by Cat Mann
****
That evening, we all sat down at the large table for dinner. Usually the dinner conversation is nonstop and there is normally more than one discussion being held at once, but tonight Andrew commanded the room. He began talking to me and everyone was interested in what I had to say.
“So Ava, where do you see yourself when the situation with the Kakos is all over?”
“Uh, I don’t know exactly,” I said and then paused. “I guess I haven’t given much thought to future plans. I mean, I was accepted at some schools in Chicago but I don’t think I want to go to any of them anymore. I don’t really have anyone left there to go back to.”
Andy nodded his head.
“So do you think you’ll be staying in Canada then? Or do you think you might come back to California?”
“Well, I’ve already asked the caretaker of the Montréal house to list it for sale this fall. I don’t want to live up there. I would rather take that money and invest it in something else.”
He nodded again. “You may come back to California, then?”
“Actually, yes. I guess I am planning to come back to California with Ari. I mean if this is where he is going to be, then it’s where I want to be, too, as long as he wants me.” I squirmed in my seat and blushed at my own comment, but everyone, including August, seemed to let out a sigh. I looked down the table with a puzzled expression, but when I got no explanation for the obvious relief, I just shrugged it off. Ari smiled at me and kissed my temple, causing me to blush again.
Andy started up once more with the questions.
“Are you thinking about going to college here, then?”
“Probably. I did get in to Pepperdine, so I may just go there this winter.”
“What do you think you will study there?”
“I haven’t the foggiest. What’s with all the questions, Andy?”
“Well, Ava, since your grandfather passed away last summer, I have been very busy at the foundation. There is a job for you there, if you are interested. You’d be able to work your own hours, either here in the study or downtown at the office, whichever you’d like… that is, if you accept. We could really use the help. I know you have other thoughts occupying your time right now, but I want you to know that we’d really like you to join the team.”
“Wow, Andy that’s so nice… very unexpected. Are you sure I’d be able to make a meaningful contribution to the foundation?”
“You are a compassionate and driven person, Ava; you’re exactly what House to Home needs.”
“Ok, then, I would love to be part of your group … and thank you so much!” I seemed to be nailing down the details of my future in quick order and I found that, to my surprise, I had no misgivings about any of them.
“No,” Andy said, “thank you. Your willingness delights me! Once you’re back home and things have settled down for you, we’ll go over expectations, responsibilities and salary – I can’t wait to ‘show you the ropes,’ so to speak.”
Andy didn’t miss a beat and continued on with his onslaught of questions. He asked more about my future and my studies and then moved on to some personal questions.
“Do you see yourself getting married?”
I peeked out of the corner of my eye at Ari, who was staring, mouth opened in disbelief, at his dad.
“Yes, I do.” Ari and I hadn’t specifically talked about marriage, but he had said he wanted me forever and I knew I felt the same way about him. Ari smiled warmly at my answer and gave my hand a little squeeze.
“Mmm,” Andy mused. “What about children?”
My jaw opened in shock and I said, “Done! I’m not answering that one; direct your questions that way,” and I pointed down the table. “I have too much on my mind to entertain the possibility of children in my future. Right now, I am better at ending life than I am at thinking of beginning it.”
Andy laughed and started playing his game with August, who happily answered whatever questions Andy threw at him. Ari gave me another small kiss and ran his fingers through my hair, sending happy chills down my spine.
After dinner, Aggie brought out a giant birthday cake that said, “Happy birthday, Ava! XO.” They sang happy birthday to me even though I begged them not to, then Rory brought out a fleet of beautifully wrapped gifts.
The first gift I opened was from August. It was a framed photograph of the two of us. It had been taken a couple of days ago on the deck. He had just gotten out of the pool and had his swim trunks on and I was wearing one of my new bikinis. August’s tattoos cover both of his arms completely and his whole abdomen from his collar bone down all the way to his hipbones. He had challenged me to an arm wrestling contest, so we were sitting at the glass table. My right hand was in his and my own tattoos could be seen. The whole photo was in black and white except for our colorful tattoos. The rest of family was in the background, laughing and clapping. It was truly a beautiful image.
“Aw, August,” I gushed. “You shouldn’t have. But I love it!”
“No problem, Ava. Aggie wouldn’t let me get you another tattoo gift certificate.”
Rolling my eyes at her playfully, I picked up her gift. I peeled back the paper and saw another simple but beautiful frame exactly like the one August had given me only much, much larger. I gaped at it. My breath was taken away. Aggie had taken a series of photographs, all of Ari and me asleep.
“Holy cow, Aggie, I don’t know what to say!” The pictures were in her signature black-and-white style. There were several photographs taken though out the course our relationship showing images of Ari and me tangled up in each other’s arms in bed with the blankets tossed, our hair wild and our limbs knotted in profound closeness. They were so intimate that I felt a wave of heat hit my face, but I didn’t care.
“You aren’t mad, are you?” Aggie asked.
“Aggie, I have never seen anything so beautiful in all my life.”
“Oh, thank God; Ari thought you were going to kill me.”
“I am too happy to be angry … but I will lock the bedroom door from now on … ”
My next gift was from Lauren and it was another framed black-and-white picture, this one of her, Ari and myself. We were sitting together at the dinner table laughing at Julia.
The opening of presents went on and all of my gifts were the same – magnificent candids, all shot in black and white, and each showing me with different members of the family. There was even one of Andy, hugging me on the day I came back home. I hadn’t even been aware of most of these pictures being taken. They were perfect, and I loved each and every one of them.
“Thank you all. I love these. Thank you so much!”
Aggie held me in a tight hug.
“We love you, Ava. We’re just so happy you finally came home to us. No matter what you believe is true, you will always be a part of our family.”
Aggie served cake and afterwards, I started to help her clean up the mess of plates and wrapping paper, but Ari stole me away through the back door. I turned to apologize to her and saw that everyone was looking at us with smiles stretched across their faces. I did not have time to wonder why as Ari quickly shut the door behind us.
He held my hand and we walked a short distance on the beach. He then led me to his neighbor’s house again. He started up the wooded steps to a gorgeous back deck; every light in the house and outside the house was on showcasing all of the home’s splendor.
“Ari, what are we doing here?” I asked, trying to hang back and feeling uneasy about approaching the house of people I had never even met.
“Just come on,” he said, pulling me up the rest of the way to the back door. “I want to show you something really quick.” He slid the door open and walked into the house.
“Ari,” I scolded him, “you should knock, just walking right in is so rude.”
A smile spread across his face.
“Nah, it’s ok. I know the owners – they’re cool.”
He pulled me inside with him and my
nervousness was replaced by awe. The house was absolutely spectacular.
“So… where are they?” My eyes bounced around at the colossal home.
“Right here,” he held both of my hands in his. I looked at him with a confused expression.
“I don’t understand.”
He bit the corner of his bottom lip and let out a nervous breath.
“I bought this house a couple of months ago, with the sign-on bonus I received from Margaux. My folks and I hoped that once you came home you would be home for good. . . and that you would need a place to stay. So this is ours; that is, if you want it.”
My eyes grew wide and my hands rushed out of his hands, up to my face. I was too shocked to speak. A tear fell from my eye and rolled down my cheek. Ari wiped it away, gently with his thumb.
“Is that a happy tear?” he asked hopefully.
I nodded my head yes, still unable to speak.
“Please don’t cry, because there is a little bit more I have to do.”
I swallowed hard, what could be more than a house?
Ari pulled out a large, shiny ring from his pocket. I sucked in another breath in complete shock and awe. The butterflies in my stomach went completely wild and were irrepressible as Ari pulled me in his arms and began to whisper in my ear.
“Ava, I love you. I have loved you from the moment I first laid eyes on you. I cannot imagine going on another moment without you in my life. I promise I will never leave your side, and I promise I will never make you cry. Just please will you marry me?”
I shook my head yes as yet more tears spilled from my eyes.
“Was that a ‘yes,’ too”? He whispered, once again into my ear.
“Yes, yes,” I said softly. Ari placed a platinum, two-carat, round cut diamond ring on my finger and wiped the rest of the tears from my cheeks.
Once the shock started to settle, Ari took me for a tour of our new home. Each room was more remarkable than the last.
“You didn’t think we would give you all of those pictures without a place to hang them, did you?” He asked with a smile.
I laughed, “I guess I didn’t even think about that.”
“So, you really are surprised? I thought for sure my dad was going to give it away.”
“Yes, I’m really surprised.”
“Remember the other day, when you came into the kitchen to eat some peanut butter?”
I thought back and remembered the weird looks everyone had given me.
“Yeah, why?”
“Well, I was showing all of them the ring. We were positive that you had heard us talking.”
“Ohhh, that’s why you all looked like you had seen a ghost. I was way too sleepy and hungry to have cared what you were all talking about.”
“Good,” he laughed. “Do you like the ring? August helped pick it out; he knows you better than I thought.”
“It is beyond perfect. Thank you, for everything, Ari. I love you.”
We made our way down a wide, airy hallway and he put his hand on a door handle. This was the only door that had been closed in the whole house.
“Here is the master bedroom,” he said turning the knob.
I grabbed his hand and pulled it back.
“No, don’t!”
Ari gave me a puzzled look.
“I don’t want to see the bedroom yet, it’s just… I know now what I want. I want my first time, our first time to be in there, on our wedding night. We have come this far; do you think we can get through the summer, come home, be married, and then walk through that door? I know we’ve had different life experiences, but I am just now realizing about how important waiting is to me. I want to be married first, Ari. I don’t want to see our bedroom until then.”
An amazing, breathtaking, awe-inspiring smile broke across Ari’s face.
“It’s not that different for me, Ava. I had never been in love before I met you, and starting our official life together the right way is more important to me than you know. I will do anything for you, I promise.”
We kissed then, right outside what would be our bedroom, and I knew everything would be right.
I walked back through the house, taking in every single detail. A large glass wall, similar to the one at Andy and Aggie’s house, looked out to the ocean. The colors on the walls all flowed perfectly together from room to room. Different shades of creams, whites, and grays greeted me and appeased my senses as I walked around the space. Hardwood floors ran throughout the large living space and led to a gourmet kitchen that was complete with-state-of-the-art appliances. The living room was spacious and welcoming and there was a sizable fireplace with a white, intricate mantel wrapped around it. The home had two stories and then a full finished basement. The upstairs held three bedrooms, one of which Ari had turned in to a study. The main floor held the large living and family room, eat in kitchen, formal dining room, an office space and then a spacious and bright sun porch. The walk-out basement came with two more bedrooms, a bathroom, a gigantic utility work space and a family room complete with a wet bar.
Outside there was even a pool house that had yet another bedroom, small but nice, a bathroom, and a kitchen. Ari had furnished much of the house and had already moved in some of our personal things from his room and many of my belongings from my dorm that Margaux had originally sent to be stored. Pictures of my mom and myself in all stages of my life and others of Mia and me at various Cubs games had been arranged with care in various rooms. I felt at home, really at home, as though we had moved in already.
One special picture of Ari as a baby, being held by my dad, was sitting on top of the fireplace mantel. I picked it up and stared at it for a long time, until I heard a knock at the back door.
Ari’s family, with August in tow, were all standing on the back deck.
“What did you lock it for?” Aggie yelled through the glass.
“Get used to it, Ma – we lock our doors over here,” Ari said playfully as he let them in our new home. They stared at us expectantly.
“Well?” Lauren finally shouted. I held up my left hand and they broke out into cheers. My cheeks began to blush.
August pulled me in to a hug and whispered, “Please tell me I can still be your roommate because this place is awesome.”
“Uh… I dunno, August, that’s kind of up to Ari. It’s his house.” August skipped away merrily in Ari’s direction, but Ari saw him coming and rushed over to my side.
“So do you have a date in mind?” Aggie asked us, stealing our attention.
I shrugged. I had hardly had time to process the dinner and the cake and the photographs, let alone an engagement ring and a whole house.
“Well … I was thinking the weekend after you get back from Montréal. What about August fourth?” Aggie suggested, and a giggle burst from my lips.
“August forth, ten o’clock,” Ari teased at our private joke.
“No,” Aggie furrowed her brow, “not ten, Ari. I’m thinking more along the lines of seven, before sunset.”
“Sure Mom, whatever. You do it when you want to, and I’ll do it when I want to.”
“What?” she looked at him perplexed.
“Just kidding around … seven sounds great.”
I had a sudden thought, as long as a wedding was on the table. As much as I had grown to love Julia, and as much as I adored Lauren, the truth was that August was my best friend. He knew me the way Mia had, he had loved and befriended me at my all-time worst. It was clear to me that he had to be my maid of honor. I checked with Ari to make sure he would be comfortable with me asking August to stand beside me on our wedding day.
“Of course, Ava, who else would it be?”
August heard us and gave a great big squeal of delight … apparently, he had been hanging around Julia too much already.
I caught Andy in the kitchen, looking out onto the deck.
“Congrats, Ava,” he said, putting his arm around my shoulder. “Your father would be so proud of you. I know he would
have wanted to be here for all of this; your mom, too.”
“Thanks, Andy. It’ll be hard not to have them here, but at least I have you and Aggie.”
“We will always be here for you, Ava, no matter what. Even when you cuss at me, I can’t help but love you.”
“Andy, I know you are Ari’s dad, but would you walk me down the aisle?”
“Do you mean it?”
“Yes, of course I mean it.”
“I would love to, Ava,” he said solemnly. “Thank you.”
Oh, pure wow. A new house, an awesome job and Ari forever – what an intense and gratifying day.
“Thank you,” I answered back. “Oh, and by the way, don’t ever play your little question game with me again.”
Andy chuckled.
“I’m so sorry, Ava; I think I was more nervous than Ari. He must have kicked me under the table half a dozen times.”
I shook my head at him then excused myself to save Ari, who had finally been cornered by August. I took one last look at my new home and then we all headed back to Aggie and Andrew’s.
