I step out of the car in a pretty dress that I bought just yesterday. I wanted to impress Jamie's family, even though I've met mostly all of them before.
He runs around the car and shuts the door, putting his arm out for me to grab.
I clutch his arm and he leads me to the door. He doesn't knock, instead he walks right in. We then walk side by side to the kitchen where we find Danny and Erin cooking dinner.
"Smells good," Jamie smiles.
Danny and Erin both turn their heads to see Jamie holding me close to him.
"Hey, Eddie, how are you?" Erin asks.
"I'm good, and how are you?" I reply. Wow, what a blatant response.
"I'm good, do you wanna go find your seat?" Erin asks.
"I can, do you need any help in here?" I respond.
"Actually, if you don't mind," Erin starts, "I could use help slicing and dicing these onions, would you mind?" She replies.
"Of course!" I smile. I grab the knife and watch as Danny and Jamie head over to the dining room.
"Brr," I mumble as I cut a few onions.
"Eddie," Erin comes to my side, "I know you're nervous, there's no reason to be. This, us, we are family now, there's no reason to be nervous when you're with family. And, if my father is a little hard to swoon over, don't worry, that means he likes you," Erin says with a soothing component to her voice.
"Thanks," I sigh, "here's your onions."
"Thank you, the finishing touch. Go find your seat, now, please, and also, tell everyone the meal is on its way!"
"Okay," I reply. I walk over into the dining room and all eyes land on me. I kind of freeze, but when Erin walks in behind me, I rush over to my seat. I'm sitting between her and Jamie.
Halfway through the meal, he reaches across my thigh and grabs my hand, I haven't touched my plate yet and I haven't spoken much either.
He whispers into my ear, "you okay?"
I nod and grab my fork. I start eating when Frank asks me how patrol is going.
"Good, I guess. I like it. 3 years hasn't really felt like that long and I don't regret not applying for detective when I could've. I think I'm happy right where I'm at."
Frank smiles and nods.
I squeeze Jamie's hand and then ask him where the bathroom is. He directs me to it and I go on my way.
I walk in and lock the door behind me.
I grab onto the sink and stare at myself in the mirror, you can do this. You, Edit Janko can do this. You are a strong, independent, capable woman. You can do it.
I go to grab the door knob when my heel gives out and my head slams into the glass sink.
The crash could be heard from miles away, seconds later I can hear Jamie pounding on the door. I open the door and shoo him away.
"I'm fine, I just slipped. It's okay."
He doesn't believe me but he leaves it alone and we get back to dinner. I ended up talking to them all night after that.
At the end of the dinner, Jamie grabs my hand and leads me into the living room.
"What's up?" I question him.
"Stay here," he says.
"Okay?" I say, I wait patiently for him to return.
When he returns, he comes back with box the size of his torso.
"What is that, Jamie?" I ask him, by now, the whole family is gathered around.
"So, let me explain this," he starts, "this is a box that has been in our family for generations and generations. Not this box specifically, but the idea of the box more or less. For the past three years, when my sister said I was gonna marry you, she started the box for you. Additions to the family get a box. A box with an item from each individual in the family. You can open it at any time you want, but I prefer you do it here, if that's okay?"
"Okay???" I say.
"Go ahead, open it."
I calmly lift up the lid and open the box to find a picture of Jamie and I from 2 years ago. He's got his arm wrapped around me, gazing into my eyes while I'm holding my badge acting all cool. It's from Danny. I grab a necklace, it's from Erin. It's something she wanted to share with a sister if she ever got one. Me.
I continue down the line until there is only one thing left. The only thing left is a jewelry box, from Frank and Jamie.
"That jewelry box was my wife's, she kept all of her best jewelry in there. From her diamond earrings to her gold necklace," Frank informs me.
"But last of all, Edit Janko, I want to give you a gift you can keep forever," he says as he slowly opens one of the drawers. "I want to give you my heart, will you marry me?" I look into the drawer and see an engagement ring.
"Jamie, I... we've only been together for 5 months," I counter.
"Eddie, I love you. I've told you this many times before. I will always love you. And to be honest, we've been together for 5 months, but I've loved you way longer. From the day I saw you I knew you were the one. The only one for me. So in the three years we've been partners, I believe that that is what counts. That's where our love began and that's why I'm asking you now, because I want to be your partner for the rest of our lives. I want to be with you, Eddie, will you marry me?"
I pause and look around at all the faces. They're all smiling and Nikki is recording it on her phone.
"I...," my hands start shaking, "yes? Yes. Yes, I will," I smile.
He kisses me and places the ring on my finger.
"A perfect ring for a perfect girl," he whispers in my ear as he hugs me.
