“Can I ask you something?” There was a new seriousness in Theo’s voice that made me feel uneasy.
Despite myself, I nodded. “S-sure.”
There was a prolonged silence and my heart skipped a beat, or ten, as I waited for Theo to make his move. I wasn’t sure what he was going to ask, but just the way he asked the question had me on edge.
“Do you believe in love at first sight?”
I frowned. “Love at first sight?”
“Yes,” all joking aside, he answered in a quiet voice.
To be honest, I had never really contemplated love at first sight. I’d heard about it from my grandparents when Pops likes to tell us the story of how he met Gamma. The story goes that Pops was a pilot in the military and he had just returned to base after being deployed overseas. His Army buddies had organized a shindig in honor of his return and had taken him down to the local bar, telling him all about the woman who worked there. Apparently she was the most beautiful woman they had ever seen.
And she was, Pops confirmed. They chatted for a couple of hours, sharing stories and jokes, and Pops was quite taken by her. But then he got dragged away by his friends who were scared of their commanding officer finding out that they had broken barrack curfew.
It was pouring down with rain when they all bundled into the beat up Army truck. Slowly, they made their way down the main street and veered up towards the camp, swerving just in time to avoid hitting a dark shadow that was walking on the side of the road.
Pops demanded the truck stop, he told us. When he got out, he started walking back towards the shadow, wanting to make sure that whoever it was, they were ok. As he likes to say, he took one look at the woman, soaked from head to toe but still smiling brightly, and his heart knew.
He loved her. My Gamma.
I smile as I remember the story, and then answer Theo. “Yes, I do.”
His forehead dropped to rest against mine and I felt the smile tugging at his lips.
“Please don’t freak out,” he begs me as he kisses the tip of my nose. “Promise, you won’t?”
“I promise.”
“The ‘at first sight’ doesn’t really apply here because I can’t see you,” he begin, the words running into each other as he struggles to get them all out. “But, I think- no, I know- I am in love with you.”
I still under him and gasp, holding my breath until I almost pass out.
“Catherine?”