Chapter 19
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(Casey's P.O.V)
Dinner was going surprisingly well, considering my mom hadn't shut up for a second since we'd sat down. The restaurant was especially crowded tonight, so my mother's chatter wasn't quite embarrassing.
I kind of liked having her here too, though it felt weird to admit it. She'd always been overprotective of me, at first I'd thought it was because I was an only child, but it had never let up to this day.
When I'd moved to Canada to take over the company, she'd fought with dad for weeks trying to stop me, but as usual he'd helped her see the sensible side of the situation.
And what mattered was that she was my mother, and at the end of the day she deserved the right to be herself. She'd raised me into the guy I was today, and I should be thankful for that.
Emelyne laughed at something mom said and I couldn't help but smile, her laugh was always contagious like that. But my smile turned into a frown when I heard what the topic was.
"And then there was this one time, when he found my makeup and decided to experiment with it... he had lipstick on his eyelids and mascara on his cheeks!" my mother even demonstrated exactly where I'd applied the stuff, and Emelyne burst out laughing.
I wanted the ground to swallow me; embarrassment washed over me as my mother leaned over and pinched my cheek.
A lady sitting on the table beside ours saw the scene and tried to hide her amusement, but she was too late, and soon others noticed too.
"I was only 2 years old at the time!" I whispered, though I felt myself blush.
Emelyne's eyes softened and her hand came to rest on my leg, sending little shivers all over my body.
Suddenly my mom embarrassing me didn't matter much, as long as Emelyne enjoyed the childhood stories.
"Oh, and you probably don't know this either, but when he was around 5, he came to me and asked me where babies come from." My mother continued with excitement in her eyes.
Emelyne leaned over the table so she could hear the rest of the story, and once again I wished I was somewhere else, I knew where this story was going.
"What did you tell him?" Emelyne asked my mom.
"I told him when someone really wants a baby, they stand under a wide open field and pray for one, and then it falls from the sky right into their arms." She replied, chuckling at my expression.
Emelyne turned and looked at me, her eyes full of amusement.
"And you believed her!?" she asked, nudging my arm playfully.
I swallowed hard, knowing my mom was the one who would answer that question.
"Believed me!? He actually went out into the backyard and extended his arms out towards the sky... when I asked him what he was doing he told me he was praying for a baby!" and then both mom and Emelyne started laughing... really hard.
A waiter stopped and glanced towards our table, and then he started smiling too. I guess that's what happens when you see the two of them laughing.
Even I was smiling; though you'd think after a story like that it would be impossible.
If my pride didn't matter that much to me, I would've covered my face and ran as far away as possible, but instead I sat there and sucked it all up.
Emelyne's teary gaze turned to me and she sat straighter, her smile wide as she leaned close to my ear.
"This is why I love you so much." She whispered.
She pulled back and looked into my eyes, and suddenly nothing else mattered but Emelyne's sweet eyes.
Her words still buzzing through my head, I leaned in and stole a kiss. It didn't matter that my mother was right there, or that the restaurant was especially busy tonight.
All that mattered was getting closer to the girl that meant so much to me.
My hand rested on her cheek while I deepened the kiss, Emelyne's arms coming around my neck.
There was a sound in the distance, and I realized someone was clearing their throat. We both pulled back and saw my mom sitting there, her eyebrows raised and a knowing look on her face.
"Did I miss something?" she asked with amusement.
I swallowed hard and wrapped my arm around Emelyne, pulling her into me.
"We're getting married." I said, smiling at her.
My mom surprised us by just sitting there, with the same expression as she'd had a second ago.
"And..." she said, expectantly.
I looked at Emelyne with confusion, but she seemed to know exactly what my mother was waiting for.
"It's for real this time, Mrs. Luongo. We love each other." She said quietly, a hint of a smile lingering on her face.
It suddenly occurred to me then that my mother probably thought we were still living at odd with each other, that the arranged marriage was still a barrier between our relationship.
I hadn't even talked to her about the change of feelings Emelyne and I had for each other.
She didn't even know that since meeting Emelyne I'd been the happiest ever, that I'd fallen for her.
I almost laughed at the entire thing.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, it didn't even occur to me that you were clueless." I apologized.
Then, I knew it was time. Time to do what my mom and I had been planning while Emelyne had gone to the bathroom.
I'd noticed the sadness in her eyes when she'd returned to the table, she'd been hurt that whatever my mom and I had been talking about didn't concern her.
But there had been a reason we'd shut up when she'd come back.
I'd been so caught up telling my mom about what I was going to do that I hadn't even told her it was going to be the real deal, that I loved Emelyne with all my heart.
Well, now that she knew, I couldn't wait any longer.
I pulled away from Emelyne and she frowned when I let go of her hand, I got out of my chair and kneeled on the ground in front of her.
I was nervous as hell, and my heart was beating hard and fast as I looked up at Emelyne.
There were too many people in the restaurant, and it seemed as if everyone had gone quiet all of a sudden.
But I needed to do this, to let Emelyne know that my feelings were genuine.
Her lips parted in surprise and her eyes widened as she understood what I was going to do.
I took her left hand and pulled out the ring from my pocket with my free hand.
"I know this might be out of the blue and completely unexpected but, Emelyne, I want you to know that somewhere between hitting you with my car and proposing an arranged marriage, I ended up falling hard for you. And that every time I hurt you or caused your tears, my heart felt like it was being ripped apart and I only recently realized how much you mean to me. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I love you Emelyne, and I need to know... will you marry me?... for real this time." My heart continued to beat frantically while I waited for an answer.
A part of me told me she was going to say yes, that she loved me just as much as I loved her.
But another part of me told me she had realized I didn't deserve her, that she was too good for me. I was just a player who didn't believe in commitment of any kind.
But how could I tell her that I wasn't that guy anymore, Emelyne had come into my life and changed me. I wasn't the same guy who had a new girl every week. Sure, I never hurt a girl in my life, and I made sure break ups were always mutual. But that didn't mean I hadn't been a jackass.
I wasn't the same anymore though, and as I sat there holding the ring, all I wanted was for Emelyne to say yes.
I was certain my mom was sobbing in the background, but at the moment my attention was directed at Emelyne.
She did the unexpected then, pushing her chair back and kneeling in front of me.
Wrapping her arms around me, she pulled me close and hugged me tight, crying into my shoulder.
"Of course, I'll marry you. I said so last night, didn't I?" she cried, and I realized they were happy tears.
Grinning, I pulled back to look at her.
"Well, yeah you did. But a girl can change her mind." I said sheepishly.
She rolled her eyes and sniffed, wiping her tears and laughing.
"I think you should give me the damn ring now or I might change my mind after all..." she said dryly.
Everyone in the restaurant laughed then and I noticed all the attention was on us, my mom was laughing and crying at the same time and Emelyne had started to cry again as well.
I sighed and pulled Emelyne close, slipping the ring on her finger, wondering how I'd ever gotten so lucky.
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It's a shorter chapter, I know, and that sucks... but hey, it's a "happy" chapter =)
I hope you liked it, hopefully the next one will be longer!
Don't forget to VOTE/COMMENT! :) =)