along, watching us making mistakes and finally finding our way back into each other’s arms.