Donald DeGrate.
"A ring?!" Joel exclaimed, examining the ring that remained in the velvet case I held.
"Yup." I smirked triumphantly, taking a peek at the ring myself. He stood there and shook his head with his hand covering his mouth as he stared at the ring in obvious shock.
"Well? You think she'll like it?" I asked, shutting the velvet box and shoving it back in my pocket.
He looks up at me and moves his hand. "I-is that a promise ring?" He asks and I chuckled and remained quiet, making him gasp.
"You're proposing to her!?" JoJo says loudly and I shushed him, glancing over at Cedric and Dalvin to make sure they were still engulfed in the video games they were playing and thankfully, they were.
"Shut yo' ass up!" He sits there silently and I just stared at him as I awaited his response. "Well?"
After a few more moments, he finally looks at me and sighs, "De, I don't think you should do it," He says bluntly, causing me to furrow my eyebrows in confusion.
I would've expected an answer like that from Cedric, hell, even Dalvin. But, not Joel. Joel was my best friend and since the beginning of our friendship, he'd always supported me and my decisions, no matter how outlandish they were.
"What you mean?" I asked and he sighed.
"You know I support you, all the way, no matter what it is you do but come on, De." He says before he continues.
"Think about it, I mean, really think about it. She's about to leave to Georgia, again and what are y'all gonna do in the meantime and between time? Go months at a time without seeing each other? And who's to say that in the matter of those months y'all are apart, one of y'all won't gain interest in other people?"
"Come on, man. You plan on devoting everything and spending the rest of your life with one woman? At only 19? And you've only known her for two years?"
"If the love is truly genuine and real, it doesn't take a long ass time to realize if you wanna give your all to someone and settle down with them. I get what you're saying, JoJo, I do, but I love this girl, man. I can't let her go."
She really was. The feelings I have for her are indescribable. I loved her with everything in me and I was willing to do anything to prove that, even if that meant proposing. I was certain of my decision.
"And whether or not y'all agree with me or understand my reasoning, I'm not changing my mind." I sat back against the couch and he was quiet for a few seconds before shrugging.
"Well, shit, that's what it is, man. I'm just tryna look out for you, but if this is what you wanna do, you know I support it." He says, holding his hand out so I'd dap him up. I laughed and dapped him up.
"This is a big step, though. I'm proud of you, though. Out here being a man and shit." I laughed and took a glance at my watch, noticing it was going on 1:00. "Alright, I gotta head on out. I got some shit to take care of." I stood up and shook his hand once more.
"You finna ask her now?" I shook my head. "Nah, I'll see y'all later though." I exited their garage and made my way to my car and got inside, getting comfortable before resting my hands on the steering wheel and sighing heavily.
I went ahead and started the car before backing out of the Hailey's driveway and going to the Hayes' residence.
When I arrived, I parked and turned the ignition off before sitting back in my seat.
Journey had gone out with Denise, so I decided that this would be the perfect time speak to Maurice one-on-one about my decision to marry his daughter.
I'm not gonna lie, my heart was in my ass. I was nervous as hell but this talk would have to happen sooner or later and sooner would be a better choice. I sighed heavily and took my keys out of the ignition before taking my seatbelt off and exiting the car.
I slowly approached the front door and knocked three times, stepping back a bit waiting for Maurice to open the door.
For the most part, Maurice was a pretty cool dude but this was a serious topic of discussion and she was his baby girl so I didn't know how he would react to this.
I heard the door unlock and unlatch and soon enough the door swung open, revealing Maurice. "Oh, Wassup Don? JJ went out with Denise, she'll be back a little later though."
"I know. I actually came to speak to you." He raises his eyebrows and mumbles an 'Oh'. "Come in." He steps aside and I stepped in, removing my shoes like the good future son-in-law I am.
"Come on in here. I'm in here baking some cookies for your crybaby ass girlfriend." He leads me to the kitchen and I chuckled, sitting at the barstool.
Maurice was such a softie when it came her, it made no sense. I mean, I was too, but she had him wrapped around her finger. She got anything she wanted from that man.
"Typical Journey." He chuckled and nodded in agreement, rolling the cookie dough in a ball before placing it on the cookie sheet.
"So, what'd you wanna talk about?" He asks, glancing at me then adverting his focus back to the cookies. I sighed heavily, "I-I uh, wanna p-propose to Journey." I finally managed to spit out.
He glanced at me with his eyebrow raised. "You wanna marry my daughter?" I nodded my head while staring him square in the eye to ensure that I was serious.
"Does she know?" I shook my head and took the velvet box out of my pocket and opening it so he could see the ring.
He remained silent as he stared back and forth between me and the ring. My palms were starting to sweat and I could hear my heart beating in my ears.
He released a chuckle before he decided to speak, "You over there nervous as hell." Both of us laugh and I shook my head. "Hell yeah, I'm nervous."
"I remember having that exact feeling when I told Quinita's pops the same thing. The only difference between me and him is, I'm not gonna be a mean ass bastard and tell you not to do it because you know what that leads to?"
"Huh?"
"Y'all going behind my back and getting eloped like me and Quinita did." He chuckled and I gave him a smile.
"The same qualities me and Quinita had when we first fell in love is what I see in you and my daughter. The same gleam that was in Quinita's eye whenever she saw me is the same way her eyes gleam when she sees you. You're special to her Donald and I know she's special to you as well," He says.
"But, is this something you're absolutely positive you wanna do? I'm not tryna downplay your feelings or intentions, but if I can prevent two broken hearts, then I will. Especially my baby's."
"I totally respect it, Maurice, but I'm 110% sure your daughter is who I want to spend the rest of my life with. Your daughter is special in so many ways, I don't even think she realizes it. I'm young but I know what I want and it's her. It's always been her." He smiled.
"Well, like I said, I support it but, marriage is not an easy thing. It's beautiful because it's the union of two people who are in love and they want to cherish what they have for a lifetime but not it's not an easy task. Because now, those decisions you make aren't just for you, it's for both of you, you know? Being selfish isn't an option when you're married, especially when you're in love." He says and I just sat there intently listening to his words.
"I'm only telling you this because I'm speaking from experience and giving you advice that I wish I would've listened to. Quin and I had a beautiful marriage but our own interpersonal struggles is what ruined it. Instead of working them out together and helping each other, we did it our own ways, not realizing at the time how toxic it was."
"It's not gonna be perfect, but if it's not worth working for, it's not even worth having."
He says and I nodded my head, rubbing my chin while I soaked up his words. "When are you gonna pop the question to her?" He asks.
"I'm not even sure, to be real with you. I say and he nods. "My advice would be to do it when the time is right. Wait until its just the two of you." He says and I nodded my head in agreement.
"Just don't wait until it's too late."
---
Decided to give y'all a little filler chapter to prepare you all for the edge snatching events that have yet to take place :)