Moment of Truth

Rose Propose バラ プロポーズ (Photo credit: T.Kiya)

So the moment of truth arrives!!!

It’s been crappy week and this day was starting to top it off!! Finding out our food stamps got cut, hours at work got cut, youngest son is being tortured by no sleep and slow doctors, oldest son is failing all his classes and rapidly dropping in good behavior, dad is falling deeper and deeper into depression, and mother lies to me again. The one thing my lady and I were looking forward to doing in all of this was about to come around and hopefully make it all better at least for the moment.

December 8^th was our first year together and what a great year it was!!! It marked the first time period that we both agreed to try this “lifestyle” we dreamed about with the person that made the butterflies in our stomach flutter at just the thought of conversation let alone seeing each other. Marked by a matching tattoo a year ago, this awesome trip to Florida was well worth the time spent worrying about everything and anything that could or would come about. Now a year later living together, paying bills together, spending holidays together, raising kids together, sleeping in the same wonderful pillow top mattress together, and finding more and more things in common together seems normal. It almost seems as though it was all meant to be. We act like this was destined to happen and should have happened a long time ago. Especially when we get talking about the past and realize we were always just a step away from each other growing up.

Well this wonderful day finally came around to celebrate our Anniversary! Granted we weren’t married, engaged, or solidly connected but it still meant something to us. So bright and early we take the family in two vehicles and go pick out a Christmas tree with the kids. We’ve never done this before, so a guessing game it was. When we all walked up to this certain tree, we knew it was the one perfect for our family!!! After a wonderful visit in the store as they were wrapping and loading the tree, we got to enjoy some natural homemade juice and cookies together walking away with 3 bottles. Tree was loaded and back home we went. Kids were all excited and more than willing to help all the while that they could.

The day continues on and everyone begins to ask about room we had rented for our occasion and we kept checking to find out if it would be ready. The hotel was under renovation and they weren’t sure whether the room would be complete on time or not. So after lots of time spent with the kids and working on the tree, the final call was made to find out we weren’t going to be able to get the room! Wow, total bummer!!! Well, I’ve said it before and I will say it again… “It wasn’t meant to be”. So we moved on with our plans and decided being home with the kids was a good thing and figured after they were done with dinner and chores, we could all look forward to decorating the tree. Hmmm… you know … you can’t exactly decorate a tree when you are sitting down playing video games. Guess who this was? Nope not the kids! Dad!!! Yes, dad is the Scrooge in the family and he refused to be a part of this whole “holiday” thing. So, of course more time was wasted waiting for him to get off the game and be a part of this. By the time he got off the game, Grams was too tired and sore to come back up to be a part of it either… wow… things were not going well! Of course this would be the last day me and my lady would have off together since we wanted to be a part of this as well. The debate begins!! Between the Scrooge, Grams, misbehaving kids, work schedules, and time… the tree was not getting decorated at this time!!!

So with some whining and arguing the kids were sent to bed with promises of another day, Scrooge didn’t seem to care either way, Grams was asleep before we knew it, and my lady and I were in heart-break over the thought it would all have to be done without us. I knew this was going to be a challenging Christmas, but I didn’t expect it to start the challenge so soon. Scrooge decided he wanted some Adult happy time after the kids went to be, so he sent us to the store for “the strongest thing they got”. LOL… what do you think goes well with sparkling grape juice? We asked ourselves this a few times while we were there. So after a few very wrong guesses…. Bacardi it was. Well, if he was getting something, Grams was getting something, we may as well get something too.

Back to the house, I don’t allow anything of this sort stored, drank, or shown in front of my kids period! So everything stayed in the car until they went to bed, which wasn’t long after we got back home. Once we busted our goodies out of the car, we all sat down to watch SAW of all movies… lol… Netflix gave us an attitude and we had seen all of our movies about a half a dozen times each. So, SAW it was! Well at this time, I decided our day was already very messed up and stressful and now that all children were down and we were at happy time… it was time to execute!!!

I pulled a ring out of my pocket that I had purchased months back deciding when to gift it to my lady. I quickly came up with a plan to surprise her with it before she caught me with it. I had dad hang on to it since I suck at lying and she would have caught me with it. I secretly grabbed it earlier before we went to pick a tree. I had planned on giving it to her at the tree place, but nothing seemed to be right. So then I was planning after the tree got decorated with everyone in the room. Well we know that didn’t work! Then I had this brilliant Idea to surprise her with it in a homemade box dad would make and give it to her at the hotel room…. Wow this just wasn’t my day!!!! So my heart pounded and I started shaking and sweating!!! I was so nervous in every way possible of what her reaction would be!! I already knew she didn’t believe in such a commitment in the past and her parents would be ill-gotten to anyone that attempted it!!! Boy was I in for a real treat with this one!!! I tried to bring myself to give it to her a couple of times, but ended up stalling so I finally threw the ring in my mouth quickly before she caught me with it.

You know when you try to do something on time and when you aren’t ready to, everything seems to fall into place perfectly!! Then when you get ready, it’s like all of a sudden something says, “This isn’t happening” no matter what you do? Well, that was me… I now had a ring in my mouth and had to talk and act like nothing was going on without getting caught. Well, movie time was here and when we sat down she began her munchies. When I looked over I noticed she put a bread stick in her mouth and knew I had to act quickly!!! In my rush as if my day wasn’t bad enough, I ended up pinching her lip when I pulled it out of her mouth before she could get started on it. When she yelled in pain and held her lip, I froze in doubt of myself what to do now. All or nothing right??? Well, on my knees I went and knelt in front of her.

As I went in for the kiss, I tried to place the ring on my tongue just right so it wouldn’t be so obvious. Then with no more hesitation, I kissed her and finally began the transfer… lol boy did I surprise her… I felt her jump and start to giggle as she finally accepted the surprise and when I pulled back… she held it in her mouth with anticipation and tears begun welling up in her eyes. Boy was I “awe struck” I almost lost my train of thought… heart pounding, hands shaking and sweating, knees now hurting on the hard wood floor, I gather my last bit of confidence and put my arms around her…. By this time she was taking the ring out of her mouth and completely speechless!!! This was my moment!!!

“A***** A** W*****, will you marry me?”

Completely shocked, awe-struck, breathless, and trying to hold back the tears with her cheeks turning rosy red… her response finally came after a few moments of silence…

“Of course!”

Wow!!!!! I did it!!!! I finally worked up the guts to follow my dream and passion!! I asked the love of my life to marry me!!! I wouldn’t have had it any other way!!! Even though our state isn’t one of the lucky ones to accept this engagement, I still felt like a million dollars to have the honor of taking the hand of a woman who never believed in such a commitment before me.

Well once she gathered herself and came down from her natural high, her eyes begged the question I was waiting for…

“Where did you have this hid?”

Instead the words that first came out were classic!!

“You sneaky little shit! You did it again!! Shocked the hell out of me!!!”

I smiled now waiting for the other question…

“So where did you have it hid?”

Which I followed with …

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

Now happily engaged and moving on to our next year together, the night followed with our happy time and the movie SAW. It may have started kind of messed up, but I have to say for everything else falling through… this Anniversary couldn’t have been more perfect!!!

Everything happens for a reason, I was raised this way. So with this in mind…

I knew in the end I followed my heart and worked with my instincts, I still can’t believe she said yes. The shock hasn’t settled yet for either of us I suppose, but many things are being realized every day with us. Now tomorrow will tell what our new wonder or challenge may be as we watch our kids grow and our lives become more intriguing with each new bill or law put into place. Not that any of that does matter either way…

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