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“You sure, honey?” she finally whispered.
Up until that moment, I hadn’t been sure, but as soon as the words were out of her mouth, I knew that it was the right thing to do.
“Rumi’s telling his parents now,” I replied.
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
“I love him, Nanny.”
“You’ve always loved him, baby girl,” she replied. “But are you sure you want to marry him? You’re only twenty years old.”
“When I see myself ten years down the road—” I looked at her. “He’s the only thing that’s perfectly clear.”
“I always thought the two of you would end up together,” Nana murmured. “But I didn’t realize it had already started.”
“I sleep in his bed every night,” I replied with a laugh.
Nana waved me off. “The two of you have always been overly affectionate.”
“I think we’ve hit max affection at this point,” I muttered dryly, making her scoff.
“If it’s what you want to do, Nova, then I’m behind you a hundred percent.” She smiled sadly. “Just wish I could see it.”
“I think we’ll just do it at the courthouse,” I told her. “We’ll wait to do the big thing until you can be there. Promise.”
“Your pop would be so proud to walk you down the aisle,” she said so softly it was almost inaudible. We hadn’t talked about Pop much, both of us too nervous to broach the conversation.
“I know,” I murmured. “Have they called yet?”
The county was doing an autopsy on Pop because of the circumstances he’d died under, and we were hoping that they’d be able to give us some answers about what had been wrong with him at the end.
“You know how it works.” She shook her head. “Everything takes so long.”
“Do you remember that day he let me do his hair?” I asked, the memory popping up out of nowhere.
“How could I forget?” she asked with a snicker. “There were so many of those little pink clips I was pulling them back out for half an hour.”
“He hated when people messed with his hair.” I chuckled. “Except you. He loved when you ran your fingers through it at night.”
“It was the only time he let it down,” she mused, a small smile playing around her lips. “He knew I liked it down.”
“Oh, gross,” I whined, staring at her in horror as I realized that Nana had only messed with Pop’s hair at night before bed.
“I miss him,” she said with a sigh. “Like half of me is gone.”
“I know.” I laid my head back on her shoulder. “I’m sorry.”
“You know the only reason that I’m not forbidding you to marry that wild boy?” She kissed my hair. “Because I wish I’d found your pop when I was your age. It pisses me off that I missed out on those early years.”
“But then you wouldn’t have Ava,” I pointed out. “And even though she sucks, you got me and Bird out of it.”
“Thank God for that,” she said, setting her hand on mine so she could give it a squeeze. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
A couple hours later, I was lying in bed when Rumi finally came home.
“How did it go?” I asked quietly.
“Where’s Bird?” He looked around in confusion. “He wasn’t on the couch.”
