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Then the room fell to a hush, the music softer.
I opened the box.
Her eyes dropped from mine to the diamonds winking at her from their vintage setting.
She immediately held out her hand; her elegant fingers trembled.
I drew my first deep breath since we arrived at The Bard’s Bistro and slid the diamond-studded band onto her finger.
I took to my feet while she stared down at her finger, angling her hand back and forth to catch the light.
I cupped her elbows and tugged her in. Feeling exposed, needing her close. This public spectacle was for her pleasure, not mine.
“Do you like it?” I asked low, worried she might want something more traditional.
“Yes,” she breathed. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“It was my grandmother’s.”
Her head shot up, eyes wide. She looked like she was about to break.
“She gave it to me the night before I left to come home to you.”
“Why?”
“Because I told her I wanted to marry you.”
Yiayia laughed and then cried when she gave me the ring.
“Kardia mou, kardia mou.”
My heart.
Not, ‘my grandson’.
My heart.
Now, I stood with it in my hands, offering it to my nifi.
Hope stared up at me, her cornflower blues wider than I’d ever seen them, pouty pink lips trembling.
I cupped the back of her neck and drew her closer.
She hated anyone to see her cry.
Dipping my chin, I murmured in her ear. “I’ll get you something that will fit with a traditional band later. But I wanted to ask you with this one. Are you going to answer me?”
Throwing her arms around my neck, she squawked, “I don’t want a different one.”
Clapping and wolf whistles ensued.
Breathing her in steadied me, but I would gladly suffocate if that’s what it took to ensure she felt claimed.
Closer to tears than I ever wanted to be in public, I hugged her close and whispered in her ear. “It’s going to be a long fucking engagement, but I promise, we’ll get there.”
I gently rocked her while she pulled herself together, Brayleigh’s big voice setting her to rights.
“Why Mama crying?”
