A Sokeefe Engagement

Chapter 7 - Sophie

It didn't take long for Keefe to light a fire and build a nest of blankets and pillows on our favorite swing. We talked and laughed until we were too tired to do anything but sit and swing in contented silence. Snuggled close against his chest, I basked in the familiar comfort of his arms, my eyes growing heavy as I listened to his steady heartbeat.

"Sophie?" he spoke so softly I wasn't sure if I'd imagined it until he repeated my name. I looked up at him and he smiled at me. "I wasn't sure if you were asleep.  Would you like to go inside? There's something I want to show you."

I nodded, sleepily getting to my feet and following him into the house and down the hallway to his room.

He patted his bed for me to sit, then walked over to his desk. Pulling something from a drawer, he held it behind his back and turned back to face me. "Do you remember the journals I kept back in the day when we thought it might help with my memories?"

"Of course. That was the first time I saw what an amazing artist you are."

Keefe smiled. "I had them color coded for different types of memories. Green for hard, brown for happy, silver for important. Remember?"

I nodded. "I think there was a fourth color, too. But you never let us see that one."

He brought the gold journal out from behind his back. "Yeah. Well, I think it's time that I share it with you."

I was suddenly wide awake. "Really??" I had always wondered what he'd drawn in the gold journal, but that color was reserved for his private thoughts. Things he wanted to keep all to himself. I'd pretty much assumed it was something I'd never get to see.

Keefe sat down beside me. "This is where I drew really personal things. Hopes, dreams, wishes." He paused, reddening ever so slightly. "You, um, you're in here a lot."

I felt a matching blush slide across my face. But as much as I was dying to see what was inside the pages, I placed my hand over his. "You don't need to share these if it makes you uncomfortable."

He shook his head. "No, it's time. I'm not afraid to share these with you. It's stuff I want you to see."

He pressed the journal into my hands and I gave him a reassuring kiss on the cheek before turning my attention back to the golden book, my anticipation at an all time high.

Keefe's art was extraordinary. I marveled at the way he could catch expressions and emotions with just a few scratches of charcoal on paper. As promised, I was featured in the majority of his sketches. Sometimes with friends, sometimes alone. The artwork included several familiar locations: Havenfield, Alluveterre, Foxfire, and the Shores of Solace.

I smiled at a picture of the two of us on our favorite porch swing. We were snuggled close together, his arms wrapped around me. Our heads were leaning toward each other and we were grinning as if laughing over an inside joke. "This could have been tonight." I told him, wishing I could tear it out and frame it.

The next image contained the two of us relaxing in a room I couldn't recognize. Keefe had drawn himself staring intently at an unfinished portrait before him. I sat nearby, cradling a bundle in my arms with a look of utter contentment on my face. "Was this in Havenfield when the baby murcats arrived?" I wondered out loud, trying to remember the last time I had held something so small.

He shook his head, "No. Nothing in here has happened, or at least hadn't happened then. I drew a lot of these as a distraction to take my mind off of everything when I was gone." His voice trailed off as I studied the image. He ran a hand through his hair, then looked back at at the journal, "Keep going."

The pages that followed were full of me and Keefe together. Flying on Silveny, laughing in front of an annoyed looking Sandor, sneaking a kiss at his favorite Foxfire ditching spot, even walking hand in hand down a street in Paris. I giggled extra hard at one that showed me shoving a ding dong into his face, the cream filling dripping down his cheek while he tried to catch it with his tongue.

But even as I smiled and laughed at his imagined scenarios, I was trying not to think about what he had felt when he drew them. He had been all alone in the Forbidden Cities, terrified of his new powers and his mom's evil intentions for them. Weeks had passed when he truly believed he'd never get to come home. I felt tears prick my eyes as I thought about all of the sadness he must have felt drawing these scenes - gatherings with friends, a graduation ceremony in front of the elite silver towers, and tender moments between the two of us. All of them were the people and places he was missing, and dreams he was worried he'd never get to see come true.

I drew in a shaky breath, hoping he didn't see my tears and think they were pity as I came to the last of the drawings. "These are amazing, Keefe." I looked at him, "Thank you for sharing them with me."

He was grabbing at something in his cloak and wouldn't meet my gaze, but said, "There's one more if you skip to the end. I drew it just the other day."

I flipped to the last page in the journal and let out a little gasp as the image came into focus. It was stunning. The two of us stood beneath Calla's tree in the midst of friends and family, with a robed Mr Forkle speaking to the crowd. Our bodies were positioned at the forefront, slightly away from the others, and we were facing one another, holding hands and smiling. But the detail that caused me to stop breathing was the formal attire we were wearing. Most notably, the spectacular white dress he'd drawn for me that seemed to sparkle right off the page.

My vision blurred again as I realized what I was looking at; Keefe had drawn his dream of our wedding. My hands shook as I looked over at him, and they flew to cover my mouth when I saw that he had gotten down on one knee, a small glittering box in his hands.

"What?" I managed. But I couldn't speak. Couldn't breathe.

Keefe's smile was nervous, but his voice was steady. "From the first day we met, I knew my life wouldn't be the same. You were - and are - so incredible. Smart, talented, kind, brave, and beautiful. There are way too many words I could use to describe you and what you mean to me." He paused to take a breath. "The fact that so many of my dreams have come true because you chose to love me; I know how lucky I am. It has been the greatest honor of my life to call you my girlfriend. But for a long time now, what I have really wanted to be able to call you is one, simple word." With this he opened the box, revealing the most beautiful ring sparkling with jewels in nearly every color of the rainbow. "My wife."

I choked back a sob as his eyes grew misty and he asked, "Sophie Elizabeth Foster, would you make all of my dreams come true and marry me?"

I smiled through my tears and somehow managed to say, "Yes! Yes, I would love to marry you, Keefe."

His hands shook ever so slightly as he slid the ring over my finger. I leaned forward and pulled him into a kiss.

"I love you." I whispered.

"I love you." He replied.

"I'm wearing kraken pajamas." I giggled.

"Somehow, that makes this even more perfect." He assured me.

I couldn't have agreed more.