Time To Live

Chapter 28: Mine

Before she could even raise her hand to consider touching the buzzer for the apartment, the door opened wide and Chris stood before her with a shit-eating grin pressed across his pale pink lips. "You're back!"

"I'm back." Jenna smiled then eyed him up and down curiously, taking in the crisp, perfectly pressed lines of his gunmetal gray, three-piece attire. "Why are you wearing a suit?"

He shut the door gently behind her, escorted her into the hallway, then wrapped his hands delicately over her wrists. "Can you listen to me for a minute without asking me a zillion questions? And," he raised a hand to dismiss the words before they could even leave her lips, "I don't say that to be rude. I say it because I want to explain a few things."

"About why you're wearing a suit at 7PM on a Tuesday?" she cocked an eyebrow and chuckled softly. "Okay, go for it!"

Chris' smile widened. "Before you can ask, Christian is with Alice and Nick. They're taking him to Chuck E. Cheese and then he's spending the night at my mom's. Apparently they have big plans to watch 'Frozen' together before bedtime."

"That's sweet," she smiled warmly. "I was just with your mom, actually."

He nodded. "I know."

"Of course you know," Jenna rolled her eyes and laughed lightly. "So, what's going on?"

"I wanted to do something romantic for you, for us. My initial thought was to get a swanky hotel room and go out to an expensive meal, but then I realized that we've already been to a posh hotel and that did not end so well." His expression fell a bit at the memory, and he allowed his gaze to focus in on their conjoined hands. "I don't want to go back with you, Jen, I only want to go forward. So, instead of trying to splash money around to impress you, instead I wanted to try simplicity and sincerity."

He nudged her softly, guiding her down the hallway and into the kitchen, where candles were lit on the table and a bouquet of red roses sat perched atop her plate. "I hope you like spaghetti because that's literally all I can cook," he laughed nervously.

Jenna stood taking in everything before her eyes and she felt her heart warm. Spending the bulk of her day with Chris' mom had definitely softened her, likely because it had provided so much insight into why this man was the way he was now. She could empathize with the things that Mrs. Cerulli had said and why Christopher would be so affected, and she had felt some ball of wax around her heart begin to melt slowly throughout the day. Now this.

Before she could say a word, Chris was on one knee at her feet, gazing up at her with obvious anxiety in his soulful chocolate irises. "I love you, Jenna. I am willing to forget everything that has happened between us and start over. Literally start over. Counseling has shown me that all I want in this life are you and our son. I would give up the band, I would give up everything just to have you and Christian in my life forever."

Tears welled in her eyes and Jenna shook her head slowly. "I don't want you to give up the band, Christopher. The band is you: you are meant for music. You have the voice of an angel and so much talent, so many things to share with the world. If I were to ask you to give that up for me, then, well, I wouldn't really love you. Your music is an important piece of who you are, and I love that about you. I would never dream to ask you to quit."