Page 64 of Housekeeping

Emily had told her the moment I mentioned a proposal to her, and I was lucky enough that they didn’t both blow it for me before I actually proposed. Emily had brought Mom to the hospital where she and Laura had first met. Laura was mostly embarrassed about the encounter, but the three women had become friendly after that. They were a perfect little foursome, with Trent’s girlfriend, Jessi, who I finally got to meet. I was surprised to learn that she was the same Jessi who’d grown up in the house with us. Her parents worked for my father and they’d always had their own quarters. I’d never really seen her much, but I knew who she was. What shocked me was learning she was a childhood friend of my brother.

I watched as Dad moved to sit beside Mom, and I moved to sit next to Laura. Where I’d once felt anger, I now only felt love. Where there had been fear, we all now had happiness. These were words she’d spoken to me before, and they meant everything in the picture that we painted. Time seemed to fly by as the four of us sat and chatted about the wedding, the house and Laura’s positive influence on me, in what must have been the nicest conversation I’d had with my dad in a long time.

Later that evening, after my parents had left, as I was about to help Laura up so we could go to bed, she held me back with a hand on my arm.

“Is something wrong?” I asked, a little worried.

She shook her head with a serene smile, her hand flexing on my arm. “I just… wanted you to know something. At one point, I was so afraid at the idea of not living, and I let it rule my actions. I’m sorry, and I’m happy with how things are now. I’m not afraid anymore, and it’s because I have you to look after me.”

“Me and my family are a package deal,” I warned, only half joking.

“And I don’t mind it. You’ve compromised more than enough for me, especially since you quit partying,” she said, teasing. Then her expression went serious. “You know what matters most in life, and I’m glad. So do I. This is an oath I made to myself after the first time I battled my illness, and I’ll say it again for you to hear it, because I’m hoping it’s something we can do together.”

I waited as she took a deep breath to steady her breathing, my heart already going out to her and agreeing before she even let a word out of her mouth.

“I am going to take each day as it comes, and I am going to continue living to the fullest, out of joy, not fear. I’m going to face our future together with you, and I won’t run away, no matter what.”

With that little speech, I didn’t think I’d have the patience to hold myself back from showing her that same promise. So I picked her up bridal style and carried my fiancée up the stairs to our bedroom to start on that bright future her words painted for us.

The End