Remind Me That We'll Always Have Each Other

My eyes instinctively flew open, and I stared at John, trying to figure out if I had heard him correctly. He placed his warm palm on my cheek, and gave me a shy smile. “I’m guessing you heard me?”

I nodded my head, dumbfounded, and sat up, causing John to remove his hand from my face. “You – you’re serious?”

He sat up as well, and grabbed my hand. “I am. Kaydence, I love you, and I know you love me. I know that we haven’t been together for years, but that doesn’t make a difference to me. I know, in my heart, that I’m meant to be with you.” He looked at me. “I just need to know that you feel the same.”

I swallowed hard and stared at our intertwined fingers. “John, I feel the exact same way, but … marriage … it’s just – it’s a huge thing.”

“It is, but you’re the only girl I could ever envision myself marrying. I’m not saying that we have to get married right away, we can have a long engagement, but I just want to know that you’re mines – forever.”

I couldn’t help but to feel my heart melt at his words and I hiked my right leg over his hip, straddling his lap, and held his face between my hands. “Are you positive about this? You really want me – only me – for the rest of your life?” He nodded his head, staring into my eyes. I smiled and pressed my lips softly against his for a moment. “Then, yes; I’ll marry you, John.”

A wide smile formed on his face and he turned me over, so now his body was hovering over mine. “Can we do this properly?”

“What do you mean?” He rolled over, got off the bed, and grabbed my hand. I sat on the edge of the bed, as he knelt before me. “John, you don’t-“

He placed his right index finger against my lips, and I nodded my head. He pulled a black velvet box from his pocket, and looked me in the eyes. “Kaydence Montgomery, will you do me the honor of being my wife?”

I laughed a small bit, tears forming in my eyes, before nodding my head. “Yes, John, I’ll marry you.”

He popped the box open; a silver band, with a large diamond set in the middle, shimmered at me. He slid the band on my ring finger and looked up at me with hopeful eyes. “Do you like it?”

“Do I like it? John, it’s fucking incredible, babe. It must have cost you a fortune!”

He smiled and gave me a peck on the lips. “It doesn’t matter how much it cost. I only plan on getting married once, so I figured I might as well go all out with it.”

I laughed and wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him into another kiss. However, as usual, my mind was racing with a million thoughts. I pulled away from him, catching him by surprise. “John, what about your parents?”

He furrowed his brows. “What about them?”

“I’ve never even met them before! What if they don’t like me!?” I began panicking.

He laughed. “Kaydence, baby, calm down. I’ve already talked to them, and they agreed that if marrying you is what I want to do, then they support me in my decision. Which reminds me, I sort of told my parents that you’d come over for dinner tomorrow.”

I bit down on my bottom lip. “Are you sure they’re okay with this?”

He nodded his head. “One-hundred-percent positive … and so are your parents.”

My eyes widened. “What!?”

He smirked. “I figured our relationship is pretty fast paced, I might as well try and do one thing the old fashioned way: I asked Tim for your hand in marriage.”

I pulled him into a tight hug. “I love you more than you’ll ever know.”

“I’m pretty sure I can imagine,” he joked.

I laughed and slapped his back. “Jerk.”

He pulled away and smiled. “I’m kidding. You know I love you just as much.”

I smiled. “Good. Now, can we go to bed? All this talk about marriage has me exhausted.”

He laughed and stood up. “Imagine how you'll feel when you actually have to plan the wedding.”

I groaned as I fell onto my back. “You’ll be helping me, I hope you know.”

He gave me a pout. “Isn’t that usually what your mom and the bridesmaids are for?”

“Yes, but you’ll be helping me as well, O’Callaghan.”

He smiled and pulled me close to chest, much like before. “Kaydence O’Callaghan … It has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?”

I cheesed and placed a kiss against his neck. “It sounds perfect.”

___________________________________________________________

Before I could even open my eyes, I could feel my bed shaking and I groaned. “Mia, stop jumping!”

She giggled. “Mom said to wake you up!”

I rolled over, looking at her. “Why?”

She gave me a big smile. “She said she wants to see your ring.”

It wasn’t until Mia said that, that I remembered the previous night; John had asked me to marry him. I sat up in a rush, glancing to the empty space beside me. “Where’s John?” I asked, a frown forming on my face.

“He’s outside with Tim.”

“Oh, great,” I laughed, swinging my legs over the bed. “Tell mom I’ll be down in a minute, okay?”

“Okay!” she yelled, already running out of the room.

I shook my head and laughed, before walking into my bathroom. I quickly brushed my teeth and washed my face, before running downstairs, seeing my mom cooking breakfast in the kitchen.

“Morning, mom!” I said, catching her by surprise.

She turned and dropped the spatula in her hands, before running over to me. “Let me see it! Let me see it!” she gushed, wiping her hands on her apron. I laughed and held my left hand up to her, allowing her to inspect the ring. “Oh my goodness, Kaydence, it’s absolutely gorgeous!”

I nodded my head. “I know! I never expected anything this extravagant.”

She pulled me into her arms, giving me a bone-crushing hug. “My baby is getting married!”

I laughed. “It won’t be for awhile, mama. Don’t go crying just yet!”

She smiled and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “You’ve come so far, baby. I just want you to know that I couldn’t be any more proud of you, than I am right now. You’ve gotten your life on track, and you’ve found a good boy who genuinely loves you.”

I smiled. “I love you, ma.”

“I love you, too, Kaydence.” She turned and pointed to the backdoor. “Tim’s out there giving John a talk.”

I rolled my eyes, laughing. “Poor John.”

She laughed. “He’ll be fine.” She walked over to the stove, flipping the golden-colored pancakes. “Now, how many pancakes would you like, honey?”

_________________________________________________________________

The day seemed to moving too fast for my liking, because before I knew it, John and I were sitting in his car, on the way to his house. I could feel my stomach doing flip-flops with every turn that brought us closer to his parents.

“Kaydence, you’re freaking out over nothing, babe. Just relax,” he told me.

I let out a breath of air, before turning to him. “That’s easy for you to say! What if they don’t like me, John?”

He chuckled. “They’re going to love you, because it’s impossible not to.” He made another turn, leading into a suburb. “How do you think I felt meeting your parents?”

I scoffed. “That’s different. You were friends with Jeremiah when you met them; you didn’t even know me then.”

“Okay, okay, you have a point; but still, when I had to see them after I asked you out, it was like meeting them for the first time all over again.” He pulled into a driveway, and that’s when the sweat beads began forming on my brows and forehead.

“John, I’m serious … What – what if they look at me and instantly become disgusted? Surely your parents wouldn’t want you going out with a sick girl,” I gushed.

He killed the engine and turned to me, giving me a hard look. “Kaydence, just trust me! My parents aren’t like that, I promise.” He grabbed my hand and placed a kiss on the back of it. “And, I don’t ever want to hear you talk about yourself like that again, okay?” It was a question, but I could tell that he meant it as a statement.

I nodded my head, suddenly feeling my nerves relax. “Okay …”

“Good, now, let’s go inside, Mrs. O’Callaghan.”

I laughed and got out of the car. I pulled the sleeves of my grey shrug higher, and waited behind John, as he opened the door.

“Just breathe, baby,” he told me.

I grabbed onto his hand as we walked inside, and instantly, the aroma of apple pie filled my nostrils, reminding me of my own home. I felt myself relax slightly, until John pulled me into the kitchen, where both his mother and father were standing over the stove. He cleared his throat, and they both turned around, their eyes wide.

“John!” his mother shouted, running towards him and wrapping her thin arms around him. His father casually walked over and pulled John into a hug, after his mother had let go. She looked at me with a look of adoration in her eyes. “It’s so good to meet you, Kaydence. John talks non-stop about you!” she said, a hint of laughter in her voice. She pulled me into a hug as well, and after getting over the initial shock, I hugged her back.

“It’s good to meet you, too, Mrs. O’Callaghan,” I told her.

She laughed and pulled away. “Call me Mary, honey.”

I nodded my head and smiled, before John’s father turned to me. “I’m glad you could join us for dinner, Kaydence. It’s long overdue,” he told me, pulling me into a hug as well.

I smiled. “Thank you for inviting me.”

“John, honey, Ross and Shane are in the den, doing Lord knows what. Go introduce them to Kaydence.”

John groaned, grabbing a cookie off the counter. “Do I have to?”

She laughed and nodded her head, grabbing the cookie from his hand. “Yes, you have to.”

He pouted. “Fine, let’s go meet the losers I call my brothers.”

John's dad. laughed. “Don’t be mean now, JohnO.” He grabbed the cookie from Mary, who gave him a look.

“Like father, like son,” she said.

I laughed, before John pulled me out of the room. “I like your parents.”

He chuckled. “They like you, too. I told you there was nothing to worry about.” I smiled as he led us down a small set of stairs, into what looked like a less formal version of a living room. “Ross! Shane!” he yelled, causing a boy with the same dirty blonde hair as him, to turn around.

“JohnO!” the boy said, jumping up from the recliner he was sitting on, to run over to us.

John laughed and hugged him. “How’s it going Shane?”

“Hungry. Mom’s taking forever to cook,” he complained.

“Boo!” a voice from behind me said, causing me to jump. “Sorry about that,” the boy laughed.

John smacked his lips together. “Ross, don’t be an ass to your future sister-in-law.”

‘Ross’ looked at me, his familiar green eyes meeting mine. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Kaydence. I can see why JohnO was in such a rush to get you off the market.”

John smacked the back of his head, as we all laughed. “You’re an idiot.”

“I learn from the best.”

John rolled his eyes and looked at me. “Well, you’ve met all of my family now. Clearly, you can see why I’ve waited so long to introduce you.”

I laughed and slapped him playfully on his shoulder. “Well, you’re a part of this family, babe. That says something about you.”

He smirked. “And soon you’ll be a part of it, too. Does that say something about you?”

I pressed my lips together for a moment, pretending to think, before shaking my head. “Nope. Only that I fell for a smooth talker.” He pouted, and I laughed. “I’m kidding, babe.” He gave me a quick peck on the lips, earning gagging sounds from both Ross and Shane.

“Keep it G rated, love birds. Save all the NC-17 for the wedding night,” Ross joked.

I smiled and began to wonder why I had been so nervous about meeting John’s family; they, in their own ways, were all just like him. Likewise, I could see myself loving them, just as I loved John.