“Loving me is not enough for a marriage, Micah.”
“I love when you say my name,” he said, looking at her.“Calling me Boss draws the line in the sand.I'm sick of the fucking line.I want to be yours and you to be mine.I want to be your first, your last, and your only.”
“You want to marry me to be my first lover?”
“No silly goose,” he said, leaning forward.“I want you to be the mother of my gorgeous daughter Rebecka and my truly handsome and brilliant son Benicio.I like that idea.He will be named after my father.I didn't think I actually wanted kids until I saw you in that dress last night.I would have had them, because it is my duty, but I never truly wanted any, until I saw you last night.Alita, you looked so lovely.”
Alita tapped his leg three times.He was drifting.She needed him to stay on task.“Why didn't you want children?”
“I'm broken, Alita,” he said.“What if I have kids and they turn out like me, all weird and shit?”
“Weird, or able to see through the grey?” Alita asked.“You aren't broken, Micah; you're a genius and people know it.You received acceptance letters to colleges you hadn’t even applied to, which want an opportunity to be a part of your next chapter.You have patents and made a few million before you were even 18, and those men don't want you to marry their daughters for connection to your grandfather for beef.They don't even want the connection for the cocaine and coffee here atLas Tierras; they want the connection to your greatness.”
He smiled, almost blushing at her praise.“You think I'm great?”
“I think you are the most amazing man, Micah, and yes, I do love you, but there are rules, regulations, and customs you can't simply sidestep to have your way,” she said.
“I can, and I will,” he told her.“I can pack a bag, whisk you off, and live how I fucking please.”
“And take me away from my family, everything we know and love, for what?So, you can do what exactly?”Alita said.“You look forward to the morning outings with your father where you ride in silence but say so much.The adventures you take Angel on as his best friend even though you are his brother is priceless to him, plus the teatimes with Catarina, the fighting and swim lessons with Isabella, are part of your life.You don't like to admit how much you enjoy the mother-henning by the Lady of the Lands but running away means leaving all of this.You can simply ask for what you need.”
“I need you,” he said.“I want us to get married.I asked Yuñior to be my best man and to use his house in Aruba for our honeymoon.”
“Aww, I really want to go to Aruba, sit on the beach, and watch the sunset as I sip wine and eat my favorite cheeses.Wow, you remember me mentioning that?”
“Yes, a few days there, then we can get back to prepping for Uni,” he said.
Alita had him in the pocket.She wanted him to lay out his train of thought not only for her but also for his parents.“Micah, how do you see this working out?”
“Simple, I say ‘Hey, Papa,’” he said, turning to his father.“I want to marry Alita.Is that cool with you?”
“It's cool with me,” Eduardo replied.
“See,” Micah said.“This afternoon, we head to the village and see Father Julio and see how soon the church is available to get the vows done.”
“And what about my family?”
“They can fly in with Yuñior,” Micah said.“Your father will get to brag to all his buddies at the cantina about being on the private plane with the Bocaraca.Mama can create a small reception here.We take your parents and Luis to Bogotá to show off the flat, then everybody leaves, and we head to Aruba for some sexy time.I mean, I will start slow, before I take you down the path and get into some freaky shit.I like some weird shit and the freaky too.”
“Micah, your parents are sitting right here,” Alita said, blushing furiously.
“Alita, the man has six kids.I promise you, the way Mami is around here smiling every day, they are doing some freaky shit too.”
“Goodness,” she said.
Eduardo chuckled.Ryanne covered her mouth at Micah's perceptions although he had never said a word out of line to her.
“I'm asking, Alita, will you marry me and start the next leg of our journey together?I can't marry anyone else because they will never measure up to you.Say yes, so we can start our lives together.”
“Yes, Micah, I will marry you,” she said, leaning forward to kiss him, which he accepted briefly.
“Listen here, Alita, we aren't doing any more of that practice kissing bullshit,” he told her, “And just for the record, you snore, so you will have to sleep in your own bedroom.I'm not sharing a bed with a snorer.”
“Or we can fix the snoring,” she said.
“You fart in your sleep too, so no, you will sleep in your own room,” he said.“I shall visit you when it's time for the sexy.”
“You get on my damned nerves, you know that, Micah?”
