His Proposal

His Proposal - 37

After I wash my face, Jai and I walk back outside to join his family at the table. Aleysa is sitting next to Veronica, and she has a smile on her face. "I would love to go there, " she says, looking at me. Veronica said we should go on a holiday somewhere. She suggested Paris. We can go there for my thirteenth birthday."

Her birthday is next month, so the timing is perfect. She deserves to have some fun with everything that's happening with her.

Nate and I need a break, too.

Jai wraps his arm around me. He looks at Aleysa. "I'm looking forward to celebrating your birthday with you. When it?"

Aleysa looks at him. "October 19th." She moves her finger in a 'come here' motion, and he moves towards her. She whispers. "I want a pony for my birthday."

Moving over to her. "Can we make a sacrifice on that one, sis?"

She looks at me. "What sort of sacrifice?"

"Before we go to Paris we'll take your horseback riding?"

Nate steps next to me. "I'll come too. You can make fun of me, Aleysa."

She laughs. "I can't wait to see you on a horse, bro. Can Jai come?"

"If he wants."

Jai kisses my cheek. "I will be wherever you are. I know a place we can go to."

Veronica looks at us. "I will give Sean a call. He's going to love seeing you again, Jai."

"Sean is a guy that Mom and Dad met when they used to live in Los Angeles. They accidentally trespassed on his property when they were horseback riding one day, and he told them they could come back, but only if they rode his horses instead of the neighbours'. It turns out that the horses we rode were from a couple of thieves, and the bank owned the house we were at."

Veronica laughs. "It turns out the couple stole horses from Sean's yard. He knew we weren't the type to steal. We left the horses to him and he gave us a ride to his neighbours, but when we got there, our car was stolen."

Mr Marshall takes over telling the story. "Sean was nice enough to drive us home. His jaw dropped when he saw our place. We invited him and we talked until the early hours of the morning. We told him to spend the night." He looks at Jai. "In the morning, you woke early and went into the kitchen to make breakfast."

Veronica laughs. "You were four years old then, and you pulled out the drawers and used them as a ladder. You climbed onto the table, pulled out a box of Lucky Charms, and put some in your mouth. While you were eating, you spilled the box of cereal on the floor."

"When your mother woke up, she saw how the cupboards were and the lucky charms on the floor. She knew it was you. You were the only one of your siblings who was creative regarding the food they wanted."

I laugh. "I never used to have lucky charms at my place, and now we have four boxes in the cupboard. At least I know he won't make a ladder out of my drawers to get his cereal." I kiss his cheek.

Jai pulls me closer to him. "Our children will think of creative ways to get something they want from the cupboards, too."

Nate looks at us. "You two are starting to make me sick."

Elbowing my brother in the stomach. "Shut up! You're just jealous that you don't have a girlfriend." I stick my tongue out at him."

He rolls his eyes. "I'm asking Liane to the homecoming. Then she will be my girlfriend."

Nate never told me he liked a girl.

Pinching his cheek. "Aw, my little brother is growing up. Tell me more about Liane."