Tuesday, May 11, 2010

My Surprise


We were seated at our table. There was even a third chair for Annabelle (that was the name I decided on). The waiter was prompt, serving our sumptuous soups and delicious dilled salmon in a timely and precise manner, but my sweet man wasn’t hungry. (I know. I know. That should’ve been a dead giveaway, if I hadn’t figured it out before then, but again I just thought he was tired. Curse my naïveté!)

There was only one other couple in the room, and from the sounds of things, they were celebrating their anniversary. I was thinking about how sweet that was, and munching aimlessly on a mouthful of fish, when my sweet man decided he needed to use the facilities.

While he was gone, the dessert menu was brought to my attention, as well as the fact that the other man in the room, the one who was celebrating his anniversary with his wife, had also gone to the restroom. I made a mental note of that, thinking that I might be able to get my sweet man to relax and laugh if I told him. I mean, it’s usually women who go to the restroom in pairs!

It was at that point, that my eyes fell upon Annabelle. She truly was the prettiest little thing. I picked her up off her seat, and, laying her in my lap, began to stroke the soft fur of her feet with my thumbs.

“Do you like her?” a familiar voice said at my shoulder.

“Very much,” I replied, smiling as he went to sit down. I turned Annabelle around to place her back in her chair, when I noticed a gaping hole in her back, half-hidden by her yellow sun dress.

“Oh, no. What happened?” I asked, pointing at the hole, a questioning look on my face.

“Oh!” he said, “Gosh, the people at Build-a-Bear must’ve forgotten to sew her up before they gave her to me.” As he was talking, he took the bear from my hands and sat her on the table, close to him but facing me ….

Slightly saddened by the great big hole in my “surprise”, but not wanting him to see my disappointment, I pointed out the options on the dessert menu, asking which sounded best to him. He looked it over, or at least pretended to, and the conversation fell quiet again. I was just about to ask if he had decided, when he said, “Genevieve, I have a question for you…do you really love me?”

Then, and only then, did things start to dawn on me. It was almost as if my brain had been blank up until that point and then started going 100 miles per hour, and things started adding up: the fancy date, the “surprise”, and the sudden lack in conversation…He was proposing to me! What felt like an eternity later, but was really only a few moments, and after several gulps of air, I answered, blushing to the roots of my hair, “Why would you doubt that?” My voice sounded funny to myself, unfamiliar to my ears.

“Okay then,” he continued, “I have another question for you…”

1 comment:

  1. Hi there! I am an old friend of Jeff's, and I am doing a little work for him in Texas. I just had to tell you how much I love your blog! You are quite a gifted writer!!! You are doing a great job on the blog! And congratulations on the wedding!!

    Lisa Hall

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