january 8th, 2024
7:11 pm
THE SCENE FELT FAMILIAR.
Jalen was in a ring store with a female companion, his sole intention on buying one for Noelani.
The only differences was that this time that the woman by his side was his mother and this ring wasn't some weak ass promise ring.
Jalen wasn't sure exactly when he knew that he was finally ready to propose.
Maybe it was when she had given birth to their daughter.
Or maybe it was when the two had made it past the three year mark.
Either way, whatever the reason was, Jalen knew that he wanted to marry her.
They had both joked about the fact that they were married for years; now it was time to make it a reality.
"Do you think she'll like this one?" Jalen asked Bree, his finger pointing down at a gold ring, slightly smudging the glass display.
"You should be asking her mother not yours," Bree pointed out, "Have you even gotten her ring size?"
Jalen dug into his jeans pocket and pulled out a ring that Noelani had gotten from a clothing store at a mall last year.
"You think this is good enough?" Jalen asked.
Bree shrugged, "It's gonna have to be. Where's an associate?"
Jalen surveyed the array of rings and sighed, "I don't know. I just don't know. I wanted to make the proposal a surprise but I don't want her to hate her engagement ring."
"Which is why you should call her mother," Bree prodded.
Jalen nodded before pulling out his phone and tapping the contact that read 'Anela'.
It took a couple of seconds before Noelani's mother answered, her skin tan and some specks of sand clearly on her forehead.
"Hey, Jalen." Anela greeted him, "What's going on?"
"I need to tell you something," Jalen flashed the phone towards his mother, "She's here too because I need help."
"Oh, hi Bree. What's going on?"
"Just, uh, ring shopping."
Anela was quiet, clearly taking in his words before starting to let out an excited noise, "Oh my God! Oh my God! You're proposing!"
The other patrons in the jewelry store looked at Jalen and Bree curiously due to the noise.
"I had the same reaction," Bree laughed.
"I called to see if I could get your help on what Lani might like. I have a few ideas but I'm never sure."
"Well you know she likes silver... But other than that, I would just go for something classic."
Jalen pursed his lips at Anela's answer, not all the way happy with it.
"It's one of my options but I wanted something a little more than original than that. You know?" Jalen spied an engagement ring with a rose gold band and teardrop diamond at the center then shook his head.
That wasn't it.
"Maybe if you get a ring with her birthstone instead of a diamond. April is what?" Bree suggested.
"Opal." Anela replied, "That could be pretty."
"Maybe I can be of assistance?" An African American man wearing the tailored store uniform walked over from the employee side of display.
"Yeah, I'm trying to find an engagement ring for my girlfriend but there's so many choices," Jalen explained, spreading his free hand helplessly.
"Ooh, how long have y'all been together?" The associate asked.
"It's gonna be five years in November." Jalen replied, his eyes now on a ring that had a set of three black diamonds.
"This one?" The associate asked, already starting to pull the ring out.
"Ion know," Jalen shook his head.
"He's indecisive." Bree explained.
"Only because I want the ring to be perfect for her." Jalen defended himself.
"I can see you're like three seconds from walking out the store and buying a ring online, right?" The associate asked.
"Well," Jalen smiled in admittance.
"We were thinking about an opal instead of a diamond," Anela chirped from the phone.
The employee walked down the display case then pondered the selection for a moment before pulling out a princess cut ring with an opal in the middle. The yellow gold band was twisted like vines and had two glittering diamonds next to the birthstone.
"Ooh. Jalen..." Anela said, confirming what Jalen already knew.
This was the one.
Jalen held up the fake ring that he had swiped from the dresser this morning, "Can you match the sizes?"
Forty minutes later, after buying the ring and driving his mother home, Jalen was walking through the front door of his own home, the jewelry bag hidden behind his back just in case Noelani snuck up on him.
Jalen crept up the stairs and towards the bedroom before looking around and then going to his walk in closet and closing the door.
"Lani never comes in here. This is the perfect spot," Jalen said to himself as he stuffed the ring box into one of his sneakers then pushing the pair closer to the wall.
"Kid? Love bug?" Noelani called from the hallway on the second floor.
Jalen brushed his clothes off a little before opening the door and smiling at her.
"When'd you come home?" Noelani asked, Alani resting on her hip, "I didn't hear you come in."
"Just got home." Jalen said.
Alani made grabby hands for him and Jalen gladly took the child from Noelani.
"How was your day?" Jalen asked.
"Fine. Went to the park. Oh, I found this flyer for a jiu jitsu class there, I think I'm gonna do that." Noelani said in an excited tone.
"What time is the class?" Jalen began to bounce the baby a little.
"Wednesday at four." Noelani replied.
Jalen frowned a little, "We'd have to hire a babysitter..."
Jalen wasn't necessarily all excited about a stranger watching his daughter but if it was going to make Noelani happy...
"But if that's something you wanna do, we can look for someone," Jalen grinned.
"Thank you," Noelani moved towards the door then paused and looked at him, "I was about to see what's delivering. You coming downstairs with me?"
Jalen continued to grin and Noelani gave him a weird look, "Kid? Kid? You good?"
"Oh, yeah. My bad." Jalen said in a slightly sheepish tone.
Noelani shook her head before starting to flounce down the stairs towards the kitchen.
She don't even know she's about to be a wife.
NOTE FROM KY
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