Chapter 15 #2
“Would your parents maybe help out?” I asked, grasping for ideas.
“I guess I could ask once I tell them about the wedding. Not sure how that conversation will go. The apartment came partially furnished, and the rest could just be sold.” Her tone turned businesslike as she listed everything she needed to do.
“I would come with you if leaving was necessary, but Grammy wasn’t—”
“Absolutely not. She needs you more than I do. I’ll figure it out, and if I do need to leave, I’ll only be gone a week or so.” Her message was clear. She didn’t need my help.
“Should I be on the call when you speak to your parents? I’m sure they’d want to meet me.
” Taking my coffee with me to the back door, I opened it to check on Max.
He was having the time of his life chasing birds and wrangling a ball that he’d chewed to pieces.
The old guy still had a little pep in him.
“You definitely don’t want to be on this first call. My mother, well, she’s going to be very unhappy. I’ll call them after the wedding and let you meet them then. Or wait until I go back and tell them in person.” Her voice was firm, and she left no room to push her on it.
“Okay, you know them best. How unhappy are we talking?” I asked as I sat on the porch step.
“When I tell her the whole story, she’s going to think that you’ve either tricked me into this to help your grandmother or that I’ve become weak and suddenly am depending on a man just to stay here,” she huffed out.
“Ren, I’m really sorry you have to face that.
I don’t want you to do that alone, though.
And I don’t think you should wait until after the ceremony.
Besides, that’s what this marriage is about, remember?
Together. We face it all as a team. I can handle her backlash, promise.
I want to be by your side through the good and bad. The joy and the hard times.”
She sniffled, then cleared her throat, and I wanted to race over to her if she was crying.
The need to protect her was triggered the second I held her in my arms last night.
I wasn’t joking when I told her I wanted to carry her off like a caveman, and it was for moments like this.
She didn’t need to face anything alone ever again.
“I appreciate that, but I’ll be fine. I’m used to doing things on my own.
” Her voice was more vulnerable than I’d ever heard it.
“But I’ll think about it. Just know that if you are on the call, she’s going to be blunt and not hold back.
She’s going to ask if I’ve fallen in love, if this is forever. ”
“I know we can’t lie to her and say you’re in love right now, but we can say with all confidence that this is forever.
” My voice was firm, and I prayed she heard my determination and the fact that I didn’t include myself in that sentence about not being in love now.
I wasn’t ready to confess it, nor was she ready to accept that kind of declaration yet, but I would know when the time was right.
“I hear what you’re saying, Mike, but you need to know.
I’ve never been in love before. I don’t know if I’m even built that way because of my upbringing.
I’ve committed to you, to this relationship, as crazy as it is, but I want to be sure you understand that it may take a long time before I get there. If I get there.”
“Let me and God take care of that. One day at a time, okay? And just so you know. I’ve never been in love before either.”
There was another long pause. “I, wow, that’s...”
“Together, okay? Taking it slow. Ren, I want you to understand what this means from my end so we’re clear. I’m not asking you to be my roommate. I’m asking to be your husband.”
I could hear her breathing increase, and I closed my eyes, praying she wasn’t going to change her mind.
After a long pause, she quietly answered, “I know what we’ve committed to, Mike. I just needed you to fully understand who I am. It is a little easier knowing you’ve never been in love either, though.”
“Yeah, we will bumble through it together,” I said with a chuckle.
“Ah, okay, well, if you want to come a little earlier, we can call my parents before we leave for the hospital.”
“I’ll be there at 10:30. Thank you for letting me be with you. See you soon.”
“Ciao,” she whispered and hung up.
The idea that we would be each other’s first love made my chest swell with happiness, even though her words initially saddened me. “I don’t know if I’m built that way.”
My goal now was to convince her that she already had the capacity to love.
It was evident in the way she walked through the world and in the way she treated people.
It wasn’t going to be easy since she had believed this lie about herself for so long, but my bride-to-be was the kind of woman who was worth the fight. I’d just have to prove it to her.
I made myself some toast with peanut butter while I dialed Niko’s number, knowing he would answer even though he was at work. He picked up on the first ring.
“Hey? Grammy okay?” He was a bit out of breath.
“She’s fine. Sorry to call you at work, but this is important.
” I paused and heard him take a deep breath.
Leyla’s voice was muffled, and I was sure I heard a kiss.
“Dude, why are you out of breath? Oh. Oh, geez, dude. Aren’t all the offices in there made of glass?
” I knew this fact because Niko was always complaining about it.
“What? What are you talking about?” he asked incredulously.
“Don’t get mad at me. You and Leyla are honeymooners, working at the same office. Sneaking a little make-out session is to be expected. Hint, hint. Nod, nod,” I said, hoping to fluster him.
I could almost see his blush. “You’re a freak.”
“Me? You’re the one--.”
“I am not doing…whatever you think I’m doing, you moron.
Leyla and I were working on a new delivery system experiment.
We were trying to see if a certain peptide would remain bioavailable once it’s suspended in a lipid carrier.
” It was clear how excited he was about the subject, and I had to keep from laughing.
“Stimulating information,” I deadpanned. “Maybe you weren’t the one to call after all. Need some useful info on love stuff from an expert. I wonder what Miles is doing?” I mused.
“Half the time I have no idea what you’re talking about, Mike,” he grumbled. I hopped up onto the kitchen counter. “And are we going to actually talk about you proposing to a virtual stranger in the hospital?”
“We will. Tonight. Check the group text when you stop making out with your wife.”
He scoffed, and I knew I was about a minute away from him blowing up. It was a toss-up whether his grumpy mood was from my teasing or the proposal.
“I promise to talk more about it later, but for now I need to woo Ren!” I said, my voice laced with frustration.
“Let me get this straight. You need to convince the woman you asked to marry you to like you?”
I sighed. “Well, when you put it like that.”
“Talk to me. What’s going on in that head of yours?”
“I’m crazy about her. And I’m telling you, dude, she feels the same way as I do. She’s just scared. I know God has put us together, so I just need to show her how I feel,” I pleaded.
“Huh, okay. Got it,” he said as if no longer confused. My scientist bestie was now moving into resolution mode.
“Good, glad we’re on the same page now. Hit me with your knowledge,” I said excitedly, ripping a bite of my toast, the peanut butter sticking to the roof of my mouth.
I’d helped him win over Leyla by making him watch a few rom-coms. Now I was hoping he’d learned a thing or two as a new husband. “Did you try watching Hitch again?” he asked.
I snorted. “Nah, she needs more than Will Smith. She thinks she can’t fall in love. Need to bring out the big guns.”
His voice deepened, and the mood shifted from joking to concern.
“What if she’s right and she can’t?” Niko had always been a bit blunt, but I’d always accepted this about him and never took it personally.
He was speaking in a low tone, but the worry in his voice was loud.
I could feel him holding back from asking whether I should go through with this wedding.
I threw the rest of my toast on the counter and wiped my hands on a nearby towel.
“I know she can, or I wouldn’t move forward, Niko. She has the capability to love deeply, but she’s been told not to trust it.”
“I’ll have to trust you then.” He took a deep breath, and I knew he wanted to say more, but I moved us back into our previous light banter.
“Yup. So I need to know if you ever found your woo with Leyla? See if you can help me out, give me pointers.”
Niko huffed a laugh. “She married me, didn’t she?”
Well, he had me there.
I took the last sip of my now cool coffee. “So what’d you do? Choose Subscribe and Save when you ordered your woo from ?” I teased. The maniac had actually asked me back then if they sold it. I still don’t know if he was kidding.