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“Well, that’s one of the steps,” Jubal said. “But first I’ll bet you have to talk to your parents and explain to them why you would be a good person to take good care of that fish.”
The boy nodded wisely.
“Then the next thing to do is go for it,” Jubal said. “Once you know your goal, and you have help from your grown-ups, you have to be ready to fight for what you want, even when it’s hard. Even if it doesn’t happen the first time you try.”
“My mom says you were famous when you were twenty, Mr. Jubal,” one girl told him. “That’s a long time to wait.”
The grown-up chuckled.
“By the time I was twenty, I had tried my best to be a musician for seven years,” Jubal told her. “I posted my own songs on the feeds, because no one wanted to hear them. But I never gave up.”
Chloe had read his story in En Vogue magazine when they got back to Terra-58. She knew now that he had achieved fame without the help of an agent or manager, but by his own determination, posting songs and snippets on an amateur music feed for years and years, building the core fans who still made up the backbone of his now unfathomably large audience.
Though she still wasn’t wild about the music as it was on the albums, she loved when he played her the acoustic versions. And she had nothing but respect for all he had accomplished.
“What is your dream now, Mr. Jubal?” the schoolteacher girl asked. “Whose face were you looking at?”
“That’s a great question,” he said, turning to look at Chloe.
She felt herself blush from her hairline to her toes when he stood and walked slowly across the room, stopping in front of her desk.
“My dream is that Miss McGuinty will marry me,” he said, his voice deep with emotion. “So, I’m going to tell her why that’s a good idea.”
Chloe’s heart stuttered.
“Chloe,” he said, kneeling before her. “I know I will be a good husband because I’m patient and I love you with all my heart. I will always do whatever I have to do to protect and provide for our family.”
“Jubal,” she breathed.
Charlie turned to his father and squeaked at him.
“I think he’s encouraging me,” Jubal told the kids.
They all cracked up.
“Now, Chloe,” Jubal went on. “No matter how long I live, I will keep trying to find ways to show you that I can be a good husband. I will never lose hope, or give up on being your husband.”
She let him glance back at the kids, to make sure they were getting it.
But he didn’t just do that, he also pulled something from his pocket. When he turned back to her, he held it up.
Two rubies, one big and one small, shimmered on a platinum band.
“You and Charlie,” she breathed. “Right?”
“I’m the big one,” he told her nodding. “What do you say? Will you marry me?”
He was speaking only to her now, and it was as if the entire classroom had disappeared.
“Yes,” she told him. “Of course, a thousand times yes.”
He pulled her into his arms, baby and all, and kissed her before sliding the pretty ring onto her finger.
The children went wild, some cheering, some yelling out ooooooooohhhh, and the grown-ups clapped.
Chloe pulled back right away and smiled at her students as Jubal wrapped an arm around her shoulders, gazing down at her proudly.
One of the parents hopped up and led the kids in a rendition of one of Jubal’s songs they had been working on in music class just for his visit today. Jubal reacted to them, comically acting like he was being knocked over by the performance, which allowed Chloe just a moment to gather herself.
