and warm one. His eyes are alight with love, making my chest glow with an inner heat that only he can achieve. When he turns his attention back to my father, I leave my eyes on him. I’d much rather look at Ebon, full of happiness and love, than my father, full of everything that makes me feel small and sick. “I’ve come to ask for your daughter’s hand.”
Silence falls like a blanket across the room. My parents couldn’t look more shocked or more displeased. I couldn’t feel more surprised or more elated. I thought we were simply here to let my parents know about the baby.
“Wh-what?” I ask, happily stunned.
When he brings his eyes back to mine, they’re shining. I know that if I had a mirror, mine would look the same way.
“You’ve got some nerve,” my father begins in his blustering way. “If you think–”
Ebon’s head snaps back to Dad and he interrupts him, his voice like ice, cold and hard. “All due respect, sir, but your answer isn’t going to stop me from marrying your daughter if she’ll have me. I thought it would be nice if you could learn to love her and cherish her as much as I have, if you could see your way to being a part of her life and the lives of our children. But. Make no mistake, I will make Willow happy in this life, with or without you. There will be no more intrusions into her life without her express consent. There will be no more accusations, no more conversations with her doctors, no more decisions made outside her will and knowledge. If you hear nothing else that I’ve said, hear this : She is mine for as long as she’ll have me. I will take care of her, whether you like it or not, and you will interfere with her wellbeing only if it’s over my dead, lifeless body.” I’m convinced I could hear a pin drop from all the way across town. Both my parents’ mouths are agape and Ebon is nothing short of fierce. I’ve never been more proud to call him mine. When they make no attempts to speak, he offers a chilly smile and asks politely, “I hope I was able to make myself clear.”
My father’s face, although red, shows a modicum of respect that I’ve never seen there before. I can tell that he’d love to say something, probably something neither of us would like, but he shows restraint and simply nods instead.
Ebon returns his curt nod before he looks to me. His expression softens instantly, taking on that subtle something that always melts my insides.
He slides off the couch and falls to one knee at my feet. When he removes a small black, velvet box from his pocket, my heart thumps to a stop. He pops it open, revealing a gorgeous diamond ring. When I raise my watering eyes to his, I see that his expression is full of all the adoration and wonderment that I feel every time I look at him, every time he kisses me or touches me, every time our child moves inside me.
“Willow Masters, will you marry me? Will you let me take care of you for the rest of our days? Let me love you and support you? Provide for you and take care of you? Will you let me be a father to Talia and to all the other children we might be blessed with? Will you be mine…forever?”
As always, hearing him say our daughter’s name–a name that we both chose as a reminder of what we’ve suffered, of where we came from and of how we made it to each other–gives me a surge of emotion. The name of our child added to the amazing words he just spoke to me, in front of my family, is enough to crush me in the most beautiful way, right here for everyone to see.
When I don’t answer, too choked up and too awestruck to speak right away, he continues. “I promise never to let anyone hurt you. I promise never to let anyone take you away from me. I’ll spend my life…my whole life… making sure that you’re as happy as one man can make the woman he loves.” He leans in, brushing his lips over my cheek and whispering words
Silence falls like a blanket across the room. My parents couldn’t look more shocked or more displeased. I couldn’t feel more surprised or more elated. I thought we were simply here to let my parents know about the baby.
“Wh-what?” I ask, happily stunned.
When he brings his eyes back to mine, they’re shining. I know that if I had a mirror, mine would look the same way.
“You’ve got some nerve,” my father begins in his blustering way. “If you think–”
Ebon’s head snaps back to Dad and he interrupts him, his voice like ice, cold and hard. “All due respect, sir, but your answer isn’t going to stop me from marrying your daughter if she’ll have me. I thought it would be nice if you could learn to love her and cherish her as much as I have, if you could see your way to being a part of her life and the lives of our children. But. Make no mistake, I will make Willow happy in this life, with or without you. There will be no more intrusions into her life without her express consent. There will be no more accusations, no more conversations with her doctors, no more decisions made outside her will and knowledge. If you hear nothing else that I’ve said, hear this : She is mine for as long as she’ll have me. I will take care of her, whether you like it or not, and you will interfere with her wellbeing only if it’s over my dead, lifeless body.” I’m convinced I could hear a pin drop from all the way across town. Both my parents’ mouths are agape and Ebon is nothing short of fierce. I’ve never been more proud to call him mine. When they make no attempts to speak, he offers a chilly smile and asks politely, “I hope I was able to make myself clear.”
My father’s face, although red, shows a modicum of respect that I’ve never seen there before. I can tell that he’d love to say something, probably something neither of us would like, but he shows restraint and simply nods instead.
Ebon returns his curt nod before he looks to me. His expression softens instantly, taking on that subtle something that always melts my insides.
He slides off the couch and falls to one knee at my feet. When he removes a small black, velvet box from his pocket, my heart thumps to a stop. He pops it open, revealing a gorgeous diamond ring. When I raise my watering eyes to his, I see that his expression is full of all the adoration and wonderment that I feel every time I look at him, every time he kisses me or touches me, every time our child moves inside me.
“Willow Masters, will you marry me? Will you let me take care of you for the rest of our days? Let me love you and support you? Provide for you and take care of you? Will you let me be a father to Talia and to all the other children we might be blessed with? Will you be mine…forever?”
As always, hearing him say our daughter’s name–a name that we both chose as a reminder of what we’ve suffered, of where we came from and of how we made it to each other–gives me a surge of emotion. The name of our child added to the amazing words he just spoke to me, in front of my family, is enough to crush me in the most beautiful way, right here for everyone to see.
When I don’t answer, too choked up and too awestruck to speak right away, he continues. “I promise never to let anyone hurt you. I promise never to let anyone take you away from me. I’ll spend my life…my whole life… making sure that you’re as happy as one man can make the woman he loves.” He leans in, brushing his lips over my cheek and whispering words
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