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“I don’t know,” she says, brows furrowed as she continues to wiggle. And then she sticks a hand beneath her back, face pinching in concentration, and she pulls out?—
A jewelry box.
“What’s this!” Laura exclaims, her eyes darting up to mine.
“Nothing,” I blurt, hand shaking as I try to grab it from her.
She wiggles free, dropping to the ground from the couch, and she bounces away. “No, no, this is something. Is this my present? Is this my apology for last year’s terrible Valentine’s Day?”
“We did get together,” I remind her.
She sticks her tongue out. “No, that was February 15th. February 14th, I was in the hospital.”
Though I know she’s teasing and that she’s okay, the reminder fills me with dread. I nod, and her expression softens. She comes back and sits beside me, placing a hand on my chest.
“I’m okay, David,” she murmurs.
I kiss the center of her forehead and pull her to me. “That’s right, you better be,” I mumble. Then, while she’s busy cuddling closer to me, I yank the jewelry box away.
“Hey!” She exclaims, leaping towards me. I dart away.
For a moment, she chases me around the couch, dodging piles of unlit candles and crystals. Then she stops, looks around, and frowns.
“But seriously, what are you doing in here? Are we throwing a party?” She picks up a bottle of champagne that must have been forgotten when Jessi was loading the fridge. “Did I miss something?”
“You did not,” I try.
She takes the jewelry box from me again, a small smile on her face as she turns it around in her hands. “Did you get me those earrings I said I liked?”
Yes, I did, but those are wrapped for an actual Valentine’s Day present. I wrack my brain for a way out of this.
At that moment, Jessi comes in from the kitchen, Alice in tow.
Laura’s eyes widen. “Alice!”
“Congrat-u-laaaaations!” Alice trills in a strange high-pitched voice, clapping her hands. “Show me the ring! Show me the ring! Show me the?—”
“This ring?” Laura asks, frowning, and then she pops open the box to the engagement ring.
She freezes.
Alice freezes.
Jessi freezes.
I have been frozen trying to think of an answer to the earring problem, so I just remain how I was.
Then Lewis and the kids come in, and Angie immediately demands to be a flower girl.
“Oh my god,” Alice whispers. “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god?—”
“David, why? Why, David? David, why!” This is Jessi.
“Did I miss it? I missed it? Ma is going to KILL me! Benji, you take the blame?—”
“Guys, I think she said no,” Benji whispers, but in that horrifically loud way only fifteen-year-old boys can manage.
Everyone’s head snaps to Laura.
