My Only Exception

Chapter 23

She wasn't able to stop herself from crying heavily and hid her eyes with her fists.

"You gave me the pair of winter socks too?" she asked him between sobs.

"Yeah... That was from me," he admitted and wiped his eyes. "I know lamigin ka. I thought to myself you need something to cover your knees. Lagi kasing sasakit paa mo sa lamig and I can't massage you all the time."

He cried and let his tears flow freely. "I researched for ways how to propose to you. You declined me five times. Kapag hindi ka pa pumayag, hindi ko na alam gagawin ko. Kahit i-shot gun marriage kita, gagawin ko."

"Ang pangit kasi ng proposal mo," she cried, laughing. "Sabi mo sakin pag nagpropose ka, it would be a surprise. Para mo lang akong tinanong kung gusto kong kumain sa mga proposal mo. Every girl wants a grand proposal. It is every woman's dream."

"I'm giving it to you now," he answered and the man who proposed to the woman from the crowd earlier walked up to them and handed him ten white tulips. He gave it to her. "We've loved each other for ten years and there's more to come."

She nodded and took her most favorite kind of flower.

"I already asked for my son's answer and he said yes. It's only your answer that's missing."

He turned her around. The people behind her slowly turned their cardboards around. Each person was holding one which was engraved with a letter forming the question 'Will you spend forever with me?'

She let her tears fall. There was no point of hiding it when the man in front of her was brave enough to show he's crying. "Yes, I want to spend my forever with you."

The people around them screamed and clapped their hands. Everyone was cheering and threw petals of different flowers on them as if newly weds.

Ethan smiled and embraced her tight. "I love you, Mrs. Ethan Saul Yu."

"I love you too," she paused, thinking of what to call him. "Cali's dad."

She crossed the small distance between them and they shared a sweet, passionate kiss.

"Speaking of Cali, where's Cali?" she remembered his son.

Ethan pointed him out. He was with Seff on one side. Seff and Cali waved. She returned his smile and Ethan called Cali. The little boy went up to them.

He hugged his Dad as soon as he got closer.

"You didn't tell me you were proposing to her!" Cali exclaimed with a smile.

"Well, I asked you if you're okay for me to marry Nanay and you said yes. I wanted to surprise you. You told me you'll say yes if I will make her happy so I did," Ethan told him.

"Thank you Tatay," he said and hugged him with much affection. "I love you."

"You're forgetting something, Mister," she smiled and interrupted them.

"What?" Ethan asked.

Raffy fluttered her fingers in front of him and gave an expecting smile. A smile that surely was fit and appropriate for the situation.

"Oh... Yeah, the ring," he said and patted his pockets. Despite the cool weather, small drops of sweat were slowly forming and draining his life out of him. "The... Ring..."

Right pocket - flat. Left pocket - flat. Both pockets - flat. Both pockets again - flat. Both pockets again - flat. Right pocket - no difference. Secret pockets of the coat - empty.

Back pocket on the right - wallet.

Back pocket on the left...

"Fucking shit!" he cursed.

"What?" Raffy asked him, waiting.

"Love..." he swallowed. "I'm so sorry. I..."

He could not continue what he was about to say. He couldn't smile either. She urged him to speak.

"I forgot the ring."

She was left open mouthed. She wanted to laugh at him for remembering to put up something as big but failed to remember the ring. When she recovered, she put her arms down. "That's..."

"Stupid," Ethan finished the sentence for her.

"Absurd," she said while nodding, amusement displayed on her eyes.

"I'm sorry," he said sincerely. "I'll get it and give it to you as soon as I can."

"Where did you leave it?" she asked him.

"At home..." he answered. "Sa Pilipinas."

How she laughed hard. "Seriously?"

"Don't laugh at me, Raffy. I just got off the plane two hours ago and I was so tensed the whole time I was 30,000 feet up there. I was so anxious not because of the plane crashing but because of this wouldn't go as planned," he said.

"It's okay," she smiled at him and gave him a quick kiss. "I love you nevertheless."

He gave a smile of relief. "I'm sorry," he laughed it off.

"But I'm putting my yes on hold until I get my ring," she smiled mischievously. "And I am not kidding on that part."

"Yeah, yeah, fine," he said. "Fair enough. And shoot! Before I forget them, this goes on live streaming Love."

"So our families can see us?" she asked.

"Yeah, they're pretty sure by now that I forgot my ring. I got my small mic here," he showed her the small black piece of equipment hidden on the lapel of his coat.

"They can hear you. Those men and women wearing red polo shirts are members of the crew taping this for our folks and I'm pretty sure they're laughing their ass off by now. It's general patronage. They are making us a source of their entertainment. I love you Mom," he side-commented. "You can wave them hi."

"Can you hear them?"

"No, I don't want to," he said. "They're a good source of stress. Anyway, I got my bag right there in that restaurant, please remind me my dear wife. And before I forget, I have decided to stay here for good. I hired someone I can trust to see after the restaurant and so you don't have to worry about me leaving."

"Ethan, Love..." she smiled at him. "That's another thing I want to tell you."

"What about Love?"

"I've decided... To come home with you," she smiled and saw him surprised with her answer. "I realized that it's where we belong. Umalis naman ako dun for my career and now that I got what I wanted, I have to shift gears now. I have to be a family woman from this day on. I want to spend more years with my husband and child on a place where we made our dreams and turned it to reality."

"You're not gonna take that back, are you?"

"I'm not," she smiled. Ethan was so glad and he wrapped her again into a tight embrace and shared a kiss with his better half. It was so long that they only stopped when Cali tugged the hem of her dress.

"Moooom! Daaaad!" he impatiently called them. "I'm still here!"

They separated from each other and both laughed.

Ethan picked him up and carried him. "You did a good job baby of bringing your Mom here. You just got yourself five new robots with your brand new daddy and mommy."

"Does that mean I'm going to be a Yu now?"

"You've always been a Yu and no one can take that away from you babe," Ethan smiled and kissed him. "Other than that, you're everyone's favorite."