five years later…
I bent down to examine it through the glass. It was beautiful but so were all the others. I nudged Olivia next to me.
“What do you think about this one?” I asked, hoping she could help me out with choosing something.
She examined it closely. “Like I said about everything you showed me, it’s really pretty.”
“That isn’t helping me to choose only one!”
“Julie, how am I supposed to know which one is perfect? Everyone has different tastes and what I like isn’t necessarily something that Ethan might like. You know him the best so you choose one.”
I sighed. “Fine, fine.” I looked at her hand to stare at her wedding ring glinting on her finger under the fluorescent lights.
“Hurry, we’ve been here for an hour now. I’m going to go sit down somewhere.”
“God, I’m sorry. Yeah, sit somewhere. I’ll make it quick and then we can leave.”
“Thank you.” She put a hand on her back and my eight months plus pregnant best friend dawdled over to a seat.
Okay, I had to make a choice. I looked at every piece again before finally settling on something I could picture Ethan wearing. I paid for it and I could say that it was worth the money spent.
“Okay, I’m done. Let’s go.”
“What did you choose?” Olivia asked as she stood up and we walked towards the exit.
I opened and showed it to her and she eyed it appraisingly and then nodded in satisfaction. ” Beautiful,” she commented. “When are you going to do it?”
“Tonight.”
“Wow you really can’t wait any longer, can you?”
“I waited for five years for this.” I reasoned. “I think it’s about time.”
“True. I’m happy for you.”
We arrived at the mansion and today was a special day. Everyone was gathered at the house for an impromptu family reunion but Ethan and I had to bail out sometime before dinner because today was even more special for us but Ethan didn’t know that.
Tristan saw us and jogged towards us. “How are the twins?” He asked Olivia and she rolled her eyes.
“I stepped out for a few hours, Tristan. I’m fine and so are they.” Ever since Olivia got pregnant again, he had been fiercely protective of both her and the twins growing in her. He believed that one of the twins was there first child which Olivia aborted returning back to them which wasn’t biologically possible but I guess believing that somewhat put them at ease.
Tristan looked relieved and he smiled brightly at me. “Hey, Julie. Picked out something you liked?”
I nodded.
“Good luck for today!” He said. “We’re going to hear some good news tomorrow.”
“Thank you.” I said. I went away to hide my purchase in my bag and Tristan escorted Olivia to a nearby couch.
The living room was abuzz with excitement and activity. Rebecca was trying to hold Antonio and Audrey’s two year old baby boy, Adrian. He was really cute and he didn’t cry much like how other babies normally did. That made him really likeable and Juliet who wasn’t really fond of babies adored him.
Rachael and Antonio were watching her and half paying attention to the cartoon playing on the TV.
I walked towards the kitchen where I could hear a ruckus. “Ethan, I swear to God if you don’t delete that video, I’m going to hack into your Instagram and post all the embarrassing photos I have of yours!”
“Fine. I’ll delete it!” It didn’t surprise me that he so easily conceded to Juliet’s demand because everyone knew she was an excellent programmer and an even excellent ethical hacker, well not so ethical when it came to Ethan.
“What was the video about?” I asked.
“Tristan said something funny. She was drinking milk and she choked or something like that happened and the milk came out from her nostrils. It was a funny sight.”
“Ethan!”
“What? You didn’t say anything about not telling anyone.”
I chuckled and went to kiss Ethan. He was cutting up apples into slices for everyone. He stopped to kiss me back.
Juliet made a face which clearly told us that she was disgusted. “Don’t ever do that in front of me. I do not like my sister kissing a trashcan.”
Ethan pulled away and regarded her with a smirk like he was waiting for something.
Precisely two seconds later my mom’s furious voice boomed in the kitchen.? “Juliet, behave yourself! Learn it from your little sisters.”
Juliet turned red. “MOM! I told you to never say that! That’s like the worst insult an elder sibling can get!”
“That’s why I say that.” Mom replied back. “And watch your tone. Learn something from your little sisters!” She said just to spite her some more.
Juliet groaned. “I don’t need to learn anything from them! You know what, I’m leaving. I’m going to spend my night with Colin. He’s clearly more fun to be around.” Juliet stormed off without a goodbye. Colin was her boyfriend. She met him at Julia’s high school when she was mistaken for Julia. He was two years younger than her but so far he was the only guy she had ever been in a serious relationship with.
My younger sister entered the kitchen, narrowly missing ramming into Juliet. “I’m going to have to teach her some manners.” She said, looking at her back as Juliet stomped away.
Julia sat in front of us and regarded us with hopeful eyes. “I can’t stay for the reunion.”
“We aren’t going to either.” Ethan said. Looked like everyone wanted to escape spending the night with family and relatives. It was understandable considering it was Valentine’s Day and it looked like my mom’s plan of forcing us to attend this reunion was going to fail.
“What are your plans for tonight?” I asked.
“I don’t have anything planned. I was so busy recording my new single lately. But Braxton told me he was taking me on a date today so I guess I’m not going to sit here getting bored.” She said as she stole an apple slice and Ethan gave her an unimpressed look.
Braxton Ford was her boyfriend whom she met when she ran away from her adoptive family. He was a singer in a boy band and they were going pretty strong for five years now.
“That’s good. Why did mom even arrange a reunion on Valentine’s day?” I groaned.
“Do you even think she knows today is Valentine’s Day?” Julia chuckled.
“Probably not. I’d be surprised if she knows what month it is right now.” I rolled my eyes at the thought.
She finished eating the slice and hopped off the chair. “Anyway I’m going to sneak out. Have fun you two.”
We said our goodbyes and then she disappeared out the kitchen. I stole an apple slice from the pile Ethan was cutting up for a fruit salad and leaned against the counter next to him so I was facing him with the small of my back touching the side of the countertop.
“So where are we going tonight?” Ethan asked as he fed me another slice after I finished with the first. I picked up another slice and fed him.
“Just a little private dinner where no one will disturb us.” I said and giggled when he attempted to bite my finger.
“Sounds just about what I want.”
He finished chopping the last apple and slid the tray away before grabbing my waist and sliding me towards him. The action caught me off guard but I wrapped my arms around his neck as his lips landed on mine. I pressed into him and he wrapped both his arms securely around my waist. Our lips turned hot against each other as we moved passionately.
“Ew!” Heather and Amelia’s voices reached us and I went to pull away but he followed and so our lips stayed connected for a few seconds more before he pulled back.
“Hi,” I said breathlessly as I turned towards them.
“Get a room that isn’t the kitchen,” Amelia said as she came and inspected the apples. “I have a sudden craving for fruit custard so I’m going to steal the apples for that.” She informed and Ethan shrugged.
“We’re going out,” I told her.
She gasped. “You’re skipping family reunion?!”
“You’d have done the same if you had a boyfriend.”
“You didn’t have to rub it in like that,” Amelia said, sad that she’s spending Valentines with her family. “Guess I’m staying single forever. I don’t get it. Why don’t boys like me? All my previous boyfriends didn’t last for long either.”
“Maybe it’s because you push them away even before they approach you.” I answered.
“Yes, but like I still want a boyfriend. Seriously, seeing everyone around me happily in their relationships for five years now except me is quite depressing.”
“I’m sure you’ll find a good man, Amelia.” I assured her.
“At least I have Heather who’s still single like me.” She turned and faced Heather with a bright smile.
“Should we date then so that we can both be in a relationship?” Heather joked.
“I’ll marry you if I don’t get a guy in the next three years. Will your offer still stand by then?”
“I’m not sure. But in case I’m dating someone at that time I’ll drop that girl for you.” Heather put an arm around her waist.
I smiled at their playful banter before calling our goodbyes.
I played a little with Rebecca and Adrian and made small talk with the adults present which included my parents, Ethan’s parents, Amelia and Tristan’s parents and Heather’s dad with his new wife. They complained that we were all leaving but we apologized saying that today really wasn’t a day for a family reunion.
I drove us to a quaint restaurant with outdoor seating in the back where we had plenty of privacy, exactly perfect for the night.
We ordered and the food was soon on our table. The restaurant and the tables were decorated in red hearts and we both thought it was quite romantic.
My hand subconsciously dug into my bag and closed around the object I bought today, it’s presence comforting and providing me with the confidence I needed.
Ethan excitedly chattered about the delicious food and how he had gotten much better at cooking over the years so much so that he could be a chef.
“You don’t ever have to worry about food your entire life because I’ll cook and feed you.”
“Now why will you do that when I’m a decent cook?”
“Fine then we can cook together. I’ll cook alone when you’re feeling too lazy to do anything, which is quite a lot of times.”
“Hey!”
Ethan chuckled. “Kidding. So how’s your work going?”
“Pretty good. I mean being a surgeon was my dream and it’s hectic and stressful but it’s worth it. I love my job.”
“I’m happy for you.”
We were finished with dinner and were waiting for dessert and I saw this as the perfect opportunity.
“Ethan,” I said, catching his attention. “We’ve been together for five years now and I can’t be anymore sure that I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” I watched him carefully, analyzing his reaction. “Sure, we’ve had our fair share of fights and bad times but every relationship goes through that and the thing that matters the most is that we’re still together.”
I got up and walked to his side of the table, the little box tightly clasped in my hand. He was looking up at me with happy eyes, probably knowing where this was going. I got down on one knee and presented the jewelry box, opening it with the other hand to reveal a ring.
“Ethan Noel Evans, will you marry me?”
My heart was beating fast because I was that nervous but I knew his answer even before he said it.
“Yes, Julie Kate Jenson, I’ll marry you.” Then before I could put the ring on his finger, he dug into his coat pocket.
“You beat me to it. I was going to ask you after dessert. Look.” He produced a box similar to mine and opened it to reveal an intricate ring.
He was about to put it on my finger but I stopped him. “Me first!” I quickly pulled the ring out and slid it onto his finger.
“Okay, jeez didn’t realize it was a competition,” He said and slid the ring on my finger after that.
I stood up and looked at my hand and had to say the ring suited me very well. Then it finally dawned on me. I was going to get married. I was going to walk down the aisle. I was going to have kids sometime in the near future.
Ethan stood up and engulfed me in a hug and I reciprocated, my eyes welling up with happy tears.
“I love you,” I murmured into his shirt.
“I love you too.”
I grabbed his face and our lips met. It was a sweet kiss. When we pulled back he wiped off my tears with his thumb.
We heard the soft sound of cutlery and bowls being placed and we looked back to see the waitress looking at us sheepishly. “Sorry to interrupt your moment. Uh… here’s dessert. Congratulations.” She scurried off quickly and we laughed at her expense.
We took our seats and started with our dessert. “So where, when and how you want our wedding to be?” Ethan jumped straight to the point.
“I don’t know. I’ve always loved beach weddings. Do you like beach weddings?”
“I wouldn’t mind. What about our honeymoon.”
“I’ve always wanted to go to Fiji! Can we go there for our honeymoon?”
“Sure, then after that to Santorini.” His eyes sparkled with excitement.
“Of course. I want to learn to surf and we can go snorkeling in Fiji. What will we do in Santorini?”
“The ancient ruins are something I want to see. You’re going to love there. Also, we can go hiking.”
“Just don’t fall down and sprain your ankle like that one time, five years ago.” I reminded him and chuckled at the memory.
“Hey, even if I did fall you’ll be there to catch me. If not, you’ll carry me, won’t you?”
“I did that five years ago! You don’t know this but I’ve been getting back pains ever since then.”
“You’re lying. I was barely one fifty pounds back then!”
“That’s still more than what my poor back can handle. I’m just telling you to watch your step and not
go monkeying around. You can be quite clumsy sometimes.”
“You’re telling me, a twenty nine year old to not go monkeying around? I obviously never do that.”
“With the way you act when you’re excited you might as well be twenty years young. Now are you done with your dessert? Let’s go to the cliff and stargaze!”
“I’m not even finished yet.”
I saw that he hadn’t even eaten much. After ten more minutes of waiting for him, I told him to hurry up to which he called me an impatient bean.
“I’m impatient? I waited for five years to propose you. If it were up to me, I would’ve proposed two years back,” I confessed.
“Why didn’t you?” He asked, genuinely curious.
“Because you said you had no plans of marrying before you turn twenty nine.”
“What?” He said, his forehead creasing in concentration to remember when exactly he said that. “When did I say that?”
“You remember that article about you and Heather when you were still fake dating? Someone asked you about your plans for marriage and you said you weren’t going to marry for at least five years. That’s why I waited for you for five years so that you’d be ready.”
It took him some time to finally remember it. “Oh that time.” Then he burst out laughing. “You actually waited for all that time just so I was ready for marriage? Julie, it was just something I said without thinking. I just didn’t want marriage rumors to spread. Heather and I dating was as far as I wanted that thing to go. If you would’ve proposed me back then, we would’ve been married for two years now.”
“Really? Why didn’t you tell me before?”
“What was I supposed to say? ‘Julie, you now have my permission to propose to me’? Hell no.”
“You’re right. Maybe it was also the fact that I wouldn’t have been ready for marriage. Now at twenty six, I feel like this is the right time.”
“No point in hurrying up or delaying it when we know we’ll always be together.” He shrugged.
That was true. We knew we were each other’s forever so it wouldn’t really matter when we get married.
He reached a hand over the table and entwined our fingers together. “I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”
I beamed at him. “And I with you.”
“I love you.” He said for the second time that evening.
“I love you too.”
I had to thank Juliet for her decision to run away seven years ago. It caused all good things to happen.
Getting kidnapped and mistaken for Juliet was probably the best thing that ever happened to me. I owed Juliet a lot for that. The way she was as a person was the reason Julia and I have a family right now. Not only did I meet my real parents because of it but also met the man I came to love.