He takes my lips in a kiss that solidifies these thoughts. It’s much too indecent to have in front of our parents, but neither one of us cares. We are glued to each other until Conor pulls our attention.
“Let’s go to Patty’s,” he yells.
We pull back, and Callahan says thank you once more with a kiss. Then we tell Conor we’re coming. Surprisingly, everyone wants to go, including my dad. So we all wrap up warm and pile into cabs.
Callahan insists that we make a stop first at a corner store just so he can grab chips, so we’re the last to arrive. Before we walk in, he goes behind me and wraps his arms around my waist.
“Do you know how much I love you?” He asks.
“Yes.”
“Do you remember what I said when we first came here?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Holding me tight against him, he walks us through the door. Before it even closes, there is an eruption of cheers.
I look around to see Farrah, Errol, my great aunts from Atlanta, and his whole family. They are all standing in the bar that is decorated in white. When I turn to look at Callahan, he is on one knee. I gasp and throw my hands to my mouth.
“Monty Pierce, it was in this very bar that I told you that you were going to be my wife. I thought there was no better place to make this happen.”
I wipe the tears that are instant just as he does the same. Both of us are overwhelmed so quickly by this moment.
“When I first saw you, my heart stopped, and when it restarted, every beat was singing your name. Every day since then, you have shown me every reason why it was right. I have never loved someone like this, or been loved by someone like this. I have never needed another person the way I need you.” His voice catches on his emotions, and he fights to break it free. “I don’t ever want to take a step through life without you by my side,” he rasps. “I always want to be your first phone call and the last voice you hear at night. I hope to show you every day why we were meant for each other.”
Pulling out a box, a gold ring glows inside of it. A round, green emerald sits in the center with diamonds all around it. I can’t breathein the face of its beauty. He grabs my hand, pulling my focus back to him.
“Sweetheart, love, woman, can I finally call you wife?”
“Yes!” I scream, causing everyone to start as well.
He slides the ring on my finger and then jumps up and grabs me into his arms, spinning us around. My laugh is so loud as pure joy sings through my beating chest to resonate in my vocal chords.
I’m crying, he’s crying, everyone is crying as they crowd us and embrace us in their love. It’s the biggest group hug I have ever been a part of, as we are surrounded by the people who want the best for us. In the center is me and him, holding on to each other, promising to never let go. In this moment, I promise that I will choose him back. I will always show him how much he is needed.
“Welcome to the family,” Rowan says, hugging me.
Mary kisses my cheeks while blubbering her congratulations.
“Thank you, Ma,” I say to her, and for a moment we sit in this declaration.
Both of us are confirming that she is now mine, too. It’s me allowing for this love I never thought I would have to solidify in my heart. When she looks away to blow her nose, I watch as Callahan is grabbed by my dad and hugged tightly, just further confirming this truth.
Farrah walks up and nearly knocks me over with the force with which she hugs me.
“I’m so happy for you.”
I don’t know if she ever thought she would see the day where I would be with a man like this. Where I would lean on him, and give myself to him fully. I know, much like her, it took me taking a risk to reap this reward.
It was worth it to open myself up to something I didn’t think I would want because it turned out to be everything I needed.
“If you think you are getting away with a small ceremony, you are wrong,” she says, pulling back.
“With how big his family is, I know that’s not going to happen.” Which excites me more than anything else.
No longer will it be me and my dad, haunted by the ghost of our past. We have a future that I didn’t think was possible.
