Be a Man

My phone rang, and I reached for it groggily.

“What?” I answered tiredly. I glanced at my clock to see five thirty glaring at me. “You do know it’s five in the morning, right?”

“Five-thirty,” Austin replied over the phone, and I could just picture the grin on his face. “Are you up?”

I knew he was just teasing me. “Now I am.” I replied, sighing and sitting up. “What in the world did you think you had to wake me up at five-thirty A.M. for? You have a nightmare, or something?”

“Nah, just want to ask if you’ll go to a sort of brunch with me? At the Whitney’s French Cuisine branch that just opened?”

I laughed. “You woke me up for that? I love you and all, but seriously?”

“Yup.” was my reply. “We haven’t been there yet, and I want to see you all dressed up for the nice, fancy version of Whitney’s.”

“Don’t you always say how you’ve had almost as much of Whitney’s as you can stand from being a waiter that everyone flirted with at the branch on our college campus?” I remarked slyly.

“Hey! Don’t remind me! It’s summertime now, and everyone at this Whitney’s already knows I have you, and I really don‘t want to think about the college Whitney‘s until I have to go back!” I could picture the pout on his perfect lips.

“I’ll be there. Just tell me what time, and then let me get some more sleep, all right?”

“Oh, c’mon, pleaaa---wait, you will?!”

“That’s what I said, silly.”

“Oh, then I’ll pick you up at nine-thirty if I can get the ten o’clock reservation I’m hoping to get. It’s not that popular yet, so I’m hoping such short notice is okay, and if not I’m sure I can pull a few strings and at least get us in by eleven. I’ll call you if that’s the case and if so you might wanna eat something small to tide you over.”

He said all of this in a rush of excitement. He was as excited as a three year old would be if you took him or her into a candy shop, or a toy shop, or a combination of the two. I grinned to myself.

“Understood, sir,” I yawned, “Now I’m going to get some more sleep, all right?”

“Yes, m’lady!” Austin chirped. “See you then!”

“Bye,” I said softly.

“Buh-bye,” he replied. I waited for the soft, tell-tale click before I hung up.

There was that ungodly screeching sound that wrenched me out of my soft, warm bed on school mornings for my whole life. I groaned, then rolled out of bed. It was eight, and if I had to dress nicely, I’d need every ounce of time left until my date with Austin to get ready. He didn’t really have to pick me up, living right next door, but he insisted it was proper date protocol and must be obeyed.

It was the summer of our sophomore year of college, two years of our adult lives drained right out in school-related atmospheres. Austin and I hadn’t even had the normal fights that make people split up and get back together, or even some of the rough patches you always hear about. Needless to say, those two years had not been wasted at college.

I hopped in the shower, washing my hair as thoroughly as possible. Then I used my strawberry scented body wash, figuring it to be an acceptable accompaniment to the cherry red, knee-length dress I planned to wear. Go figure, me wearing a dress somewhere…willingly…with Austin. It’s new to you guys, right? After all, you’re probably still remembering me hating him, then my confusion where he was concerned, and then finally, my realization that I screamed to my mother.

And I do love him…that part wasn’t a lie, and even though it was accidentally yelled the night Thomas tried to take me on a date, I wouldn’t take it back for the world.

“Anna!” Mom called up the stairs as I finished blow-drying my hair. “Austin just called, he said that ‘ten o’clock is go!’, whatever that means!”

“Thanks, Mom!” I hollered back, then added, “Could you come up and help me?”

“With what?” she called, but I heard her treading on the stairs.

“Curling my hair,” I replied as she opened the door. I was already in the dress, sitting at my vanity with the curling iron heading up. Her mouth dropped open in surprise…this was the first time I’d ever actually dressed up on my own.

“You’re going on a date!” Mom gasped, and grinned. “Of course I’ll help, dear!”

I grinned at her and thanked her as she set to curling my hair.

“Lovely,” Mom said when we were all done with my hair and makeup and it was about time for Austin to come. “You look like a dream, dear.”

“Thanks, Mom,” I flushed, probably turning the cheeks that were dusted a light red with blush darker.

Her phone rang, and a little surprised she took it out and answered just as I glanced out the window to see Austin’s car.

“Oh, he’s here!” I said, and made for the door just as Mom said, “Oh, yes, I can do that!”

“Wait a minute, Anna!” Mom addressed me now, hanging up. “Let me fix your hair again. It looks a little messed up.”

“Mom, I’ll be late!”

“Anna, honey, a man will learn that he has to wait on a woman. It’s the price they all pay. Now hush up and let me help you look like an angel for your date, all right?”

I sighed, but also grinned. “All right, Ma, do your worst.”

I hadn’t called her that in a while, and she just grinned and shook her head. “You’re much too old to go playing cowgirl again and ride a toy horse, Anna,” she said finally, “so don’t even start. Not until you have to teach your own little girl how to do that, but I’m sure she can learn that on her own.”

“Mom! I don’t want to think about that just yet, thanks,” I laughed, flushed again. “I’d rather get through college before I have children, and I’d rather be married, you know.”

“Yes, well, that’s only proper,” Mom agreed, “but seriously, dear. No more toy horses for you.”

“No, Mom. I wasn’t intending on doing that.”

“Good.”

From downstairs, a call came, “Come on down, Anna, a handsome young man is waiting for you!”

“Dad,” I muttered under my breath, and Mom just laughed.

Mom made one last touch-up to my hair, and then we made our way to the door. I stopped to put on my heels, and grab my little handbag, and then I headed down. Mom was already at the bottom of the steps, and she’d already found her camera to take pictures. I rolled my eyes, but smiled at her as she begged me to stop at the top of the steps for her to snap one. Then I let my eyes roam down to the bottom of the steps, where Dad was waiting with Austin. Mom beckoned to Dad, to get him out of the picture, and snapped one I’m sure had both me and Austin in it.

Dad hadn’t been lying when he said there was a handsome young man waiting for me. I’d almost never seen Austin look better. His hair was still as windswept-looking as ever, but that’s what I loved about it. His eyes twinkled, and he looked at me with probably the same look as I was using on him. He was the perfect gentleman, even this early. What else could I expect of the infamous Austin Preston?

“You look amazing, Anna,” he said to me, not even caring that my parents were in the room as he said so. Some dads would go psycho-protective at this, but my parents had always trusted him completely. Especially where I was concerned.

“You’re not so bad yourself,” I replied, in the clichéd phrase I know is overused but I couldn’t resist it anyway because, hey, when you feel like you’re about to have an amazing day that you want to remember forever, what better way than to clump it with all of the clichés? You always remember clichés, and even if something doesn’t work you can always look back and say, “Oh, yeah, I had a cliché moment like that with [insert random name here].”

He grinned, as though he knew the thoughts that were running through my head as he held out his arm. I rolled my eyes for the second time and took his arm. Mom snapped her fifth or sixth picture at this point, but I ignored it and grinned at Austin.

Whitney’s French Cuisine. Fanciest French restaurant around. It was actually in town, unlike the Whitney’s Austin worked at. And this was a fancy place. I was sincerely surprised that Mom and Dad and Austin’s parents hadn’t dragged us all to a big dinner together. After all, the place was nearly overly fancy, with all the waiters and waitresses with French accents and whatnot. And, despite everything I ever hated about these fancy places, I rather liked just going out to brunch with Austin.

“How about this?” he asked, pointing at a platter.

“Mmm, crepes!” I agreed. “And they’re cute, too.”

It was a couple’s platter, obviously. The crepes were heart shaped, with strawberry and whipped cream garnishes, and a few other fruits, and it looked adorable. It came with a strawberry smoothie, with two straws in it. I didn’t mind in the least what I would have hated four years ago. I loved it.

When the waiter came to get our orders, Austin whispered something in his ear. I assumed that it was a tip. After all, it was Austin. I now knew him to give extra tips whenever and wherever he could - not to flaunt his wealth, but to spread it. He liked to donate to the homeless shelters and soup kitchens, too. We’d even volunteered with our college and went to New York and everything. It was huge.

I kind of realized that it wasn’t a tip he’d given when the food arrived.

Artfully written in cursive, in whipped cream with strawberry accents on our crepes, was a question. As Austin directed my attention to it, I didn’t notice him get out of his seat.

“ ‘Anna Thomas,
Will You Marry Me?’ ”[j/i]

There was an arrow pointing to my left, and I turned. Austin was there, kneeling, with a black velvet box containing a shining diamond ring in his hand. I felt my heart jump into my throat, and the one thing I clearly remember running through my mind was seriously, “OMG NO WAY!”

With the OMG, too. I really need to stop texting so much. It’s messing with my mind.

But then I realized what was happening and my breath caught, and then I yelled, “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!” and he laughed and put the ring on my finger and kissed my hand all gentlemanly-like. There was polite applause, and I flushed and looked around at all the other customers.

“I must have interrupted their meals,” I whispered. Austin burst into roaring laughter at interrupting the others’ meals being the one thing I was worried about. I had just had a diamond ring placed on my finger, and I was worried about interrupting someone’s meal.

“You’re amazing,” he said simply, breathlessly, when he calmed down. He was still on one knee and holding my left hand in his own. He kissed it again and stood. I jumped to my feet and threw my arms around his neck, planting a kiss on his cheek. He’s lucky I wasn’t wearing lipstick, and just a clear gloss. He laughed and picked me up to swing me around in a slow circle. “You’re absolutely fantastic, you know that, Anna?” he whispered this into my ear.

“I get an idea of it, yeah,” I replied, giggling softly.

After a few moments, we broke away and sat down to eat. There were still quite a few eyes on us, and an old cheerleader who was witnessing (the one who’d dumped her spaghetti in my hair Senior year, in fact) was glaring holes in the back of my head. I ignored her, and the rest of my brunch with my fiancé was amazing. We laughed and teased each other and shared our platter and smoothie and playfully fed each other bites.

When we got back to my house, Mom immediately saw the ring and asked to see it and gushed, and Dad just smiled and patted Austin on the shoulder and told him, “You really are a lucky man,” to which Austin grinningly replied, “Don’t I know it,” as he watched my mother and I talking about the ring, and a wedding.

Our wedding was on New Years, simply because it was about six months away from when Austin asked me, and it was still on our Christmas Break from college. Honeymooning would have to wait for a while, ‘til we were out of school, but neither of us would have it any other way. With college on our plates, we wouldn’t have near enough time for being a full-time parent, and we wanted the experience of being a mom and dad to be something we look back upon as kindly as we can and not as the weary point in our lives where we struggled with children while we struggled with graduating.

The feeling of finally marrying the man I had loved for three and a half years of my life was amazing. It was like walking on air, like floating back to earth on gilded golden wings. It felt like sleeping in a bed made of soft, fluffy clouds or rose petals. Like a dream, almost, except it was undeniably real, and amazingly comforting to know he was always there. If I needed to talk in the middle of the night, Austin would always be there for me. If I needed some soup while I was sick, he’d pull the cliché of bringing me some warm chicken noodle or tomato soup and feed it to me.

“Anna!”

“Yes, Professor Morris?” I asked my Professor, looking up from the squiggles and numbers and lines that was my mathematics. I felt like I was in a Harry Potter book, calling all of my teachers Professor. Some of the other students called them Mr. and Mrs., like usual, but I held an insane love for the feel that saying Professor gave me, so Professor it is for me.

“You have a call at the office. You may go take it.”

“All right. Thank you, Professor.”

I stood and walked to the office of the mathematics building. Once there, the secretary looked up and said, “Miss Anna Thomas?”

“It’s Preston now, Ma’am,” I said, feeling a surge of joy.

“Yes, you’re quite right. Your brother is on the phone, and he sounds quite excited. It’s right over there,” the secretary pointed to the phone laying off the hook just across the room. I said a polite thank you and went to it.

“Hey, Ian. It’s me,” I said when I picked up.

“Anna! Guess what?!” I heard, and he did seem excited.

“I don’t know, but I’m sure you’re about to tell me.” I laughed.

“You and Austin are an Aunt and Uncle again!!!”

“She was pregnant?!” I asked, slightly shocked. I hadn’t seen anything on the first of January, and it was only the middle of March! Can there be that much change?

Ian laughed. “Oh, no, no,” he said, “we adopted!”

“Wasn’t having two kids enough for you right now?” I laughed with him.

“Well, we weren’t ready to have another of our own but we did feel it was the right time for another child. We got a little more than we bargained for, because the one we were going to adopt had a twin brother, so we went ahead and adopted both.” He said this in a rush of excitement. “We just got a call today saying to be at the airport in two days - Thursday, you know - at noon.”

“The airport? Where’d you adopt them from, Japan?”

I was only joking, when he said, “Yes, actually! They’re named Tomomi and Kei, and they’re about two and a half years old. They lost their parents in a car accident and there was no other family that would take them, so we did! They’re sending a Japanese nanny over with them for the first few months to help us learn a few basic phrases and get the kids started on English, but other than that, you’re an Aunt again!!”

I laughed.

“That’s great. Which airport?”

“The one in your college town. That’s why I called now. Since it’s noon on Tuesday, I figured you might have the same classes on Thursday, and that you might be able to get out of this class to come meet them with us!”

“I’ll see if I can’t find something out, okay? I’ll call you later, I have to get back to class. You interrupted during my college calc, you know?”

“Oops. Sorry Anna! Talk to you later!”

“Yeah, bye bro,” I replied, still grinning, and we hung up.

“You sound excited,” the secretary said nosily, but I beamed.

“He adopted Japanese twins and he’s got to meet them at the airport on Thursday,” I said brightly, grinning. The secretary laughed.

I got back to my class, asked to borrow Austin for a minute, told him, and then we asked Professor Morris if we could get out for a while to go meet our new niece and nephew when they got off their flight. The professor grinned at us and said that of course we could, he had a Vietnamese cousin that he’d med the same way.

And I couldn’t help thinking that, with three new additions to our family in the last three and a half months - Austin, Tomomi, and Kei - that we were off to a fantastic start.

We’ve got a lifetime to go, and I’m sure it can only get better…

After all, I’ve finally got my man, and I’m not gonna let him go for anything.