Right On The Money Honey - Michael Hardy

SIXTEEN

Two Years Later

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"You gonna propose to this Haley girl?" Michael asks Morgan as they sit on his couch. "You've been datin' her for a while now."

"Me? What about you and Liz?" Morgan shoots back, kicking his sneakers off. "Y'all've been datin' for like three years, man."

"We're not really in a rush, y'know? We're just enjoyin' each other's company."

"You don't want to marry her?"

"Yeah, I do." He nods. "But right now, we're both busy, too busy to even think about a fuckin weddin'."

"You're gonna be busy until the day you croak, man."

They've talked about getting married before. Liz said she's fine with it but she's just not in a rush for kids. He's in the same boat. They're not against having kids, they just don't want them just yet.

"You're right." He says as he stands.

Morgan presses his lips together as he watches his best friend pick up his wallet and keys. "Hey, I'm sorry, man."

"For what?" He asks, looking over at him. "I just realized that I want to spend the rest of my life with Liz." He can't help the smile that graces his lips. "So I'm gonna go down to Plano and ask for her family's permission."

"Hell yeah!" He stands and wraps him in a huge bro hug. "What're your gonna tell her?"

"That we're on a writing retreat." He says. "I told her there's one comin' up, that one with Ern, me and Cliff. So it's not technically a lie."

"Good luck!" He shouts after him, chuckling to himself.

+++

Michael nervously parks his truck in Walt and Stan's driveway next to Lyn's car. He takes a deep breath as he adjusts his ball cap. He hops out of his truck then heads to the front door where he knocks three times.

"Hey, Michael. What're you doin' here?" Lyn asks, stepping aside for him to come in. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Is your Dad and Papaw here?"

"Mhm." She nods before her face splits into a huge grin. "Oh my god." She clasps her hands together. "Oh my god!"

Michael smiles back at her, heading to the back deck. "Michael, my boy!" Walt says, reaching over to shake his hand as he sits in the chair next to him. "What're you doin' here? My daughter okay?"

"Yessir." He nods, taking a deep breath. "I actually wanted to, uh, ask y'all somethin'."

Papaw turns in his chair, giving him a hard look that matches Walt's. "It better not be what I think it is."

"Uh..." Michael laughs nervously. "I wanted to ask y'all's permission to marry Liz." Papaw gives him the most fatherly glare he's ever seen. It gives Walt's a run for its money. "We've been together for over three years now and I thought that it'd be a good time to finally solidify our relationship, y'know."

He hears a soft squeal from the open kitchen window and smiles to himself. "You got the ring yet?" Papaw asks.

"No sir. I wanted to ask y'all's permission before I did anything."

"Good." Papaw nods to Walt.

"Can you just give us a second, son?"

"Sure, yeah. Absolutely." He awkwardly stands and heads back into the house where Lyn's waiting for him with a glass of lemonade. "Shit."