I turn to her and take her hands in mine.
“Nando?” she asks.
“Ash, I want you to know that the way I feel about you isn’t something I ever thought was possible,” I say, taking a breath. “I love you, truly and deeply. I know now that I spent my life alone because I was waiting to meet you. I’m not willing to waste a single moment now that I have you. Our life together begins now, and I promise you that it will be everything you deserve and more.”
I pause and drop down on one knee even as I reach inside my jacket pocket for the box hidden there.
“Oh, my god,” Ashley says, covering her mouth with her hand. There are tears in her eyes.
I snap open the box to show her the ring – my mother’s ring, handed down to me in hopes for this very moment. I’m sad that she’s no longer alive to witness this, but the fact that she can be here in spirit is sweet at least. “Ashley, my love. Will you marry me?”
“Yes,” Ashley says, half-choking on tears. “Oh, god, Nando, yes!”
I jump to my feet and pull her into my arms, swinging her around in a circle as we both laugh in happiness. The tears of joy are streaming down her face as I finally set her down to kiss her full on the mouth, not even caring that Joe is watching us – because this, right now, is about us. Our love. The love we will share for the rest of our lives.
At last, Joe clears his throat, and I look up to see him watching the floor. “You’re sure you want this?” he asks gruffly – of Ashley, not of me.
“Yes, Dad,” she says, wiping fingers over her face to disperse the tears. “Yes. God, I’m so happy. This is everything I want.”
Joe’s lower lip trembles, and he continues looking at the floor as he nods stiffly. “Then… I don’t see that I can stop you.”
I hold Ashley tight against me, kissing the top of her head. It sounds like Joe’s coming around. It won’t be immediate, and it could be years before he accepts us in full – but that’s fine because I will have the most important thing.
I will have Ashley, my beautiful wife – and with her by my side, I know that our future contains only the brightest possible happiness.
Epilogue
Fernando
I walk through the door, quickly discarding my briefcase and kicking off my shoes as the scent of my home fills my nose. Not the scent that I used to come home to, carefully selected and curated to give a certain sensation when I walked in.
After all, this is no longer the home of a bachelor.
No, the scent that hits me now is very different. It’s home cooking, floating out from the kitchen, tomatoes, and spices of some kind, perhaps chicken, making me salivate instantly. It smells delicious. I should expect no less, every day when I get home from work, Ashley is making the most remarkable food. After striking up a friendship with a few of my chefs, despite their prickly reputations, she’s picked up some fantastic tips and recipes for traditional Spanish dishes.
I’m a lucky man.
I start to walk down the hall, unbuttoning my jacket, but I only manage to shrug it off before a happy gurgling noise makes me forget the idea of putting it away and rush to the kitchen instead. After all, every time I see them, I can’t help but be overjoyed. My wife and our baby girl, Joanna, sitting in a high chair and clapping as she watches Ashley cook.
I rush over to kiss Joanna and let her take one of my fingers in her tiny grip, giggling as she tugs it up and down, before leaning in to kiss my wife as well. “It smells delicious,” I say.
“Thank you,” Ashley smiles. “It will be ready in a few minutes. How was work?”
“Oh, the same as always,” I say, making a funny face at Joanna. “Not as good as coming home. Yes, that’s right! Si, si!”
Joanna laughs and pulls on my finger until I lean down, so she can stick her finger up my nose and kick happily in her chair.
“Glad to hear it,” Ashley laughs. “Are you going to get changed?”
“No,” I say, blowing a raspberry on top of our daughter’s head until she almost cries with laughter. “If it’s only a few minutes, I’ll wait.” Really, I don’t want to miss a moment of this. My family – the most important people in the world. As much as I do still love my job, I’d give it all up in a minute to have them to myself, if we didn’t need money to survive.
Perhaps I should suggest moving to the mountains and living as hermits – though, I suppose it’s not a good place for schools.