Xander

It’s been four days since Enrique Sanchez’s brains were splattered all over the streets of Orlando. This morning Sasha decided that four days of sitting around pondering his life was enough.

We are finally at Disney World enjoying our vacation, meeting princesses and Mickey Mouse, drinking incredibly overpriced glasses of lemonade, and wearing sequined mouse ears on roller coasters. Tori is in heaven, Zion is tired, Tito is bored, Matt and Mark are having a blast, and Sasha and I are content and relaxed.

“I wanna go on the teacups again!” Tori says when she sees them in the distance. We have ridden the teacups three times already today. “I don’t think my stomach will tolerate another teacup ride, how about you go this time?” I say to Sasha.

She rolls her eyes. “Okay, grandpa. Come on, Victoria. Daddy’s too old to ride the teacups again. I’ll go with you.”

“Yay!” she yells throwing her arms up for the millionth time today. Disney World is indeed the happiest place on earth.

“That’s sad, man. They’re teacups, how can you be too old for teacups?” Tito asks taking a drink of his lemonade.

“They make me feel like puking. I want seafood for dinner, and I don’t need to be sick to my stomach.”

He grunts taking a seat on a bench where I have planted my ass. “You are old. You gonna have dinner at 4:30 and be in bed by 7:00?” he asks chuckling.

“No, I’m eating at 6:00, and I’ll be having sex with my future wife around 9:00 if you want to know.” I lift my leg and rest my ankle on my knee stretching my arms out on the back of the bench behind us.

“Okay, you got me there. When are you popping the question?”

“I’m not sure. I’d do it right now if I didn’t think it would spook her. I don’t want to scare her off by asking too soon.”

“Just ask, she’s crazy about you, and I think she’s a lot stronger than you give her credit for.”

“You think?”

“Yeah, this place got a jewelry store?”

“Probably, they have everything else.”

“Buy her a ring and ask her.”

“I’ll go to Tiffany’s tomorrow, can you keep her busy for a couple of hours?”

“Sure.”

“Thanks.”

We sit in silence for a while watching the tourists until Tito speaks. “I can’t believe you’re getting married.”

“I can’t believe I’m at Disney World instead of Europe.” He chuckles.

“Of all the players I know, you were the last one I ever figured would cave and get all domesticated.”

“I guess that goes to show it can happen to anyone then, huh? You better watch out, Mrs. Right could be right around the corner ready to make you fall in love and put a ring on it.” I glance over at his horror-stricken face and throw my head back laughing.

“I guess if he were as bad ass as Sasha, that wouldn’t be all bad,” he says.

“Nobody’s as bad ass as my Sasha. And don’t be getting any ideas, she’s mine.”

“I know man, wrong team, remember?”

“I remember. But, you know if you’d let me fix that nose of yours and give you a little nip here and tuck there, I bet you could find a hot forever guy .”

“Shut the fuck up. I don’t want to be a pretty boy, and this nose is like a trophy. I had to beat up a lot of assholes to make it look this great.” His nose is strangely great. It’s strong and masculine, and even though it’s crooked as hell, it suits him.

“You’re right. No sense in messing with perfection.”

He sits up straighter and nods his head agreeing proudly.

“We going back to my place soon?”

“Yeah, I’m beat. We can come back tomorrow if they want to.”

“They’re gonna want to, no doubt.”

Sasha and Tori rush toward us laughing and breathless. “I could do that all day,” Tori says. Sasha nods in agreement.

“I think we should head out for now. We can come back tomorrow if you want to.”

“Yes!” they say in unison with equal enthusiasm.

“I could use a swim, how about you?” Sasha asks.

“Sounds good to me.”

“Me, too. Can we go to the ocean? I’m gonna forget how to surf.”

“No, not tonight, but I promise we will drive to the ocean so you can surf before we go home.”

“Drive?” Tori asks. She’s not accustomed to being more than a stone’s throw away from the ocean.

“Yeah, it’s two hours away from here to the gulf and one hour to the Atlantic side,” I explain. “Not everybody is as lucky to live right by the ocean as you, bug.”

“That’s sad.”

“I agree,” Sasha adds.

We walk to the parking lot, shuttle to our car and home where Zion is waiting with dinner on the patio. Sasha was quiet on the ride home, and she excuses herself to go upstairs and shower. I follow.

She pushes the door open to our room. I catch her arm and pull her against me. “Hey, you okay?” I smooth her hair from her face with both hands and kiss her mouth softly.

“Yeah, I’m good.”

“You were quiet on the way home, you sure?” She glances away, and I’m sure something’s on her mind.

“I don’t know why, but I keep thinking about Enrique.”

“Babe, you watched your ex-husband get killed. That kind of thing doesn’t just go away. Maybe you should see a therapist when we get home?” I cup her cheek and move her eyes back to mine.

“That’s another thing… home. What’s going to happen when we go back to California? Zion is back to work, and Enrique’s gone. There’s no need for me to be hiding out at your house anymore.”

I’m confused. I thought we had this all cleared up before we started hiding out, but I was wrong. “Sasha, you don’t have to be hiding out to live with me. I love you. We are a couple. You’ll come home, and we will pick up where we left off except you won’t be looking over your shoulder all the time.”

“I can’t just live there without a job. I’d feel like a freeloader.”

I guide her backward to the bed and sit her on the edge kneeling between her knees. “Okay, I’m going to try to make this as clear as possible for you. I want you in our lives, not as a nanny, not part-time, not as an employee, but as my wife and a mother to Tori. I was going to wait until I had a ring to do this, but I think it’s the only way I can make you understand how much I love and want you in my life.” Her mouth falls open, and I scoot back still on my knees taking her hands in mine.

“Sasha Liana Rivers, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

She releases a breath with a strangled cry of what I hope is joy and slides off the bed into my arms crying. “Yes, yes, yes,” she repeats against my ear.

My heart expands, and I breathe a sigh of relief that her insecurities didn’t keep her from accepting my proposal. I know she believes we are too different, that we come from different worlds, but the truth is none of that matters at all. What matters is she makes my heart beat faster every time I see her. My spirit soars when I’m with her. She makes me laugh, and she loves my daughter like she’s her own. That’s what life is all about. It’s not about important college degrees, the balance in your bank account, or how perfect your nose is. It’s about love.

Sometimes all you need is love.