by Cee, DW
“Congratulations?” Was this normal? Did most newly married couples crank out so many kids in such a short span of time?
“Yes. We are studly, virile, and cocky.” Donovan laughed at himself.
“Have we shocked you back into the safety of bachelorhood? Most couples usually don’t have four kids in three years. We seem to be blessed.” Emily always made life appear rosier than reality.
“Um, well, I am a little surprised, but I’m happy for you. The more the merrier, I suppose.”
“That’s huge, coming from you,” Laney teased. “What’s with the change in attitude?”
“Bee has changed my outlook on a lot of things.”
“Details,” Donovan asked while helping Emily dry off all three kids.
“First of all, Bee and I are finally together, and I’d like to stay that way.”
“And second of all?” Laney asked while putting dry clothes on James.
Was it a good idea or a bad one to tell these four about my proposal?
What the hell did I have to lose? “I’ve asked Bee to marry me.”
“What?” All four adults asked. Even Ellie got in on the action and asked, “What did Nick say, Mama?”
The shock was enough to get Emily to ignore her daughter and ask, “Can you repeat yourself, Nick? Did you say you asked Bee to marry you?”
“Yeah…”
“Uh-oh.” Laney commented. “Something about the ‘Yeah…’ doesn’t sound good to me.”
That cousin of mine was always too damn perceptive. I explained to everyone about my newfound money and my desire to purchase a small home. I also told them about Bee’s hesitation in becoming a homeowner with me. “So you see, I told her that she had two choices. We could either stay together, but in separate homes, or she could marry me.”
That’s when the laughter began—adults and children. Laney’s laughter was the loudest of the seven. “Oh Nick.” Laney said between guffaws.
“What?” I asked defensively, pissed at what I wasn’t understanding.
“You going to explain?” My brother asked Donovan.
“Hell no.” Donovan stated emphatically. “Did any of you have the common decency to give me a damn clue?”
“Right.” This secrecy between Jake and Donovan was pissing me off. “I guess we all need to pay our dues?”
“Yep.” Laney and Donovan agreed. “Let Nick pay his dues.”
What the fuck?
July 7, 2014 BEE: Proposal TalkOver
I was being a chicken and avoiding Nick at all costs. He had invited me to Jake and Emily’s for their anniversary dinner, but thankfully, I had to go out of town until Sunday, so I weaseled my way out of that one. Today, I didn’t have a choice but to see him since I was headed to the cul-de-sac with Jamie to help Laney arrange the babies’ room.
"Hello?" I walked into what appeared to be an empty house.
“We’re all up here, Bee.” That sounded like Jane.
I walked the never-ending staircase and followed the chatter into the babies’ room.
“Hello, Auntie.” Laney went back to staring at the wall after greeting me.
“Why is she facing the wall? Did someone put her in a timeout?”
The ladies all laughed. “She’s inspecting the paint job,” Jamie whispered. “She’s not happy with the results.”
“What’s wrong with it?” I whispered back needlessly since Laney could hear everything we were saying.
“The yellow is too dark. I wanted a brighter yellow and this is what I got.”
“Because of the gloominess of the day, it’s making the room look darker. Here.” I shined my phone flashlight and showed her what it would look like with light. “I think it’s a beautiful yellow.”
Laney wasn’t convinced. She continued to stare.
“My fifth daughter is nesting.” Jamie put her arm around the woman carrying her youngest grandbabies. “Honey. Your hormones are making you antsy. Why don’t you sit in the rocking chair and relax. Your two mommas will take care of everything.”
When I took more than a glance, Laney did look exhausted. Between her curmudgeon expression, messy tied-back hair, and the dark rings under her eyes, we could all tell this pregnancy was taking its toll.
“Why don’t you and Donovan go to the beach house and rest for a few days?” Barbara suggested. “If for some reason contractions begin, you won’t be far away from the hospital. Your father and I will be home to help if you need us. Leave the babies’ room to Jamie and me.”
Jane picked up her phone and called the man who would cheer up our prego mama of twins. “Have you left the office, yet? Got it.” That was all that was said as she hung up the phone. “He’s pulling into the cul-de-sac.” She informed us. “Why don’t we all leave and let these two figure out what they want to do. We can come back tomorrow and finish up.”
We did just that.
“Baby is not feeling well. Take good care of her, Donny.”
“What’s wrong?” My nephew went on high alert.
“Nothing you can’t cure.” Jane chuckled and slapped him on the back. “How about you and I have dinner tonight, Bee?”
“With or without the men? I’m kind of avoiding your brother right now.”
Jane laughed. “I guess the answer then would be without. Hop in. I’ll drive.” This was the first time I’d ever spent any alone time with Jane. As cool as she was, she made me nervous. “So what’s the deal with my brother? Why aren’t you talking to him?”
I gave her the entire spiel. Jane couldn’t stop laughing.
“You see why I’ve been avoiding your brother? What am I to say to him? How do I answer a proposal that wasn’t?”
“I told you back at that karaoke steakhouse that Nick is not Jake. Although he didn’t exactly propose the way you wanted, it must be a complete surprise to you that he even asked.”
“So, do I settle because he did more than was expected of him?” I didn’t find it fair that I should just be happy that he wanted to marry me.
“The way I look at it, you have two options. You can either tell him how you feel and hope for a more romantic proposal next time. Or you can accept his proposal and teach him the ways of becoming the man you want, once you are married. Regardless, you know that he loves you. He’s never even had a steady girlfriend, and you two have been together for like two years.”
“That’s a gross stretch of the truth, Jane. We’ve been together for all of two months, I think.”
“You’ve been on each other’s minds a lot longer than that.” Jane argued.
“Enough about me, how was your honeymoon?”
Jane went all Laney on me. Her eyes turned dreamy and her voice went sweet. “I think we may have ruined all other vacations for us.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because we had an unreal month-long one where all we did was sightsee, eat, and have sex.” Her candor was surprising and yet refreshing. “Don’t look so shocked, Bee Taylor. Like you haven’t hopped in bed with my brother?” She questioned rhetorically.
“That’s the one part of us where I can honestly say we are perfect.” We both laughed. “Where did you go?”
“Where didn’t we go? We went from Tuscany to the southern tip of Italy. Then we hopped on a boat and visited several Greek Islands. From there, we saw Istanbul, Bucharest, Budapest, Vienna and a few other cities. We mainly stuck to cities we haven’t seen.”
“Your grandfather has homes in all these places?” Damn. What a grandfather to have.
“No. He only has homes in the major cities of Europe. We stayed in bed and breakfasts most of the times as well as some of Gimpy’s friends’ homes. All in all, the trip was unforgettable, and your nephew was most generous in giving me a month off to enjoy my time with my new husband.” Now that we were in the territory of husbands, Jane became giddy.
“So married life is good?”
“I highly, highly, high
ly recommend it, Bee.” I smiled at the sight of her happiness. “Nick might not have given you the proposal of your dreams, but trust me when I say that he’ll be the husband of your dreams. There’s nothing better than being married to the man you love.”
Maybe Jane was right. Maybe it wasn’t that important how he proposed. What was important was that he made his intentions clear on what he wanted for us. Maybe it was OK to give in and compromise.
But then...maybe not.
July 10, 2014 NICK: Proposal DoOver
Even if it killed me, I’d see Bee and resolve this living situation. At first I was pissed she didn’t answer my proposal immediately. Then I was insecure wondering if maybe she didn’t love me the way I thought she did. Now, I was desperate for an answer either way. I wanted out of this misery.
We spoke earlier, and Bee suggested we meet for dinner. She was still avoiding me, and though it bugged, it bugged even more that I didn’t understand why. We’d figure this out tonight.
“Hi.” Bee actually had a soft and meek voice I didn’t know existed. This greeting was definitely a surprise.
“Hey.” I stood up to kiss her. “Busy day?”
“Yeah. Crazy, busy day. And you? How was school?”
“It was good. I’m still getting used to the change, but I like what’s happened so far. I think this was the right move for me, and I just learned that it may not take as long for me to graduate.”
“That’s great.”
I wasn’t liking this formality between us. “When did this happen?” I asked randomly.
“What do you mean?”
“This.” I pointed back and forth between us. “When did we become acquaintances again? Why is there a ten-inch wall between us?”
Bee looked up, then she looked around. I hated this. “Nick…”
“Let’s forget all the words spoken a few weeks ago and just date. I don’t like you avoiding me. You’re so uncomfortable around me right now, and I hate it. You don’t have to marry me. That’s all right. We can stay boyfriend / girlfriend and go back to our closeness.”
“Nick…” That conciliatory tone was even worse.
“Don’t. I don’t want you to feel sorry because you don’t want to live with me or marry me. I’m fine. I just want to go back to the way we were.”
I wasn’t fine. I was hurt. I felt humiliated. And worst of all, I was confused. I thought this was what she wanted.
“OK. Now it’s your turn to stop. Let me be completely honest with you.”
“Finally!” I blew out a relieved breath.
“It’s not that I don’t want to marry you or that I don’t want to live with you.”
What the hell? Why was she putting me through all this if she wanted what I wanted? “Then what is it?”
She let out a gigantic sigh. “I didn’t want to say this, but since you’re not anywhere near right, the least I can do is steer you away from wrong.”
What? I did my damnedest not to get upset. “Talk. Be honest. Tell me everything.”
The color on Bee’s cheeks turned slightly red, and she stuttered her way through a few words before she composed herself and let it rip. “I want nothing more than to marry you and to live the rest of my life with you, but your proposal stunk. It was more like a lease agreement than a declaration of love. No woman wants a man to tell her that she has two options—one being marriage. I might not look like Laney, but I have a little girly side to me too. I believe my knight will come and rescue me from the tower just like all girls. Emily, Jane, and Laney all received a heartfelt exclamation of love from their men. You told me we could date or we could marry. Either choice was fine for you.”
Shit, that was a mouthful! That was what was bothering her? The way I asked her to marry me? That was embarrassing. What to say now? “So all this time, you’ve been playing hide and seek because you didn’t like the way I laid out our future?” She nodded yes. “If I had asked any other way, you would’ve said yes?”
“Probably?” Her voice squeaked.
The way I assessed this situation, I had several choices. I could say the hell with all this and go back to being single—but I didn’t want to. I could tell her this was who I was and I didn’t know how to be flowery like my brother. Coming up with petit fours to symbolize our relationship would never be on my radar—but I knew that would disappoint her. Or, I could try again. I supposed this was a choice that wasn’t really a choice.
“Is there a do-over?”
“Do-over?”
“Generally, when someone makes a mistake, they’re usually allowed to try again—a do-over.”
“OK…? You want to do over your proposal?”
“Maybe.” I decided to keep her on her toes. If she expected nothing, then she’d be all the happier with whatever the hell I proposed. Damn. Life with a woman was complicated.
With eyes raised, Bee stayed silent. She was unsure, and that’s where I wanted her.
“So…” Her confusion was cute.
“So, it’s dinner time!” I declared, and pulled us out of the parking lot.
I finally understood what was wrong. It was a relatively easy fix. I’d have to get my brothers and Donovan together to brainstorm and come up with the perfect do-over.
July 14, 2014 BEE: Proposal AllOver
I didn’t know what the deal was with Nick these days. After our conversation, he never mentioned marriage again, but he was as happy as could be. It was as though we were an old married couple already. We saw each other daily, slept with each other nightly, and we practically finished each other’s sentences.
Business was calling me back to Vegas, and Nick decided to join. He mentioned something along the lines of “48-hour waiting period,” “culture,” and “lab results.” I didn’t care to understand his line of work and accepted the company.
“What shall we do in Vegas?”
Uh…someone needed to remind this man of mine that I was here on business. “You remember me telling you that I have to attend all the fashion shows?”
“You going to attend them all?” He asked in horror.
“Yeah…” I answered without hesitation. “I’m here to work. What will you be doing?”
“Attending the fashion shows with you?” His voice squeaked like a little boy in trouble.
I laughed. “Good answer.”
Pulling into our hotel, I explained to Nick that he didn’t have to attend any of the shows with me. He was welcome to do whatever he preferred.
“Considering I don’t gamble and I don’t shop, what the hell would I do by myself in Vegas?”
“Eat at fancy restaurants? Visit strip joints? Watch a matinee?”
His surliness was cute. “When and where’s the first fashion show?” he asked grudgingly.
“Here and right now. Let’s go, Mr. Arm Candy.”
Arm Candy was the perfect terminology for my boyfriend. The models gave Nick the once-over, and all the gay men gave him a twice-over. Nick was a little freaked by all the unwanted attention, and he scooted his chair so close to me, he was practically on my lap.
“Why the hell are women and men staring at us?” His furtive glances were the polar opposites to the stares he received.
“They are staring at you, my handsome date. They all find you as handsome and sexy as I do.”
“They do?” His voice asked in surprise. “I mean, you do?”
“I do what?”
“You find me handsome and sexy?”
I had no idea why that would surprise him so. “Of course I do. Don’t tell me you don’t understand your sex appeal.”
“I knew you liked having sex with me, but I’ve never thought about the words sex and appeal together. I just know I love you and I love expressing it through sex.” He whispered the last word as though it was a dirty one.
I laughed at him. “Good to know that the man who’s getting more attention than the models in the fashion show loves me.�
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I patted his thigh and left my hand there as we watched the show.
As the show appeared to be coming to an end, a man in a nice suit jumped on the catwalk and strutted his stuff to the model approaching. None of us had any idea what he was doing, but by the smile on the woman’s face, they either knew each other or they were great actors.
This good-looking man asked for her hands in his and the model happily submitted. Next thing we knew, he whispered something in her tickled ears, she grinned as if she’d heard the best news on this planet, and he dropped to one knee. A ring appeared from his jacket pocket, tears appeared on the model’s face, and we all clapped for the happy couple.
