She looked from one to the other.
“Which one first?” Her voice was hoarse.
“This one.” He gestured to the envelope. “I want you to have that before I give you this.”
Her fingers were unsteady as she reached for the card though, because there was no mistaking what she would find in the velvet cube. She opened the envelope and unfolded two pieces of A4 paper. At first, it made no sense. She had to read and re-read the words multiple times.
“What is this?”
“The deeds to this apartment.”
She dropped the paper to the ground. “What?”
He slid the velvet cube back towards himself and came to kneel in front of her. “Darling Skye, it is my greatest wish that you agree to marry me, when you are ready. But first, I want you to know this: you will never again have to worry about money. You will never again have to work so hard to pay off a debt you should never have had to carry on your own. This is yours. Marry me or don’t. But whatever happens, nothing will change the fact that you and Harper have this—real security in life, the ability to make your own choices, to live however you want.” He gestured around the room.
But Skye was crying too hard to answer. “I don’t need that,” she groaned.
“You deserve it. I want you to have everything, starting with this.”
“All I need is you.”
“That then is easy,” he grinned, sliding the ring onto her wedding finger. “You’ve had me all along, my darling, and you’ll have me for all time.”
“Promise?”
“’Til death do us part.” And he stood and kissed her, wrapping his arms around her waist and lifting her high into the sky, every cell in his body reverberating with pleasure and hope. It was only a matter of weeks ago that he’d felt as though he was an island in life, totally alone, and now he understood it all so much better.
He had family. Two families. There were people who loved him, just as Skye had said, and he would always belong with his loved ones. Just as they would always belong with him…
THE END
