Am I......?(BxB)

Chapter 21

With a shiny engagement ring on my finger, I'm as happy as anyone could be. To know that I'm going to marry Leo fills my heart with joy and warmth. When we show Mom and Dad our rings, they're just as happy for us. And when Leo calls his parents and tells them of the engagement, they both scream in delight. I do the same for Ryan and Nate, and they both have a similar reaction.

My parents, Leo, and I fly back to Santa Ana early the next morning, enduring another six-hour flight across the country. Once we land, we get our bags, grab a taxi, and head home. We drop Leo off at his house and I tell him I'll see him at school tomorrow and give him a long kiss, which is interrupted by Dad yelling at me to wait for our own honeymoon.

We get home and drop all our things and go straight to bed, feeling the exhaustion from the flight. After an eight-hour nap, I come downstairs just in time for dinner: Chinese takeout. As we're eating, I notice Mom glancing at me ever few minutes. "Do I have food on my shirt?" I ask her.

"Oh no," she says. "I just can't stop looking at your ring."

I glance down at my left hand and smile. "Neither can I," I say. "Dad, did you getting your ring feel this good?"

"It was the greatest thing I had felt in my entire life," he says, a mouth full of chicken lo mein. "When I felt my wedding ring slip onto my finger, I knew I would be with your mother for the rest of my life."

"Or until he gets tired of me and sleeps with some slutty nurse," says Mom.

Dad chuckles and gives Mom a kiss. "But it was also really scary," Dad says.

"How was it scary?" I ask.

"Because I didn't know what it would be like to start a family. Your mother and I married when we were both 24. I was about to start medical school and your mother was about to enter law school. What we didn't realize at the time was how hard it was to live with another person."

"Your father and I actually almost got divorced only six months into our marriage," says Mom. "But when we found out I was pregnant with Ryan, we both saw that we needed each other. Time passed and your father and I found the spark we first saw when we started dating. He got through medical school and I got through law school when Ryan was four years old."

"Thanks to some help from our parents," says Dad, "we managed to love Ryan as much as any other parent. When we finished school, we decided to have another baby: you. Raising one kid was hard when you're young and don't know what you're doing. Frankly, we did a better job with you than with Ryan."

"What we're trying to say is sweetie," says Mom, "is that you shouldn't rush into things. We can see you and Leo are perfect for each other, but we also see that you're still young."

"You don't want me to get married to early," I say. They both nod. "I know. Leo and I both agreed that we'd get married when we finished college and start a family when we feel ready and when our lives are stable. You have nothing to worry about."

"We'll always be worried about you bud," says Dad. "We're your parents. It's our job to be worried about our kids."

"But we're happy to know that you and Leo are prepared for the future you two will have," says Mom. "We're incredibly proud to know that both of our sons have met someone they love dearly."

I smile at both my parents. "Thanks for the advice, guys. I love you both."

"We love you too sweetie," they both say.

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School comes back and Leo and I tell the guys that we're officially engaged. There's a lot of shock at first, but they show that they're incredibly happy for us. News of Leo's and my engagement spreads throughout the school like wildfire and we're stopped every ten seconds in the hall from students wanting to see our rings. Coach and Creswell aren't surprised by the engagement at all, but show their support for us.