Teach Me How To Love Again

Chapter Seventeen

CHRISTMAS EVE

Joe stood in the bathroom, shaving in front of the mirror when he heard his boys arguing.

"Guys! Guys!" He called. "What is going on?"

They both came running towards him, stopping to stand in the bathroom doorway.

"You tell him!" Beau elbowed his brother, who winced and rubbed his ribs.

"No, you tell him." He retorted.

Beau took a deep breath.

"Dad, we decided that we should marry Jill." He announced proudly.

Joe chuckled at the conclusion. They'd obviously thought quite a bit about this. He was thankful he'd put down the razor before turning to them.

"Don't I get a say? I mean she is my girlfriend, fellas."

"Yeah, we're all going to marry her." Hunter piped up as though it was the most obvious next step and his father seemed rather silly for not understanding that he, too, was marrying Jill.

"I think that's a marvelous idea. Can you keep a secret?" He asked, pulling the boys in to tell them that he knew of a jewelry shop on the corner of the Historic District.

-

That afternoon, they found themselves in the jewelry shop while Joe convinced Jill to do some last minute Christmas shopping for her friends. Before leaving, Joe managed to swipe one of her rings and stick it in his pocket before walking out of the door, pretending to forget a scarf.

"Hello!" The woman at the counter greeted them. She was elegantly dressed in black and Joe was a little intimidated. The boys immediately began picking out rings, pointing through the windows that they thought Jill would like.

"She likes gold." Beau said. He'd really taken the time to think about this.

"Oh, that one is beautiful." The jeweler noted, placing it on top of the counter for them to see. Beau and Hunter climbed up on the stools that sat near the counter for a better look. "Who is the lucky woman?"

"JILL!" Hunter replied, excitedly.

"Can we see the third one to the left?" Joe inquired. The ring had a thin gold band with a few small diamonds embedded into it and a beautiful, round diamond in the middle.

He held it up to the light and smiled as it sparkled. He held up Jill's ring next to it and realized that it was the same size.

Beau pursed his lips. "I think this one."

"What do you think, Hunt?" Joe asked and Hunter nodded.

"I think that one, too." He turned back to the woman. "We'll take this one."

"Fantastic! If there are any issues with sizing, you can always bring it back in and we'll make sure it's fitted properly."

He slipped the ring box in his coat pocket, patted it, and walked the boys past a toy store to window-shop.

"Now, remember," he told them. "This is OUR secret. No one else can know. Not Jill, not Mom Mom, and not Aunt Val."

"Our secret." Beau confirmed.

"Shh." Hunter replied, holding his finger up to his lips. As they made it back from the toy store, they met Jill on the corner.

"Hi, baby." Joe greeted, kissing her on the cheek and taking the plethora of shopping bags from her. "Did you find everything you needed?"

"And more!" She exclaimed.

When she was sure the boys were distracted by gazing in the windows of another shop, she leaned in. "In fact, I managed to get something extra for you."