CHAPTER 52
AFTER THREE DAYS
NYA`S POV:
After sleeping inside of a truck the last two nights, I was finally glad those things were taking a nap. It was good to finally get some exercise. I really needed to stretch my legs. If I slept in that car for another night, I feel as though this time I would break my back. Literally. I love it when I'm riding in Jay`s truck, but I can't stand sleeping and eating in it. Now that we could finally get out, we all made a fire and started making a fire. We spent the day just trying to relax and lie down after such an ordeal. I nap a little bit, but it wasn't enough to get rid of the bags under my eyes. I'm sure that happened to everyone else. I yawned looking at everyone. Since nobody could really sleep, I thought it would be best to give them the news about mine and Jay`s engagement.
Well, I had to get permission from Jay first before I tell anyone anything. I walked up to him, wrapping my arms around him. "This may be a good time to tell everyone."
"Tell everyone what?"
"About our engagement, silly. I think it's time to give everyone the news."
"Oh, yeah. Do you wanna tell them or should I?"
"I was hoping that the both of us would tell them."
"Are you sure your brother isn't gonna break my neck?"
"I promise Kai won't do anything to you. I'll make sure of that. Come on. Let's tell them."
Jay and I walked up to everyone, who were relaxing over the fire. Jay woke some of them up as they were about to fall asleep. He even woke Kai up because the news was kind of really for him. Kai shook his head. "What? Why did you wake me up?"
"Nya and I have to tell you something," Jay said, "It's some happy news, in case you're wondering."
"It better be or else you'll be seeing stars by the end of the day."
"I think it's too late for me to see stars. I can only see half the world. Have you forgotten already?"
"No, I haven't."
"Jay, I think it's time we give out the news," I said, "Talking to my brother is wasting our time."
"Sorry, Nya," Jay said, walking back over to me.
"What's the big news?" Misako asked.
"Okay," I said, "Jay and I have some happy news to give."
"You guys better not be expecting a baby because you're not married," Kai said, his eyes sneering at Jay.
"No, Kai, it's not that," Jay said, "Even I know you're not suppose to have children until your married. That's not the point, though."
"Jay and I are engaged," I said.
"What?" Cole asked.
"Nya and I are getting married," Jay said.
"Wait a second," Kai said, "How and where did you two get engaged?"
"Well, we got engaged on the night when we had to leave the mansion," I explained, "I was upset and Jay was trying to calm me down and all that. He asked me if he could tell me something and I said yes so he took out the ring and ask me to marry him and I said yes. We got engaged in his truck. We couldn't get engaged anywhere else. I suppose he couldn't wait any longer to propose to me."
"He proposed to you in his truck? There better not have been any funny business."
"There was no funny business, Kai," Jay said.
"He's just trying to make sure, Jay," Misako said, "You know how overprotective he can be with Nya."
"Well, there are times when it can get annoying."
"He's right," I said, "It can."
"I suppose you're going to ask for my blessing, huh?" Kai asked.
"You blessing?" Jay asked.
"It means that he approves of our marriage," I said, "If he blesses our marriage, it's okay with him."
"What do you say, Kai? Will you bless our marriage?"
Kai gave us a funny look. "You guys really think I'm gonna automatically bless your marriage? That's not how it works. The groom has to prove to himself that he's worthy to the head of the bride's family before the marriage can be approve. That's a tradition the Smith's take seriously."
"Is that really a tradition in your family?"
"Kai, can't we just skip out on tradition for just this one marriage?" I asked, "You've known Jay for the past two years now. Don't you trust him?"
"I trust him, Nya, but tradition is tradition," Kai said, "We can't back out of it."
"Do I really have to prove myself?" Jay asked.
I sighed. "It seems as though you do, Jay. If you want our marriage to be blessed, you have to prove yourself in my family."
"I can't believe this. Nobody said it would be that hard to get a blessing. I didn't know I had to prove myself. Why didn't you tell me about this tradition before?"
"I had forgotten all about it. Don't start blaming me for all this."
"What's it gonna be?" Kai asked, "Are you gonna prove yourself or what?"
"I...I need some time to think about this," Jay said, walking away.
I shook my head, placing my hand on my forehead. I looked over to my brother. "Kai, why can't you just automatically bless our marriage? There's nothing wrong with saying that you'll let the marriage happen. Dad's not here anymore. It's time to give up on traditions."
"Why should we give up on tradition?" Kai asked, "These are some of the only things we have to remember Dad. The best thing we can do is keep traditions and celebrations strong."
"I can understand the celebrations, but the traditions just have to go. Some of them are just plain stupid. Nobody goes by them anymore."
"Why would you say that? Those traditions are not stupid. Just for that, I refuse to bless your marriage."
"Kai, come on. Please!"
"If you refuse to bless their marriage, then I will bless them myself," Sensei Wu said.
"You're not part of our family, Sensei," Kai said.
"Kai, he's a part of the family that we have now," I said.
"I'm not changing my mind, Nya. I'm not blessing your marriage. Nobody here is blessing your marriage."
"Somebody here will offer at the last minute," Sensei said.
"You know what?" I said, "Forget about it. We don't need your blessing. Jay and I will just get married. We don't care what you say about it."
"One of these day, you will," Kai said, "You'll regret the day you didn't get a marriage blessing."
"Why should that matter to you?" I was done talking to him. There was no use changing his mind. I don't get why my brother takes things so seriously. It's time to give all that up. That may never happen, but I'm sure Kai will get over it.
I found Jay sitting on the hood of his truck. I walked over there to him and sat down. My hand touched his. He looked me in the eyes. "Why is it that some tradition has to come up when a couple decides to get married? Especially when a couple is in need of a blessing."
"About the blessing, Jay, I told them to forget about it," I said, "We don't need a blessing to get married. All we need is our love. Why should a blessing from somebody else matter whether or not we should be together?"
"To make sure our wedding is approved of."
"That shouldn't matter. You didn't even know what a blessing was until a few minutes ago."
"That's because nobody in my family had to have one. My parents never got a blessing and look at them now. Their love is stronger than ever."
"Why didn't you tell me that before?"
"I just didn't think that it mattered. Why should it matter to your brother if it doesn't matter to me?"
"It shouldn't have to matter to either of us. Let's just move on. Our wedding is going to happen no matter what. We don't need some stupid blessing. It's time to be happy about our marriage, whether anyone likes it or not."
Jay nodded. "You're right, babe. I shouldn't worry about it."
"That's my fiancee. Now how about a kiss?"
Jay kissed me fully on the lips for a whole minute. I think that's the longest kiss we've had so far. Our lips pulled apart. "How was that?"
"Amazing. Let's do it again."
We kissed again, only this time it was longer that before. Now I know how it feels to kiss your fiancee on the hood of his truck. It feels like heaven.
THIS CHAPTER WAS A LITTLE DRAMATIC. KAI CAN BE SO SERIOUS SOMETIMES. AND HOT HEADED. WHY CAN'T HE UNDERSTAND THAT SOME THINGS ARE KIND OF RIDICULOUS. IF TWO PEOPLE LOVE EACH OTHER, ALLOW THEM TO BE TOGETHER NO MATTER WHAT.
WELL, I HAVE TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL TOMORROW. SPRING BREAK IS OVER.
I HOPE YOU ALL ENJOYED THIS CHAPTER.
PLEASE REVIEW.
