Breathe Again

A New Beginning

We got back from Boston two days ago and so far only the kids and Derek know. And of course Chris's family as well. Chris has put together a little get together before he has to go back LA. That is when we'll tell all our friends, which is a little weird considering majority of them are all my friends. They welcomed Chris even before we were dating. Leah and Colin were able to come down, they got here a day before us and visited with Derek.

Everyone has shown up already and I snuck off to the kitchen to put my ring back on and surprise everyone. I stare at it a bit and smile. "It's perfect." I say out loud. "Yes you are." I hear Chris's voice in the doorway. I turn around and stop myself from crying, again. "Have you thought of where you want to have our wedding?"  He grabs my hand and rubs his thumb over the ring with pride. "Wow, OUR wedding. Honestly I was thinking of something small and intimate preferably in Boston." I smile and kiss him.

"I'm really glad you said that. I've done the big wedding thing and the renewal thing, small and intimate is perfect. Now come on before I drag you into that pantry." He keeps hold of my hand and we walk out into the living room. Immediately people start shushing and quieting down.

"I wanna thank you all for coming." Chris looks at me and winks. He holds my hand up, ring fully exposed. "We're engaged!" We both shout. To my surprise not everyone is clapping and cheering. Of course Derek is clapping but it's that I'll clap because they're clapping, kind of clap. 

What I wasn't expecting was Jen and Peter, their reaction was more shock than anything. Jen looks over to Derek. "Hey, Derek what do you think about this?" She asks. I look to Derek who now looks uncomfortable. "Well I'm more upset about Chris turning my son into a Red Sox fan than anything. I'm happy for them." He says and smiles at me while giving me a nod. I let out a breath and really smile this time. 

I'm not sure if he's saying it to make me feel better, make himself look good or he means it, but I feel that it's the latter. "Hey if anyone is not ok with these two being engaged there is the fucking door." Simon states and waits for anyone to say something. When they don't Simon starts to clap again as everyone now joins him. 

Liv and Laura rush over to me to look at the ring. "Oh my god it's gorgeous. Are you happy?" Liv asks. "Yeah, happier than I thought I'd be. And just so you know there is not going to be a huge wedding. We already agreed on something small back in Boston." This caught Laura's attention,  "You're going to get married in Boston? Are you moving there as well?" I let out a chuckle, "Yes we are and I don't know one day maybe. It's beautiful there." Graham walks over with his arms open and hugs me quickly.

"Who would have thought that when you poached him from Darcy that you would be living in the house you sold him and engaged. Congrats you two." He says and shakes Chris's hand. Derek begins making his way over to us and the girls move out of his way. "Hey, thanks for saying what you did." I tell him. "Not a problem Maggie. I meant it. If you're happy I'm happy. Now time to get serious, the fucking Red Sox?" He turns his attention to Chris who begins laughing.

"I didn't force it on him bro." Chris says putting his hands up. "I know, I know. He told me he had a blast. Thanks for taking him. Maybe next time we'll all hit up a Braves game." Derek says to my surprise. "Yeah man of course. Follow me I got something to show you." He says and my ex husband and fiancé walk off talking as though they were best friends.

"Did that just happen?" Rachel asks walking up. "Uh yeah it did. How have you been? Enjoying twin life?" I ask her. "These terrible two's are going to kill me." She admits and it shows. "Just wait till you have threenagers. That's a fun year." We continue to talk about our kids and all the stages they will go through.

As the evening dies down and people begin to leave and I start to clean up the kitchen. "Maggie, can I have a word?" I hear Derek from the entryway. "Sure. What's up?" I ask drying my hands on a towel. "Elijah told me how the proposal went down. I'm happy for you and you know I really don't care about what baseball team Eli likes. If you're happy with him, don't let Jen or anyone else bring you down. I approve and I'm fine." He says with a kind smile.