What if…Elizabeth and Jayson
Three years later
“If I have to listen to that damn song one more time, I’m going to throw myself off my bedroom balcony,” Fallon whispers, but his voice comes out loud through the speakers of my phone propped up on the bathroom countertop.
Why my kid loves the song from Frozen is beyond me. But Jayden will sing it for hours at the top of his lungs.
“Thanks for babysitting tonight,” I tell him, glancing at the screen to see Fallon’s handsome face, Jayden playing with Julien, Ryder, and Hailey in the background. The gang have congregated at the Montgomery mansion to entertain Jayden so I can go out on a date.
“You owe me so big, kitten,” he replies, but his smile gives him away. Fallon absolutely adores Jayden.
The past three years have been interesting, to say the least. Fallon and I dated for a while after I graduated high school.
Somehow, we both came to the conclusion that our friendship was more important than a romantic relationship.
It was a very similar situation with Ryder.
But with him, no matter how hard we tried to go back to what we once were, we just couldn’t manage to get there.
Too much had happened. The cancer. The pregnancy.
The things we should have said but never did.
But I’m so damn thankful every day that he’s here.
He had a long, slow recovery for about a year after the bone marrow transplant.
He’s been in remission and cancer-free, but the worry of the ALL or a secondary cancer coming back still haunts me.
The year of his battle with cancer changed me.
But it was the pregnancy and Jayden who changed all of us.
When Jayden was born and I first locked eyes with my son, I was absolutely shocked to see silvery gray looking back at me.
I was so sure that the baby was Ryder’s.
Yes, I had some small niggling of doubt in the back of my mind.
Turns out, Fate decided for me. That one, careless night with Jayson after my memories returned gave me the greatest gift of my life.
It also brought Jayson and I back together.
He always said we were soulmates. He was right.
Jayson was my first love. He is also the man I’m in love with.
I guess, when one looks at it with a keen eye, it’s always been me and Jayson.
I took one of Fallon’s “gap years” off before I started college, and like Fallon promised, he came with me.
Fallon bought a house off-campus and that’s where Jayden and I live while I’m at school, along with Jayson, Julien, and Hailey, who is also attending CU with us.
During summer break, which we’re now on, seeing as it’s June, we come back to Fallen Brook and Highland.
Hailey moved into the guest room across the hallway, so that Jayden could have her room.
Fallon turns to look over his shoulder when Jayden squeals in delight. “I need to go wrangle this crazy kid before he destroys the house. You and Jay have fun tonight.” He waggles his eyebrows up and down and I roll my eyes at him.
“Love you,” I tell him.
“Love you, too. Hold on, little man wants to say bye.”
Jayden crawls into Fallon’s lap and grabs his phone with both hands. He puckers his lips and kisses the screen, leaving a very large, wet lip print. “Love you, Mamma!”
“I love you, pumpkin. Have fun and do what your aunt Hailey and uncles tell you. Me and Daddy will pick you up in the morning.”
“Okay.” He hops back down, eager to get back to playing. Ryder lifts him up and places him on his shoulders.
I blow Fallon a kiss that he catches and presses to his heart, then I wave bye before I hit the red button to end the video call.
Finishing applying a light coat of mascara, I stand back and critique myself in the bathroom mirror.
Jayson said to wear casual tonight, so I went with a pair of my favorite blue-jean shorts and an emerald-green halter blouse.
It’s too hot for anything more. June in North Carolina is the beginning of the sweltering humidity that accompanies summer.
However, I decide not to pull my hair up in a ponytail and leave it down in loose, haphazard waves.
My phone dings with an incoming text.
Jayson: Go to your window.
I have no clue what we we’re doing tonight as he hasn’t told me anything.
When I walk out of the jack-and-jill and into my bedroom, I notice that the oak tree between our houses is lit up.
But then a flash of silver catches my eye.
A smile explodes across my face when I see the origami star on my windowsill.
Carefully, I unfold the glossy metallic paper to reveal a message in Jayson’s handwriting.
“‘You aren’t just a star to me. You are my whole damn sky.’” It was a phrase he and I used to say to each other.
As I stand at the window staring at the lit-up oak tree, holding the note, memories of our first date pop into my mind.
My bedside clock turns ten and Jayson appears at my bedroom window.
I should have known. Since I keep my window open most nights, it’s easy for Jayson to climb in, something he’s used to doing anyway.
Something I’m not used to seeing, however, is him dressed in a dark gray collared polo shirt and khaki chino shorts.
I’m also not used to seeing him holding out a bouquet of flowers at me.
“Oh my gosh,” I gush, taking the bunch of wildflowers from his outstretched hand and smelling them.
“I may have stolen them from Mom’s garden. Hope you like them.”
Wow.
“Liz, you look beautiful.”
Double wow. My heart soars that he notices the effort I put in to look good for him tonight, so I repay the compliment.
“You, sir, look absolutely dashing as well.”
We take a minute to absorb what feels like a monumental moment before he reaches his hand out to me. “Princess Elizabeth, I am here to escort you to your date.”
I want to say something silly like, I thought my date was already here, but I don’t want to ruin the romance of what’s happening with jokes.
I place my hand in his and he raises it to his lips.
He turns my hand over and kisses the back of my wrist below my palm before twisting my hand over and doing the same to each knuckle.
I don’t know if I’m going to survive our first date if he keeps this up.
I’m already melting into a puddle of goo at his feet.
Jayson wiggles his eyebrows. “Follow me,” he says and pulls me to the window.
My first thought is, he’s going to make me climb down a tree.
My second thought is, I’m glad I decided not to wear a dress.
Jayson, Julien, and I have gotten very good at climbing up and down the old oak tree between our houses.
We’ve been doing it since third grade. Jayson helps me out of my window and carefully guides me down to a lower branch, one that’s sturdy and thick.
He steps out onto the branch and eases me down next to where the branch meets the trunk.
“Here. Sit.”
The branch is wide enough for me to comfortably sit without fear of falling.
I perch in a straddle, my back against the trunk of the tree.
We have to whisper in hushed voices in case both our parents are still awake, especially since Jayson’s still grounded and isn’t supposed to leave the house for another three days.
Jayson sits facing me and reaches into the side pocket of his shorts to take out a small remote.
My eyebrows raise at him, and he smiles, then presses a button on the remote.
Hundreds of tiny white fairy lights come to life around us and start to intermediately blink and twinkle.
I gasp, my hand coming up over my mouth in surprise.
When did he do this? I’m filled with wonder for this boy, for all the ways he shows me he loves me, that I am special and precious to him. He truly does treat me like a princess.
“As a first date goes, how am I doing so far?”
The breeze picks up and ruffles the green leaves on the branches, snapping me out of my daydream of long ago.
It’s then I notice another origami star.
Climbing out of my window, I easily clamber over the thick branch to retrieve the second star.
Inside, there is only one word printed in all cap letters: WILL.
“Jayson?” I say aloud, looking around. Surely, he has to be around here somewhere.
Just then, a blue strand of lights flicker on. I follow the path down a few feet and see another star hanging from a branch at the end of the lights. My heart absolutely melts when I realize what’s going on. Jayson has set up a type of scavenger hunt. My man is always finding new ways to woo me.
Enthusiastically climbing down to see what the next star has written on it, I unfold the paper to find the word: YOU.
A red strand of lights turns on. It leads to the lowest branch of the tree. When I get there, I sit down and dangle my legs, swishing my feet back and forth as I read the inside of the next star. And I stop breathing. Because written on the shiny piece of paper is the word: MARRY.
“Jayson?” His name comes out breathy and high.
Jayson appears right below where I’m sitting.
My heart begins to pound, and my hands begin to shake.
Perhaps it’s because of the way Jayson is looking at me.
Perhaps it’s because every time I see him, my heart flutters and my knees go weak.
Perhaps it’s his smile or the way he’s dressed in an elegant suit.
His silver eyes hypnotize me as they sparkle in the light. I peer down at him from my perch and watch as he takes a knee.
“Liz, I have loved you my whole life. I will love you forever more. You are my heart, my soul, the love of my life, the mother of my child, and my home.”
And then his arm stretches out and he lifts it high in offering to me. Between his fingers is the most beautiful diamond ring I have ever seen.
“Princess Elizabeth, will you marry me?”
I’m crying so hard, he becomes a blur through my tears. “YES!”