Page 87 of 7+Us Makes Nine

“Jace? What are you doing?” I asked with a harsh whisper.

“Catherine, come up here so everyone can get a good look at you.”

“What?” I asked.

“Come on. Don’t be shy.”

“Jace, I’m not coming up there.”

“Catherine! Catherine! Catherine! Catherine!”

Everyone began chanting my name. The production crew. The audience. The cast. The pit orchestra. Everyone erupted into a chant that aligned with the hands that were rhythmically pounding against the backs of the seats. I shook my head as a stagehand offered me his arm, so I took it as he guided me backstage. He walked me up a set up steps and led me through a door, and briefly Jace disappeared from view. The crowd fell silent and the chanting stopped. My mind swirled with confusion as the guy dressed in all black held a curtain back for me to walk through.

And when I saw Jace again, he was down on one knee.

Smiling.

With an open ring box in the palm of his hand.

My jaw hit the floor. My body wouldn’t move. My eyes widened as he knelt there on stage, open and vulnerable and waiting. My heart slammed so hard in my chest I thought it would break my sternum. My hands trembled as tears rushed my eyes. I looked over at the stagehand and he smiled at me, ushering with his arm for me to proceed.

And oh, how I wanted to.

I walked out onto the stage and the crowd started applauding again. I took a joking bow, earning a hearty chuckle from the crowd watching the aftershow performance take place. I stood in front of Jace, taking in the loving look in his eye before I studied the ring he had displayed for me.

Tears rushed my eyes as he took my left hand within his.

“Catherine Faust, you are-- without a doubt-- the strongest woman I’ve ever come across.”

“Hell yeah, she is!” someone from the audience exclaimed.

I threw my head back and laughed as my hands came up to cup my mouth.

“And before that man in the audience jumps up here and steals you away from me,” Jace said with a smile, “I want to ask you something.”

“Okay,” I said with a whisper.

“Your selflessness known no bounds, Catherine. What you endured at my side and what you walked my children through… nothing can match it. Nothing even comes close. And even when we argued and even when we fought, you reached out for me. You stretched out your hand in search of mine even when you couldn’t stand to be around me. From the second you walked into my office, I was intrigued. Curious. Smitten. But the more I got to know you-- and the more you opened up-- the more I realized it was so much more than that.”

I watched him take the ring from the small velvet box as a tear trickled down my cheek.

“Catherine Faust, I love every bit of you. From the freckles on your thighs to the sparkle in your eyes. I love your spirit. Your selflessness. Your endless strength and compassion. I love the way you love our kids. I love the way you love your parents. And I love the way you love me.”

I smiled as I brushed the tears away from my cheeks.

“Catherine-- love of my world-- will you marry me?”

A pin could’ve dropped onto the carpet and been heard echoing across that theater. It was hard to breathe, and I paused to take it all in. I committed every little thing to memory, from Jace’s suit to the smile in his eyes. I drew in a deep breath before I knelt down in front of him, watching as his brow ticked in confusion.

Then I cupped his cheeks, smiled, and brought him in for a kiss.

The crowd erupted into applause as he pulled me close. Bent me backwards until my back was almost to the stage floor. I smiled into his lips, feeling the way his hands pressed into my lower back. Feeling the way his body encompassed as much of me as he could get.

And when he rose up, he took my hand and slid the ring onto my finger.

“Yes,” I said. “Yes, Jace Logan. I’ll marry you.”

We stood to our feet and he swung me around. The lights came up in the theater and the cast came back out and started singing. The pit orchestra chimed in with their instruments and their harmonies while the cast of the show sang the epic love song that backdropped the peak of their show. The audience sang it. The maestro was singing it. Even I was singing it. Jace wrapped his arm around me and held my hand in the air, dancing me around the stage to the beautiful waltz that would forever be cemented into my mind as our story.

---