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When I finally stop crying enough to pull back, Oz takes the ring from the box and slides it onto my finger. It’s a perfect fit. It’s incredible. From the look on his face, I can see that he didn’t expect it, either – he hasn’t had enough time to get a ring resized, let alone subtly figure out my finger size in the first place, so it must have been his best guess only. It fits like it was meant to be there, and my hand feels whole all of a sudden. I never even knew it was missing something.
I glance at the screen, and I see something totally unexpected. Not only is my dad there looking emotional, but behind him over his shoulder, my mom is there with a hand over her mouth. Tears are streaming down her face, and she has the biggest smile under that hand.
“Mom?” I say.
“Sweetie, I heard voices and came over earlier,” she says. “I didn’t want to interrupt before. I was just listening. But… oh, my darling…”
“I’m so happy, Mom,” I say, my voice almost lost in tears.
“I can see that sweetie,” she says. And with how happy she looks for me in turn, I know we’re not going to have any more problems with my dad. No matter what, mom is in my corner – and she’s going to make sure that dad toes the line when it comes to letting us be happy together.
We all stay on the call for hours, talking and trying to calm down from everything that’s happened. The whole while, Oz keeps a tight grip on my hand where he sits next to me on the couch, except in the short break when he gets us both some drinks. We watch the sun come up in my parent’s home – not my home any longer, I realize – as we talk away the hours.
I tell them about the reason I actually came to London – the colleges. We talk over the pros and cons of each one of them, and how I feel like my instincts were right from the beginning, that the first college I looked at, the one where Oz studied himself, is going to be the best for me. Not because he studied there, but because it’s one of the best options in the world for business studies.
And given that I won’t even necessarily need to have an income when I’m married to Oz, it might be a question more of where I feel more comfortable than where I need to get the best education. And really, even despite the closet incident and the potential embarrassment, I think I’ll have the best time there.
“You think you’ll get in there?” Dad asks, to which mom swats his arm.
“You know she will,” Mom says. “You’ve seen her grades. There’s no way they wouldn’t want to have her. She’s going to get in easily.”
“Easily, hey?” Oz says, quirking an eyebrow as he looks in my direction. I guess we didn’t really discuss my grades.
“Well,” I shrug, modestly.
“Did she tell you about the colleges she’s applied for here?” Mom says. Trust her to always talk me up and brag about me. “She’s going Ivy League here, you know.”
I blush, shaking my head. “We’ll see. But, if I get in… I’d really like to stay here in London. That was already the plan before all of this, after all.”
“If you’re sure that’s why?” Dad says. I can see his eyes drifting to Oz, wondering whether I’m making a decision just based on being close to him. But that isn’t it.
“He already said he’d move wherever I want to,” I say, addressing his concern directly with a smile. “Yes, Dad. I’m sure that’s why. I like the city. The colleges look great. And why just stay home and do what everyone else does? I think studying abroad is going to be really amazing.”
“Living abroad, too,” Mom mutters, sulking a little. “You’ll need to come and visit us, you know.”
“Of course, I will,” I say, looking at Oz. “And you’ll have to come visit us. Sooner rather than later. For the wedding.”
“Are you sure you want to rush in?” Oz asks, using my dad’s turn of phrase on purpose, I think. “If you’re studying here for the next three years, you’ll have a good enough visa for that. We won’t need to be married for that.”
“That’s not the point,” I say, tutting lightly. “And besides, it’s a while yet before the semester would even start. I want to make sure I can stay even if I don’t get accepted. And more than that – I want to be your wife.”
“My wife,” Oz repeats, and I hear in his voice the ghost of the same feeling that I have. It’s still so new we haven’t even felt the whole scope of how amazing it all is. That this happiness is a wave that will continue to wash over us for days, maybe weeks. Maybe even months. And it’s a good thing, too, because if we felt it all at once it might be too much to take.
