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I hold her while she lets everything out. While she cries for the little girl she loves. I don’t know every demon that she is fighting, but I know she’s not doing it alone. I hold her until she runs out of tears and until she falls asleep in my arms.
After both of my arms and legs fall asleep from this position, I wiggle out from behind her and tuck her underneath a cozy blanket. I’m glad she can get some sleep; hopefully, it will help her begin to heal.
Going downstairs, I know as much as I don’t want to, I need to do some chores.
Over the next few hours, I manage to clean the downstairs bathroom, do a load of laundry, and clean the kitchen and living room.
I don’t know about Charlotte, but I’m starving by the time I finish cleaning around the house. I throw a pizza in the oven and head upstairs to wake her and try to get her to eat and drink something.
As I turn into the bedroom, I don’t find her in bed.
“Char?” I call out.
Light tapping on the glass door of our balcony startles me. I should have known she’d be out there. Walking over, I slide the door open and step into the cool New York air.
“What are you doing?” I ask softly and lean against the railing next to her.
“I don’t know,” she answers, staring up at the starry sky. “Do you think she’s up there, watching over us?”
Lifting my gaze toward the sky, I say, “I would like to think so. Wouldn’t you?”
“Yeah. Today has me realizing something,” she mutters and turns her attention to me.
How is she even more beautiful, being lit up by the stars and moon tonight? I’m glad she is comfortable not wearing her wig around me. I hope she is starting to feel as gorgeous without it as I think she is.
“What is that?” I ask and bite down on my bottom lip.
She turns her body toward me and looks deep into my eyes. “That no matter what dreams you make in life, sometimes, you don’t get to see them through. Not everyone gets their happily ever after.”
She lifts her hand and cups my cheek, and I lean into her touch.
“You are so patient and unconditionally loving. I’m sorry that I tried to end our story too soon. Thank you for not ever making me feel bad about that decision. And thank you for understanding that I was doing what I thought was right.”
“Of course,” I tell her, my heart picking up at her kind words. “I would do anything for you. I love you.”
She smiles, and the slightest touch of it reaches her eyes. “I know. I love you too. And that’s why I don’t want to waste any more time.”
“What do you mean?” I cock my head to the side, trying to see where she’s going with this.
“I know it’s a bit unorthodox to do this. But I don’t really think I care.” She laughs. “I have dreamed my whole life of princes and princesses finding their happily ever after. I always had my head stuck in a fairy tale. Then, somehow along the way, I found one of my own. We deserve our happy ending, too, and I don’t want to waste another minute.”
This girl never fails to surprise me. My eyes burn, and I dig my wallet out of my pocket. I’ve kept it in a sealed pocket of my wallet since the day it arrived in the mail. It didn’t matter that we were apart; I couldn’t give up on us then, and I never will.
Pulling the ring out, I drop onto one knee as tears fall from my eyes. My voice cracks as I say, “C-Charlotte Winters, will you marry me?”
She smiles, her whole face lighting up, and she nods. “Yes, yes. Please yes.”
She holds her hand out, and I slide the ring onto her left ring finger; it’s a perfect fit, even better than Cinderella’s slipper. Standing up, I grab my fiancée’s face with both hands and crash my lips into hers.
“My wife. You’re going to be my wife,” I tell her between desperate and needy kisses.
She giggles and kisses me back. “And you’re going to be my husband. How crazy does that sound?”
She pulls me back down for another kiss, and I happily and greedily oblige.
Pulling away, I kiss her forehead and say, “I don’t think it sounds crazy at all. People say I was made to play hockey, but I think I was made to love you.”
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