Page 153 of All the Forbidden Things
Slid across my skin
Warmed my body
Outside and in
Autumn sun
shine down on me
Warm me in those places
That bring me to my knees
I watch as Billie reads through each of the song sheets, her fingertips pressed to her lips, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Her eyes meet mine and she clears her throat. “That’s …” she shakes her head. “That’s the most beautiful present I’ve ever had. Thank you.”
She leans in and kisses me oh so softly on the mouth, her eyes dancing a path across my face.
“I love you,” I tell her. “Lift up the rest of the tissue, there’s more.”
She does as I tell her and pulls out the small velvet box. I watch her, trying to gauge her thoughts, but I get nothing, not until she opens it.
“I know we can’t do it yet, I know we’ve still got shit to get through, but when the time’s right, will you marry me, Bamm?”
She smiles and nods, and laughs and cries, all while kissing all over myface.
“But how, how did you get this?”
“I asked your brother’s permission, he told me about the ring, I went to the little jewelers in town and they fixed it all up, and added a few extra diamonds for me.” I watch as her eyes dart over my shoulder and she smiles.
“You going to put it on, or keep it in the box?” I question.
“Oh yeah, sorry. I want you to put it on for me.”
I watch as Billie pulls what was her mum’s engagment ring from the box. The cushion-cut ruby is surrounded by diamonds, and was set in a white gold band, but the jeweler in the village has spent the last few days setting it into a diamond band for me.
She hands it to me, and we both stare at it in silence for a few moments, before I slide it on her finger.
“Finally, Bamm, we’re getting ourus. Merry Christmas. I love you.”
The room erupts.
Max
Six Years Later…
“Is she nearly done, Daniel’shere?” I ask Billie who looks up at me from where she sits in the rocking chair in the corner of our kitchen, feeding Sunny, our three-month-old daughter.
“She’s asleep, but you know what’s likely to happen if I move her off me, she’ll scream like she’s still starving, or I’ve pinched her.”
“Why anyone would choose to live so far from civilisation is beyond me.”
Billie looks over my shoulder, and I turn to watch Daniel Milliano walk into our kitchen.
“Put your boobs away, Bamm,” I turn back around and say to her.
“Oh, don’t mind me. Like I’ve told you both a million times, I like dick.”
