When You Can't Sleep at Night

"So, how long were you and Erica together before you asked her to marry you?" I asked Jorel as we lay there just curled in one another's arms. He sighed, knowing how well I broke the cloud that was the afterglow of our love making. He let me go, laying on his back, and I sighed, staying away from him. He looked over to me, the blanket nearly up to my chin while his was halfway down his body.
"About a year or so, why?" he asked me, not looking at me.
"Just wondered." I said, letting it go. The damage was done now; he would let the seed of my question plant itself in his mind, growing until he did something about it.

I had Shayla's hand in my own as we walked down the way, trying to catch up to her father. Jorel had disappeared, running ahead of us, trying to get Shayla to follow him. She stayed with me though, and now we were searching for him. "Daddy!" she crooned throughout the parkway, which we had to ourselves. I searched the area, scanning for the tall, dark haired, tattooed man I knew and loved. He was nowhere to be seen, however, and as the seconds turned to minutes, I wondered where he had run off to. "Daddy!" Shayla exclaimed again, and ran from me, where she saw her father around the corner. For a moment, I was afraid, but he turned around and scooped her in his arms, kissing her cheeks.
"Don't do that, you scared me." I whispered to him once we got near. He laughed at me, putting Shayla down and letting her run ahead of us towards a flock of pigeons. They scattered, a few coming for her, and she ran towards the pair of us again as we laughed. Jorel called her over to him, bending on his knee to talk to her in whispers that I couldn't hear. She came up to me, staring up at me, motioning for me to meet her at her level. I stooped down, and she smiled at me, whispering something in my ear. "Daddy loves you." She said and I laughed, looking back at her. She motioned for me to listen again. "He wants you to marry him." She said, sounding sophisticated for her age. I looked over to her, standing up, when I realized that Jorel was on his knee. My heart started to beat faster than it had ever before in my life, my breath catching in my throat, my hands instinctively going for my face. Tears started to well in my eyes as Jorel reached in his pocket, a smile on his face, and pulled out a tiny velvet box. He opened it; his face lit up in a smile, and uttered those few words I thought I would never hear.
"Will you marry me?" he asked, it was so simple, and I started to laugh. He smiled, waiting, and I just nodded, not trusting my voice. He slid the ring on my finger; a gold band with a diamond set in the middle with lavender stones on each side, and lifted me off of my feet. He spun me around, kissing me with as much strength as he could, and put me down. I wouldn't let him go, keeping our lips locked, till Shayla came and interrupted us. Jorel leaned down, and as she started to speak, I couldn't stop smiling. This was it, this was happiness.

"I really hope you didn't feel pressured into doing this." I told Jorel as we sat together at his house. "I know I just asked about Erica a little bit ago, but it didn't matter. You don't have to marry me just because you feel obligated." I said to him and when I looked at him, he was staring at me. "What!?" I exclaimed, and he laughed at me.
"I love you with all my heart, dude, you really have no idea." He said and I laughed at his word choice.
"I love you, but I don't want you to feel pressured into marrying me." I said to him and he sighed, pulling me close to him. I nuzzled into his side, feeling content with him just holding me.
"Don't doubt what we have, okay?" he said to me and I looked up at him. He was looking ahead of us, to the television that wasn't on. "When I say I love you, I mean it. I want you to be the mother of my next child, I want you to be there with me when I'm old, grey, and fat, and I want to share the world with you." He confessed to me, and I smiled.
"Are you the Jorel Decker I know and love? Or some imposter who's supposed to be romantic?" I joked with him. He laughed, finally looking down to me, kissing me deeply.
"Regardless of if I'm an imposter or the real Jorel, I know I mean everything I just said, and he would too." He said a smirk on his face. "I can't wait to call you Mrs. Decker." He said to me after a few moments. I laughed, unable to contain it.
"Yeah, Jessica Lynn Decker has a nice ring to it." I said, my words dripping with sarcasm.
"You'll love it." He said to me, kissing me again, as I relished in the moment that was going to be the rest of my life.