Dream a Little Dream

Dream a Little Dream - Dream 6

Dream 6

She climbed into bed with her hair still damp from the shower remembering her dream from earlier. The memory of their first date, the way he made her feel loved and cherished from the start of their relationship. At first she thought it would wear off, something new for him. And the way she avoided him and stalled going on an actual date, maybe it was a conquest thing and once he had that first date he would lose interest in her and move on to some other girl.

For awhile she told herself not to fall for Jack because she would just have a broken heart in the end. But he was true to his word. He always told her the truth. Jack once confessed that he fell in love with her when she had grease on her face and her cute backside was sticking out from under the hood of her car. Susan had fallen in love with him when he held her all night long after her parents were buried.

Love was never a problem for them. Love came easy. Making love was even easier. Even after all the years together, the fertility treatments and the disappointment each month of failure. Each time they were together it was never just sex, he made love to her every time. She always felt love and cherished. Susan would miss that most of all.

Six months after their first date, Susan knew he was the one. Even though he proposed to her daily, she had still refused to marry him. Susan knew that Jack would not give up, and she promised herself the next time he asked she would say ‘yes’.

After months of proposals in various places and ways, and unlike his date requests, the proposals were always done in private. He proposed just about every weekend at the waterfall they liked to hike to when they had all day to splash in the mountain sun. Twice he proposed after returning home from visiting Shelly. And just about every night as they studied he would ask her to marry him.

So when two weeks came and went without a proposal Susan was afraid that maybe Jack had changed his mind. They were leaving for Shelly and Josh’s to spend their first Christmas without their parents. Shelly was taking the loss as well as could be expected, but Susan didn’t know how they would handle the holidays. She was glad that Jack was going to be there for her.

Shelly did her best to keep traditions going. On Christmas Eve, they drove around looking at Christmas lights, and they went home to have their traditional Christmas Eve dinner... meatball subs.

The next morning they woke up with Josh wearing a Santa costume knocking on their door saying, “Ho! Ho! Ho!”

They had not had sex. Susan had wanted to, but Jack told her that he would wait until she was certain. He never pressured her, but they had slept in the same bed, “tempting fate” Josh had called it, but he couldn’t refuse her anything.

So, when Josh knocked on their door, Susan wanted to just turn over and stay in Jack’s arms. But he hopped out of bed and the coolness of winter made his side of the bed cold almost immediately. Grudgingly, she rose out of bed and put on her robe.

Sitting around the small Christmas tree, everyone took turns opening their presents. Susan had bought Jack a leather jacket he had admired when they went shopping a few weeks earlier. She had given Shelly a nice pair of gold earrings. Shelly gave Josh a video camera, one of those small micro cameras that hook up to the computer, but can be taken on some day trips they had planned. All the gifts were open, but Jack had not given Susan anything. He sat back admiring the jacket she gave him.

“Well, I guess we need to make some breakfast.” Susan said standing up not trying to let the hurt in her voice show how disappointed she was. Walking towards the kitchen, she was almost there when Jack grabbed her by the waist.

“There’s one more present.” Jack said pulling a present out behind his back. “It’s nothing much, but I hope you like it.”

Susan went back to sit at the sofa with a smile on her face. Whatever it was, she knew she would love it because Jack gave it to her. She opened it with a confused look on her face. She pulled out a t-shirt that read, ‘You can’t make a person love you. You can only stalk them and hope for the best.’

Looking at Jack who had moved to sit on the floor in front of her, she said, “Thanks.” Putting the t-shirt back in the box and sitting the box to the side, she saw that there was another present that was now in Jack’s hands. This one did not need to be unwrapped. The black velvet ring box was open.

The ring was a simple round solitaire. It wasn’t too big to be pretentious and it wasn’t too small to need a magnifying glass. It was perfect.

“I love you Susan, I have loved you since the moment I saw you fixing a belt under the hood of your car. I can’t imagine my life without you in it. Will you marry me?”

This wasn’t the first time he had asked. If she did not answer or refused, she knew it would not be the last. She loved him, she wanted to marry him. The only thing that had held her back was the fact that her parents had not met him and she did not have their approval.

She had talked with Shelly and confided her concern with her sister and Shelly confirmed her thoughts that their parents would love him. He took care of her through the worst part of her life. He loved her and would always be there for her.

Shelly stood on the other side of the room with Josh, who was videotaping the proposal.

Everyone watched as Jack stayed on his knee, refusing to move until he had an answer. Susan knew that if she said, ‘No!’ he would wait patiently and ask again.

Susan didn’t want to let the moment go, but she also knew he deserved an answer. She locked her eyes on his and nodded as tears pooled in hers. “Yes, Jack. I would love to be your wife.”

Susan woke up twisting her engagement and wedding rings around. After Jack’s business took off, he wanted to buy her a larger diamond. But Susan had refused and said she loved this one. Looking down at it she smiled and fought the tears that burned the back of her throat.