Page 50 of The Valentines Day Proposal

“Okay, see you in a little bit, Mom,” Katy said.

When Katy hung up with her mother Linda, she chuckled as she pressed END then placed the phone back on the charger. She looked around the house – the home her mother and father had built on family and love. Eve’s words came prancing back through her mind as she headed upstairs to change into some cleaning clothes.

Chapter 2

“Wow, Katy! It’s been a while since we’ve seen you. You still look so good...haven’t gained a pound.”

Katy blushed, smiling ear to ear, as she hugged her aunt and uncle. They lived in Northern Indiana and had been so busy with their car

eers while she was busy with getting through college that it’d been a while since they spoke to one another. Katy couldn’t deny that she missed them; she hugged them tightly as they stepped into the foyer then asked who had already shown up.

Katy directed they take their jackets off so she could put them on the hook then led them around to the back of the house, where the family that had arrived congregated and talked about any and everything. Just as Katy had been heading back around to the front of the house, her mother called out for her. “Okay, Mom! I’m coming! Don’t yell like that.”

When Katy walked into the kitchen, she found everything to be calm and in order. She looked around wondering what her mother called her name for. “Yeah, Mom? What is it?”

Katy wound up helping her mother get some things together and carry more meat out to the grill. Her father was supposed to be home any minute and he would finish. In fact, the family probably wouldn’t eat any of the grilled meat unless it was done by Richard. It was a given fact.

“Mom, why do you call my name like it’s really an emergency?” Katy asked as they stepped back into the kitchen. “You make me nervous.”

Linda waved her hand dismissively. “Oh, Katy. You always say that. You know how you get to wandering off and forget what you’re supposed to be doing in terms of helping your mother. You know, Katy.”

Katy looked at her mother with a confused face. “Mom, what are you talking about? I don't...” She quickly cut her words off, shook her head, and giggled. “Okay, Mom. Whatever...”

Katy headed back around to the foyer, this time crossing through the dining room. When she’d been stepping into the foyer, the front door swung open. It was her father’s first cousin, Melanie. Instantly, her eyes bugged. “Melanie?”

The medium-height, always-chipper woman turned around quickly. Thick-rimmed glasses sat on her face like headlights. She came in wearing high-class boots, tight ripped blue jeans, and a white halter top that came in at her waist. Melanie’s face lit up when she saw Katy and the two embraced one another with a long overdue hug.

“Oh my God, Melanie, how have you been?” Katy asked. She pulled Melanie to the side, into the dining room, to allow other people to come into the door. Katy, who was usually the best host, faded away from the position for a moment while and Melanie plopped down into sitting chairs in the dining room, off to the side.

Katy listened to Melanie talk about how she’d been doing a bit of traveling – a couple of countries in South America then a somewhat long stay over in Africa. Her glows of positivity and adventurousness were simply a pleasure to be around. “And what about you, Katy?” Melanie asked. “I heard you graduated. Sorry I couldn’t come. I think that’s the last time we talked. I called you from some cafe or something somewhere.”

“Yeah, I remember,” Katy said. “Yeah, it’s been a while.” Katy went over how she’d been teaching 3rd grade down in the city and loved it. She felt like she was born to be a teacher. She then admitted to Melanie that she was debating as to whether or not she should pursue her Masters. “I can’t really decide if I want to be a principal.”

“Well, I would certainly say go for it,” Melanie said. “But, then there’s some other questions you would probably have to answer. I mean, if you plan on having a family and getting married and all that, then you’ll have to think about how long it would take you to get a Master’s, depending on when you start, then how long after it would take you to get to the point where you feel like you’re stable enough. Oh, that reminds me.” Melanie leaned in with a big smile. “Have you been seeing anybody since you graduated and started teaching? Don’t mean to sound like a predator,” she laughed, “but I imagine there’s probably a few hot single dads who come in to talk about their kids. Any cute teachers there?”

Katy chuckled and glanced away in thought. A bit of nervousness came over her. She hadn’t anticipated having to answer these kinds of questions. Then again, her family was rather conservative in a lot of ways. Most of the women were at least married by 25 years-old, many long before and in the midst of having children. Even the younger ladies of the new generation were in long-term relationships of some sort by this age.

Katy finally built up her courage and explained that she’d been so busy getting into the teaching profession that her love life was on the back burner. She used this story as a way to finish up the talk and move on to greeting the people who had come in behind her. Melanie got out of Katy’s way, putting her jacket on the hook then disappearing into the house to mix with other people.

Katy walked through the foyer, glanced out the windows at the driveway, then drifted into the living room, which was usually somewhat quiet during functions. Their parents’ nicer furniture occupied the living room, so this space was typically used for having colleagues over or other sorts of professional guests. However, Katy found herself surprised to see who was sitting in the living room – even more surprised than she’d been when she saw Melanie. It was Brennon, Melanie’s older brother. He stared down into his cell phone.

“Brennon?” Katy asked. “Is that you?”

Brennon looked up, smiled, then rose to his feet so he could hug Katy. When the 36-year-old man stepped back, he looked Katy up and down. “Wow, look at how you’ve grown up.”

Katy took in Brennon’s good looks. Back when she was younger and Melanie would come over to hang out, Brennon would often bring her and pick her up to take her back home. Then, because Brennon was teaching then went into being a professor, Katy had a rather-deep phone conversation with him right before she went off to college, but she hadn’t seen him since a few years before that. Since then, if he had come to the house, it was between holidays, or when Katy wouldn’t have been home.

Katy giggled. “How I’ve grown up? Look at you, Brennon. Nice beard and goatee. You look good with that.”

Brennon smiled, glancing away and doing the pretty boy pose. He rubbed his goatee then his beard and smiled. He and Katy laughed then he asked how everything had been going. “I heard you got a job teaching downtown or somewhere?”

Katy insisted that the two of them sit down for a moment on the living room couch. She walked around the table then sat down on the fainting couch next to Brennon. They looked into one another’s eyes as Katy explained finishing college as well as how she’d been doing so far as a public school teacher. It had been so long since she was able to have this conversation – a conversation with someone who truly knew the ups and downs of her path in education.

Katy’s mother Linda yelled out it was time for dinner. The two of them rose up off of the couch, having just finished talking about Katy’s indecisiveness when it comes to pursuing her Master’s. She and Brennon looked into the others eyes for several moments too long. Brennon was so easy to talk to; Katy admired his wisdom and how much he’d grown up in the ten years since the last time they saw one another. She was still amazed that Melanie didn’t mention Brennon was coming in behind her.

As usual, everyone huddled around in the dining room to say prayer. Katy’s father came in at the last minute, just as all hands were locking, saying that traffic on the highway wound up being worse than he thought. When Father Bruce, their priest cousin who lived in the next town over, finished the prayer, everyone rushed towards the back of the house. Katy had been watching Brennon mingle with her mother – casually and very confidently – as the two walked into the kitchen when she was startled by a tap on her shoulder. It was Eve.

“Oh, I forgot I told you about this,” Katy said, being sarcastic. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

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