Chapter 13: A Special Proposal
I can't control my smile.
"I love you. I love you"
He looks deep in my eyes.
"I never loved Kem. All I thought about these 2 years was you. All I wanted was you. I needed you. It's always been you. Always. I love you"
I give a big smile.
"Well, I guess I'll grab my things"
He smiles.
"Are you coming back?"
"Yes"
We hug.
"I love you. I always did. I never forgot you. I knew we'd be together. Forever. I love you"
We get closer and kiss.
"I knew that too. We'll live as a family, which is something that had to have happened a long time ago"
"Hold on a second"
I went to her room and came back with my daughter in my arms.
"Now we're a family"
"My daughter. Can I hold her?"
"Sure"
He held Emma and I saw the happy and proud look on his face.
"You're gonna be a great father"
He looked at me, but didn't look back.
"Abby… are you?"
"No, I meant Emma"
He let out a sigh of frustration. I looked at him.
"What? You wanted?"
"It'd be great"
"We can try"
"Really?"
"Yeah, but we'll think about this later. Now I wanna go back"
John put her stuff in his car while I talked to my mother.
"Why didn't you tell him?"
"Because I'm not sure yet. And because I don't want him to propose to me just because it happened"
"He'll end up proposing, eventually"
"I know"
"And you're gonna say yes?"
"I don't know. Maybe"
John walks in and soon wraps his arms around me.
"Ready to go?"
"Yes. Thanks for everything, mom"
"No problem"
I catch Emma and he smiles seeing the two of us. Maggie takes them outside and keeps watching me put my daughter in the back seat and then sit in the front one. I waved before disappearing.
"I was worried about you"
"I know. Susan told me"
"I panicked. We only see how precious things are to us when we lose them. And I almost lost you. But now that I have you again, I won't let you run away"
"I know you won't"
He looked at our daughter that was sleeping peacefully on the back seat.
"I still can't believe this happened"
"What?"
"You gave birth. I thought you were afraid of passing on the disease"
"Well, I was. But I had to get through it one day"
"That is great. Because I want bunch of kids"
"Really? How many?"
"Maybe three or four or even more"
I looked at him and smiled.
"Well, we already have one"
I turned and looked at our sleepy daughter. Suddenly, he remembered something.
"Susan told me you have an abortion"
I froze.
"Why?"
"Because… because I was afraid of passing on the disease"
"When was that?"
"When… you went to Belize. You know, when I sang Afternoon Delight"
He smiled but quickly became serious and bit his lips.
"What?"
He didn't say anything, just shook his head.
"Please don't be upset"
"I'm not"
"It was right not to have had a baby that time. Look what happened. You went to Africa" – I sighed – "And I didn't want to ruin your plans"
"That wasn't a reason to had taken an innocent life away"
"I knew you would be mad. Would you stay if I had told you?"
"Yes. I didn't even wanted to go in the first place"
"So, why you did?"
"Because I wanted to figure out where we were"
"Ok" – I looked away.
And we didn't talk to each other again during the trip. We arrive home and I put Emma to sleep. I walk to the bedroom and find him on the bed. I grab her gown and go to the bathroom to change.
"Look, I'm sorry"
"For what?"
"I was a little rude before and I didn't want to. I shouldn't have said I did an abortion"
"It's ok. I'm the one who should apologize. I should have been more understanding. I'm sorry"
I came out of the bathroom and stared at him. He ran his hand over the bed, asking me to join him. I smiled.
"If I wasn't completely in love with you, I wouldn't accept this"
I said as I approached the bed and then lay down.
"I'm sorry. We just got back together and we are already fighting"
He leans over me and kisses me. And we had a very romantic night, which we hadn't had for a very long time.
15 days later, John was at the admitting and took the microphone.
"Listen all doctors and nurses. I have something important to say"
"What's all the noise about?"
"I have something to say"
Quickly, all doctors and nurses reunited in the admitting. John jumped off the chair and brought me to the middle of the room. Then he kneeled down and held my hands.
"Abby…" – He reaches his pocket and grabbed a box – "Will you marry me?"
He took the ring out of the box and put it on my finger. I was so excited that I forgot there were people watching us. I looked around and everybody was shocked and happy. Then I looked back at him without knowing what to say.