Six Months Later
It had been a long flight, but everything had worked according to plan. We had landed in Denmark an hour ago in a private plane I had chartered for us.
A former MUST colleague owned his own plane chartering business, and I had reached out to him a couple of months ago to set this all in motion.
Stella’s dad was doing better, and they felt the cancer was all gone and not coming back, but his doctors also didn’t feel he would ever truly regain his ability to walk without assistance.
The neuropathy he had developed while undergoing treatment was here to stay—limiting his ability to walk long distances and travel on a commercial plane.
So, I’d booked a private chartered plane and hired a private nurse to join us for the flight, which allowed Stella and her parents to finally take the trip to Denmark and Sweden they had always wanted.
For ease, we were only staying near Copenhagen in Denmark and Malmo in Sweden since they were close together and allowed us to visit both countries without traveling too far.
We were starting in Denmark, since that was where we flew into, and I was going to take her to some of the top tourist locations.
She was like a kid in a candy store as we walked through the Tivoli Gardens and some of the little Forgotten Giants parks scattered throughout the city.
“Oh, take my picture in front of this giant statue! This one is smiling!” Stella’s cheerful voice was music to my ears. I loved watching her light up at some of the places I had visited as a child with my sister.
After three days of seeing the Danish sights, we took the thirty-minute train ride over to Sweden. I had planned everything out, taking her to some of my favorite places, which would culminate in me asking her to be my wife.
Right before we left the States, I had pulled her dad aside and asked if I could marry his daughter. This wasn’t a common practice in Sweden, but Ruthie had suggested—more like demanded—that I do it for Stella because it was much more customary in the U.S.
Her father had given me his blessing and thanked me for allowing him to be part of my proposal in Sweden. I wanted to do it in Sweden because it was something we had in common, but also because it would be a good moment for her to share with her parents.
“Oh my God! I have to learn how to make these,” Stella mumbled, her mouth full of food as we walked through the Malmo old town center of Gamla V?ster.
“I will be your taste tester,” her dad said as he, too, nibbled on his pastry from his wheelchair.
“Oh, look at those things!” her mom exclaimed as we walked by another bakery. “They look delicious. You should try one of those, too.”
“Mom, seriously, I can’t eat everything I see in a window display, or Axel will be pushing me in a wheelchair too.”
Sweden and Denmark were highly accessible places for a wheelchair and prided themselves on being inclusive, with many accommodations for wheelchair users.
After walking around town some more, we made our way to the Slottstr?dg?rden.
It was a beautiful garden located next to the famous Malmohus Castle.
Stella stood there staring out at the flowers, and I knew this was the perfect spot.
I walked up behind her, wrapped my arms around her, and kissed her cheek.
“A very famous Danish man named S?ren Kierkegaard once said, To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself.”
“That’s pretty,” she replied softly.
“I’m going to dare right now,” I said, letting go of her, and turned to stand at her side before I got down on one knee and pulled the small box from my pocket. “By asking you to marry me, Stella. Make me the happiest man on Earth and say yes, ?lskling.”
She had covered her mouth, gasping, as soon as she saw me go down and realized what was happening. Her hand was still there as she spoke, which muffled what she said, but I still understood her.
“Yes!” She didn’t even look at the ring before she lunged forward and flung her arms around my body, nearly knocking me over. “Yes, you crazy man, I will marry you. I love you, Axel.”
She kissed me wildly before allowing me to stand back up so I could put the ring on her finger. “I love you, Stella.”
“Oh, this is so sweet,” her mom cooed from behind us. “Don’t worry. I got it all on your dad’s phone since his camera is better than mine.”
Stella turned to look at her mom who was beaming. Her dad was also smiling and gave her a thumbs-up before she turned back to me, smiling. “Thank you for letting them be a part of this,” she said quietly.
“I love you, Stella. I would give you anything I could—you only have to ask.”
***