“Oh look.” I pull out an old, worn-out piece of paper.The edges are frayed. The color has faded to an off-white. I slowly unfold the sheet and laugh.
“What is it?”
“Octavia…Well, what we planned back then. We always wanted to start a security company. Always wanted to protect people.”
She rests her head on my shoulder as she looks at the drawing and notes.
PROTECTORS AGENCY
1. Get lots of money.
2. Hire extra bodyguards so we can have weekends off
3. Build a giant building with a cool, secret, underground lair.
4. Slushy machine
“Slushy machine?” she laughs.
“Of course. Every secret, underground lair needs one.
5. Protect people!
6. Buy an island so we can go on vacation whenever we want! No parents allowed!
7. Be the best protectors agency in the entire world.
8. Get super rich. Marry pretty movie stars. Go to all the fun adult parties.
Shelaughs at the last one.
“Hey! I loved our plan! It was perfect,” I laugh. I can feel the tears starting to burn my eyes.
“It was. I think you’re missing a few things though.”
“Yeah…My basement isn’t a secret lair…And I don’t have an island.”
“And you aren’t married to a pretty movie star.” She laughs as she stands up and brushes the dust off her shorts. I set the box down and reach into my pocket.
“Not yet.” I turn, still staying down on one knee. I pull the ring out from my pocket and hold it up to her.
Her eyes widen as her mouth drops open.
“Before you say anything, let me talk,” I say with a smirk, and she closes her lips. “Before I found out you were alive, I was empty. A shell of the man I once was. The day I thought I lost all of you, I lost myself. I lived every day, not caring if it was my last. I kept the promise I made to your father for our plans and built Octavia. I made it into what I knew your father would have wanted, and yet I still wasn’t happy.”
I take her hand in mine as she stares at the ring. I had it custom-made. It’s a sunburst halo, white gold. The center stone is a ¾-carat diamond with twelve pear-cut diamonds around the outside, making it look like a sun.
“When I met you, my entire world shifted. The darkness around me shattered, and all I could see was you. Your beauty. Your light. The warmth from you alone was enough to bring me back to life. I fell for you so fucking hard that night…I wasn’t lying in that note when I said I saw a future with you. I always have. I love you so much, Sunshine. You literally are the light of my life. The only thing I need to survive. I figured with you selling this place, and us starting the next chapter in our lives, I wanted to do things right.”
I lift her hand and let the ring hover over the tip of her finger. I can feel the small tremors as she tries not to let her tears fall.
“Lumina Warner, will you do me the greatest honor in the world in becoming my wife?”
She stares at the ring again as a single tear falls down her cheek. She looks up at me and smirks.
“Only one problem…” A small laugh leaves her lips as another tear falls.
“What’s that?”
