With his dad recuperating nicely at home, Zac soon heading back to Exeter, and the divorce papers finally signed by both him and CJ, Schooner was more than ready to head home to New York, get back to work and start focusing on making the Zambian rehabilitation project a reality for their trip overseas.
Getting in the car, he texted Mia.
Schooner: Done deal. On my way home, Baby Girl.
Mia: Love you.
Schooner: It’s smoochal.
On his drive back to his parent’s house, Schooner Moore did four things: he made two phone calls, first, to the marina in Ocean Beach on Fire Island, where he secured a boat slip for True Compass, then he called a local transport company he’d dealt with in Newport Beach and made arrangements for them to transport the boat. Driving into Costa Mesa, he stopped at South Coast Plaza, to pick up something he had ordered when they first arrived in California. The instructions had been to hold it until he was ready to pick it up. The last thing he did was stop into his favorite wine store and grab a chilled bottle of Cristal.
Getting back into the car, Schooner felt like the universe was finally starting to right itself and that his life in the light was drawing closer and closer.
Chapter Twenty-seven
Dee was the only one downstairs when Schooner returned to the house.
“Where is everyone?” he picked at the grapes on the fruit platter she was cutting up.
“Zac is at L9 working out, your father and Nathaniel are napping and Mia is showering.” She stopped cutting the fruit and put the knife down, “How did it go?”
“It went. It’s done,” he smiled. “CJ and I had a very bizarre private conversation. I really tried to keep it positive and not fall into the old traps. But she kept baiting me and it got a little nasty.” Picking up the bottle of Cristal, he walked over to the refrigerator and put it in.
“Are we celebrating?” Dee was trying not to smile.
Breaking into his irresistible All-American Boy smile, Schooner nodded, “Yes, we are.” Reaching into the pocket of his suit jacket, Schooner pulled out a Tiffany’s box.
Gasping, “You bought a ring?”
His smile continued to brighten his face, “I did.”
“Mia is going to be so surprised,” Dee enjoyed being complicit in Schooner’s surprise.
“I know,” his smiled took on a devilish lilt, “and Mia hates surprises.”
They both laughed.
“I know she has grandma’s ring, but I really wanted her to have something of her own, from me.”
“I’m sure she’ll love it,” Dee was dying to see the ring in the box, “but you know, she adores my mother’s ring, it makes her feel a part of the family, in a bigger sense, and that is important to Mia.”
“Did she tell you that?” Schooner grabbed an apple slice off the tray.
“She did. She was really honored to be part of a family tradition.”
Tossing the pale blue Tiffany’s box in the air, “Hmm, maybe I should return this?” he joked.
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Dee laughed. “No woman doesn’t love a gift in a Tiffany’s box.”
“I should mess with her and put something else in the box.”
“Schooner!” Dee reproached her son, but the look in her eyes dared him.
“Oh come on, it would be the perfect thing to do to Mia.” He started looking around the kitchen for small objects. “Let me think, let me think,” and then his face lit up, “perfect.”
Grabbing the Tiffany’s box off of the center island, Schooner headed to the counter stacked with pouches of Nathaniel’s food and picked up a box of Animal Crackers, opening it. His delight was evident as he ruffled through the box looking for something specific. Finally finding what he was looking for, he slowly eased the white bow off of the Tiffany’s box. Opening the box, he removed the ring and slipped it into his pocket, replacing it with a cookie. He then eased the bow back on the outer box until it looked perfect again.
Grabbing a plate from the cabinet, he began to disassemble Dee’s perfect fruit plate.
“What are you doing?” she feigned irritation.
“Just borrowing a few things.” From the refrigerator he took two blocks of cheese and the Cristal he had just put in there, and then some table water crackers from the cabinet.
Artfully arranging his cheese and fruit platter in an impressive manner, he looked up at his mother, who was watching intently. Smiling at her with pure joy, “Hey, I learned from the master.”
He left the room and quickly returned with two champagne flutes. Arranging the platter and glasses, Cristal and ring box, he stepped back and held up his phone, focusing the camera on his still life masterpiece. Snapping a photo, he looked at the result, moved the position of the glasses and reshot the photo.
“Yes,” he was rather pleased with himself. “I’m going to text Mia to meet me on the boat. Will you watch Nathaniel?”
“Of course,” Dee laughed at her son’s playfulness. It was nice to see Schooner not being serious.
Schooner: Meet me on the boat. (picture attached)
Quickly grabbing all the elements of his still life, Schooner gave Dee one last huge smile and was out the French doors, heading down the dock.
A few minutes later, Mia entered the kitchen, a most bemused look on her face, her hair still wet from the shower. Holding up her phone to Dee, she pointed to the Tiffany’s box, shock registering on her face.
Dee laughed and pointed to the French doors, “I’ll watch the baby.”
Chapter Twenty-eight
By the time Mia boarded True Compass, Schooner had the still life perfectly laid out on the teak deck table to mirror the picture he had sent.
“Q’est-ce que c’est, my friend?” she pointed to the Tiffany’s box in the picture on her phone.
Making a grand sweeping gesture, Schooner indicated to Mia to take a seat.
“So, I’m assuming today went well?” it was a question.
“If by ‘went well’ you mean all the papers are signed, then yes, it went exceedingly well.” Schooner had a smug smile on his face.
Clapping, Mia was getting anxious, “Tell me everything. I want details.”
Schooner knew CJ’s vitriolic comments were not worth repeating, so he opted for the abridged version, “She told me she hated seeing us together and asked me what you had that she didn’t.”
Mia’s eyes were wide with surprise, “What did you tell her?”
Smiling, his real smile, “I told her you had my heart and soul.”
Mia’s face crumbled from the emotion and her eyes filled with tears, “Mmm, did you really say that?”
“I did,” he shook his head.
“I love you, Schooner Moore.”
“I love you, too, Mia Silver,” and grabbing the Tiffany’s box from the table, he handed it to Mia, “Open it.”
“Oh my God,” Mia’s eyes were bright with tears.
Schooner nodded for her to open the box. With trembling hands, she slipped off the white satin ribbon and opened the robin’s egg blue signature Tiffany box. Taking out the Tiffany blue ring box, she placed the outer box and ribbon on the table. Schooner held out his hand, indicating that Mia should hand the ring box back to him.
Dropping to one knee and kneeling before her, pale sapphire eyes twinkled as he took a deep breath, “Mia Silver, would you do me the honor of,” and he paused, his All-American boy smile hijacking his face as he snapped open the ring box, “coming with me to Zambia?”
It took Mia a moment to process what she was seeing. Reaching into the ring box, she removed its contents, quickly bit the head off an elephant cookie and sat chewing it very slowly, never breaking eye contact with Schooner. Handing the uneaten body to Schooner, “Yes, Schooner, I will go to Zambia with you,” and with that, she threw her head back with laughter. “You shit!”
Laughing so hard that tears were streaming down his cheeks, “You should have seen the look on your face.”
“Oh
man, you suck.”
Schooner picked up the chilled bottle of Cristal and removed the foil around the cage. Still laughing, he began to twist the tab and eased the wire cage from the cork.
“That was so great,” he chuckled.
“Payback is going to be a bitch, you know that.” Mia fluffed her semi-wet curls.
“I would expect nothing less from you, Ms. Silver.” Pointing the bottle away from Mia, Schooner held the cork tight and twisted the bottle, the champagne opening with a perfect pop. Putting the cork down on the table next to the open Tiffany’s box, he picked up a flute, filled it and handed it to Mia and then filled one for himself.
Schooner loved toasts, “Well, it took over a year, but today all the papers are finally signed. Aaron’s going to have them in front of the judge next week and then I am finally free to marry you.”
“Yay. It feels like it’s been five years since the process began, doesn’t it.”
“Living out here was a lifetime ago to me,” he looked around, “because I have a whole new life now and you and Nathaniel are at the center of it.”
Holding up his glass, “Mia, Mia, Mia. Finally, to us. To getting married. To raising our beautiful son together. To waking up every day of my life next to you and to holding you in my arms every night as I fall asleep. To doing great and meaningful things together and to enjoying the love that we have always had for one another. I feel like in the months since Nathaniel’s birth that we have figured out how to be a team. A family. You are just there for me in ways I never knew someone could be there to support me and cheer for me and make sure I stay on track and am ok. Does that make sense?”
Mia nodded. Smiling.
“You know I have waited for this moment since I’m eighteen years old,” his eyes started to glisten.
“I know,” Mia’s voice barely more than a whisper, “it was all I ever wanted.”
“Well, now you have it and I hope it’s as good as you dreamed,” his eyes searched her face.
“My dreams never even came close to the reality you have given me, Schooner. I thought you were wonderful when I met you, but I had no idea of the man you would become. Nathaniel and I are so incredibly lucky to be sharing our lives with you.”
“Yeah, well that is smoochal, Baby Girl. I know I gave you the ring from my grandmother and I understand it means a lot to you, but I want you to have something that is just ours. Just me and you. From me.”
He put his champagne glass on the table and reached over and took Mia’s glass from her and placed it on the table next to his. Getting down on one knee again, he took her left hand and slipped off his grandmother’s ring. Taking her right hand, he slipped the heirloom ring on her right ring finger.
“Looks good there,” he mused, taking her left hand in both of his. “Baby Girl, I know I’ve asked you this before, but now I’m finally free to ask you again and this time set a date. It’s a little bit past your eighteenth birthday.”
“Just a little,” she laughed.
“And about three thousand miles away from where I’d planned to ask you.”
A dark cloud passed over her eyes and he could see the tears gather. Realizing the specter of the World Trade Centers must’ve crossed her mind, he squeezed her hand supportively.
“But here we are, finally. And it’s our time. I love you more than I dreamed I ever could, Mia. Every day I love you more and more. You make me a better man. You make me want to be a better man. You see what I’m like out here in this environment. I’m existing. But with you, in our world, I’m finally living. And it’s really good to be alive.”
“Yes, it is,” she whispered, locked in on his eyes and holding on tight.
“So, tell me that you will spend the rest of your life with me, as my wife. I promise every inch of my heart will always be yours. Always. Marry me, Baby Girl. Marry me.”
Mia sighed, “I don’t know, Schooner. You know, I kind of think that maybe I’m not the marrying kind.”
Flashing shock, his eyes widened and his jaw went slack, her words had rendered him speechless. Still on one knee, dressed in his impeccable gray suit, Schooner searched Mia’s eyes, his grip tightening around her hands, he couldn’t let go. He wouldn’t let go.
And then there it was, slowly tugging at the far corners of her lips until it consumed her entire face and her eyes - the devil smile.
“Oh you bitch,” he shook his head. Pulling her by her hands off the bench and onto his bent knee, “You know you should be face down on my knee and not sitting on it.”
“You handed me a Tiffany’s ring box and it had an animal cracker in it,” putting her forehead to his and her lips against his, “son of a bitch. That is just cruel,” she was laughing.
“Yeah, I know,” he looked rather proud of himself, “so now give me my answer,” his tone was demanding, but his eyes danced with delight.
With her right hand, she pushed his hair from his forehead, “I don’t have a very good track record of saying no to you, do I?” Her eyes became serious as she intently studied his clear blue eyes, “Do you know, I once told my mom that I thought we were the same soul in two separate bodies and when I look back on that, I really had no idea at the time just how true that was. Me and you, Schooner. It has always been me and you.”
“It’s always been only you and me, Mia. Pretty much our entire lives.”
“And now for the rest of our lives,” Mia kissed the tip of his nose.
Smiling, “So, is that a yes?”
“Pretty Boy, there had better be a freaking ring to go with that box.”
Laughing, he shifted her on his knee and reached into the pocket of his suit pants. Taking her left hand, “Baby Girl, will you marry me?”
Nodding, “Schooner Moore, I have dreamed of being your wife since I was sixteen years old. So, hell yes!”
Sliding a simple round brilliant diamond in a classic platinum Tiffany setting onto her left ring finger with his right hand, he weaved the fingers of his left hand through her still slightly damp, wild mane. Pulling her into him for a kiss, and then another one, and then another. Mia finally drew away. Breathless.
He held her left hand out before her.
Picking up the sun’s rays and color from all angles, Mia gasped at the beauty of the solitaire ring. It was simple. It was elegant. It was timeless. And it was huge.
“Schooner,” she looked up at him, “it’s gorgeous, but it’s huge.”
With a real smile and a look of pride, “Yes, it is and no one will ever doubt that you, Mia Silver, are mine.”
Chapter Twenty-nine
It was already dark as he walked the last few blocks from Kee’s Chocolates to their loft. There was a heavy balminess to the air that said spring and all of its possibilities were on the horizon, looming just up ahead and around the corner. Turning south on Mercer Street, Schooner Moore had never felt more at home anywhere in his life. Their SoHo neighborhood was really a neighborhood, and he knew more about these people and their lives in the few short months that they had lived there than he had ever known about his Linda Isle neighbors. The thing he loved most here in SoHo was the quirky sense of camaraderie amongst neighbors and shopkeepers and how they all looked out for one another. Nathaniel would grow up with a community that was looking out for him and that brought Schooner both a sense of well-being and belonging.
The apartment was quiet, it was past Nathaniel’s bedtime and Schooner could hear the shower running. He took off his jacket and went into the kitchen to grab two champagne glasses. Uncorking the bottle of chilled Cristal, he carried the champagne, glasses and the box from Kee’s into the bedroom.
“Hey Baby Girl, I’m home,” he yelled out, not wanting to scare her by just appearing in the bathroom.
“Hi babe. I’ll be out in a few minutes.”
“Take your time,” he yelled back, kicking off his shoes.
With the champagne glasses filled, he entered the steam obliterated bathroom. The glass on the shower was so fogged
up, he could barely make out Mia. Opening the foggy glass door, he stuck his arm in with a glass of cold champagne.
Mia squealed, “Are we celebrating?”
“We are celebrating. Down that baby so I can refill your glass.”
With a devil smile, Mia tossed back the fine champagne stuck her arm out the shower door and held her glass out for a refill.
“Open your mouth,” he was going to have some fun with her.
“Why?”
“Open. Your. Mouth,” his sapphire eyes bore into her.
“Shall I close my eyes, too?” she challenged.
“God, you are a mouthy little thing. But yes, close your eyes, too.”
Giving him a devilish grin, she slowly took a sip of champagne and then closed her eyes and opened her mouth.
Weaving his fingers through her wet hair, he pulled her head to him, softly brushing her lips with his.
Her moan was almost immediate and his kiss became more urgent, his tongue sensuously stroking hers. Pulling away, he took a sip of the cold champagne and pulled her head back as he let it slowly dribble from his mouth to hers, until she was sucking it out of his mouth.
With his free hand, Schooner hastily unbuttoned his shirt, shrugging it to the floor. Reaching into the front pocket of his faded jeans, he pulled something out of his pocket and slipped it in his mouth. Using both hands, he pulled Mia’s face in for another kiss and with his tongue deposited what was in his mouth into hers.
Opening her eyes, surprised, she looked at him questioningly. He stood there looking very satisfied.
“Bite down,” he ordered.
Complying, the look on her face turned from surprise to pure pleasure as the dark chocolate crushed in her mouth, gushing blood orange infused cream and Grand Marnier.
“Mmmm-mmmm. Oh my God.”
Taking her champagne glass from her, he set it on the marble ledge outside the shower and picked up the bottle of Cristal. Lifting it to his lips, he decadently drank the expensive wine straight from the bottle.
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