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Before: She Said Yes


Nick

The next week went fast.

Knowing Chris was in Los Angeles, knowing we'd caught the app trick quick enough to head him off before he figured out we were in Nashville, it gave Ashley and I a peace of mind. Well that and the Glock, which slept on my night stand, shining in the moonlight that came in the window. We bought Zoey a new crib, which sat in our room so we were all safely together. I slept on the side of the bed closest to the door. If anyone was getting to either of those two girls, they were going to have to go through me first.

The day Jason called and said he was on his way to the hearing, Ashley and I took Zoey to Radnor State Park, a big beautiful wooded area with a two-mile long walking trail that encircled a big lake. There were ducks in the water, and we stood at a corner with Zoey in her stroller, pointing out the ducks to her. She stared as the ducks honked, a mother with a handful of ducklings and the father swimming ahead, protecting the family. I wondered if that duck had a Glock somewhere on his night stand. Ashley pointed to them, "Look Zozo," she said, crouched down beside the stroller, "Look at the duckies. Duckies say quack, quack," she said. Zoey cooed.

I watched as Ashley laughed and talked to Zoey. The sunlight moved through the trees, casting a greenish spotlight over the two of them. Zoey tossed pink giraffe out and Ashley leaned down to pick him up. When she did, something glinted by her chest. I tilted my head. "What's that?" I asked. I knelt, too, reached out, and cupped the charm on the end of her necklace, turning my hand so it lay across my palm.

It was the vial of beach sand, the word Miami Beach scrawled across the glass bottle in teal and hot pink. A teeny-weeny little seashell inside, mixed with the sand.

"You gave it to me," she said, "In the airport. Before the crash."

"I remember," I said. "I didn't think you still had it."

She laughed, "Of course I do. It's one of my favorite necklaces."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because you gave it to me," she replied with a shrug. I let the vial slip out of my hand. It fell back to her chest and she tucked it back under her shirt, close to her heart. She handed Zoey pink giraffe and stood up, walking around to the handle of Zoey's stroller. "Are you ready?" she asked.

I looked up at her. I was kneeling on the ground. She was standing in front of me. Zoey was clapping at the ducks. Those ducks who were grouped together, a momma and some babies, with their daddy keepin'em safe. I reached into my pocket. I looked up at Ashley, and I opened the box. I stared down at the ring, glinting in the sunlight, then I turned it. I held it up to her.

She stared down at it. At me. Her eyes were wide.

"If I have you," I said, "I'm ready for anything."

Ashley stared at me, breathless, as I pulled the ring up out of the box and held it up to her.

"Ashley... can we spend the rest of our lives together? Can you love me, even when I make you crazy, and I do stupid things? Can you stay with me? Forever? 'Cos that's really all I want in the whole world." I took a deep breath, "I dunno how to do this good, how to propose real pretty-like, like they do in movies and books and stuff. I just know that if I lost every other thing, every penny, every thing I own, even my own breath out of my lungs and my heart out of my chest, if I had you there for that last gasp of air I breathe... if I have you beside me every moment for the rest of eternity... I'll be happy. I just wanna keep you safe and make you happy. Everyday. Can I do that for you?"

Tears filled Ashley's eyes.

"Nick, yes."

I took her hand and slipped the ring onto her finger.

I stood up and she wrapped her arms around my shoulders, the tears escaping out of her eyes. She looked at the ring on her hand, and brought her hands up to clasp them around my jaw and cheeks. She pulled my face toward her and we kissed, deeply and urgently, our faces smooshing into eachother. Pink giraffe squeaked as he hit the cement outside of Zoey's stroller again. Ashley drew back slowly, staring into my eyes. A smile spread across her lips, the remainder of the tears glittered on her eyelashes. I reached up and softly stroked them away with my thumbs. "I love you, Ashley," I said.

"I love you, Nick," she replied.

I kissed her again, this time soft and quick. She bent down to pick up pink giraffe. I took my cell out of my pocket and took a picture of her hand as it wrapped around the giraffe's body to lift him up, the diamond glittering from her finger.

I posted the picture on Instagram. The caption read "She said yes."




Ashley

We were back in the car on the way home, Zoey asleep in the carseat in the back, and I was admiring my ring, when Nick's cell phone rang. He laid it on the nonslip pad on the dashboard, hit answer, hit speakerphone. "Go for Nick," he said.

"Nick, it's Jason."

"Hey buddy," Nick replied. He glanced over at me, smiled, and looked back at the road. He was pulling out onto I-65 headed south, headed home. "What's the word? How'd the hearing go?"

Jason replied, "Well I have good news and bad news."

"Okay, well hit me with it."

I stared at the way the ring threw reflections at the ceiling of the car, how they danced as the sunlight glittered through the trees that lined the highway. Shimmering.

"The annullment's complete," Jason said, "There's no more legal contract binding Ashley to Chris. It's like the marriage never happened. I, sir, have managed to turn back time."

I felt like the weight of the world had been lifted off my shoulders. "Oh God," I said, grinning. I looked at Nick, "Thank you Jason," I gasped out.

"Wooo!" Nick crowed. He honked the car horn with excitement.

"Well now hold on before you go celebrating red neck style there, Carter," Jason said. His voice darkened, "I haven't told you the bad news yet."

"What's the bad news?" I asked.

Jason sighed. "He wants custody of the baby."

"That's bullshit," Nick snapped. I stared at the phone. I couldn't even form words - not to reply to Jason, not to correct Nick's cuss, nothing. "There's no way in fluff he can get custody of Zoey!" he burst, "He doesn't even know her name! He's never been around her, he's being accused of abuse. No judge in hell is gonna grant him custody."

Jason took a deep breath, "Except that he's still trying to spin the tables Nick. Don't forget the suggestion is still out there that you are the abuser, that you two are lying about who inflicted those injuries on Ashley to keep you out of trouble. Don't forget that of the three of you, you're the only one who hasn't shown up at the hospital injured yet. He's got a somewhat substantial case. And considering the lawyer he sent in today --"

"Sent in?" I interrupted. "Wasn't Chris there?"

"No, he had a legal representitive, the same as you did."

"But he's in LA," I argued, "Why wouldn't he be there?"

"The legal rep said Chris chose not to attend because of the restraining order that you've got against him. He claimed they were unsure if you and Nick would be present and Chris wanted to respect your wishes to stay away."

Nick was gripping the wheel tight. "So what do we do?"

"I'm going to work on continuing to build your case, Nick, and we'll take the custody battle one step at a time. With a guy like Chris, it's only just so long before he takes a misstep and we have all the evidence we need to shut it down."

I looked back at Zoey, my heart in my throat. What if he did somehow get custody of her? What would we do? I couldn't even fathom the thought.

"Thanks for letting us know, Jason," Nick said. "Keep us updated."

"I will," Jason said, and he hung up.

I looked over at Nick. I could feel my heart beat in my ears my pressure had ridden so high. I felt terrified. "Nick," I said, "What would we do?"

"I don't know," Nick replied. "But I'll tell you what, he aint gonna get her, no matter what, so don't worry. If we have to run - if we have to move outta the country and change our names and hide for the rest of our damn lives in fucking Australia or something... I don't care, baby. I don't care. Chris is never gonna take her away from us. I promise."