"You showed me what it means to love and be loved."
"I know we're young, but I still know you're my person, my other half."
"And I know I don't want to spend my life without you."
I have an idea what's coming, but my head is no longer thinking clearly. Never in my life would I have thought he would do something like this. A marriage proposal, yes, but not in front of so many people.
Philipp dances to Nika, who hands him a sign. How long did it take them to practice this so precisely? Philipp turns over the last sign in time with the last beats of the music.
"Adrien, will you marry me?"
The entire hall goes wild. Clapping and whistling. The spotlights are aimed at the crowd and Philipp is looking for me. Then the first shouts echo through the crowd.
"Adrien!"
"On stage!"
"Adrien!"
I've never seen a situation take on a life of its own like this. Within what feels like thirty seconds, the entire hall is calling my name. Rhythmically and again and again.
"Adrien! Adrien! Adrien!"
Élias pushes me from behind. "Go! Don't keep him waiting! He's nervous enough!"
I push my way through the crowd and then our eyes finally meet. Philipp smiles shyly and bites his lower lip, tears are still running down my cheeks. On his confirmation, the security lets me pass to the stage. And when we’re in each other's arms, it gets so loud that I feel the need to turn around and see if Taylor Swift has just entered the stage.
"I'm not finished yet." With these words, Philipp pushes me away and gets down on his knees in front of me. He holds a small box in his outstretched hand. He really has thought of everything.
"Wow... they're so beautiful!" Nika admires, I think a little enviously, our engagement rings. And rightly so, they are perfect. Stainless steel with a black ceramic inlay. Philipp's idea was to get them engraved for the wedding and not to buy new ones, and I'm more than happy with that. We wouldn't find any more beautiful rings anyway.
"I still can't believe you've planned all of this."
"We. It would’ve never been possible without the others."
"Okay, you guys. That was absolutely amazing. Thank you!" I shout through the locker room and get back whoops and whistles.
"I love you and I wanted to do something cool to show everyone. I'm just relieved you said yes!"
I love that shy, mischievous smile with that cheeky twinkle in his eye. Philipp has become so brave in the last couple of years. "I love you too. How could I say anything but yes when you smile at me like that?"
Chapter 54
Adrien - 11 years later
We both always wanted a family, but as a gay couple, the options are limited. Of course we could have gone abroad for surrogacy, but we knew very quickly that that wasn’t our path. Adoption ranges from difficult to hopeless but taking in foster kids was a realistic option. So, we did all the courses and waited.
After some time, the youth welfare office asked us whether we could imagine taking in a severely traumatized or disabled child. The decision was difficult, and we were afraid that we wouldn't be able to cope with the situation, that we would have to give the child up again and we eventually decided against it. But Philipp couldn't let go and after countless training courses and courses on dealing with traumatized children and teens, we felt confident enough to take this step after all. Three months later, we received a call asking if we could imagine taking Louis in.
Louis was eight years old and his father had beaten up his mother with an iron bar in a drunken rage. He tried to protect her and suffered a serious head injury himself; his mother wasn’t so lucky. Half-orphaned and his father in custody for manslaughter, Louis had no relatives left who could have taken him in. Or wanted to. I'll be honest, neither of us expected such a bad story, but we wanted to give it a try.
The start was tough. As he was quiet and withdrawn at school, there were no problems there as long as he had his peace and quiet. It was different at home. Louis screamed and cried, smashed things and ran away. At night he woke up in a cold sweat, screaming. We could only be there to show him thathe wasn't alone. Every time we touched him, he panicked and lashed out.
For months, Philipp and I took turns sleeping in his room on a pull-out armchair right next to his bed. We really doubted we could offer Louis what he needed. Countless conversations with our caseworker at the youth welfare office encouraged us not to give up on Louis.
We fought. And when I came into Louis's room one cold winter morning to wake them up, I knew we were on the right track. Louis was lying with his upper body on the armchair next to Philipp, both hands firmly in his curls. Two weeks later, Philipp was sitting on the couch with a novel when he crawled into his lap with his own book. We both had tears in our eyes.
Louis had to learn first how it feels, when you don’t have to be cautious at home all the time anymore. When you can be sure you wouldn't catch a slap in the face, or worse, for every wrong note. Once he felt safe, he opened up.
