Page 175 of To Make Matters Worse

“I have something I want to give you.” Charlie walked away and went to their room. He had stashed his surprise in his nightstand drawer, where Violet wouldn’t have seen it.

He took out the piece of paper with slightly shaky hands, not sure how Violet was going to react to what he was about to give her. He turned to her, taking a deep breath, and handed it to her.

“What’s this?” She asked before she even looked at it.

“It’s a legal petition… to have you added onto the deed of the house.”

Violet’s eyes grew wide, and she looked down immediately.

“Charlie, this is…”

“You can think on it as long as you want. But think of it as a risk I’m taking with the intent of choosing you forever. This is permanent, and I’m offering this because I’ve seen how much you care about this place, and I want you to know you’re always have a home with me.”

If she would only say yes, he could imagine their future. He’d ask her to marry him on some summer day when they’re arguing about which flowers to plant, and they’d have a few kids to fill in the empty spaces of the house. He could see Violet building a treehouse in the back, and he’d try to read to them every single night and be the father he never had.

“Charlie, are you sure? What if we don’t work out?”

“I’ve chosen you before, even when it’s been hard and when we’ve fought. This is me saying I’ll always choose you.”

Violet’s eyes turned mostly, and she nodded jerkily. “Okay…” she said. “But I can’t begin to tell you how much this means to me.”

“You don’t have to. You show me every day.”

Violet pulled into a hug, and he relished the feeling of her in his arms. It felt the same as the first time she had hugged him, when he had offered for her to move in. Every time she was with him, it felt like a new beginning, a new hope, making him grow and be there in every shape form and fashion.

It was so easy to choose her, and he always would.

Their lives started here - in the strange extension of a bedroom, with Roo running around the house, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

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