The Perfect Moment

Part Thirteen

The day was here, and I had just arrived the arena. I had talked to some managers, and planned everything out perfectly. April's doctor said it wasn't a good idea to bring her out in the crowd, so I had to come up with something else.

We were behind the curtains, and I could see Luke perform. When they had a small break, and Luke was the only guy speaking, some guys behind there fixed it so that only the three others could hear him, and told them that it was happening now. Luke was about to start his 'Long Way Home' intro, and stood at the very front of the little isle. I took the sign, and walked out. Luckily there weren't any unusual sounds from the crowd, so I bent down to get April ready. Luke had finished singing now, and Ashton was doing the drum-thing to finish the intro. He turned around, but stopped dead. I let go of April, and she immediately started walking. She ran towards her dad, who was now squatting down to catch her. She walked that whole isle alone, all the way to her dad in front of about thirty thousand people. I felt like a fool, but didn't do anything about it. I just walked slowly behind her, letting her catch Luke first.

He caught her, and lifted her up. Tears were streaming down his face as he held his daughter in his arms. I walked up too, crying myself. He hugged me for a really long time, and then kissed me once. We all walked back to where the drums were, and got off stage like the three others for a little minute.

"Tell them she's yours. You're allowed to now" I told him, and everyone else around us nodded, meaning that he could. I kissed him again, and watched him as he got ready to go back on and explain things.

"Are you coming?" he asked me in my ear. Things were loud, so I couldn't hear him unless he was close to my ear. I said no, and that this was something he had to do on his own.

"I'm not doing this without you" he smiled, and eventually I joined him back on stage.

Everyone cheered at me, holding Luke's hand, and him with April safely on his hip..

"Hello everyone! I want you to meet my daughter April" he said, and the whole stadium got silent.

"I haven't been able to see her in eleven months" he begun, and I could hear the nervousness in his voice. I was actually worried he might cry. "The last time I saw her she was three weeks old, and now, on November sixteenth I've been a father for an entire year. I'm so proud of her, but maybe even more proud of April's mum, my girlfriend Andrea," he said and stepped away from me a little. I took that a my queue to wave a little to the crowd, while I smiled at Luke.

"I've made a fool of myself so many times, and this one time for all the wrong reasons. I suddenly found out I had become a dad, and it was the best thing in the world to me. I've never been as happy as then, and when Andrea took me back after nine months of crying, my life was complete. This woman has made everything I will ever need in life. Of course my band is important too, but that's a different story" he interrupted himself, making me and many others laugh.

"But I've loved my best friend for almost fourteen years now, and to actually be the one to get her pregnant, is the greatest honour." he took a small break.

"Gosh, I wasn't planning on doing this right now, but this is the perfect timing, so I'll just do it," he continued, making me confused. He put April down on the ground and gave her his microphone. He stepped up to me, put his arms around me and talked into my ear.

"I love you so much, and even though I will love you forever and always, I'd love to see you in a white dress, walking down the aisle, knowing that you'll be mine forever and always. So will you please do the honour and marry me?" he asked. I didn't believe what I heard, but then he let go of me and got down on one knee. One of the security guards that were standing in front of the stage to watch the fans, slid a small black box across the floor. Luke grabbed it, and opened it. He looked at it first to check that everything was okay, before he showed it to me, hopeful.

I threw my hands to my mouth and gasped. Holy shit. That was the third most beautiful thing in the whole world, and I loved it. I looked back up at Luke, who was waiting for an answer, and nodded. I nodded two times, but the didn't notice, so I let go of my hands and mimicked 'yes'.

He rushed up and hugged me tightly. People were cheering so loud I didn't even hear what Luke was telling me, so I had to ask him to repeat. "Thank you! I love you so much, and I can't wait to live forever with you" he repeated into my ear. Soon, after we had looked in each other's eyes for a little, he gave me a long, weak kiss. It didn't matter though. I understood that he was nervous, and excited and everything, because I was too.

After another hug and two or three kisses, he plucked the ring out of the box and gave that to April so she could play with it. Then he asked for my hand, smiling like an idiot. He gently placed the ring on my finger, and gave me one last kiss. April suddenly came on the speakers, talking into the microphone. She was up walking now, and as she looked at us, she laughed.

"Daddy" she said just before she dropped the microphone and ran over as fast as she could. Her arms were wide open, and her eyes were as bright as never before. he caught her and brought her up to his chest, before he threw her high up in the air. That very moment, everything froze in front of me.

I saw my daughter at least one meter up above our heads, ready to be caught by my two strong arms, belonging to my fiancé. He was smiling wider than I'd ever seen him, happy tears rolling down his cheeks. I could see the joy in both their faces, and knew that this was right. Even the spotlights were right. The cheering was right. 

And all of that, every emotion inside of me was caught in 

the perfect moment.