We’re sitting at my future in-laws’ around the dining room table. Dinner plates are long gone as we sit and talk about a little bit of anything and everything. I want to shout it out that Liv is finally moving in with me, but I hold it in. We rushed through breakfast and went straight to her place, stopping at the bar for boxes on the way. We managed to pack up her entire master bathroom, and most of her clothes. There are still some left hanging in the closet that we’re just going to leave on the hangers and toss in the back seat of the truck.
I can’t help but watch the clock, waiting for it to be time to leave so we can load up the boxes and take them home, to our home. The one I bought in hopes I would one day be calling it just that. My home with her.
“Dinner was great, Mom, as always,” Olivia says. “We need to get going.”
“No need to rush off,” her dad chimes in.
“Well, we kind of have some boxes to move.”
Reaching under the table, I lace her fingers through mine. This is happening. She’s telling her parents. I’m not just dreaming a very vivid dream. My girl is finally coming home. Suddenly every hope I’ve had for us is starting to fall into place.
“Boxes?” her mom asks, confused.
“Yeah.” She looks over at me and smiles softly. I want to lean in and press my lips to hers, but instead I give her hand another gentle squeeze under the table. “I’m moving in.” She turns back to her mom.
“Finally!” her mom cheers, and everyone starts laughing.
I’ve known the Wallace family my entire life, having grown up here. I’ve already talked to her parents and her brother. They know where I want this to go with us. They also know I’ve been trying to get her to move in for three months, since the day I bought the house. “Finally,” I agree.
“You need some help?” Mike offers.
“Oh, we can all help,” her mom adds.
“Actually, we have my bathroom and bedroom all packed up. We just need to load the boxes. I’m going to call the realtor tomorrow and set up a time to get mine on the market.”
“I’ll swing by and help you load,” Mike tells me.
“And we”—Jamie smiles at Olivia—“can start packing the other rooms.”
Liv throws her head back and laughs. “I didn’t realize y’all would be so eager to help me move.”
They all laugh and it feels right. These people are going to be my family. I’m grateful to have such a great relationship with them, and that they accept me in their daughter’s and sister’s life. Mike and I are friends, and from day one, I’ve never held back how I feel about his sister. Out of all of them, he knows how big of a deal this is to me. To have her with me, under the same roof.
With a round of hugs and handshakes, we say our goodbyes, with Mike and Jamie following us to Olivia’s old place. Mike and I get to work loading the already packed boxes in my truck while the girls start packing more.
“You ready to pop the question?” Mike asks.
“Damn right I am.”
“You still have the ring?”
I whip my head around to look at him. “Of course I do. What kind of question is that?”
He shrugs, and I can tell he’s fighting a smile. “You’ve had it for a damn long time,” he reminds me.
“I know that. She wasn’t ready. I didn’t want to rush her or risk her saying no. I’m only asking one woman to marry me on bended knee, and I needed to know she was ready.”
“I’ve heard you ask her,” he says.
“On bended knee,” I remind him. “I’ve teased and asked jokingly, waiting for her to give me a sign that she’s ready. Last night, all of a sudden, she’s ready. Then this morning she shocks me further by telling me she wants to move in. I feel like I hit the fucking lottery,” I say with a laugh and slam my tailgate shut.
“I bet you do. You know how you’re going to ask her?”
“Man.” I take my hat off my head, run my fingers through my hair and put it back. “I’ve thought about it a million times. I have so many ideas, and I just need to decide on one.”
“I would have thought it was all planned down to the minute.” He laughs.
“I want it to be special, you know? I’ve asked her so many times, gauging her reaction, and when I really do it, when I present her with the ring, it needs to be more.”
“I think you’re overthinking it.”
“This from the guy who went all-out on his proposal.”
“You got me there. Let me know if I can do anything to help. No way could I have pulled my plan off without all of you, the girls especially.”
“Thanks, man. I’m still letting it sink in that she’s moving in with me, and that after all this time, she’s ready. I’m afraid I’m dreaming.”
He laughs at my expense. “It’s real, my man. She loves you. Always has. Olivia has always marched to the beat of her own drum. Stubborn as a mule, but you and I both know she’s as soft-hearted as they come.”
“That she is. Thanks, man. I’m going to take a few days and enjoy the fact that this is finally happening for us. Then I’ll dive into planning.”
“Let me know,” he says just as the girls walk up.
“Let you know what?” my ever-nosy future fiancée asks.
“Aaron and Evan were thinking of planning a day to take the RZRs out. I told him to let me know when.”
“Oh, is this a guys-only thing? It’s been forever since we’ve all been out riding.”
“Yes.” Mike speaks up before I have a chance to.
I’m digging myself into a hole and now am going to need to call Evan and Aaron and warn them. We might as well plan a day to ride while we’re at it. It’s been a hell of a long time since we’ve been riding.
“Thanks for your help.” I hold my fist out, and he bumps his into mine.
“Anytime. You”—he points to his sister—“get the rest packed up, and we’ll come back this weekend.”
“A week?” she asks, as if we’re telling her she has to go through fifty years of possessions.
“Can you not handle a week?” he asks.
“Pfft. I did all this in a day. I’ll be ready,” she assures him.
“Great. I’ve got the bar covered, so if you need to take a couple of days this week to get things ready, have at it.”
“Thank you. I just might do that,” she says, squaring her shoulders.
We’re all shocked at her reply. She never misses work and rarely asks for help with anything.
I snake my arm around her waist and pull her into me. “This is happening,” I whisper in her ear.
“Yeah.” She looks up at me. “It is.”
Leaning down, I kiss her forehead. If this is a dream, I don’t ever want to wake up.