Chapter 256

#Chapter 256 – The Laser I frown at Victor as he opens his bedside drawer, half my attention on Alvin reaching out to pull Archie off of Ian and give the dog a snuggle. “Why do you want a mint?” I ask, turning back to my kids. “You just brushed your teeth.”

“Sometimes, you just want a mint,” Victor murmurs, and I turn back to him, confused. And then I see the little smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth. Frowning a little – not upset, just curious – I watch him, giving him my full attention now.

And my mouth falls open when he draws, from the very back of the drawer, a little black velvet box.

I gasp aloud, going very still.

The boys react immediately to my noise and my stillness, the wolves in them instantly alert to the change. Almost at once, my twins turn to me and then to Victor, watching carefully.

“Evelyn,” Victor says, palming the box and coming to sit next to me on the bed. I go a little pale, my hands shooting up to my mouth to cover it. I watch him with wide eyes – completely surprised but also utterly happy. If this is what I think it is…

“Evelyn,” he says again, laughing a little and reaching out to touch my wrists, to pull them away from my face. I can hear his voice waiver slightly, as if he’s anxious. But he can’t possibly be…

“Papa,” Ian whispers, interested and perhaps a little confused.

“Shhh!” Alvin interrupts, reaching over to cover Ian’s mouth with his hand, muffling his interruptions.

“But!” Ian cries, his words garbled behind Alvin’s hand. Victor presses on, ignoring them but unbothered. He doesn’t mind, really, I can tell – we both know it wouldn’t be the same without the boys here, and it wouldn’t be an event with the boys if they didn’t interject. I want them to be part of it.

“I had plans to do this another way,” Victor continues. “Lots of different ways – but I heard you, last time, when you said that you wanted me to ask you this question in a moment that felt…like it was totally ours. And there is no moment that feels more truly ‘us’ than one filled with the sound of your laugher, and the comfort of our home,” he looks at the boys then as well, and I can see tears limning his eyes, “and our boys doing something…completely bizarre.”

I laugh at this, tearing my eyes from Victor’s face to look at my boys, who are looking wide-eyed at the two of us. Victor brings me back to him, though, by taking a deep breath.

“Evelyn, I think I gave you my heart a long time ago – maybe even before I realized that I did. And since you’ve come back into my life, I’ve finally felt whole. Not whole again, either – I think I’ve never been whole without you. The nearness of you is the completion that I’ve been looking for my entire life.

I never want to be separated from you, ever again, not even for a minute.”

I quirk my eyebrow a little at this and he huffs a little nervous laugh.

“Well,” he corrects, smiling a little. “Maybe for a couple of minutes here and there. But otherwise, all I want for the rest of my life is to be by your side.”

I feel the tears smart at my eyes as Victor says the words that echo in my heart every day. He is my heart made flesh, and every atom in me hums to be with him. This is a truth that echoes through me, down to my bones.

“And so,” Victor says, opening his fist and displaying that little box again. I feel my stomach twist in anticipation and excitement. “Evelyn, my love,”

“Um…” says Alvin, a little hesitant.

“Dad…” Ian chimes in at the same time. Victor ignores them.

“Will you…” Victor begins to crack the box and my eyes focus on the dark edge of it, but I can’t help, for a moment, glancing at the boys, who are suddenly tense with worry. Victor opens the box completely, giving me a sweet anxious smile, his eyes fixed on mine, clearly hoping that I’ll like what I see inside and eager to see my response.

“Um…” I say, looking at the empty velvet pillow inside the box. “Victor, baby…” I can’t help the little laugh that bubbles out of me.

“What?” Victor asks, blinking. Then he looks down at the vacant box. “Oh my god,” he murmurs, looking all around him, as if the ring might have fallen out or something. “Oh my god,” he says again, more panicked this time.

“Dadddd,” Ian whines, apology already in his voice. Alvin sidles closer to his brother, his eyes wide with anxiety.

Victor’s eyes snap directly to the twins. “What did you do?”

“It’s not bad!” Alvin whispers, urgent. “We’re sorry!”

“We neeeeeeded it,” Ian whines, pouting, not wanting to be in trouble but knowing that he’s in for it. I can’t help myself – I burst into loud laughter at this, rolling back onto my pillows as I howl.

Victor ignores me, focusing intently on the boys. “Alvin, Ian,” he says, even but firm. “What did you do with the ring?”

“Nothing!” Ian insists, crossing his arms over his chest. “We just –“

“Ian,” Victor interrupts, urgent now. “That was a very expensive ring – is it gone?”

“No!” Alvin cries, putting out his hands in protest. “It’s just in our room!”

Victor heaves a huge sigh of relief, running an anxious palm down over his face. “Would you please,”

he requests through clenched teeth. “Go and get it?”

Alvin nods eagerly and bounces off the bed but Ian doesn’t follow, clearly still embarrassed and defiant.

I lay back on my pillows, still laughing a little, thoroughly enjoying this. Honestly it doesn’t even matter to me if I get a ring or not anymore – this is better. Diamonds are nice but the memories attached to them – this, I know, I’ll never forget.

“Ian, you knew you weren’t supposed to take that ring.” Victor scolds lightly, half his attention on the door as he waits for Alvin to come back.

“I knew,” Ian mumbles, looking down at his crossed arms. “We just needed it.”

“For what?” I ask, dying to know.

Ian glances at me and softens when he sees more of an ally in me, with my happy face. “We needed a laser for the war we were making with our toy soldiers – and if you position the ring just right in the light, the ring makes a really cool light beam that looks just like a laser –“

I start to laugh again, hard, rolling again against my pillows. Victor just shakes his head in disbelief, frustrated that his kids were using what is probably a multi-million-dollar diamond as a toy.

Before he can say anything else, though, Alvin comes trotting back into the room, the missing ring held high in his fingers.

“Here you go, Papa!” Alvin says with a big smile, running to his dad and placing the ring in his hands.

“Thank you, Alvin,” Victor says seriously, but giving Alvin a stern look that lets him know that he’s not off the hook. Alvin pales a little and looks at me, so I give him a little wink to let him know that it doesn’t matter. All’s well that ends well, after all.

Victor clears his throat and turns back to me. “Well, Evelyn,” he says, giving me a small smile. “After a short but…typical delay, in this family, I’d like to ask you a question.”

I sit up straight now, moving closer to Victor so that our knees touch on the bed. I am beaming with happiness now and couldn’t wipe the smile from my face if I tried. I have to bite my lip from shouting “yes!” before he even asks.

“Evie, love of my life,” he raises a hand to stroke my face softly with his thumb. “Will you marry me?”