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“And this is the one I picked out for you,” I tell her, pulling a light blue box from my suit pocket, then handing it to her.
Sydney stares at the box, asking, “What is this Dom?”
“Open it,” I reply, smiling.
She sighs opening the box, then gasps, looking at the two-carat diamond heart pendant on a nineteen-inch platinum link chain with matching diamond earrings. “Oh, my God. Dom, this is...”
“Perfect for you,” I say, taking the box from her hands. “Turn around,” I tell her, sitting the box on the stand, then removing the necklace.
Sydney watches me through the mirror as I drape the necklace around her neck, then clasp it before kissing her neck. As she brings her hand up to touch the heart, I wrap my arms around her waist, whispering, “Do you like it?”
“I love it,” she whispers back, then turns around in my arms. “Just as I love you.”
My heart skips a beat. “I love you too,” I return before kissing her with all the love I have in me. From that first night Sydney walked into that Poker game, I knew she was already mine. It was as if my life had truly started then.
Sydney giggles as she pecks my lips one last time. “I wish we could stay and continue this, but we do have our families waiting on us.”
I groan, resting my forehead against hers. “Fine, but this isn’t over.”
“I hope not,” she said as I let her go.
I go to open the front door, but Sydney says, “Wait.”
I smile as she replaces her hoop earrings with diamond ones.
“Now we can go.”
When we made it to the casino, I escorted Sydney to Bourbon Bistro. I had given instructions to the staff to only take reservations for tonight. I didn’t want to completely shut the restaurant down because of our dinner but I also didn’t want the loudness of how the restaurant can become when people with no reservations trickled in from the casino after having one too many drinks. That’s not to say the ones with reservations wouldn’t be a part of that group. Just in case, staff was also informed that if anyone with reservations appeared intoxicated, they would have to reschedule. This is a special night for me, and I didn’t need any distractions.
When we entered the restaurant, Sydney and I waved to my host and staff as I took her to the private room I had for the dinner. Walking inside, I smiled seeing our blended, extended family. Daddy, Mr. and Mrs. Morgan, Uncle Elijah, Batista and Booker with their dates, and Reiner were all here.
“It’s about time you all showed up,” Mrs. Morgan said, giving us a hug.
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Morgan, you know how traffic can be,” I returned.
As she released us, Mrs. Morgan said, “Then leave earlier and stop calling me Mrs. Morgan. You make me feel like my momma. Either call me Rachel or Momma Rachel. My age might reflect a certain number, but it doesn’t represent me.”
“Same here,” Mr. Morgan added. “Either you call me Clint or Pops because,” he pointed at daddy. “You already have a daddy.”
Sydney turned towards me with amusement in her eyes. Addressing Mr. and Mrs. Morgan, I stated, “Thank you momma and pop. I will use those terms from now on.”
While we laughed it off, daddy chimed in, “And that goes for Sydney. You have your daddy, so you can either call me Tommaso or Poppa.”
Sydney moved away from me. She hugged my daddy, saying, “Thank you, Poppa.”
When that was out of the way, we sat at the long table as the waiters started to bring in our food. By the third course, I felt like it was my time to let them in on why I had assembled them all together tonight.
I stood, picking up my water glass and a butter knife. “Everyone, can I have your attention,” I said, hitting the knife against the glass.
Everyone started to quiet down when they noticed me standing at the head of the table. Once I had their attention, I began to speak.
“I want to thank all of you for being here tonight. I know how our schedules can be, and for you to put that aside to be here, I am grateful.” My nerves were starting to get the best of me.
“My daddy once told me about having a love you could never escape or having the one you knew who’s to be that one to complete you,” I let out a nervous laugh. “I used to think his ramblings were just that, ramblings. That is until Sydney Morgan walked into my life. With everything that happened, I knew I didn’t want to go through a long courtship with Sydney. I found my better half and I’m ready to spend the rest of my life with her.”
Dropping down to one knee, I looked around at everyone I wanted to be here for this occasion, then at Sydney. I asked her the most important question in both of our lives.
“Sydney, will you marry me?” Displaying the last piece to her pendant, necklace, and earrings. Except the ring I had before her was a six-carat engagement ring.
