Chapter Four
Rome
Eleven months after the wedding
T his might be my favorite BlerdCon yet. I’m enjoying all the events, but most of all, I enjoy having my girl by my side.
I’ve been coming to BlerdCon for years, usually in a work capacity.
I’ve spoken on a few panels. Some of the employees at Downhill Studios have run workshops or participated in cosplay contests here, so I’ve come out to support them, and the studio itself has partnered with the con a few times.
I’m here solely in a support role this year, so I have time to show Janelle around.
This is her first con, so she wants to soak everything in. It’s been a while since I’ve gotten to relax and enjoy this, but seeing everything through her eyes has reminded me how much fun I used to have at these things.
She wanted to go to all the horror panels, so we’ve done that. Thanks to Micah, Eve, and Micah’s sister, Bailey, she’s been getting into anime, so we’re currently at the Anime Family Feud event.
Janelle is so cute, quietly whispering the answers she knows.
A few other people watching from the sidelines come over to compliment her on her cosplay, so she spends some time bonding with them.
She’s dressed as Numbuh Five from Codename Kids Next Door, donned in a blue sweater, black bike shorts, red cap, and gold hoops.
I tried to convince her to leave her thigh chain on, but she wanted to be authentic to the character.
I did convince her to leave her waist beads on, though.
I’m dressed as Numbuh One, and though Janelle called me a whore in my hoochie daddy shorts, no one seems to know who I’m dressed as until they see her.
Yesterday, we dressed up as Justice and Lucky from Poetic Justice. Yes, we are that couple with the matching cosplays. No shame here. We were thinking about dressing up as Rogue and Gambit tomorrow, but it’s too damn hot, so we’ll probably wear our regular clothes.
After Anime Family Feud, Janelle texts Eve, Micah, and Bailey to tell them how many answers she got right. When we get to the lobby, we run into Eve. She’s dressed as Spider-Man, specifically Miles Morales ’ s suit.
“Evie!” Janelle shrieks as she squeezes Eve tight.
“Hey, boo!” she greets, then looks over her shoulder for a moment. She hugs me, checking over her shoulder again. What is she looking for?
“Did I know you were coming to this?” Janelle asks.
“No. Neither did I, honestly. I thought I’d miss it for work, but it worked out.”
“Oh, that’s good. You should’ve come to Family Feud!”
“I know, but I was at a video game/movie adaptation panel.”
They discuss that for a few minutes and then make plans to see each other at a Disney trivia challenge later.
“Hey, Eve, is Jalen with you, then?” I haven’t spoken to him in a couple of days, so I don’t have an update on him, but I have a feeling he’s here.
She scrunches her nose. “What? No. Why would he be with me?”
My eyes lower to slits, and I know Janelle’s are doing the same thing. We don’t even have to say anything because Jalen walks up with Kam moments later.
My eyes bulge out of my head when I see Jalen. He’s dressed as Stretch from the video game NBA Street, even wearing an afro. I bend over with laughter, and he flips me off, turning to hug Janelle.
“I love the fit, Jalen. It’s very on the nose,” Janelle compliments.
“Thanks, Nelle. Glad someone appreciates it,” he says, giving me a pointed look. I laugh again.
Kam hugs Janelle, almost knocking her down, before giving me the same affection. It’s only been a few days since I’ve seen him, but I think he’s grown a couple of inches. He may end up taller than both me and his dad.
What’s more interesting, though, is his cosplay. He’s dressed as Hobie from Across the Spider-Verse.
“You look great, Killa Kam!”
“Yeah, you do. I can’t help but notice you and Evie are matching,” Janelle teases.
He looks back at Eve with an innocent smile. “Oh, yeah, we planned that.”
Eve wraps her arm around Kam’s shoulder and pulls him back to stand side by side. Her smile is as wide as it is guilty.
“Okayyy, well, it was great seeing you guys. Bye!”
She runs off with Kam in tow, leaving Jalen to chase after them. Janelle and I look at each other, letting our eyes say everything before continuing our day.
“Okay, so did you catch that?” I ask Kam, turning to him with my brow raised. He nods enthusiastically.
For the last few weeks, I’ve been working on a special project: building a video game to propose to Janelle.
It’s going to be a dating sim that resembles our life together.
I want it to be perfect, so it’s taking me longer than usual.
Plus, I’m letting Kam watch so he can see the behind-the-scenes of video game creation.
He adores Janelle, so he’s very excited that I’m planning this. However, I’ve been trying to get him out of the house before Janelle gets home so he can’t get to chatting. He’s doing a great job keeping the secret, but kids can only be trusted so much.
Janelle should be home in thirty minutes, so I pack us up and drive Kam home.
Ten minutes into our drive, Kam turns to me. “Uncle Rome?”
“Yeah, buddy?”
“How do you know you want to marry someone?”
I take a moment to think about his question, mainly because I want to know why he’s asking.
“You planning to propose to someone at recess?” I tease.
He chuckles, hanging his head. “No. I was just wondering.”
“Well, speaking for myself, I want to marry Janelle because I can’t imagine not being with her. She’s my other half, and I don’t function as well without her.”
He considers my words, turning to look out the window. “Do you think that’s how my mom and dad felt about each other?”
I nearly choke and swerve on the road. Knowing what I know now, I don’t know how Tiff felt about Jalen, but I know Jalen definitely felt that way about her. I also know there’s no chance he’ll ever feel that way about her again, so it concerns me that Kam is asking this.
“I think your mom and dad loved each other once. But sometimes people grow apart. It doesn’t mean what they had wasn’t real.”
“Okay. Thanks.” He’s quiet for the rest of the drive, so I give him space to process his emotions, but I’ll check in on him later tonight.
After dropping Kam off, I call Dani to meet me at the jeweler’s because Janelle’s ring is ready for pickup. She helped me design it and wanted to see the finished product.
We pull up to the shop at the same time. She must have flown down the beltway because she was forty-five minutes away when I called her, but she got here in twenty.
“I’m so excited to see the ring! Have you finished the game yet?” she asks, speaking so fast that it sounds like she said one long word.
“Not yet. It’s coming along, though.” She nods her head in approval.
We step inside, and the saleswoman smiles brightly. She’s the one we worked with on the purchase, so she gives a quick greeting before rushing to the back to get my order.
Dani rubs her hands excitedly when the saleswoman puts down the ring box. We both gasp when she opens it.
“Oh, Rome. It’s so beautiful.”
It is. It’s exquisite. Janelle’s favorite waist beads are her amethyst crystal ones.
She says amethyst is supposed to promote peace and calmness.
I want to be her peace, so I wanted her ring to represent that.
The ring is a pear-cut amethyst stone set in a unique eighteen-karat rose gold band that curves around the center stone, ending in leaves made of diamonds.
Smaller amethysts and diamonds line the outer layers of the ring.
It’s a gorgeous ring for a gorgeous woman.
“It is.” I look up to the saleswoman. “Thank you.”
After finalizing the purchase, Dani and I step outside, and Dani pulls me into a long hug.
“I’m so happy you and Nelle found each other.”
“Believe me, so am I. Thank you for everything.”
“Let me know if you need any help with the proposal.”
“I will.” I was considering hiring a photographer to capture the proposal, but that would give it away while she’s playing the game, so I might do a hidden camera instead. I’ll ask Dani about that later. Right now, I’m ready to get home to Janelle.