Chapter 39
Marina
One Year Later
In this past year, I’ve seen magical places, castles, and kingdoms that are bigger and brighter than anything I could have imagined.
Nothing, however, is quite as vibrant as the atomic orange shade that coats my fingers as Gil and I rest on the edge of a lily pad at the Festival of the Four Sisters.
With a giant canister of cheeseballs between us, we gaze across the water at a firework show in the sky, the comforts from my world and the whimsy of his all in the palm of our hands.
His confidence has really bloomed on the theremin.
It’s strange to think it was something he was ever embarrassed of when he plays it so effortlessly.
Tonight’s concert was right in time for our first album “Scale Mail—Love Letters from The Marsh.” Most of the melodies were written in our time apart, letters from those cracked messages in a bottle combined with notes from my journal, which Gil has bound into its own scrapbook.
I’d say there’s no better feeling than being on stage together, but that’s not true. Every moment with Gil is its own kind of music.
I reach my hand into the cheeseball container—but it’s not the styrofoam-like texture of cheese balls that hits my fingers as I reach to the bottom of the jar, there’s something else in here—something hard, and shaped like—
A clamshell.
Glittering pink with a hinge on the side.
“What is this?” I ask. “Last I checked, canisters of cheeseballs don’t have prizes inside.”
“Better open it and find out,” Gil says, holding me closer. I stroke along the grooves of the shell before opening it. There in the center is a shining pearl on a gold band.
My throat tightens, and my eyes fill with tears.
“Will you…?”
He can’t even finish the sentence before I shout the words.
“Yes!” His webbed hands shake as he slips the ring onto my finger, and I pull him into a kiss.
A kiss that soon has an audience.
Dozens of people pop up from around us and cheer—and not just Gil’s family.
Heather and Moth are here hovering in the air with their twins in their arms. Then off in the distance there’s Magnus slinking low in the water.
Gil’s siblings and Rainbow look on with glee—Angel cheers the loudest. Well second loudest, Grams and Grampy win by a mile in terms of excitement.
Sisters.
Brothers.
Friends.
Family—and the love of my life.
“Now, how about we go get that blessing, hm?” Gil says after kissing me one, two, three more times, then leaning in and whispering softly, “Not that I need it—considering everything I’ve ever wanted is here in my arms.”
I grin ear to ear as we build our crowns together, everyone weaving a flower as Rainbow explains they’re wishes for a happy future, and intentions to stand by our sides, and this all feels less like a proposal and more like the wedding itself.
We choose the “Sister Spring” to symbolize the blooming of our relationship in a new season. Deep under the water, Gil guides my hands as I squint at the blurry outline of the statue, and when the crown sits upon her head, he cups his hands in mine, and pulls me into a kiss.
My hair floats forward, and the pink strands shine bright as the light from the fireworks strobe above us. Everything is hazy and green—his hands un-cup mine to find the small of my back. Our legs kick into the water enough to keep us suspended—floating like a first dance.
I love him—I love this.
And I think I’m finally ready to accept that good things can happen, and they will happen, especially if we’re together. And maybe—just maybe, happiness can be found at the bottom of a cheeseball container.
THE END