“Yeah!”
“I have a question for you, baby, and I want you to answer honestly. Can you do that for me?”
“Okay.”
“How would you feel if Lara was around all the time?”
“You mean like live with us?”
“Yeah, sort of. You see, I really love Lara and I want to ask her to marry me. I just wanted to make sure that–”
“Stop the swing!” Clarissa shrieked frantically.
I grabbed hold of the chains and watched as Clarissa flailed her legs about, quickly coming to a full stop. She turned in her seat to look me in the eye.
“Are you saying Lara’s going to be my new mommy?” She interrogated me with a level of focus I’d never before seen.
“Well, your Mommy’s still your mommy. But in a way, yes. If I ask Lara to marry me and she says yes, she will technically be your step-mom.”
She hopped off the swing and planted her two feet into the gravel, little rocks crunching beneath her steps. Clarissa placed her hands on her hips and scrutinized me from head to toe.
“Will she make me brush my teeth?” she asked.
“Probably. You should be brushing your teeth regardless.”
“Will she tuck me in and read me stories?”
“If you ask nicely, I’m sure she’d be happy to.”
“One more question, Daddy.”
“What is it, baby?”
“Can I be the flower girl at the wedding?”
I cracked a wide smile and laughed. “Of course, you can.”
My daughter burst into a fit of laughter, throwing her hands up in the air as she danced in place. “Have you asked her yet? Can I ask her to marry you? When is she done school? Can we go pick her up? There’s an ice cream truck over there, can we go get ice cream?”
I nodded, too happy to say no. “Okay, baby. We’ll go get some ice cream. Lara isn’t done with exams until after five, but we can take her out to a nice restaurant later. How does that sound?”
“Are we going to McDonald’s?”
I laughed, “Maybe something a little nicer than McDonald’s. I was thinking a steakhouse downtown. You can wear that pretty pink dress of yours.”
Her eyes lit up with excitement. “Really? It’s so fancy!”
“Sure. It’s a special occasion, after all.”
“Is Lara going to get a ring?”
“She sure is,” I confirmed, reaching into the inside pocket of my jacket to pull out the little ring box I’d been carrying around for a week. I’d been meaning to pop the question every time I saw Lara, but I knew I needed to talk to Clarissa before doing anything. I opened the ring box and held it in the flat of my palm, showing it off to my daughter. She gazed at it, wide-eyed.
“Ooh,” she gasped. “It’s bigger than the one you gave Mommy.”
“It is, but you can’t tell Mommy that, okay?”
“If you buy me two scoops, I promise not to tell.”