Chapter 42
The friends sat stunned staring back and forth between Eddie and Janet. Eddie knew if he looked at Janet he would lose it and he didn't want to tear up in front of the guys. Janet could only stare at him. Ikey finally stepped up.
"Seriously man? You'd be stupid to wait that long." Everyone but Janet and Eddie laughed. Finally he looked at her, cautiously, kind of sideways. He could see her disbelief so he turned and looked at her face to face. Their audience fell silent.
"What do you say Janet? Will the greatest, most beautiful woman in the world marry the insecure captain of the football team?" Eddie asked. Fear gripped his heart. Had he miss read her signals? Tears were welling up in his eyes as he noticed a single tear run down Janet's cheek. He knelt down in front of her, between her legs, close enough to feel her breath; he looked up at her almost begging. All she could do was wrap her arms around him, burying her face in her neck. A confused Eddie looked over at his friends with a questioning what he should do as he held her. Pulling her away from him so he could look in her eyes, he wiped her tears and with anguish in his voice said, "Come on Edith what do you say?"
Hearing him call her Edith, Janet smiled broadly, nodded and kissed him deeply allowing her tears to flow. Eddie returned her kiss with a hunger that normally would have embarrassed him. Separating Eddie asked again, "is that a yes?"
"Yes, Eddie, I will marry the captain of the football team."
"Yea" hollered Pizza Girl clapping her hands and hugging both of them. Soon Phil and Ikey were in the hug too.
"Ok ok ok." Eddie said digging in his pocket. "If you want your own ring, I'll take you out and we'll get you one but in the mean time I have this." He continued pulling a very old ring from his pocket and sliding it on her finger. Janet took her other hand and put it to her mouth. She knew the ring was not her Grandmother's ring but her Grandmother's mother's ring. Gram wore it like a cocktail ring and Janet had always admired it.
"How?" she asked with a shaky voice.
"She gave it to me when we went down to see Bye Bye Birdie." Janet looked at him questioning his timing. Seeing her confusion he continued. "I blame Ikey." He said with a smile. "When we were at Angela Ferilli's funeral. I admitted that I had been looking for a woman like Angela my whole life. Ikey challenged each of us that we might each have our Angela already waiting for us at home. I knew he was right. Then when we were in Providence your Grands pulled me aside and told me they had never seen two people more perfect for each other. Grams gave me this ring and said I should give it to you when I proposed."
Janet smiled again and started crying again and kissed Eddie again. Breaking their embrace she announced. "I have to call Hannah!" Everyone laughed at her reaction to possibly the romantic thing they had ever seen. While Janet pulled out her cell phone there was a knock on the door. Eddie got up to pay for the Chinese food while Ikey and Phil got up to get drinks. They could all hear a cell phone ring as Eddie opened the door to find Hannah standing there crying with Sam at her side.