Love, Dad

18. Eternity

Even the moon and the stars couldn't compare to the beautiful scene I viewed in front of me. Though sunset was a lovely time—watching the dim light in the sky fade away in death, gasping for one last breath in vivid colors of warmth—it didn't compare to watching the sunrise. When death gave way to life, and when fire rose on the horizon, I couldn't help but to be filled with hope, with such serenity and wonder. Levi had picked the perfect spot for us to view the event—a small clearing just through the thicket of trees behind the farm. When we'd arrived I had surmised he'd thoroughly planned this out, considering a dense blanket waited patiently on the ground for us.

"I guess it was worth it." I joked as I turned to view him. I hadn't waited up to see the sun appear in the sky in a very long time, so when he had suggested it to me I was a bit taken with the idea. Though it had been his idea, he had been surprisingly quiet throughout the night—not completely of course, because it would've been terribly droll to spend so many hours in my own company. I didn't need to know why to see how he looked right then, lying down on the blanket beside me, his face illuminated by both the light and from within.

"I'm so in love with you." He whispered finally, taking his eyes from the radiant glow and putting them on me instead. Knowing that I was surely dim in comparison, I shied away from his sight. All at once he rolled so that he was on his stomach, beside me, throwing his arm over me and hovering just inches from my face.

"I'm so in love with you too." Easily I could discern it was what he wanted to hear, and I was happy to say the words, no matter how dull I might be.

"Ask me what I want." His direction was certain, and it caused a small amount of anxiety to mingle with my curiosity. There, his face just above mine as it was, I could see that his silence had not been the result of some leaden burden he carried. On the contrary, his eyes sparkled with such vivacity that it startled me, made me almost afraid to know why it was.

"What do you want? Tell me, and I will give it to you." I took it a step farther than he asked of me, because I wanted him to know that I would do all that I could to see that the light behind his eyes never went out. Curling his lips up voraciously, he descended upon me and did not let up until he had taken all of my breath.

"I'm glad that you feel that way," he moved to my neck then, tasting the skin there, "anything?"

"Anything." My confirmation was swift and firm, leaving no margin for doubt. I wasn't sure what the next words out of his mouth would be, only that I knew I had no reason to fear them. Whatever had taken him was nothing for me to worry about, and I put such thoughts out of my mind as he brought his lips back to mine.

"I want everything we promised one another, I want the next sixty years with you by my side. I want our own family. I want you, now and forever. I want eternity." Levi's mouth was still touching mine as he spoke, making it almost impossible to concentrate on what he was saying.

"It's yours, it's been yours," that seemed like it should have been obvious from the beginning. If not from the beginning, then at least from the first time he ever told me he loved me. I was his, hopelessly and without regret, and I had no doubt that he was just as much mine. Still, he stared deeply down at me now and it made me want to squirm away, made my heart threaten to beat out of my chest if I stayed there under him any longer.

"Then let's make it so," this time he didn't kiss me, and he balanced his weight on one elbow so that he could gently caress my face with his other hand. "Marry me."

"What?" No matter how tender this moment had been, I wasn't expecting him to say that to me. My mind took his words and held them, unable to be processed properly as I turned them over and over again. When I said nothing else after that he didn't become deterred, instead smiling and rolling away from me. For a moment he rummaged around in his bag before turning back and posing himself on one knee, waiting patiently as I slowly sat up and looked between him and that which he held in his hand.