[ - ]
Table of Contents [Report This]
Printer Chapter or Story Microsoft Word Chapter or Story
- Text Size +
Chapter 36

Claire blinked. Had he just said what she thought he said? Had he just said…

Marry him?

As the words sunk in, her mind began to race. Was he serious? Was he really asking her to marry him? For real? She wanted to ask, but she only stared, unable to find her voice at first. When she finally did, she uttered one single word, the only one that came to mind.

“Yes.”

Now Nick blinked. He stared at her for a moment, looking just like she had probably looked a moment ago. Then his face broke into a wavering smile, and his eyebrows lifted, carving creases across his forehead. “Yes?” he asked, his voice high, as if he could scarcely believe her reply.

She felt a slow smile spreading across her face as a fluttering sensation rose in her chest. “Yes!” she repeated. “Nick…”

“Claire…”

They both stopped and shook their heads, still staring at each other. Neither of them knew quite what to say. A million thoughts were still tumbling through Claire’s mind as adrenaline pumped through her veins, and the reality of the situation was still sinking in. Nick had just proposed to her… and she’d said yes. That meant…

“We’re engaged?” she said weakly, her voice sounding higher than usual too. Tears sprung to her eyes with the unexpected rush of emotion that hit her. Engaged… she was engaged!

Nick grinned and pulled her close to him, kissing her forehead. “We’re engaged,” he repeated in a whisper, bringing his head down so that their noses and foreheads touched. “I love you,” he murmured, lowering his lips to meet hers.

She kissed him back with fervor. “I love you too,” she whispered, her lips moving against his. She felt his hands caressing her cheeks, and they remained there even as he pulled back, cupping her face.

“I don’t have a ring,” he confessed. “This was… totally unplanned.” He offered her a sheepish smile.

“And totally unexpected,” she added with a grin. “That might win the award for most random proposal ever, Nick.”

He laughed. “Well, since we have no ring, how about a toast?” Turning away from her momentarily, he grabbed his beer can off the nightstand on his side of the bed and waited while she did the same. “To us,” he said seriously, holding out his can.

“To us,” she repeated, clinking her mostly-empty can against his. She burst out laughing as the beer sloshed against the aluminum on the inside of her can. This was the tackiest proposal ever – and she loved it. She was laughing too hard to take a drink, and so was he. As far as she remembered, neither of them ever did drink their toast; instead, they laughed till their stomachs hurt, set their beer cans aside, and finally collapsed against each other, out of breath.

The last thing Claire recalled before falling asleep was how wonderful she felt as she snuggled against Nick, warm from the heat of his body, tipsy from the alcohol in her system, and blissfully happy from the events of a night she would remember for the rest of her life.

***

I like the faces you make at me
When we’re lying in bed
They are always so beautiful
I like it when you tuck your body close to me
When we’re sleeping it’s all right

Dream your fears away
I’ll be here all day
Dry your eyes
Cause I’m here to spend
This moment in your arms again

The forecast calls for rain to take away the day
I guess we’ll just have to stay inside the room
I’ll bring your breakfast warm to wake you from your dream
As I lift your head upright

Dream your fears away
I’ll be here all day
Dry your eyes
Cause I’m here to spend
This moment in your arms again

- “Faces” by Josh Kelley


Nick awoke to the sound of rain pelting against the windows of his bedroom. Normally he hated rainy days, but that morning, he didn’t mind. He was warm and dry in his bed, and Claire was still nestled against him, her arm draped limply across his chest as she slept. Turning his head to look at her, he smiled. He’d gone to sleep slightly buzzed from all the beer he’d drunk, but the events of the night before were still crystal clear to him. Somehow, he had found it in him to propose to her. And she’d said yes. In an instant, his girlfriend of six months had become his fiancée.

His fiancée. Now that was weird. He’d never had one of those before. In fact, the only woman he’d even thought seriously about marrying was Leah, and as he reminded himself now, he’d been conned into that. He’d felt obligated to propose to Leah. He loved Claire. Funny though, he had always thought that proposing to someone would be one of the most nerve-wracking experiences of his life. And oddly enough… it wasn’t. He had felt totally comfortable. No stressing out over it, no rehearsing some big speech… he had just said it, and that’s all there was to it.

That’s because she’s the one, he thought, his heart fluttering. There was no doubt about it in his mind. Claire was it.

Dipping his chin slightly, he planted a soft kiss on the top of her head. He heard a rush of breath as she inhaled deeply and exhaled in a soft sigh, her head turning to the side as her body stirred. She lifted her head and rolled over so that she was stretched out on her stomach, facing him. “Morning,” she greeted him with a drowsy smile.

“Good morning,” he replied, reaching out to gently brush a lock of hair away from her eyes. “Sleep well?”

“Perfect. Is it raining?”

“Yeah, it is.”

“Mm… what time is it?”

Nick turned his head to check the clock, but it was hidden behind a wall of empty beer cans. “Dunno,” he answered. “Who cares? We don’t gotta be anywhere today, do we?”

“Nope.”

“We can stay in bed together all day if we want.”

She smiled at him and then lifted her left hand in front of her face, extending her fingers. She gazed at them for a moment and then dropped her hand, her eyes meeting his again. “Was this part of my dream, or did we really get engaged last night?”

Nick felt a grin tug on the corners of his mouth. “You weren’t dreaming. We got engaged last night.”

She giggled. “This is crazy! You’re my fiancée… god, that sounds so weird!”

“I know,” he laughed, remembering his identical thought earlier. “Wait till the guys hear… they’re never gonna believe it. Little Nicky… married??” He could hear Howie’s incredulous voice saying it now.

“Wait till I tell my parents… they’re gonna flip!”

Nick’s elation was momentarily curbed. “Flip??” he repeated worriedly.

“In a good way,” Claire added quickly. “I’m the only daughter… my mom is gonna be so excited to get to plan a wedding!”

Wedding… wow. That word made it all so real. It was really going to happen. Yesterday, all he could think about was wearing his leg for the first time in a month and taking Claire out for a nice sixth-month anniversary date. It had been less than eighteen hours since they’d been goofing off in that restaurant, and now, today, they were engaged. Yesterday seemed like a month ago, and last night felt more like last week. A total of three words exchanged between the two of them had changed everything.

It was, as she had said, crazy.

But in a good way.

A weird gurgling noise interrupted Nick’s thoughts, and he looked at Claire. “Was that you?”

“My stomach,” she giggled. “Wanna get up long enough to grab some breakfast?” She started to sit up, but he stretched his arm across her middle, holding her back.

“I’ll get it,” he said. “You lie here.” Easing her back against the pillows next to him, he rolled away from her and sat up on the edge of the bed.

“Shouldn’t it be the other way around?” she questioned, looking up at him in amusement. “I’m the woman, and you’re-“

“The gimp? Yeah, I know, but I can still bring you breakfast.”

Claire gave him a look. “I was going to say ‘incompetent in the kitchen,’ but okay.”

Nick snorted. “I’m incompetent in the kitchen? You should talk.” He winked, and she blushed, knowing he was right.

“Fine, you win. Make me breakfast.”

He nodded. “I will.” He stood up and put on his artificial leg, then shambled out to the kitchen. He opened the fridge, then all the cupboards, trying to decide what to make. He assembled the ingredients for French toast, and while it was baking, he poked through the various kinds of cereal in one of the cupboards. He finally pulled down a box of Cracklin’ Oat Bran and inspected it for a moment, wondering when on Earth he’d bought that (must have been a Claire purchase, he decided), before setting it down on the counter. He smiled briefly in satisfaction and went to check on the French toast.

Half an hour later, he walked back into the bedroom, carrying a tray with two plates of French toast and two glasses of juice. He set the tray down across Claire’s lap and got back into bed beside her, stretching his legs out on top of the covers.

“Aww, Nick, you’re such a sweetheart… believe it or not, this looks great,” said Claire, smiling down at the breakfast in front of her. She picked up the small glass of orange juice and took a sip, then started cutting her French toast.

“Try the egg,” said Nick, pointing to the hard-boiled egg he’d placed carefully in the corner of her plate.

She looked over at him suspiciously. “Why?”

Nick shrugged. “I know you like eggs?” She narrowed her eyes at him, but shrugged and reached for the egg. “Careful,” Nick blurted as she touched it, causing her to look over at him again.

“Nick… what did you do to the egg?” she asked in a patronizing voice, sounding like a mother who had just caught her little boy with his hand in the cookie jar. “It has to be hard-boiled… you took the shell off,” she observed, giving the egg a poke. The white jiggled against her fingertip.

Nick chuckled. “What, did you think I would give you a raw one and wait for you to crack it and have it run everywhere?”

“Yes,” she smirked.

He stuck his tongue out at her. “Just open it.”

“Open it?”

“I mean, eat it… just eat it.”

Narrowing her eyes again, she gave him another mystified look, but obediently reached for the egg again. She picked it up carefully and brought it closer to inspect. Seeing the crack in the white where he had so carefully cut around the middle, she gingerly pulled the top of the egg up. It swung back like a door on a hinge and tore away from its bottom, landing with a plop on her tray. She looked down at it and giggled. Nick smiled, then looked back at the bottom half of the egg in her hand, waiting for her to notice…

A second later, she did. She gasped at first, and then she burst out laughing. “Nick!” she cried breathlessly, laughing uncontrollably. Nick only smiled sheepishly and admired his own creativity. He’d sliced the egg three-quarters of the way through its middle, hollowed out the powdery yellow-gray yolk, and in its place, set a single piece of Cracklin’ Oat Bran. As her laughter died, Claire plucked the square-shaped cereal loop out of its egg encasement and held it up. It sort of resembled a ring, only thick and square-ish… and made of bran… But she got the point. Smiling, she set down the bottom of the egg “box” and slipped the cereal onto the ring finger of her left hand. It only went halfway before getting stuck, and she giggled again.

“Sorry,” Nick said, offering her a shrug.

“No… no, it’s… it’s perfect,” she replied, grinning over at him. “You are so cute!”

He flashed her a toothy Crest smile. “Nah, I’m just cheesy. I wanted you to have a ring.”

“And now I do. And what a beautiful, crackling, oat-branny ring it is.” She held her left hand up and turned it this way and that, as if the ring were sparkling in the light.

“Just wait till you get your real ring. I promise, it’ll be even more beautiful,” Nick vowed.

She smiled over at him. “And when will that be?”

“Today, if you want. I know a great jeweler in town. We can go pay him a visit later if you want to pick it out.”

She nodded. “That sounds great.”

“Good,” he smiled. “Now dig in, my Oat Bran Queen. Your French toast is getting cold.” Claire giggled and stabbed her fork into a piece of French toast, raising the powdered bread to her lips. “How is it?” he asked, as she swallowed.

“Quite tasty, actually. You were right; you’re not incompetent in the kitchen.”

“Like you ever had a doubt,” Nick replied with a smirk and took a bite himself. “Hey, not bad. Our score for the morning – Carter, 2… Kitchen, zip.”

Claire giggled and shook her head. “Cute, Carter… so cute…”

Watching as she looked down at the cereal ring jammed halfway onto her finger again, Nick just smiled. A low roll of thunder sounded in the distance, and the pattering of rain against the window was relentless, yet his mood could hardly be dampened. As far as he was concerned, the storm was finally over, and the sun was starting to shine again.


I’ve got sunshine on a cloudy day
When it’s cold outside, I’ve got the month of May
I guess you say, what can make me feel this way?
My girl, talking ‘bout my girl
My girl

I’ve got so much honey, the bees envy me
I’ve got a sweeter song than the birds in the trees
Well, I guess you say, What can make me feel this way?
My girl, talking ‘bout my girl
My girl

I don’t need no money, fortune or fame
I’ve got all the riches, baby, one man can claim
Well, I guess you say, what can make me feel this way?
My girl, talking ‘bout my girl
My girl

I’ve got sunshine on a cloudy day with my girl
I’ve even got the month of May with my girl…

- “My Girl” by The Temptations


***