6. Luke
6
luke
The sixth of my Advent calendar came around, and Luce felt much better. This morning, she had even made herself some breakfast, and strolled around the backyard. Despite her improved condition, she still wasn’t entirely back to her old self, so I insisted she take it easy. Seeing her no longer dealing with nausea was a relief, which gave me peace of mind as I set out to run some errands—though ‘errands’ didn’t quite capture the significance of my tasks for the day.
First on my list was a visit to my parents and brothers. With the proposal date fast approaching, I wanted them to be aware of my plans. They would be there to share in the moment, but I felt they deserved a heads-up with how much they had been cheering us on.
I parked the truck in front of my family home and didn’t even have to ring the bell before my mom appeared on the front porch, waving enthusiastically. As I got out of the truck and walked toward her, she glanced behind me, expecting to see Luce with me. It seemed to be a common assumption lately—people assumed Luce went wherever I did.
While I would have loved for Luce to be here, I was glad she chose to rest at home today. It gave me the chance to do this without any rush.
“Oh, come here. Give me a hug,” my mom said, wrapping her arms around me even though we saw each other almost every day. “Where’s Luce?”
“She’s at home, still not feeling her best,” I said, pulling my mom into a hug. I held her tightly before releasing her. Just then, Logan appeared at the bottom of the stairs, his arms crossed over his chest and a cheeky grin on his face.
“Well, well, well…look who the cat dragged in. Mr. Lover Boy,” he teased. “Welcome home, Luke-Puke.” I exhaled softly, knowing asking him to stop calling me that was pointless. Showing any annoyance would only fuel him to tease me more. Instead, I followed my mom inside.
“Is Landon here, too?” I asked, remembering he’d mentioned taking a few days off to spend with the family. Landon stepped into the hall as if on cue, hands stuffed in his pockets and an all-knowing older brother look on his face.
“I’m here, too, bud.” My dad’s voice rang out from the living room. With the entire family gathered, I finally had the chance to share my news with them.
“Why don’t we move to the living room?” I asked, gesturing toward the room at the back of the house. I wanted everyone seated down for what I was about to say—and by everyone, I mainly meant my mom. Her eyes immediately filled with concern, but I was quick to soothe it. “Nothing bad has happened. On the contrary…”
We all made our way to the living room. My mom sat beside my dad, while Landon leaned casually against the wall. Logan plopped down on the sofa across from my parents and was about to prop his feet up on the coffee table, but a sharp look from my mom made him reconsider. He promptly obliged her rules, keeping his feet firmly on the floor.
“All right, everyone. As you know, Luce and I are hosting Christmas Eve dinner this year, and you’re all invited—Ed and Eve, as well as Luce’s best friend, Sailor. We’re looking forward to having everyone together, but there’s another reason I wanted to bring this up now.” I paused momentarily. “I’m planning to ask Luce to marry me. I’ve already spoken to her mom and chosen a ring?—”
“Oh, God!” my mom cried out, her excitement loud enough to temporarily deafen everyone in the room. Her face was beaming with happiness, and she almost threw herself into my arms, hugging me tightly. “Luke, that’s such wonderful news! I always knew you two would get married someday. I’m so thrilled it’s finally happening. You and Luce are just perfect for each other! We’ll have a wedding in the family—and who knows, maybe even grandchildren soon! I can’t believe this?—”
“All right, Linda, take it easy,” my dad said, standing up from the couch. Though he was clearly excited, his demeanor was far more restrained compared to my mom’s. He approached me with a smile and gave me a firm pat on the back once I managed to free myself from my mom’s embrace. “I’m happy for you, son. Luce is wonderful. You two will have a wonderful life together.” None of this came as a surprise, but it was still nice to hear how much they all loved her—how much they supported my decision to marry her.
I then turned to my brothers. Logan was the first to approach, grinning from ear to ear as he grabbed me in a tight hug and ruffled my hair. I let him—what else can you do with a hyperactive younger brother?
“It was about damn time, Luke,” he said. “I was waiting for you to pop the question, and you were taking so long I started considering doing it myself…” I rolled my eyes at his words, but I knew it was his way of showing support. I couldn’t have asked for a more supportive family, and that was something I was eternally grateful for. It was the kind of support I hoped to provide for our children when Luce and I decided to take that step. I hoped that would be sooner rather than later.
Landon was the last one to congratulate me. I expected him to caution me—to urge me to think things through and not rush, like he usually did—but instead, he shook my hand firmly, and a small smile curved his lips.
“Congratulations, Luke. I’m happy for Luce and you.”
I arched my brow, suspicious about the lack of any advice-giving commentary. “No advice?”
Landon chuckled. “No advice. You know what you’re doing. You love her, and she loves you. I can only hope to find a love like yours someday.” I wanted to assure him that would happen soon, but to be honest, I had never seen or even heard him date a girl or even talk about one.
“Thank you. That means a lot.”
Once everyone had offered their congratulations, my mom jumped right back into action, already planning the wedding in her head. “Luke, I want to help out with the wedding as much as possible. I don’t want to intrude, but I’d be delighted to assist with anything you need. I have some great catering contacts that might come in handy. I’m guessing Eve will handle the floral arrangements? That’s a wise choice—she creates the most beautiful bouquets I’ve ever seen…”
At some point, I tuned out, overwhelmed by happiness, as a single realization settled in my mind. I am going to make Luce my wife soon.
Once I managed to get my mom to stop discussing wedding plans, I headed back home to check on my future wife. While I was at my parents’ place, she sent me a few updates, letting me know she was feeling better. Still, I was eager to return and be by her side.
Especially since I had a special delivery for her.
“Hey, Luce,” I called out as I entered our home. Right away, I heard scrambling in the living room. Earlier this morning, I had insisted that she wait until I got back to open today’s slot. She agreed, but I could tell she was running out of patience. “Missed me?” I asked, leaning down to kiss her. She returned the kiss tenderly but quickly pulled back, a guilty look in her eyes.
“I have a confession to make…”
“Uh-oh…”
She sighed softly, holding up her hands in defense. “I’m bad. I know! I couldn’t help myself. You were gone for too long…” Luce held a small note in my handwriting that read, ‘I told you to wait for me before opening this,’ accompanied by a poorly drawn winky emoji that looked defective at its best.
The message was there for a good reason. I didn’t want Luce to find the scrapbook I had prepared, so I took it to my parents’ home. Part of my visit there today was to retrieve it.
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t help myself. I know you told me to wait, but I just got too impatient…” She pressed her lips into a thin line, clearly worried about my reaction now that she had opened the sixth slot.
“Sweetheart, relax. It’s perfectly fine. Besides, I have your present right here.” While I was good at giving presents, I couldn’t say the same about wrapping them. My execution was poor at best, but it was what was inside that counted. Her face brightened as she took the messily wrapped present from me and hopped onto the couch.
I enjoyed seeing this more relaxed version of her around me. I worried there would always be a certain degree of guard after I had broken her heart, but she looked like she could completely relax around me now…and that was all I wanted.
Luce wasted no time as she ripped the paper open, finding a dotted, black-and-white scrapbook in her hands. She looked at me, clearly confused, before her gaze darted back toward the notebook again. Her eyebrows furrowed as she tried to piece together what it was.
People always told you to get rid of everything you shared once your relationship ended—but I knew that could never be the case with us. Even if we never got back together, I wanted to have countless memories to hold on to when things got hard. So, I kept everything from our time together ten years ago: multiple photographs we had taken together, movie tickets, date night grocery receipts that had long faded, notes she had written to me over the years, and even wrappers of her favorite candy. My scrapbooking skills weren’t the best, either, though I liked to believe I made up for it with the way I could handle wood. Still, I tried to place everything together so it looked aesthetically nice.
Luce flipped over the first page, already nearly in tears, as her eyes found an image of us on our first date. We had asked a stranger to take a picture of us, and we were grinning from ear to ear. I had more planned to remind her of the first date we shared, but I thought that was a nice photo to open up the scrapbook of our memories.
“I have no words…” she whispered, flipping the page as she examined what was inside. I wrapped my arm around her, holding her close.
“Luckily for you, I hear kisses also express feelings well,” I teased, leaning in to kiss her cheek softly. She tilted her head to look up at me, and I dipped my head lower to meet her lips. We shared a tender kiss, yet it was enough to make my stomach swirl with butterflies. With her by my side, I knew I would never stop feeling like this, even after another ten years had passed.