"Put this on," I hand Jocie a blindfold and she takes it out of my hands.
"Why?"
"Surprise," I say. She smiles and then takes the blindfold from me. She puts it on and then folds her hands into her lap.
"This is dumb."
I chuckle, "I'm guessing you don't like surprises."
"Hate them," she states.
"Noted."
"What does that mean?" She asks.
"That on our next date I won't have any surprises for you," I say.
"No," she says. "I like your surprises."
I start laughing, "You haven't even seen my surprises yet. How do you know that you will like them?"
"I just know," she says.
"Good to know," I say. We pull into our spot and I park the car. I get out and I go to her side to help her get out.
I unbuckle her and I take her hand. She holds on tightly and I help her get out. I shut her door and I put my arm around her waist to help her walk.
"I don't like being blind, Nicholas."
"Too bad, too sad," I say. "You can take it off soon. It's not that far of a walk."
"Are we in the middle of nowhere? It seems really quite out here. You aren't going to kill me, are you?"
"You ask so many questions," I say to her.
"Well we barley know each other."
"We have known each other for months now," I say. "I'm not going to kill you, Jocie."
"Good," she says.
I stop both of us and I walk behind her to take her blindfold off. I gently take it off of her and I walk back beside her.
"What do you think?"
"It's absolutely beautiful," she says. "But what exactly is it for?"
"Yours."
"What do you mean?"
"I know how much you wanted in the music business," I say. "Your voice is beautiful and you can write music like it's nothing, so the studio is yours. I already put your name on it and everything."
"Nick, I can't accept this," she says. "It had to have been so expensive."
"It wasn't," I say. "I want you to have it. You deserve it."
"On one condition."
"That depends," I say.
"You and the boys have to use it too," she says. "You guys don't have your own place now and I don't need the whole thing to myself."
"Deal," I say. And right when I say that I grab her face and press my lips right onto her soft lips. They move in perfect sync together. It's like we do this all the time. It's like it's perfectly natural.
She pulls away and smiles super big, "I think I can get used to that."
"Well then perfect timing," I grin, "Jocie, will you be my girlfriend?"
"Are you sure you're ready? You know that I'll wait for you until you are actually ready."
"I know I'm ready," I say. "She would have wanted me to move on and be happy. She told me that to be exact."
She smiles super big, "Then, yes."
***
I just dropped Jocie off and I'm now pulling into our driveway. We had such an amazing night. We got to know each other so much more at dinner and the food was amazing. I do feel like I know everything about her now which is a really good feeling.
We also checked the whole studio out and she is super excited about it. The place has lot of studio equipment in it, but I made sure to have other things there too. There is a kitchen, two bathrooms, and two bedrooms. I know how it can get when making music. Sometimes you are there til five in the morning and you have no energy to even drive home.
I get out of my car and I open the garage door that leads into the house. I go inside to it super quiet. I'm guessing the kids are all asleep. It's almost eleven at night. The boys came over here to watch them.
"Dad!" I hear a whisper from the kitchen. It's definitely Bri. I figured she would stay up until I got home. I know that she would want to know all about our date. She has every right to be curious and I'm going to tell her it all. She deserves to know.
"Coming," I quietly say back. I take my shoes off and I hang my keys up on the hook.
I walk into the kitchen to see her almost asleep on the island chair. She rarely stays up this late and the cancer always makes her tired as well.
"Hi, baby," I say.
"Hi, daddy," she says. "How was your date?"
"It went very well," I sit down next to her and she rests her head on my shoulder as I wrap my arm around her.
"Did you have fun?"
"I did," I say. "How was your night? Did you guys have fun?"
"Yes," she yawns. "Brothers and Abigal are asleep. I think uncles are sleeping too."
"And you are still awake?"
"Yes," she says. "I wanted to ask you about your date."
I smile, "How about we talk about it tomorrow, baby? I know that you are tried."
"Okay," she yawns again. I stand up from the chair and I pick her small body up. I carry her towards the hallway and into her bedroom. I lay her down in bed and I put the blankets over her.
"I love you," I kiss her forehead.
"I love you, dad."
I smile and I walk to the door. I look back at her as she rolls over to get more comfortable. She always has to sleep on her stomach. Just like her mom always did. I walk out of her room and I shut the door gently.
I walk to the boys' room to see them both completely knocked out. I'm sure they played with their uncles a lot, so they are probably very tired. I close the door to their room and I go to Abigail's room. She is sleeping too. I walk out of her room and I go back to the living room where the boys most likely are.
"You're home," Edwin says as I walk in.
"Yes," I say. "I've been home."
"Sorry," Edwin says. "We all got a little tired. The boys are very passionate about playing something twenty four seven."
I chuckle, "I know they are."
"Well how was your date?"
"Amazing," I say.
"Did you finally pop the question to her?"
"Yes," I say. "She said yes, so it's finally official."
"Good. I'm happy for you, man."
"Thank you," I say.
