Always There - Part 2 || Greta Van Fleet

Chapter 252: The Perfect Moment

When he looked at me like that, I was home.

I saw a house; a white picket fence and an overflowing rose bush that trailed the blinding white paneling with vines, climbing the pillars that welcomed you through the front door. Inside you'd be greeted with the many smells of the last meal he had made, dishes overflowing in the sink because he was so particular about his process, but it was worth it, always a work of art.

The living room would be filled with the baby's toys, to which he'd begrudgingly pretend to trip over, all the while the smile would never fade from his face; a mess he'd happily clean up for the rest of his life.

And then after their bath drenched the tiled floor and it was long after bedtime by the time they were eventually tucked in and asleep, and not until then would it finally be me and him, alone in our room, thankful for the day that we both were brave enough to jump.

"What is it?" He asked, his voice quiet, almost nervous. If only he knew he had nothing to be nervous about, not if everything he had said to me was true. If we had each other, neither of us had anything to be nervous about. Together we would be fine.

Even still, the moment felt surreal.
And no matter how hard I tried, there were no words.

I reached behind me, grabbing the gift box I had spent way too long wrapping, but I always seemed to focus on the insignificant details when I was nervous, trying my best to give myself at least the illusion of control. Either way, anything would be better than just finding the test on my end table.

He looked down at it cautiously, and then back up at me with questioning eyes. I nodded, motioning back towards it, pushing it closer to him. He hesitated for a moment before carefully pulling off the ribbon and lifting the lid, his face almost dropping when he saw it.

My heart sunk.

"Jaime.." He said, his voice now hauntingly quiet. I crawled over next to him, cuddling close.
"So.. do you remember Thanksgiving?" I asked, feeling my heart pounding in my chest. He nodded, keeping his eyes locked on the test. If only I knew what he was thinking.
"Of course." He muttered.

I hoped we remembered it the same way.

"Well, ever since that night.. and.. more so.. that day you told me that.. you wanted a family with me, I.. I couldn't stop thinking about it." He eventually let out a quiet laugh, making me feel a little better.
"Despite running away." He joked. I nodded, feeling my cheeks burn.
"Despite running away." I sighed. "I.. I wanted that too." He nodded again, his eyes never once straying from those prominent two lines.

I wish he would just say something.

"Now.. it's happening." I finally blurted out. He nodded again, staying quiet.
"And I can't tell you how thankful I am for you for giving this to me." He then quickly turned to face me, his eyes wide.
"W-what?" He finally asked. I nodded, biting down on my lip, trying my best to contain my excited grin.

"I think that the universe just knew it was always meant to be you." I said, now carefully taking the test from his hand and placing it back in the box.
"This.. this is.. ours?" He asked. I nodded, giggling to myself. "But.. how do you-"
"I haven't been with anyone else.. in a.. long time, and.. well, we-" He quickly cut me off, pulling me into a tight hug. I didn't hesitate to wrap my arms around his neck, squeezing him tightly.

"It's mine?" He asked again. I nodded.
"It's yours." I said, now sensing he just needed to hear it.
"Oh my god, Jaime.." He sighed, pulling me into a passionate kiss. I kissed him back harder, tightly clutching his shirt, pulling him in closer.

"Is.. is that what you were worried about?" I finally asked, leaning my forehead against his. He hesitated for a moment before finally nodding.
"I.. I saw it before and.. I just-"
"I really didn't want you to find out that way. I wanted it to be special."
"It was always going to be special." He laughed, pulling me into another long kiss. "But.. thank you for this."
"Now that we have that out of the way.." I laughed. "Can I finish? I had a lot I needed to tell you." He nodded, giggling to himself as he wiped the tears from his eyes.
"Yes ma'am."

"I've always known how I felt about you, and.. despite how long it took us to get here, I am so happy that it was with you. I've dreamt about this my entire life, and.. now it's happening. I love you, and I couldn't be happier."
"I love you, Jaime." He whispered, leaning into another deep kiss.
"And.. one more thing." I added, leaning over, grabbing another gift box from his end table. He playfully rolled his eyes.
"You've given me more than enough." He sighed, his smile growing. I shook my head, knowing that a lifetime of gifts would never be enough to show him just how much I loved him.

But that didn't mean I wouldn't try.

"Now.. this is for a little later." I said, watching as he untied the ribbon, and eagerly removed the top. "But.. I thought it was important, considering everything we've been through.." He stayed quiet as he pulled out a tiny silver bracelet from the box, holding it up to his face, inspecting it closely.

"Jaime.." He sighed, more tears filling his eyes.
"We have our bracelets, so.. our little one can match us too." I said. "It's blank right now, but I figured we could decide together how we wanted it engraved when the time was right." He carefully placed in back into the box, pulling me into another passionate kiss. I couldn't help but smile.

As much as it seemed like he was taking this well, I just needed him to say something.

"W-what are you thinking?" I finally asked, my eyes now scanning his face for any sense of distress.
"A lot." He laughed, wiping his eyes again.
"A lot.. in a good way?" I pried. He nodded, giggling to himself as he pulled me into another series of kisses.
"A very good way." He sighed, pulling me onto his lap.
"So you're happy?" He nodded.
"Jaime, you have.. no idea how happy I am." It felt like my heart could explode.

"Good, because I.. I was worried, well.. this morning you.. you seemed kinda-"
"This morning I thought that we were over."
"W-why?"
"Well, because if it was Josh's-" He stopped himself, eventually shaking his head. "Either way, I.. I told myself.. I didn't care who's it was. If you still wanted me, then I wasn't going anywhere." I couldn't help but smile, feeling more tears come to my eyes.

"I am so happy it's you." I whispered, gently caressing his face. As I got lost in his eyes, they suddenly looked different to me, now wondering if our baby would soon share the same ones; I couldn't help but love them even more.

After pulling me into another long kiss, he then reached back over for his end table, opening the drawer and pulling out a box.
"I guess now is probably the best time to give you this." He giggled, holding it out in front of me. My heart jumped, wondering if this was really what I thought it was.

Did he just always have them ready?
Was he just waiting for the perfect moment?

"Jake, w-what.. what's this?" I asked, holding my stare on the box. I had been in this situation once before, but this time felt different. My heart jumped at just the sight of his smile growing into a giddy grin as he reached over, carefully opening the box to show our two silver rings.

"If we're going to be a family now, we're going to do this right." He said softly, taking out the smaller of the two and holding it up to me. I nodded, letting out a deep sigh, unable to contain my beaming grin.

"Jaime.." He started, and I could already feel the tears filling my eyes. I quickly wiped them away, trying my best to focus. I had waited my entire life for this with him, and I didn't want to miss a second of it.

"I have loved you from the moment I laid eyes on you, since.. before I even knew what it meant to truly love someone, it has always been you, and it always will be. I know I've messed up in the past, but I promise you.. I will do anything for you, and I will do anything for them.. so.. with that being said.." He took my hand, pulling me in closer.

"Will you marry me?"