A Proposal (Part 3)

James forged ahead. It now seemed to him that he was merely an observer in all of this. Like a passerby, standing just behind him and slightly to the side. Or perhaps next to Teresa. Yes, that would be better. That was his one regret in all of this; that he couldn’t hold her in his arms in this moment. Everything seemed better with her warm body pressed up against his. Everything. And he knew in his heart he could do anything with her by his side. Even get through this.

He continued to drift through his prepared speech, the one that he'd spent months memorizing, until he suddenly realized that he'd stopped talking. This was it! His panic threatened to return for the briefest of moments as he worried that he had forgotten to end on a question.

"Yes! Yes! Of course I'll marry you!" she cried, alleviating his concerns in the process. "Really?" he asked, feeling like an idiot before the words had even left his mouth. It would be a story they could tell their children someday. "When your father asked me to marry him, I said yes. And he said 'Really?'"

James slipped the ring onto her finger. He was struck by how much anticipation and anxiety had led up to such a simple act. And just like that, it was over. The engagement was on.

He rose up to her lips and he kissed her like the eternity that they just lived through had actually happened.

To be continued...