Ever

Chapter 14

*Three months later*

I sat across from Tyler who had his arm draped around Reina, his girlfriend of 6 weeks or so. Reina dripped down the outside of the diner’s window. Libby stared concentrated at the scribbles she had drawn across the page then continued making marks across the page, her hands wrapped around the crayons in a fist. From my lap she turned her head up and looked at me, smiled and went back to playing Picasso.

“What do you think? Is it too early? Too much to throw on top of her during her last year?” Kelly was at school right now so I had taken the time to meet up with Ty. “I don’t want to stress her out but I also don’t want to lose her to anyone.”

“Yeah. I would be worried she’d find a stud of a guy such as myself and leave your sorry ass behind.” Tyler cracked with a smile. Reina did me a favor and threw a fist into his side. “Oww” he winced as if it really hurt.

Reina was nice. She dropped from school last year and worked around here.  She balanced Ty well. Sometimes he needed someone to keep him grounded and Raina made sure of that. She took time to think things out before jumping on them. “As long as you love her and she loves you then you have nothing to worry about,” she added, “If I were in her place, I would love if you were to propose now.”

That’s all I need was reassurance that I wasn’t going to ruin anything for her. The waiter came out two plates stacked up each arm. I pulled one off him arm so he could set the others down. Libby got excited at the sight of food and dropped the crayons. I pulled a spoon and her sippy cup from her diaper bag. Mixing the potatoes together and letting them cool, I gave her small spoonfuls of the potatoes until she ate my entire serving. She rested against me sipping her juice, slowly falling asleep with her full belly.

I paid and thanked Ty and Reina for a nice lunch. Lib and I left to go to the mall.

“Something simple, but elegant” I tried to explain to the man behind the counter at the jeweler’s. With Libby propped on my hip asleep I looked at the rings displayed throughout the glass cases. None of them were really her nor did they look like something she would wear. I walked down the line of the glass case and nothing really caught my eye. Libby fussed in my arms so I set her down.

“Stay with Daddy baby girl”

“Yes Dada.” She wobbled around looking at the case. With one eye on her and the other looking at rings, nothing seemed right. I heard a hand smack glass and looked over at Libby to see her face smushed up against the glass.

“Lib, come here please.” But she wasn’t listening. I walked over and picked her up. In her hair pulled into two pig tails and her green sweats she kept trying to look back at the case. I bent over to see what she was seeing and she stuck a finger out to the glass. I didn’t have to follow her gaze to find what she was staring at. Somewhere in the middle of the case a very simple band sat in it’s box impressed with lines and a small diamond sat in the middle. “Can I see this one?” I pointed to the ring and the jeweler pulled out the velvet covered box. I pulled the ring from its place and studied it. Libby seemed to do the same as I talked to the man. “I think we can ring this one up.”

“You don’t want to see any more-”

“No this is the one.” I handed him my credit card, unconcerned of the price.

Libby and I walked out shortly after small bag in hand and drove home. I tucked the small box in my glove compartment before I got out of the truck and unstrapped the softly breathing toddler from her seat. Using my black jacket I covered her from the rain which had become a down pour and walked in big strides to the house.

Kelly was home sitting on her bed with a binder in her lap pen in hand and a book propped up on a pillow opened towards her. With her hair swept behind one ear and concentration in her eyes she looked so sweet. “Hey baby” I said gently as I laid Lib in her bed.