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"Hey, D? You got a package – it looks like it's from my dad," Betty came home from a Saturday afternoon of apartment shopping with Amanda and Christina.
"What would your dad be sending me?" Daniel wondered.
"I don't know. Mmmmm . . . maybe it's his empanadas! Now I'm jealous – he didn't send me any!" she pouted.
"Relax. I haven't even opened it yet," he said, grabbing the package from her curious fingers.
He opened it up to find a letter along with two boxes, one very small and one medium:
Daniel,
I had lunch with your mother the other day and she mentioned the situation with your grandmother's ring. I hope I am not overstepping my bounds, and I realize this cannot replace your family's heirloom, but I would like to offer you this turquoise ring that belonged to Betty's bisabuela.
She was Rosa's grandmother. Even though she and her husband did not have much, her husband worked very hard to purchase this ring for his bride-to-be. They had a very strong marriage that lasted for sixty-seven years, when she lost her husband to a stroke. They went through very hard times. And not knowing what their future held was scary, but the one thing that kept them together was their love for each other.
I know that you and my daughter have this same kind of love. I've witnessed it through your willingness to go above and beyond your means to help each other out. And I've noticed how upset my daughter gets when you two are fighting. I've seen the passion in her heart and the love in your eyes when she hugs you. I knew you were falling for my Betty the day you came to me before Hilda's wedding, asking about your 'friend'. You two might not have realized what you had for years but I could tell by these signs; the way you talked about each other, and how well you knew each other, that you were meant to be together.
Take care of her, Mijo, and make sure she takes care of you.
Te quero,
Ignacio
P.S. I also sent some of my empanadas and sopapillas. Make sure Betty shares them with you. And I promise I will make a trip to give you both cooking lessons soon. You'll starve in that country without them!
Daniel blinked back a few tears in his eyes. He'd never had a true father-figure in his life. His dad was more concerned with his company and his brother to pay much attention to him. Unless of course it was to yell at him to be more like Alex. But Betty's father seemed to really listen to him, to care about him. He not only wanted his daughter to be happy and loved; he wanted that for his future son-in-law too. And for Ignacio to entrust a family heirloom to Daniel for his and Betty's relationship . . . he was overwhelmed with emotions.
"Babe, what did Papi say?" Betty asked, oblivious to the expression on his face. "Tell me those are his empanadas and sopapillas – they're the best! Daniel?"
Daniel slowly put down the letter and opened the small box to find a 14k white gold ring with a large oval cut turquoise stone with twelve diamonds surrounding it. He turned to Betty and took both of her hands.
"Betty, I know we're already engaged, but I want to make it official. We've been through so much together. You have always been the one person who stood by me no matter what I did or what I was going through. It doesn't matter where I came from, or how much money I have, or how famous I am. You love me for me - my background doesn't intimidate or impress you. You never hesitate to give me the hug or the encouragement I need. And you also never hesitate to let me know when I screw up. You put up with my annoying habits and make sure I take care of myself. You constantly keep me on my toes and make me want to be a better man. We've always had a connection . . . something so unique and special it couldn't be defined. When I found out you were leaving, I felt like a part of my heart was being ripped away. I realized you were the one person I couldn't live without – not just as an employee or a friend, but as so much more. You're the only girl who manages to make me laugh one minute and take my whole breath away the next. You're beautiful in every single way. You're everything to me and I promise I won't let a single day go by without trying to make you as happy as you have made me. I love you, Betty Suarez. Will you please be my wife?" he proposed.
"Yes, of course I will. Yes!" Betty answered, flinging her arms around him so hard it almost knocked him over. "I never expected to get two proposals."
"You deserve it – especially after the first one," Daniel grinned and placed the ring on her finger as tears streamed down her face.
"Daniel, I didn't care. All that mattered was that you asked me," Betty assured him.
"It was half-assed, wasn't it?" he said, gently wiping her tears with the pads of his thumbs.
"A little," she consented. "But spontaneous, and one I'll never forget. Just like I won't forget this one either."
Daniel smiled and passionately pressed his lips against hers. When they finally came up for air, Betty studied the ring.
"Wait - is this what I think it is? Is this Abuela Linda's ring?" she asked.
"Was that your mom's grandma?" Daniel inquired.
"Yeah," she smiled, wistfully. "Mami used to tell me and Hilda stories about her all the time when we were little. And when she let me wear her ring – I used to pretend I was a princess getting ready for my wedding and Hilda was my old maid."
"You mean maid of honor?" he corrected.
"Yeah, well that's what we thought it was called when we were kids. Hilda also tied a toy caboose around my ankle and that was my 'train'," she smiled, sheepishly.
"Oh my god! And you think I'm dumb sometimes!" he cracked.
"Hey – we were kids! At least we had an excuse!" she countered.
"Point taken," he surrendered.
Betty stared down at the ring again.
"Is it okay?" he worried. "Because I can get you any ring you want, just say the word."
"No – it's perfect. You're perfect," she hugged him.
He held her close and kissed the top of her head, taking in the familiar smell of vanilla and jasmine.
"I hope we're together as long as your great-grandparents were," he said.
"Me too," Betty pulled back from their embrace and kissed him again.
"It was really great of your dad to send us the ring. We'll have to call him on Skype." Daniel said.
"Yeah, it was," she said.
"Sometimes I worried what he would really think of me being with you. He knows so many things that I've done," Daniel confessed. "I even threw up all over his house!"
"He also knows you're not that guy anymore, Daniel. You've helped our family through a lot of tough times. And you were always a good friend to me." Betty assured him.
"He always gave such great advice. I still have his number on speed dial from all the times I'd call him about a girl or life," he mused. "I went to him about you, too."
"You did? When?" Betty asked, intrigued.
"You know that time when we were fighting over moving backward? And you got so upset over me causing Henry to lose his job and dating Trista?" he asked.
"And you were mad at me for uninviting you as my date to the wedding? How could I forget? That was one of the worst fights we ever had." Betty recalled. "I went home that night and ate an entire batch of brownies, half a tube of cookie dough, and a whole bag of Doritos."
"Wow! You must've been more pissed at me than I thought," he smirked.
"You should've seen me when you wouldn't talk to me before I left for London," she remarked. "Hilda had to pry the pan of brownies out of my hands and put a lock on both the pantry and the fridge."
Daniel snorted, amused.
"So anyway, your dad kinda helped me see what an ass I was being. I didn't say who I was having issues with - I only gave hypotheticals. He asked me why I thought I was reacting the way I did. I told him I didn't know – that I felt a strange excitement when my 'friend', who was just a friend, asked me to be her date to an event," he continued.
"What did he say?" she asked.
"He asked me if I thought I might have feelings toward this 'friend' that were more," Daniel replied.
"Oh," Betty said. "I still can't believe how perceptive Papi can be sometimes."
"I immediately denied it, of course. But I told him that I had this other strange feeling of hurt when my 'friend' uninvited me in order to take her ex instead. I also mentioned that I had a sense that something was missing with another woman that I didn't feel when I was with my 'friend'," he recalled.
"What did he tell you?" Betty wondered.
"He told me that first I needed to do the right thing by my 'friend's' ex. Then I needed to take a good look at what I wanted in a relationship and honestly reevaluate what I really wanted from this 'friend'. He told me to be true to my heart instead of trying to make sense of it all with my head. That love doesn't always make sense, it just is." Daniel remembered.
"Do you think Papi knew it was us?" Betty gasped.
"Your dad's pretty smart. I didn't say names, but he just told me in the letter that he'd caught on," Daniel revealed. "Anyway, you know what happened from there."
"I went and planned my future without you, while you were starting to think about planning one for us together. That thing you said about all being right in the world – you meant that about us, too, didn't you?" she realized, her eyes widening as the guilt hit her again.
Daniel nodded.
"Oh god! Baby, I'm so sorry I did that to you!" her face crumbled. Mortified, she leaned into his chest.
"B, it's okay, – you didn't know," he soothingly stroked her hair. "I didn't even know exactly how I felt. I realized during Hilda's speech that I loved you beyond a doubt. But I wasn't sure if it was a romantic kind of love, yet. I thought we had time to figure that out."
"And then I had to go and ruin it," she sighed and stared down at the floor in shame.
Daniel gently lifted her chin up.
"Betty, look at me. You have to stop blaming yourself. It was my fault for not saying anything to you about it sooner. I kept chickening out; I was in denial. And you have absolutely no reason to feel guilty for wanting to do something for yourself for a change," he insisted.
"I keep thinking what could've happened to us if you had stayed in New York," she confessed, tears brimming in her eyes. "We might never have seen each other again."
"Hey, don't think like that. You and me, we're soul mates. One way or another, I know we would have found each other again," he assured her.
"We managed to find each other four years ago. So I guess you're right," Betty tried to think positively. "And at least we're here, now."
"And being here with you is better than I ever imagined," Daniel confessed.
He teased her bottom lip, then her top before plunging his tongue into her mouth in a kiss so passionate it made Betty's toes curl and her head spin. Her knees caved in and he had to keep her from falling.
"Baby, are you okay?" he asked, worried.
"I'm fine. Maybe we'd better sit down, though," she suggested.
Daniel nodded and carefully led her to the couch, his hand around her waist the whole time, in case she felt weak again. As Daniel pulled Betty onto his lap, she eyed the unopened package on the coffee table.
"So, what's in the other box?" she asked.
"Now I know you're okay," Daniel chuckled.
"You know! Tell me!" Betty demanded, shoving his chest.
"Go ahead and open it," he tried to keep a straight face, but couldn't hide the twinkle in his baby blue eyes.
"Oh my god – are these what I think they are?" she ripped the box open and jumped up and down while squealing. "They are! Eeeee!"
"Jesus, Betty – you didn't get that excited over the ring!" Daniel chuckled.
"Yeah, well, after Marc took away all my junk food and I had to fight him just to keep my case of Thin Mints for 'emergencies only', you can understand my reaction," she excused, sitting back down on his lap.
"You have a whole case of Thin Mints?!" his eyes widened.
"Yeah, they're in the freezer," she shrugged and noticed his blank expression. "Didn't you notice the big box? Why am I asking that – you never notice anything unless it says 'Hi Daniel, here I am!'"
"Hey – that's . . . so true," he reluctantly admitted.
Betty lovingly kissed his cheek, amused.
"Anyway, I can ration them out a box per month and never run out," she explained.
"You're adorable," he grinned.
Betty shyly smiled and reached for an empanada.
"Just remember you have to share – I have it in writing from your dad," he held up the letter.
"Daniel, when have I not shared anything with you?" she asked, innocently.
"There was that one time when you were mad at me for not reading your essay. And what happened to the dozen cupcakes your sister sent us a couple of weeks ago?" Daniel reminded her. "Seems like I had two and you hid the rest from Marc and binged on them for your 3am snacks."
"Sorry . . . I couldn't help it. I've been having the munchies lately," Betty sheepishly excused. "I'll have Hilda send you your own special box – I promise."
"And we can share these equally?" Daniel bargained.
"Deal," she agreed, breaking off a piece of a sopapilla and feeding it to him.
"God, these are good," he groaned.
"Told ya. Papi serves them with honey or sugar and cinnamon, but I love them plain," she said.
"I think I could eat them either way," Daniel commented. "We should serve these at the rehearsal dinner."
"And the empanadas for dessert," Betty added, contentedly settling into him.
"Exactly," he agreed as they proceeded to enjoy the pastries and discuss details about their wedding.
