Anna.
Upon waking up, I felt odd. Not in a physical way… well, yes, it could be considered physical because either I grew, or Henry shrank.
I slowly opened my eyes, and Jeremy was on my shoulder, asleep and drooling on my blouse. Confused, I looked around for my guy. He was leaning on the table with a cup of coffee, watching us. Seeing me awake, he smiled and raised an eyebrow; when he has that expression, I know he’s going to say something to tease me or start acting like the arrogant guy he is.
“Both of you drool in your sleep,” he murmured in a playful tone. ‘Teasing’ won this round.
“I don’t drool,” I said still sleepy. I gently took the back of Jeremy’s head and held it a bit higher on my shoulder, to be able to free my arm from his body. I moved slowly from the sofa to avoid waking him up and approached the kitchen to get some water.
“Yes, you do,” he replied close to my ear, and my skin completely tingled.
“No.”
“Yeah.”
Well, yes, maybe I drool a little, but it’s not very endearing for him to tell me that. I stepped away from him and grabbed a glass, turned on the tap, filled the glass with water, and took a large sip. I could feel Henry behind me, so I turned around to look him up and down as always; I needed my morning gaze for God’s sake.
Like every morning, he didn’t have a shirt on, and his hair fell over the front of his shoulder. I love his long hair too much. One side of his loose pants hung from his hip, revealing the V of the lower part of his belly button. I reluctantly returned my gaze to his eyes and also to our main topic, my drooling.
“If I weren’t half asleep…” I tried to make it sound like a threat, but I couldn’t help the corner of my lip lifting when I saw his amused expression.
“Would you kiss me and tell me how much you adore me? I know you would.” He approached me and took hold of my hips to draw me closer to his.
“Imbecile,” I said, kissing his cheek.
“The best,” he said, smiling. I touched his lower lip and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips.
“Now… Explain to me what happened, because Jeremy is not the type of kid who forgets everything in a couple of hours,” I asked as I sat in the living room chair.
“I talked to him,” he said simply, crouching down to be at my eye level.
“About…?”
“Everything. How we met, why I left, and that I’m his father. I promised never to leave his side again, and yours too. You know, the truth.”
I nodded and looked at my son still asleep on the sofa.
“He’s not angry with you,” Henry tried to reassure me and caressed my cheek.
“Really?”
“No, beautiful. In fact, last night, he was calling you like crazy because he didn’t want to talk to me.”
I thought he would be more angry with me than with him. I was the one who lied to him about his father. But maybe he’s not conscious enough to understand it or just doesn’t want to.
“There was also a brief talk about you and me,” Henry quickly said, pulling me out of my thoughts. “Well, Jeremy is quite interested in the topic of us getting married. What do you think?”
His questioning, hopeful, and nervous expression told me that it was some sort of proposal from him… Although a Henry-style proposal.
“I’ve been living with you for less than a week, don’t rush,” I said, laughing. Of course, I would marry him, but it’s still too soon.
“Ouch, that hurt,” he whispered, and I saw him genuinely hurt. It wasn’t my intention.
“Henry…”
“No, listen to me. I’m not saying today or tomorrow, but I want to marry you,” he said more determinedly and started to stand up.
“Henry, listen…”
“No, wait for me.” He rushed to the bedroom; I heard him rummaging around and returned to the living room with a small blue velvet box… damn.
“What is that?” I don’t know how my voice came out at this point to say that. I need more water.
“I bought this five years ago, a few days after we argued about the morning-after pill, remember? ” I nodded, still stunned by what he had in his hand. He started to stand in front of me, and I prayed to God that he wouldn’t kneel… But as God never listens to me, Henry knelt in front of me. “Jeremy told me the other idiot proposed to you in a restaurant, and for a moment, I thought about taking you to the damn Eiffel Tower. But can you believe I couldn’t wait a damn second longer without asking you? I couldn’t wait any longer, and I wondered why I didn’t propose to you earlier. I’ve been thinking all night, and I know I want you in my life for eternity. You are what I want today and always. I told you once, and I’ll say it again: you are mine by eternal right. I never believed in stupid marriage, but you are the exception to all that. You are my exception, and you always were. When I kissed you, you were my exception. When we made love for the first time, you were my exception. When I told you I love you for the first time, you were my greatest and perfect exception. Yes, we’re crazy, we fight, but I love you, and I do it unconditionally, always will. You came into my life and gave it meaning, you illuminated my path. Is nothing eternal? That’s a damn lie. We are damn eternal”
I started to cry, and these weren’t the tears I shed the day Dave proposed to me. Those tears were of anguish. These are tears of happiness. Happiness for every word of his that reached my soul and is sweeping away my breath, and I’m in a damn heartbeat.
” The crucial part of this is just these three words… ‘Will you marry me?’ ” he asked and opened the blue box. In it was a very nice and modest ring, but what I saw the least was the damn ring, but rather the guy who was red with nerves, and I could almost see his teary eyes.
“Say yes,” Henry and I looked at the kid who was sitting on the couch, smiling from ear to ear, moving his little legs back and forth.
“Listen to the kid. He knows what he’s talking about,” he said, winking at me.
“We’re eternal, huh?” I said in a whisper and placed both hands on each cheek of the guy kneeling in front of me. “Who could tell you no after that? Yes, I want to marry you.”
I covered my face due to damn nerves, and he lifted me by the waist to hug me. I put my arms around his neck and pulled him closer to me.
“Are you trying to kill me? How can you not answer me for so long?” he said in my ear.
“The suspense, my love,” I replied, smiling with my chest full of emotions that I can’t describe with words.
He looked into my eyes still holding my waist, and with one hand, he caressed my cheek. “I love you, Ann.”
Before I could respond, he was already fiercely kissing me on the lips. I reciprocated the kiss, and our tongues intertwined in a deep kiss that would lead to something that would involve the bedroom, but…
“Gross,” we broke the kiss and looked at the kid who had his eyes covered and his tongue out. “His mouth is full of drool. It’s disgusting.”
Henry and I rolled our eyes and continued kissing a bit more. I feel like I’m in a dream, and I’m afraid of waking up if it is one…