Yes. Yes. Yes.
She said yes.
My angel said yes?
Our angel.
That day, I’d stayed parked, staring at the home of the girl who’d changed everything in my life. I scarcely heard what she said after that, and certainly didn’t remember it an hour later as I sat on my bed at home, trying to make sure I had not hallucinated the whole thing. It took too long for me to realize what the moment really meant; it wasn’t even about tying her to me.
She’d chosen me.
Once I got over the shock, I ran through the house, searching for Mum. I didn’t even greet her because the only thing runningthrough my mind was my angel. “Mum! Mum!” I yelled, running to the back of the house.
I had never disturbed her when she was gardening because I knew how important and healing it was for her. Alarm filled her eyes as she lifted them to me. “Killian! Are you okay?” she asked as she stood from the dirt in front of the rose bushes.
“I need a suit,” I shouted, out of breath.
“Jesus Christ, Killian. All that over a suit? What the—”
“You don’t understand. It’s important, Mum. The most important suit of my life!”
I got closer to her and pulled her hand.
“When—”
“Right now. Come. We need to go find one now.” The excitement wouldn’t allow me to stay still, so after running, I kept jumping around.
“What—why—what in the world is going on—”
“I’ll explain later.” I guided her back toward the house so we could go shopping for what I’d wear to marry the girl of my dreams. “And invitations, we need invitations, at least for the girls. They have to be happy, or else she might change her mind.” My words tumbled out of my mouth at a high speed, almost jumbled. Seconds later, I wasn’t even sure what I’d voiced.
“Invitations? To where, Killian?”
I looked around and whispered, “I told you; I’ll tell you later.”
Minutes later, she walked down the stairs, changed into a flowy long flowery dress, with her purse and sunglasses. In the car, she pushed a button so the glass would rise between the chauffeur and us while he drove us to the shops.
“Okay, what’s going on?” When I didn’t even turn to respond, she called, “Killian—”
“Mum! Not here, okay? This is very important to me, and I don’t wanthimto ruin it.”
As she opened the door to the shop, she asked again. “Okay. Tell me. What is going on.”
“Ummm…” Inside the shop, she lowered herself to my height.
“Killian…” Her tone warned me to speak up.
“Mum…” I hesitated, my eyes shifting between hers; if she ruined this for me, I’d never forgive her. “I’m in love.”
Confusion wrinkled her forehead. “I’m going to marry her.”
Her eyes widened, and her lips formed an O. “Have you asked her da for permission to marry her?”
“I will.” It was only half a lie. He wouldn’t understand how necessary it was to me for this to happen so early in our lives. He didn’t know that each day that passed I was losing more and more control over my destiny. This helped me feel grounded, like I had something to fight for. And if I did die soon, at least I would have that magical moment with her. I did plan to talk to him someday. I would set things straight—tell him the truth, explain my actions, and apologize—and hopefully, he wouldn’t take it personally. Maybe we’d have another ceremony that would be more in accordance with her culture.
“Who is she?”
“No one you know, Mum.” She tried to hide it, but I saw the relief when her eyes fluttered, and she stood. It was one of the rare moments in which Mum silently acknowledged that no one tied to her husband was any good for us. “What’s her name?”
