Through Troubling Times

five

AHH!! 1.30K reads! I didn't prof read but here you go.

"My parents are coming over for dinner tonight to meet you," Taylor tells Karlie as she walks into the kitchen.

Karlie is cooking scrambled eggs when she whips her head around. "What? Already?"

"Karlie, we need to get married in a month if this is all going to work out. My mom wants to meet you so badly, same for my dad."

"Did you tell them we are getting married?" Karlie asks while putting two servings on separate plates.

She shakes her head, "no, but we will when they come over. Don't worry, they will love you."

"If you say so," Karlie remarks under her breath.

Taylor smirks, obviously having heard the taller girls comment. "Onto another topic, where do you want to honeymoon?"

Karlie stops her fork, mid-bite. "What?" She asks, "I didn't think we were going on a honeymoon."

Taylor smiles. "Of course we are. Where would you like to go? It's all up to you, I'll take you wherever you want."

Karlies heart flutters and a blush creeps onto her cheeks. "I don't want to do anything cliché," Taylor nods, agreeing. Karlie squints her eyes, deep in thought. "Two things have always been on my bucket list, go on an American road trip and travel to Cape Town, South Africa."

"If only we could drive to South Africa," the girls laugh. "If that's what you want to do, let's buy the plane tickets and map out our destinations for a car."

"Really? We can do both?" Karlie is bewildered at Taylor's generosity.

"Of course. You know, I've never been on a road trip before."

"The farthest I've been is Canada, and I lived there, so it doesn't count."

...

Taylor walks to the banister and yells up to Karlie in the master bedroom. "Babe, its 6:30, they'll be here in fifteen minutes! Are you ready?"

"Uh, yeah," Karlies voice wavers, sounding nervous.

Taylor sadly sighs and walk up the stairs. She walks into the bedroom and it's empty, she continues her walk into the closet and sees the tall blonde sitting on the floor with dropped shoulders. She smiles sadly at Taylor and the older woman sits down to comfort her future fiancé. "Babe, what's wrong?"

Karlies stomach flutters at the name as she turns to Taylor. "I'm so nervous."

Taylor lets out a chuckle and wraps her arms around Karlie. "Don't worry, they'll love you. You are an amazing person with a warm heart and they are gonna melt, you don't have anything to be worried about."

"Okay," Taylor and Karlie stand up and Taylor gives her a big hug.

"How about you go sit in the couch and pet the cats while I finish making dinner?"

"Are you sure?" Karlie asks.

"Yes, plus they should be here--" theee knocks at the door cut Taylor off. "Nevermind, they're early."

Panic sets in Karlies eyes as Taylor drags her down the stairs. Taylor puts her hand on the doorknob and takes a deep breath and gives Karlie a reassuring smile before opening the door.

Her mom and dad are standing next to each other holding a platter and bottle of wine, smiling brightly. "Taylor! It's been so long!" They step forward a wrap their daughter in a warm hug. Her mom looks past her and sees Karlie standing there with a smile. "You must be Karlie, it's so nice to meet you!" Andrea wraps her in a hug, also.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Swift."

Taylors father shakes his head and lets out a chuckle. "Please, call us Scott and Andrea."

Taylor takes the wine from them and Karlie takes the platter. "Lets go to the kitchen," she tells her parents.

The four of them make their way to the white kitchen and they set the gifts on the table. "It smells wonderful in here!" Andrea exclaims.

"It was all Taylor," Karlie answers, a proud look on her face.

"What are we eating tonight?" Scotts asks.

"Steak at poivre and mashed potatoes with asparagus."

...

They are all seated at the dinner table in deep conversation when Taylor excuses herself to go to the bathroom. Instead, she walks up the stairs and into the master bedroom to get the engagement ring to propose to Karlie.

Back downstairs, Andrea asks Karlie, "do you have any family around here?"

Karlie shakes her head, "no, actually. I was born in Canada and raised by my mom. She recently passed away from cancer, so Taylor is all I have."

"Oh, I am so sorry to hear that, Karlie. How long have you and Taylor been together?"

Panic sets in Karlie as she responds, "we will have our one year anniversary next week," she notices the surprised looks on their faces and continues, "my mom wasn't always a fan of the gay community," lie, "so I begged Taylor to keep it a secret. When we found out she didn't have much time left, I didn't want her to go if I was lying about something important about myself, so we told her. She wasn't the happiest, but our time together was limited and she wanted to make the most of it, so she looked over it. I'm sorry Taylor and I didn't tell you sooner, but I didn't want my mom to find out."

Andrea shakes her head and puts her hand on top of Karlies, "it's perfectly alright, dear. We're just glad we are meeting you now."

At that moment, Taylor walks down the stairs with the biggest smile on her face. "I have an announcement to make." She turns to Karlie and takes out the box, kneeling in front of her.

Karlie gasps and puts her hand over her mouth, "oh, my God, Taylor."

Taylor smiles and looks into her eyes. "Karlie, I know we are just going on a year being together, but I know I already want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to wake up beside you and fall asleep in your arms every day. I want to ask you how your day was after work and comfort you when you're sick. I want to be there for you when it gets tough. But most of all, I want to love you, and fall in love with you again, everyday. So, please, will you marry me?"

Tears are flowing from Karlies eyes and she immediately nods her head. Taylor jumps up and pulls Karlie with her to slip the ring on her finger. Lost in the moment, Taylor leans forwards and connects her lips to the taller girl. She tastes the saltiness of the girls tears, which makes her cry herself. They pull away and look into each other's eyes, seeing love.

"I love you," Karlie tells her, honestly.

"I love you, too."