Chapter 18 #2
The tone of pride in his voice made my heart soar.
I’d never been introduced in such a way by my parents.
I had always been this disappointment to them that they begrudgingly had to claim.
Not Gio. He happily announced me as his husband, and every word bled with his belief in me.
I squeezed his thigh with appreciation before reaching out to shake the woman’s hand.
“Do you do custom orders? I’ve been looking for a new chandelier, something whimsical, not sterile like the ones you find in the stores.”
“Yes!” I exclaimed, letting more excitement come through than I meant to. Forcing myself to tone it down, I said, “Yes. I’ll be happy to do custom orders once my shop is up, which should be within the month.”
I looked around for something to write on. Shit, I needed business cards. Gio, reading my mind, silently handed me one of his. I turned it over and wrote on the back.
“Here’s my contact information. If you want to shoot me an email, I’d be happy to send you my portfolio so you can see some examples of what I’ve done, and you can give me an idea of what you’re looking for.
I know I can make something special and unique that will be a conversation piece in your home. ”
The woman smiled. “Thank you. I’m really excited to have found a local glass person, I’ve been looking for a long time. Oh, and these bees are too precious, I have to get one.”
“Absolutely,” I said, lighting up from inside. The ten dollars she handed me might as well have been gold bouillon for how valuable it felt.
After wrapping the bee in paper to protect it, and putting it in one of Gio’s honeycomb-patterned bags, the woman thanked me, and put my card in her bag. When she was far enough away, I held the bill in front of Gio whose brown eyes gleamed with pride.
“Your first sale.”
“My first fucking sale. Someone actually paid for something I made with my hands.”
Gio reached up and tugged one of my curls. “Of course, they did. You knew they would, that was your plan all along.”
“It was. It has been. But it’s been such a long time, I’ve had moments of doubt, hearing my parents’ voices in my head, telling me the glass thing wouldn’t amount to anything. Only, now… it’s just the beginning.”
“That’s right, Jasper. Just the beginning. There’s so much more to come.”
Ten dollars. It seemed ridiculous, considering the amount of money I would soon have in the bank. But it was mine, I earned it fairly, which made it a treasure, something I wanted to keep. “Here, Daddy, you need to hold onto this for me. I want to frame it.”
Before he could stop me, I was reaching into his pocket, to stuff it safely inside. The outfit I was wearing had been selected in the women’s department, which meant the pockets were a joke. With my hand in his pants pocket, I felt something else in there. Some kind of material.
“What is this?” Curiosity had me grab it and pull it out.
“Shit, wait!” Gio’s eyes went wide and his cheeks flushed that beautiful color. Now I was even more curious.
The piece of material was long, and when I had the whole thing out, I realized it was familiar. I cocked my head as I stared at it. Gio sighed and glanced away.
“Gio? What are you doing with this?”
It was my tie. I’d forgotten about it entirely. I’d been wearing it the last time I saw my parents.
“Shit. Sorry. I don’t know. I took it off of you that night.
You looked so devastated and lost, and I didn’t know what to do with it, so I shoved it in my pocket.
I didn’t intend to keep it, but I don’t know, I felt this pull to you, and it was something that was yours.
I liked having it with me, it was like having you with me.
And… well… I put it in my pocket every day when I get dressed. It’s, uh, comforting.”
Gio’s face was beet red and I had never seen anything more adorable. I loved the way this calm, strong, caring man flushed so bright. He kept my tie. He kept my tie in his pocket. It was either creepy and alarming, or the most romantic thing I’d ever heard. I chose to go with the latter.
“Oh, Daddy, that is so fucking sweet.” I threw my arms around his neck and hugged him tight.
“You don’t mind?” He asked carefully.
With my mouth near his ear, I whispered. “I would give you a pair of my underwear to carry around if you asked me for it, even the ones I’m currently wearing.”
Gio tensed in my arms, and he sputtered. “No, no, that’s okay.”
When I pulled back, I folded the tie neatly, and slid it back into his pocket, grinning like a fool. “Keep it, Gio. You having it like this takes back the power it had. It was tainted, but you’ve transformed it. Besides, it’s nice to know that having something of mine gives you comfort.”
Relief seemed to pour out of him, as if he worried I would look at him differently.
Well, I did, but it was only out of love.
Out of knowing he’d chosen me before I had us jumping into marriage.
I was reminded of that night. Of the turmoil I’d been in as I rested my head on his lap.
I asked if he would marry me and he answered while he was falling asleep.
He answered from his subconscious, like the concept was easy.
The thought made my heart flutter around in my chest. I thought I’d pushed him into the marriage thing, but perhaps he was the one who’d been ahead of me.
That had been a rough day, one of the worst, but he’d been there to take care of me.
Now, I was preparing for another rough day with my parents, probably the roughest yet with what I was going to announce, but I wouldn’t have to face it alone.
I would have Gio, my husband, by my side the whole way.
If it all goes to shit, then at least I knew he would be there to nurse me through it after.