“This really brings back so many memories,” Janiyah said as she held my hand and smiled at people walking past us.
A couple of girls stopped her and asked for her autograph because they had read some of her books.
We continued walking until we made it to the courtyard. I had to pull a lot of strings to have a small section blocked off, but I got it done.
“Do you remember this tree?”
Janiyah smiled at the memory and moved closer to the tree.
“Our initials are still here,” she pointed out.
One day, I spotted Janiyah under the tree with her pen and notebook. She was so into her writing that she didn’t know I had been watching her for almost ten minutes. It was the spot where we shared our first kiss. It was also the spot where I asked her to marry me.
“Is there a reason we are taking a trip down memory lane?” She let my hand go and stepped back. “Oh no. Are you about to tell me some bad news? Arsel, I can’t take it if you are. You damn sure aren’t about to make me a single mother.”
I grabbed her hands to center her before she spiraled.
“Girl, nobody is about to give you any bad news.”
“Good, because I can’t handle two kids on my own.” She quickly slapped her hand over her mouth.
I held on to her other hand but leaned back a little to look at her. I glanced down at her stomach, then back up at her.
“What do you mean two kids?”
“I had this whole plan of how I wanted to tell you, but me thinking the worst made me spill the beans too soon.”
I lowered myself to the ground, then pulled her onto my lap. People were going about their business around us, and we got a few glances, but nobody tried to come into our little space.
“I found out a week ago that I was pregnant, and at first, I was scared to tell you. Then, I decided I wanted to tell you in a cute way.”
I cupped the side of her face and rubbed her cheek. “Why would you be scared to tell me?”
“Because you were already forced to care for Mikayla before you were ready, and now adding a kid into the mix—I don’t know.” She shrugged and looked down.
I placed my finger under her chin and lifted her head, so she had to look at me.
“I’ve already told you I wanted you to have my baby, so I don’t know why you were afraid. Shit, I’m ecstatic to be expanding our family.” I gently placed her next to me on the ground, then got on one knee. “This just makes my question even easier to ask.” I pulled the box out of my pocket and opened it.
Janiyah’s hand flew over her mouth as tears streamed down her face. I noticed people had stopped walking to watch us.
“I asked you before to marry me right under this tree, so it was only right for me to ask you to marry me a second time in the same spot. So, Janiyah Smith, will you marry me again?”
She nodded her head at the same time she said, “Yes.”
The people around us clapped as we shared a kiss. I pulled away before it got out of hand, because we were on a college campus, and we didn’t need these young people seeing too much.
Once we pulled apart, I stood then helped Janiyah up. Multiple people congratulated us as we walked away from the tree.
We stayed at the campus for a little while, talking to some of the students and some of the professors that were still there from when we attended.
All it took wasthree minutesto change the trajectory of our lives, but I wouldn’t have wanted to go through any of it with anyone else.
Five years later
It was crazy how Arsel and I went from no kids to having a house full of kids over the last five years. Mikayla was now eight years old, and she took her role as the big sister seriously.
Our first baby, Amiyah, was four years old, and she looked just like Arsel. The second one, Axel, was two years old, and he also looked like Arsel. It was like I didn’t even try.
