Chapter Twenty-Seven
Eleanor hung up the phone, exhausted after speaking to her mother. Last night, she’d endured five minutes of awkward chitchat with her father, for their obligatory Christmas call. With her mother, conversations tended to last a lot longer, and they were always one-sided.
“I met someone,” Eleanor finally blurted.
Her mother had stopped in mid-narrative of the most recent shopping trip she’d taken to New York City. “That’s nice, dear,” she said, then continued on about some new shopping opportunities in Manhattan.
Eleanor had finally had to interrupt her and say she had to go. She slumped against her bedroom door. She’d never be close to her parents, and that was okay. The family she had here was the family she needed.
The doorbell rang, and she heard Will get up to answer. A smile automatically pulled across Eleanor’s face. Yes, her real family was here, and she’d never felt so lucky in her life.
After pressing play on her iPod so that soft, classical holiday tunes came out of the speakers in the living room, Eleanor walked out to greet everyone. Hayley, Marius, Summer, and Jackson were all piling into her house, which felt even cozier because of the tree she and Will had decorated last night.
She and Will gave hugs all around.
“Dick the halls with twats and cock rings, fa la la la la…” Hayley sang along with the music.
“That baby is gonna be so lucky,” Summer whispered in Eleanor’s ear.
Eleanor laughed. “You’re right. Also, we’re going to spoil that child senseless.”
She felt surrounded by warmth and love as they devoured an early Christmas dinner, talking and laughing, making plans for their new homes which would begin construction in the spring under Hayley’s guidance. Eleanor’s small, ordinary life, which had felt a bit lonely before, had expanded into something warm and caring and full of love.
She’d never been so happy, and couldn’t imagine being any happier.
After dinner, she played Christmas carols on the piano and everyone sang along. Will’s rich baritone was actually quite good, but Hayley couldn’t hang onto a tune to save her life. Besides, Hayley kept asking, “It’s time to open presents now, isn’t it?” at the end of each carol.
Eventually they found seats on the couch and on the floor, and tore into their gifts. The most popular gift was the onesie Jackson and Will had ordered for Hayley and Marius’s baby. It read, I have the best effing uncles ever.
“Last gift,” Will said, passing a box to Eleanor. She nearly dropped it, because it was a lot heavier than it looked.
“Aw, honey,” she said. “Bricks? You shouldn’t have.”
He just smirked back at her. The way his eyes danced told her that this definitely was not bricks.
She pulled open the box and gasped. There, in front of her, was a hardbound collector’s edition of the Interstellar Love Connection graphic novels, all compiled into one giant book.
“I love it,” she said, beaming at him. The entire set, all in one place—it was perfect.
But on top of the book was another box, this one small. It wasn’t velvet or anything fancy. In fact, it was made of cardboard and it was painted in the ILC theme colors. Eleanor’s mind raced. Online, Eleanor had found a trademarked “Joona” necklace, with the round shape of her planet, surrounded by rings. Had Will peeked at Eleanor’s browsing history and seen that she’d admired its likeness on the ILC gift site? Sneaky.
Will scooted toward her, still on his knees, the movement slightly awkward because of his injury. “Let me help you with this one,” he said.
Eleanor felt her eyes widen as he picked up the box and presented it to her.
“Eleanor Jean McGowan,” he said, “you have always been, and always will be, my Ellie. And even though I’ve proposed to you so many times over the years that I’ve lost count—”
“This makes five,” Eleanor said, feeling her eyes fill with tears.
He grinned while everyone else laughed.
“Even though you keep telling me no,” he said, “I don’t ever want to stop asking. You can even say no now, but until you send me away, I’m going to keep asking, and I’m never going to leave your side again.”
“Yes!” she shouted, her heart tripping wildly in her chest. “Yes, I do. All of it.”
“He hasn’t even asked you yet,” Marius said in a rumbling, amused voice.
“He doesn’t need to,” she said. “I’m his. William Zachary Jaynes, I will marry you and we’ll belong to each other forever.”
“Forever,” he said, opening the box to reveal an elegant solitaire diamond on a platinum band. “This is for a lifetime of happiness.”
She resisted the urge to snatch the ring from the box and cradle it to her chest, and instead waited, breath held, while he placed it on her finger.
She looked into his deep blue eyes and marveled at the beauty and kindness of his face, at his fierce, protective nature that had torn them apart but then had brought them together again. And she knew that, no matter what, this was forever, and they were going to be crazily, happily in love.
“A lifetime of happiness,” she repeated.
He took her face in his hands and kissed her, then whispered in her ear, “I love you, Ellie. Forever.”
*
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