She shot me an angry look, but finally agreed and stomped off in an annoyed cloud. The movers were in a line by the truck, checking their phones and chatting amongst themselves. They easily could have brought the bag in, but I told them not to. I’d planted it there just an hour before. Kitty didn’t know that, though. I saw from the set of her shoulders that she was getting increasingly pissed off. This was what I wanted: catching her off guard. I knew she expected it at the game the day before, but I wanted this to be more private and just for us. And her family.
She hoisted herself up into the moving truck, the bridge thing already folded up. There was my hockey bag, all the way at the back of the truck. She muttered curses under her breath that echoed around the truck’s empty walls. I had to keep from laughing out loud. The ring box fell off the top of my hockey bag when she picked it up.
She hissed out a cuss as she bent to get the box, the heavy bag shifting around to her front. She was seriously struggling. Then she noticed what the box was.
She dropped the bag and turned around. I stood watching her with a smile so big my cheeks hurt, her family behind me. I hauled myself up into the truck and walked to her, taking the box from her and holding her hands.
“Kitty,” I said, waiting for her reaction. “I know for sure that you are the love of my life. You’re my Dr. Pepper. You’re the reason for everything I do. I don’t want to live another day without you being mine. Now that we’re going to share a home, I want to make it truly ours. To do that, I want to ask you something I first asked you a long, long time ago.”
My Birdy started to cry as I steered her so they could see both of our faces. She whimpered out an ‘I love you.’
“I love you, too,ma puce. So I think you know what I’m goingto ask you.” Kitty’s hands went over her mouth.
I got down on one knee and opened the ring box. She was already nodding but I was determined to ask her properly. “Kitty Elena Gatto, love of my life, will you marry me?”
“Yes. Yes, Guy Nicolas Stelle. You’re the love of my life and the only one for me. Yes, I’ll be your wife,” she sobbed out, pulling me to my feet to hold me. “But I won’t change my name,” she whispered in my ear as I swung her around. I slapped her butt, to her cackling laughter and Frank’s “EW!”
We kissed as I held her up. “I wouldn’t expect any different from you,ma puce. It’s on your terms. Always has been. Whatever you want, I do.”
* * *
After firing off “she said yes” texts to my Seattle friends, Mikey, and the new teammates whose numbers I had, I got a little sad. I didn’t have family to text. Kitty’s family was with us. I knew Maman would be happy for us, but I’d rather she be able to see it for herself.
We kept working to unpack boxes, Kitty clearing space for me in each room. I’d sold or donated most of my furniture in Seattle, so I mostly just had stuff. It really didn’t amount to much. Most things I had were things that reminded me of Kitty. She’d been the center of my life for so long, whether she was actually there or not.
Heather and Mark put together a nice dinner for us: grilled steaks, veggies, and Heather’s mashed potatoes that I loved. We chose to eat outside by the pool. Before we started, everyone said a few words to congratulate us.
“You know that I was skeptical about you two,” Frank said. “But true to his style, Guy wasn’t lying. He really does love Kitty, and he never gave up. And now, I get to have my best friend as abrother, too. And yeah,” he said, casually wiping his eye, “That’s pretty cool.”
“And we know you’d throw a punch for me if he gets out of line,” Kitty chimed in.
“Yeah, I still would,” Frank laughed.
Mark was a man of few words all the time, so I was especially nervous to hear what he’d have to say. Part of me was a little scared of him.
“I, too, had my doubts about giving up my little girl to some hockey thug,” Mark said. “But I knew he wasn’t just any player. I knew you were one of the best men deep down, and I had to trust that your true nature would win in the end. You’ve been like a son to me since you and your mom moved down the street. I’m happy it’s official now.”
I wiped my eyes. I hadn’t expected Mark to call me his son. Kitty squeezed my hand with wet eyes.
“Thanks, Daddy,” she said quietly. To Mark. Not to me. Ha.
“Guy, you know how special I think you are,” Heather started. “And you know how crazy I was about your mom.”
Oh, shit. Here were the real tears.
“But I know what Eva asked of the two of you, and I knew she was right. I knew someday, this would be where we’d all end up. Not in L.A., necessarily, but with the two of you staying together. I knew when you and Kitty split that it wasn’t over. You both love each other too much for that. I know Eva’s here, Guy. I know she’s happy for all of us. Because something made y’all stop where you did, and live where you did. I really believe all of this was meant to be. We love you, bubby. Happy to have you.”
Heather pulled me into a tight hug, and though she wasn’t my petite storm of a mom, I felt that mother’s love. I cried about as hard as I did when Kitty left the last time, then pulled myself together.
I sat and raised my glass. “Gattos, you are the best thing that happened to me and Maman. And something about it does feelpredestined. I can’t say much more than that. My heart is so full because I have all of you in my life.” Tears continually crept out of my eyes and my words were choked. “Thank you for loving me. All of you. It’s the greatest honor.”
We stood up for an embarrassing attempt at a group hug and continued with our evening. Kitty and I saw them off at the end of the night. When we closed the front door and turned to each other, Kitty was crying again.
I held both of her hands. “What’s on your mind,mapuce?”
“I can’t wait to hate Mondays with you,” she said, doing this weird laugh and snot-suck thing at once. “And come to every home game I can. And go to sleep with you whenever you’re not on the road.”
She took a ragged breath, blowing it out through a small O in her mouth. She looked back up at me.
