Even Through the Storm

9. The Proposal

It's almost time for dinner, and I can smell the steak my dad is cooking on the grill. I get a text. "Please, please, please delete it." It's Asher. "It's already at eighty-four likes. And that's not counting the shares."

"Not a chance. Maybe if you start a petition. But it has to include Dri's and Peters signature. So good luck. ;)"

"I hate you."

"I know!"

"Lola! Dinner's ready! Cass will be here any minute!" Cassie is my Dad's new girlfriend. They have only known each other for a year, but my dad is already planning to propose. It's been nine years since Mom has died, and he says that I need a maternal figure in my life. I can see that he really likes her, so I just go with it. "The boys are coming too!"

"Be there in a sec!" I walk downstairs, still in the clothes Asher gave me. My dad is filling a vase with water. He turns around. The flowers are roses, and he is wearing a tux. "It's today, huh?"

"What's today?"

"You're proposing to Cassie!"

"What? No. No! Is it that obvious?"

"Maybe take off the jacket."

"Good call." He takes it off and hangs it on the back of his chair. The doorbell rings.

"I'll get it."

"Oh, wait!" He takes a box out of the jacket and puts it into his pants pocket. "Okay, now you can go." I open the front door. It's Cassie and her three sons, Liam, who's six, Ryan, five, and Noah, who's three. Cassie's husband passed away two years ago, leaving her to take care of them herself.

"Hey, Cassie! Hi, boys. Come in!"

"Hi Lola, hey handsome." She goes over to my dad and kisses him. The boys make kissy faces and she stops.

"Well, sit down!" Dad says. We all sit down at the table and pass around the food. I sit in between Liam and Noah, both who get mashed potatoes on the floor almost instantaneously. After a few minutes of silence, my dad stands up. I can't help but smile. "Um, okay, well." He puts his champagne up in the air. "Um, Cass, Cassie, uh, Cassandra, Lola, boys, a year ago, I met this insanely beautiful girl. I fell in love instantly. And today..." He gets down on one knee. "Exactly a year from that amazing day..." Cassie's jaw drops. "I want to ask her to marry me. Cassie, I love you, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Please, please do me the honor, and marry me." She starts to cry.

"Yes! Yes! One hundred percent. Yes!" He slips the ring onto her finger. They hug.

Later, when the boys are asleep in my dad's bed upstairs, Dad, Cassie, and I are downstairs trying to get a head start on planning. I'm going to be a bridesmaid, and Cassie is planning to have her friend Jessie as the maid of honor, but if she says no, then it's up to me. My uncle Jim will be the best man. The boys will share the ring bearer position, and my dad's friend will be the minister. The only thing left is where, and when.