It was Tuesday and I finally put my car into park outside of Aria's parent's house. I had been circling the block for the past half hour trying to convince myself not to drive back home. I probably should have called; they didn't even know I was coming, which made me even more nervous. Maybe then they might have expected big news. I took a deep breath and opened my car door with my nervously shaking hands. I felt like there were a million tiny butterflies in my stomach. I hadn't felt like this since the first time I went in this house alone after Aria told her parents that we were dating. I got to the doorstep and rang the doorbell. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears. The seconds that it took for them to answer the door felt like hours to me. Finally I heard a click, someone was unlocking the door.
"Hi, Ezra! How are you?"
"I'm good Mrs. Montgomery, how are you?"
"Oh Ezra! Call me Ella how many times have I told you that. I am good though I was just relaxing." She had told me a million times before, but I still felt more comfortable calling her Mrs. Montgomery.
"Sorry, Ella. Is Byron around?" I felt so odd asking if Aria's father was around, but I would rather just do her parents in one sweep rather than have to talk to each one separately.
"Yes he is. He's upstairs doing some paperwork. Would you like for me to get him for you?" Ella always made me feel at home, which was quickly calming my nerves, but Aria's dad always scared me a little.
"That would be great. Could I talk to you both?"
She looked confused, "Uhm...sure. Is everything okay?"
"Yes, everything's fine."
"Okay, Ezra. Have a seat and I'll get Byron and I'll be right down. Do you want anything to drink? Help yourself, we have tea in the fridge that I made earlier."
"Thanks, but I'm good right now."
"Alright, I'll be right back."
I sat down on the big couch in their living room. When Aria was still living at home we spent a lot of time on this couch. We would sit and watch old movies with a big bowl of popcorn and she would usually end up falling asleep on my shoulder before the movie was over. This would be our default seat during family holidays. I would sit on the far left, she would sit in the middle, and Mike would be on the other side. This is also the same couch that I sat on whenever I first talked to her parents about our relationship. They were so many emotions that day. Aria's parents were very upset, but they were also happy for their daughter, even under the circumstances. I like them, I really do, but someday I'm afraid they are going to start on me about me being Aria's teacher. Years later, and I'm still afraid of that. The only time they had mentioned anything about it after their initial month or two of shock was the time we went on a cruise to the Bahamas after Aria's freshman year at Hollis. It was evening and Aria and Ella were at the spa, Mike was out with his girlfriend at the time, and Byron and I were at the bar. I was still level headed, but Byron had one too many. He started telling me how he didn't approve of us dating, even though he acted like it. He told me it made him feel uncomfortable because I was his daughter's teacher. Okay, maybe I wasn't level headed, but then I went back at him about how he cheated on his wife with one of his students. It ended up with me just walking out of the bar and we acted like nothing happened the next day. However, to this day I still feel like there is some tension there between the two of us.
"Hey Ezra! Ella's going to be right down, how are you?" Byron said as he was coming down the stairs.
"I'm great Byron, how about yourself?"
"Not to bad, just doing some paperwork for my classes, you know how that is."
"Never ends does it?"
"Never."
"Okay. I'm back," Ella said as she sat down on the chair next to Byron. They were both sitting across from me, which made me feel even more intimidated and made the situation very confrontational. "What do you want to talk to us about Ezra? Is everything alright? Everything good with you and Aria?"
Instead of answering and avoiding the main thing I came to talk about, I decided to just jump right in.
"Byron and Ella, as you know, I love your daughter very much. She has changed my life since first meeting her. We have both helped each other in dark times and we have stayed strong and true to each other. Even though our relationship may not have had a conventional start, I..."
"That's an understatement," Byron grunted, almost under his breath.
"Byron, let him talk." Ella said.
"Even though we didn't start the same way most couples do, we have grown together and are growing more and more in love every day." I saw tears start to well up in Ella's eyes. I could tell she knew where I was going with this. Byron looked a little bit upset, which meant he also probably knew where I was going with this, but it was a soft upset. It seemed like even though he was upset, he was very happy for his daughter at the same time, even though he was trying not to show it.
"Go on, Ezra." Ella said with a nod. I must have paused a while when I was thinking and trying to analyze how they were feeling about this.
"Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery, I came here 6 years ago to ask you if I could date your daughter. I come here today to ask you if I can marry her."
By this point in time, Ella had tears streaming down her face and was nodding at me. I was even starting to tear up.
"Of course, Ezra." Byron said. "We know you love her very much, and I would be lying if I said that we didn't see this coming,"
"Thank you so much, I can't explain how happy your daughter makes me."
Ella started to get out of her seat to hug me, so I got up too. "Seeing you two happy makes us happy, Ezra. We're going to have a great son-in-law, Byron, don't you think?"
"Yes we are."
We sat in silence for a few seconds, which felt like an eternity.
"So, Ezra! Have you gotten a ring yet?"
"Actually, yes I have. Here let me show you." I pulled out my phone and showed Ella and Byron the picture of the ring that I sent my mom.
"Wow! That is absolutely gorgeous." Ella said, I could tell how excited she was just by the tone of her voice.
"Nice choice." Byron said after seeing the picture.
We talked a little bit about when the proposal was going to happen and how and my uncertainties about what to do. They gave me some ideas but I still wasn't sure on how it was actually going to happen. Ella then went upstairs to call Mike and a few close family members. Byron continued to talk to me for a few minutes about Hollis things, and then I left. On my drive home I didn't even notice what was going on around me. I was too ecstatic about what had just happened. Hopefully by this time next week, Aria was going to be my fiancé.
