45. Chapter 45 #4
The reason she is so determined to create endless memories to make up for the ones my past lacked. I know seeing this photo means just as much to her as it did the first time I saw it. But she’s still missing the point.
“Look closer, il mio tutto,” I gently nudge, placing another photo beside it.
One that Macy discreetly slipped me from Luna’s room when she took Leo earlier.
Luna tries her best to figure out what I’m hinting at, looking from my photo to the framed photo of her aged around three, taking a photo with her brother in front of a pretty water fountain.
The photo I saw the first time I came here and snooped around her childhood bedroom.
She can’t seem to recall the memory, as she was too young to remember, but I know it’s one of her favourite photos, it being the first vacation her grandparents took them on after losing her parents.
“Now, look back at the other one,” I try once more.
She puts down the framed photo and does as I say, looking closer at my photo when her eyes fall on the background behind my hand on Luigi’s head.
Her soft gasp fills the room, covering her mouth in disbelief, flickering back and forth between the two.
“How can you not believe this kind of fate isn’t for you?” I ask, tilting her chin up.
“When during the most hectic year of my life, where I was convinced it was the worst part of my childhood,”
I swallow the lump in my throat.
“…was in fact the opposite; it bound us in a contract that I never want to break out of, because this was the day I met the love of my life, without even knowing it,” I declare with a trembling hand.
Then our eyes lock before looking back at the photos. Luna focuses on the one of younger me, whereas I trace the gaze of mini me with my finger and over to where little Luna is in the next photo - all decked out in the colour mint green, standing beside her brother.
Two photos, taken by different people. Cherished at different points in time, but now that they’re together, they create a whole picture.
“Luna, I can’t promise to be the man of your dreams. Nor can I promise I won’t continue to make mistakes, but-” I pause, nudging her towards our missing family members, now standing in a line in front of us.
Gran is first, LJ is second with his phone recording in his hands, Macy is next with Leo on her hip, then next comes Theo, and lastly Mei.
One by one, they reveal the word written on their mint-coloured shirt as Luna reads it out loud.
“Will. You. Marry. M-” Luna stops, her gaze on the words ‘Me’ written on Theo’s shirt, then the question mark written on Mei’s.
By the time she turns back to me, I’m already on one knee, with the open ring box pointed in her direction, a handcrafted real silver band with three emeralds, the biggest resting in the middle - but nothing too flashy.
Just the way I know Luna would want it.
Her sobs are muffled by the grip of her pressing her hand over her mouth.
“I know you’ve always wondered this; the reason I call you, il mio tutto, is because it’s the Italian translation of ‘my everything’. A phrase designed just for you from day one.” I reveal, watching her blink away a new set of tears.
“Luna Yeon Jackson, il mio tutto, will you marry me?” I ask with misty eyes. Everyone around us leans in, waiting for an answer. Luna sobs again, biting her cheek to compose herself, as she nods firmly, whispering the word “Yes.”
Only then do I let out the first real breath since I walked in from the bathroom and swiftly slip the ring free from the box and onto her left ring finger.
Moments before she pounces on me. Her arms are strangling me while she sobs in my neck, and I mirror it.
Shedding my own tears, holding tightly as everyone cheers with joy.
Macy and Gran release the party poppers in their hands; Theo and Mei take this opportunity to leap forward and dog-pile on top of us, and my back hits the floor, and LJ stands in the same place, making sure to catch every moment on camera.
“I love you s-so much,” Luna whispers, holding me tighter.
“I love you too, my everything,” I whisper back, feeling her heart sync with mine as they beat as one.
Theo and Mei’s giggles surround the room, and we spend a few more minutes hugging on the floor of her childhood home.
Once Luna’s crying is at bay, we return to our feet to receive hugs from the people who matter to her the most.
My mission of the day is complete, and she said yes. It sounds crazy when we’ve never gone a day without telling each other the words ‘I love you’ since we got back together. But in the back of my mind, I still anticipated all the ways this could have gone wrong.
Today was just another example of how I’ve learned to live expecting the unexpected. Because without that, I wouldn’t have happiness, friends, a loving family and a whole new meaning to my life. Something I’ll live the rest of my life to protect.
Ho trovato la mia visione del destino,
I finally have everything I convinced myself I didn’t need, and I can’t ever picture living my life any other way.
Sono completo.