Page 22 of Batty About You
“It’s a short ride, anyway.”
I put the car in drive and we weave through all the parked cars in the gravel parking area, then zoom along the dark road to her apartment.
With a cough, I return to our topic, hoping I can time this just right, while also wondering if I should wait and do this much later.
“You’re grunting. Am I squishing your wing?” Kelly asks in alarm, leaning forward.
“No! I’m fine. I was just... I was just thinking about how I could talk to you forever. How I could do the boring everyday things in life with you. How we have done that for seven years, but it always feels amazing. Like an adventure and being safe at home at the same time.”
Kelly bounces in her seat as we zip along the dark road. “That’s exactly it! A safe, happy, ordinary adventure. Only when I’m talking to you or writing to you, everything feels special and important.”
“I think that’s how it is when you’re in love, and I think that’s a sign that this love is the right one.” A few other cars are ahead of us, also leaving the party. I’ve got the window open out ofnecessity, and I hear faint, distant howls that send shivers up my spine, and every now and then, I think something dark and shadowy moves along the tree line.
I’m so happy to get to Kelly’s apartment, a beacon of her light in red, boxy brick.
Kelly’s home. Maybe one day it could be ours? “Stay there. Let me get your door, my lady,” I say as gallantly as possible while trying not to combust with nerves and excitement.
“Such a gentleman,” Kelly feigns surprise and puts a hand to her chest, fluttering her fingers over the delectable line of her cleavage.
Don’t be a horny idiot, don’t be a horny idiot.
I’m not horny, I’m just admiring.
Okay, I’m hornyandI’m admiring the woman I love. Be smooth. Be suave.
“My wallet is in the glove compartment.” I point to the little flap above her knees as I open the door. “Would you mind getting it for me?”
I have to time it just right.
“Sure.”
Her head turns, her hands reach for the small gray handle that blends into the compartment door, and as she pulls it open, I drop to one knee.
Kelly gasps when she sees the small red velvet box, sitting in a halo of light from the tiny bulb inside the glove compartment. “Boggie...” she whispers, hands to her cheeks.
I reach past her arms and gently retrieve it. Maybe one day I’ll be a rich doctor with a big house and a big car, a man who can afford a big ring. But that will be years from now.
Years without Kelly as my wife. I don’t want that. On bended knee, I open the box to reveal a three-hundred-dollar special, a third of a karat in a white gold band. “I know I’m not worthy of you—”
“Stop there. You can’t propose if this is about how I’m better than you,” she says firmly, wiping her eyes as happy (I hope they’re happy) tears suddenly spill over. “You can only ask if you talk about why I should marry you, not why I shouldn’t.”
She’s so smart. “You should marry me, please, because I’m so in love with you. Because I’ll always work hard to make you happy. Because I’ll play duets with you, and raise a family with you, and maybe we’ll always be broke, but we both know that when you have the right person, you don’t have to have much to be happy. Please marry me because I love you, and I’ll never, ever keep another secret from you, I’ll always protect you.... And I want to have a big, happy family with you, full of little violinists and oboists. And maybe some cellists and trumpeters for good measure.” I ramble myself to a stop and realize that I’m panting. I never, ever intended to propose in this beastly form. I wouldn’t blame Kelly for saying she needs time to think about it or that she wants me to wait until tomorrow and ask again.
But nope. She thrusts her left hand out, fingers waggling. “Yes! The answer is yes!” She breaks into a clamor of excited Spanish and English, and I think I even hear one of the two or three Romanian words I’ve taught her as well. Before I can even work the ring all the way onto her finger, she’s pulling me in for a bouquet of excited, giggling kisses.
It’s just before midnight, and the woman I love has agreed to be my bride, even though I’m a monster and I ruined our first date.
Take that, Family Curse.
“Let’s go inside, Boggie,” Kelly whispers.
A new day starts, and it’s going to be the best one ever.
