Glass Sneakers

Epilogue ♕

As I was staring at the picture, I remembered my charm bracelet, the one that he gave me for my eighteenth birthday. I forgot to ask Art if he had seen it. I couldn't find it anywhere.

Knocking on the bathroom door, I asked, "Have you seen my bracelet? I think I lost it."

He turned off the shower. "I picked it up. It's in my jacket. What time is it?"

I looked at the clock. "Exactly forty minutes before the graduation march. I better tell Jack to get the car ready and tuned up. We'll figure out a way to fly."

Art didn't reply, but I could hear him laughing.

I was relieved that I didn't lose the bracelet. We'd been adding different charms on it over the years, our memories together. I had a feeling that we wouldn't be able to make it to the graduation march, but I was glad to have my bracelet back.

Searching for the bracelet in the pockets of his jacket, I quickly sent a text to Jack. He replied right away, saying that he got the car ready and we should go. I also knew that, but I couldn't help it if Art was refusing to stay functional.

I was able to recover a lot of things from the pockets of his jacket, namely, empty mint candy wrappers, scratch paper, and even his reviewer for the final exam. But he did manage to sneak in my bracelet among them.

Wrapping the bracelet around my wrist and locking it, I'd noticed a charm that I'd never seen before. The new charm was fairly noticeable, since it was in the shape of a circle. I walked out to the veranda and lifted my arm, assessing the shining charm under the sunlight. It was a silver band, and it had a big stone in the center. Diamond, most probably. And more stones around it. Little diamonds, most likely.

My wondering didn't last long. Art put his arms around me. With his hair still dripping and droplets of water falling on my face, he asked, "So is it a yes or no?"

"So you were planning to take a year off because—"

"She said yes!" Art said triumphantly, hugging me tightly from behind.

"Wait! I haven't," I protested, facing him.

"Oh, just practicing," he said, grinning.

"You sure are confident."

"If there's one thing I've always been sure of, it's you. Everything about you," Art said, holding my face. "I want to spend every single moment of my life with you. To be the face I see when I wake up every morning. The hand to hold whenever life's getting tough. The one our kids will call as Mom. Aren't you excited to see our little Agatha?"

"Wait. You already have a name for our future child?"

"Yeah," Art said slowly. "Is that bad, no?"

I blinked. "I'm not sure. Maybe not."

"Marry me?"

I held a hand up. "First, tell me where Jack's hiding."

"Over there." Art pointed to the veranda to our right. It had a very suspicious ornamental plant. "He's using his new lens."

"Did you discuss this with Mom?" I asked. Because the other day, she had said something funny about finding her wedding garter.

"Yes." Art nodded. "So does your dad and your three year old brother."

"Trevor is still learning how to read. What did you tell him?"

"I told him he'd see his big sister in a very pretty white dress soon. He was pretty excited about it," Art replied.

"My youngest brother is excited about everything," I said, giving up. "And my graduation?"

"Will not start in two hours. Bridge had also set you up. I told her I was going to propose to you before your graduation. After agreeing with me, she scolded me for picking the worst timing on earth. She said that Jim proposed to her while they were on vacation."

I chuckled. "No wonder she'd be angry. You did it when we barely had any sleep and we're in the middle of everything."

"I really wanted to do it before we graduate, but I started getting nervous that I backed out every time I tried," Art admitted.

"So you've decided to do it two hours before? I thought you were very sure of me?"

"I am. But who knows? What if you don't want to get married yet?" he said with a shrug. "You're the spokesperson of the shelter, advocating animal adoption and making it a no-kill shelter. Aside from that, you're also hands on when it comes to the orphanage's monthly projects."

"I still have no idea what to suggest for the kids' summer activity," I replied.

"You're always out there giving a speech. Even at the hospital, there's always a rerun of your latest advocacies on TV," Art said. With a wistful sigh, he added, "I'm sorry that I haven't been around lately. I should have been there to support you."

"I want you to fulfill your dream of becoming a doctor. I'm fine. I also enjoy doing my work," I told him, holding his hands. "Yes."

"What?"

"My answer is yes," I repeated, waiting for his reaction.

"Yes? Is that a hundred percent sure yes? You're really going to marry me?" His body was shaking as he pulled me to him. It was as if he was falling apart and he needed someone to lean on. "I can't believe it. You actually said yes. Yes! She really said yes!"

"Where did your confidence go?" I teased him, tightly placing my arms around him. Art really did his proposal the way I would have wanted it. No crowd. No fireworks. Nothing grand. Years later, we'd learned how to appreciate the luxury of doing things the simple way.

Just a ring. All the things that mattered. And him.

And Jack, of course. Taking pictures for us. What was new with that?

"I just thought..." he was saying.

"Just so you know, I've always been sure of you as well. From the very moment Jack took our first picture together," I said. We smiled at each other. "Because from that day on, all I did was to love you more and more. I am in love with you, Prince Arthur Luke D. Chateaubriand of Triavia."

The End