Shit, this is harder than I thought.
“I’m listening,” Olivia says smiling at me encouragingly.
Without preamble, I take the wine glass from her hand and drop down to one knee in front of her. Once it’s situated on the coffee table, I grasp her hand in mine and watch her eyes fill with tears before I even say a word.
“Olivia, I love you so much. I suspect I did in high school too, but I just didn’t know the words for it at the time. We never got our chance back then, but then you showed up unexpectedly and turned my world upside down.”
“Oh, God,” she whimpers faintly.
“I have never been happier than when I’m with you. You complete me like no one else can and I want to spend the rest of my life learning how to be a man worthy of your unconditional love. I loved you then and I always will, Olivia.”
Reaching into my pocket, I retrieve the ring box and snap it open.
Tears slide down her cheeks at the sight before her then she flings her arms around my neck and cries, “Yes! The answer is yes!”
Chuckling, I pull back slightly and tease her. “But I haven’t even asked you anything yet.”
She shakes her head as if it’s of no consequence. “You don’t have to because the answer is yes. Yes, I’ll spend the rest of my life with you and only you.”
OLIVIA DOWNS
Ten Years Later
Small hands are splayed across my face when I wake up.
Peeking one eye open, I notice my oldest child staring at me anxiously from the side of the bed.
How she got in here is anybody’s guess. That is until I notice that Sebastian’s side of the bed is empty and cool.
Unbelievably exhausted from last night’s extracurricular activities with Sebastian, I grab my daughter and pull her onto the bed with me. Squealing from the unexpected action, she rewards me with one of my favorite sounds in the world: her laughter.
“What are you doing awake at this hour, Ava?”
Her blue eyes are the perfect replica of her father’s when she looks at me with a jovial smile.
“I couldn’t wait to surprise you, Mommy!”
“Oh yeah?”
My five-year-old daughter nods furiously, sending her strawberry blonde locks all over the place.
“What’s the surprise?” I play along, reaching up to restore some normalcy to her headful of hair.
“I can’t tell you! Daddy says it’s a secret!” she says, squirming from the contained excitement and I can’t help but laugh.
She reminds me so much of myself in that regard.
“And where’s Daddy?” I ask with wide eyes, feeding her excitement.
“Downstairs,” she whispers conspiratorially.
“What’s he doing downstairs?”
Ava looks at me, contemplating whether I’m worth spoiling the secret.
I can tell the exact moment she decides that I’m not.
She’s such a daddy’s girl.
Her loyalty will probably never waver. Not that I blame the poor girl. Sebastian can be pretty convincing.
“He’s busy,” she says evasively, making me laugh.
“And your brother? Where’s he?”
“Downstairs with Daddy. We’re waiting on you!” she exclaims.
Feigning surprise, I cover my chest with one hand. “Me?”
“Yes, Mommy!”
“Why didn’t you say so earlier?” I ask teasingly before tickling her.
Her squirming only intensifies and I’m rewarded with the joyful ripples of her laughter.
“I love you, baby girl,” I tell her as I cradle her in my arms.
She may not be an infant anymore but she’ll always be my baby.
“Love you too, Mommy,” comes her distracted but automatic response. “Can we go downstairs now?”
Snickering, I release her and let her down from the bed. “Tell them I’m coming, I just need to use the little girls’ room first.”
“‘Kay!” she shouts before dashing out of the door like a bolt of lightning.
What I wouldn’t give just to have an ounce of her boundless energy right now. Tired doesn’t begin to cover it, but thankfully I have the next three days off to recover from the brutal hours I’d been putting in at the nursing home.
As the director of nursing, there is never a dull day that passes. Add that to the fact that my house is practically a circus with two kids and my husband roaming around. Needless to say, I stay pretty busy.
Getting out of bed, I walk to the bathroom slowly, amazed that my body still gets sore from the various positions my husband twists and turns me in during our lovemaking.
Every time I think I’ve discovered every possible muscle, I wake up the next morning sore in places that I didn’t know existed.
A good problem to have if you ask me.