Live, Laugh, Love

“Did you seriously pack these?” I asked, grinning.

I held up a pair of his favorite jeans, a huge cut in the knee, and now there was one in the crotch.

“Hey!” he grabbed them out of my hands. “These are my comfort jeans.”

I shook my head. “You’re such a woman.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes.” I smiled as he picked me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist. “Yes, you are.”

We stayed like this for a few moments, just looking into each other’s eyes. “You are so beautiful.” He whispered, touching his lips to my forehead.

I blushed again. “I wish I could say the same.” I said playfully, climbing out of his arms and grabbing the jeans. “I’m throwing these out. You can’t wear them anywhere.” I began to walk out of the room when he stopped me.

“Fine. At least check in the pockets to make sure there’s no money or anything in there.”

I grinned. Ha ha. I won. “Ok.” I said, checking in the right pocket. Nothing.

But when I reached into the left pocket, I felt something hard and square. “What the heck….?” I started then I gasped.

It was a little black satin box. A ring box, I recognized. “Rob, what is th-?”

I turned around to see him in front of me, kneeled down on one knee. “Rachael Isabelle Banes…” he began.

“Oh my god.” I said, my eyes filling with tears.

He took the box out of my hands, opening it so I could see what was inside. There, nestled into the silk was a beautiful diamond ring, its faces sparkling and shining in the light.

“From the moment I met you,” he began, his voice trembling. “I knew you were the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I promise to love you forever.” He took the ring out of the box and held it in his right hand.

I was balling by now, tears of joy running down my cheeks.

“Will you marry me?” he whispered.

I was incapable of speech for a few moments. There was a lot of things I could say; some completely and utterly dumb and romantic. So, instead of embarrassing myself, I simply whispered, “Yes. A thousand times yes!”

He smiled, placing the ring on the fourth finger of my left hand. He stood up, and I embraced him tightly. He was teary-eyed now, too.

“I love you, Robert.” I whispered into his ear, my voice ringing with sincerity.

“I love you, too, baby.” He sighed, stroking my hair.

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For a few hours after he proposed, I found myself constantly looking down at my finger.

My ring, my promise of love to him. It didn’t look bad, sitting there. My hand felt better for some reason; maybe it was all in my head.

I loved Robert. That much was true. With every inch of my core, every cell of my being I lived for that man. Without him, there was no point in even getting out of bed in the morning. Maybe that was why it was so easy to agree to promise to spend the rest of my life with him. I was planning on doing that anyway; why not seal the deal with a ring?

The first person I called was my mom. “I’M ENGAGED!” I yelled before she got done saying Hello.

“OH, HONEY THAT IS SO FANTASTIC!” she was squealing, but it didn’t sound like she was surprised.

“Did you know?” I asked, miffed.

“Of course. Robert was very traditional, you know. He asked our permission first and everything. I was so happy!”

I smiled over at Rob. He was so cute. It was just like old times, him asking my parents. I mouthed an ‘I love you’ to him and he winked. I giggled.

“So, when do you think you two will tie the knot?” My mom asked.

I sighed. “I have no idea. I hope it’s soon, though. I can’t wait to tell the cast! And Tom! Oh, Tom is going to be so happy!”

Rob cleared his throat to get my attention. He grinned at me.

“You already told Tom, didn’t you?” I asked.

He nodded his head. “I had to get his permission, too.”

“You are such a cheater! Now who can I tell?”

“The cast.” My mom answered.

I sighed. “Well, mom, I have to go. Rob and I are going to go out to dinner.”

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We ended up at the little restaurant Rob had taken me to on our first date. (See chapter 2)

I smiled, remembering. “Do you know that this was the place you first told me you thought I was beautiful?”

He grinned, holding my hand across the table. He fingered my ring absently before responding. “Yes, I remember. You were absolutely the most beautiful creature I had ever beheld. I didn’t know what was wrong with me. You made me so nervous.”

I smiled. “Was that a good thing?”

“Yes.” He said, triumphant. “That was a very good thing. And I later found that the nervous feeling was love.” He grinned.

“Do you think our love is strong enough to break through walls?” I asked, playing.

“I think our love can do whatever we want it to.” He leaned over and kissed my cheek, making me blush lightly.

After we were done eating, Rob and I sat and talked. And talked. We always did that; it was how we got to know each other.

When I sit and think about it, I have grown a lot in the last year or so.

Last year, I was a young model without a care in the world. My life was so easy. Then Robert came along. I didn’t even know something was missing until he came and filled the gap. He was my other half. I felt more natural now, better. I was looking forward to spending the rest of my life with this man.