Page 36 of Fixing Emilee

“Because when I picture my life with anyone else, my heart feels like someone is ripping it in half, all the air gets stolen from my lungs, a huge weight settles in my stomach, and my world feels like all the light has been turned off. From the first time I met your sister’s eyes, I felt deep in my soul that she was meant to be in my life and would become my life, and she has. She makes the colors that make up this world brighter. When I’m with her, everything is a million times better. She’s my whole world; without her, that world ceases to exist.”

“But why do you want to get married so young? Why not wait until you are older? Afraid your feelings will change?” he challenges me, making my anger appear, but I remind myself these are valid questions. Questions I expected, and I have the answers to.

I scoot over to the seat beside me so he can sit down. “No, my feelings will never change, that I can one hundred million percent promise you. And before you ask, I have no way to prove that to anyone, but I know what I feel. As for why I don’t want to wait, it’s simple. I have found the other half of my soul, the one person I was put on this earth to find, so why should we wait anymore? Getting married does nothing besides change her last name and maybe something with taxes.” Everyone smiles at my joke, and my body calms down just a fraction as the tension lessens in the room.

“Adam, Mr. and Mrs. Hill, with everything we have been through, we have learned that life is fragile and can be taken from us in a blink of an eye. I don’t want to waste any more time when it comes to making sure my butterfly is mine forever. I want her to be my wife, but more than anything, I want to hear her call me her husband. I want to know that out of everyone in this world, she has decided I’m good enough to be with someone like her. I want to know that I belong to her for the rest of my life, and I’m ready to start that forever right now. At eighteen, we can make any adult decision the same ones someone at thirty can. I can sign up for war and vote on the future of this world right now. If I’m mature enough for all that, why can’t I be mature enough to know what true love feels like?” My gaze falls to the table because of the tears in my eyes, but I pull it back up, looking at each one so they see how I’m feeling.

“I assume Emilee has told you how young we were when we got married?” her dad speaks up for the first time.

“Yes, sir.”

“So you know that I, at one point, was sitting in the same position you were in? I had to prove to a father that I was mature enough to marry his daughter. Now, society back then was way different from now.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well, son, my speech was nothing compared to yours. I just said, because I love her.” He chuckles. “I feel your love and admiration for my daughter the more you talk about her. I can see how nervous you are but take a breath.” He reaches over, taking Mrs. Hill’s hand and looking at her. Words flow through them without them saying anything out loud. A groan comes from Adam.

“Oh, man. My little sister is going to get married before me,” he whispers.

“What do you mean? They haven’t said anything.” All my muscles freeze up because all I want to hear is they give me their blessings. I want my forever to start as soon as possible.

“Because I have seen you and Emilee do that,” he says, pointing at his parents, who are now watching him with a knowing look. “You and Emilee can talk to each other with just one look, and if I see it, so do they. You look at her like my dad looks at Mom, and we all would be dumbasses to tell you no. Emilee has never been this happy before, and it’s all because your ass sat down next to her. You sit here and give us credit for helping her, but it was you that reached into the dark pit to grab her hand, pulling her to safety. She started to break her cocoon, as you call it, because she wanted to be better for you. She wanted to be someone to no one but you.”

“She never needed to be better for me. I loved her broken and will love her just as much fixed.”

“You know you and Carly share the same look you spoke about. You just have to stop worrying about being perfect for her and ask that girl. Maybe we could arrange a double ceremony,” Mrs. Hill tells him, taking his hand in hers.

“Wait, what? Double ceremony? Does that mean…” I can’t finish my sentence. Everything slows down around me as the meaning of the words Adam and Mrs. Hill just said sinks into my brain.

“Yes, Parker. I would be honored for you to marry my daughter, but only after both of you graduate from high school. Can you wait what, three weeks and four days?”

“Twenty-five days? That’s nothing. I have been waiting my whole life to find her. Of course, I can wait three weeks and four days,” I say with the biggest smile. Hearing that her parents want me to be a part of their family heals the little hurt child created by the fact that my parents didn’t want me in their life.

After a round of hugs and more tears, we settle again at the table, but there is no tension in the room anymore.

“Have you thought about a ring?” my soon to be mother-in-law asks.

“Actually, I have. I want to get Em the ring of her dreams. She is a simple girl who wouldn’t want anything too flashy that draws attention to her. She has told me she likes the look of silver or white- gold jewelry, not plain yellow gold. So I was thinking something like this.” I pull out my phone, pulling up the site to a small jewelry shop Zak helped me find in Cape.

Turning the phone so everyone can see the screen, I show them the ring I have spent hours looking at and customizing for her. It’s a 3-Stone-Cushion Cut. It has a cushion-cut peridot stone with diamonds on the side, set in a white-gold band. I’ve been discreetly asking Emilee how she feels about the color of different stones, wanting to get it right. She said she liked her birthstone but didn’t love it. She said she liked the green one since green is her favorite color, but she “couldn’t remember what month that was for.” I didn’t believe her for one second. Green is her favorite color, but it doesn’t surprise me that it’s August’s birthstone. Which just happens to be when my birthday is.

“That’s beautiful, Parker. I think she will love it.”

“Nice job, son. It fits her perfectly.”

“Can you afford it?”

I roll my eyes at Adam’s question because money is all this boy talks about. Not in the way that he brags about money, but he is always worried about it. “Yes. I saved money from past birthdays, and some individuals around town have had me fix their vehicles. Plus, if I didn’t, I’d sell my bike hell, I’d sell everything I own to afford it for her. She deserves something she will love because she will be wearing it the rest of her life.” My gaze drops to the table because there is something that I’m keeping a secret from them.

Her dad, being the inquisitive person he is, senses my secret. Leaning back, he crosses his arms, fixes me with the typical dad stare that says he knows something is up, and asks, “What is it?”

“I might have already purchased it.” Looking at the watch on my wrist, I see that if I’m going to be on time, I need to leave now. “Actually, I’m sorry, but I have to get going because I have to drive all the way to Cape to get it, and then get back here in time to get ready for tonight.” Standing up, I grab my phone, putting it in my pocket. Adam stands to let me out but stops me as I pass him.

“Mind if I ride?” he asks with a serious look on his face.

“Sure.”

“No,” Mr. Hill says, standing up. We both turn to look at him. I start to worry that the idea of me buying a ring has made him change his mind already, but the smile on his face tells me I don’t need to worry. He tosses something toward Adam. The sound of keys jingling fills the air. “You can drive. Let’s go, boys. We got work to do.” Leaning down, he kisses Mrs. Hill, grabs his cowboy hat, and leaves us standing here with surprised looks on our faces.

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