Page 98 of Jace 4Ever
There was another rock that made a bit of a back for a seat, and I leaned against it. Pulling my feet up, I motioned Jace up and settled him between my legs, his back to my chest. “The show is just getting started.”
He stared up in wonder as the dancing green grew brighter as the night descended. I had hoped for a few of the lights through the night—usually the solar storms at medium were not intense displays. They tended to have calm, low light displays. But this must have been an intense medium storm because the sky was filled with the dancing lights. They swept across the sky in a slow but whirling dance, curling around each other, straightening, flickering off to the distance just as another appeared above us.
Jace pointed up. I followed his finger and saw the lights curling around each other. A moment later they seemed to reverse and spun out from each other, and then were pulled back in.
“They loved to dance. I watched them on Saturday night from the hallway. They thought Jerrod and I were asleep, and Jerrod may have been. But I heard the music and they would dance. Waltzes, swing, slow dancing. All depending on their mood. But I loved the way they would curl around each other on the slow dances, spinning out and back, my dad just staring at Mom with so much love in his eyes. Mom would stare at him like he’d hung the moon. They would dance and dance as I would watch and dream of the day that I could have a love like that. A family.” He chuckled. “A wife to call mine. Long before I realized women weren’t really the thing for me.”
“When did you know?”
He shrugged. “I guess there had always been a hint, but I knew I was different about nine. I told my mom I was going to marry Dustin Urban someday.” A sweet smile crossed his face. “Mom didn’t blink. She told me I was entirely too young to think about getting married. I never had a grand coming out moment. They both just knew and accepted it.”
His hand swept across the show in the sky above. “They danced, all the time. Things were tough, and we were close to being homeless a few times, but they always danced. I remember watching them days before Mom died. They never changed the way they looked at each other for as much as they changed. I wanted that, the love that never changed no matter the fortunes the world foisted on them.”
“Do you still want it?” My heart jumped to my throat.
“Yes. Love, family, home, children. I’m greedy that way. I want it all. After everything I’ve done and been through, I do still want what they had, but not the same way. Not where I would die if my love died. Because I want to believe that the love for my children would sustain me if I lost my soul—they would still be my heart.”
The swirl of lights spun out and disappeared in two different directions, only to be replaced by the next set of dancing lights, spinning their gauzy incandescence up to the dark of the sky.
“It feels like they are watching,” he whispered. “Like they are lights set to guard Nanahboozhoo. A gift from beyond to let me know they are still there, they are still watching and guarding me.”
His finger traced the path of swirls, and the one he was following suddenly flared and shifted to yellow, resuming the waltz with its partner.
With another flip-flop of my stomach, I pulled the box out of my pocket. I opened it and scooped the ring into my palm, placing the box next to us on the rock.
“Jace,” I whispered in his ear. “With your parents as witnesses, will you marry me?”
A sharp, short intake of breath let me know he’d heard me. I opened my fist to show him the ring.
“It’s my mother’s wedding ring. And my father is going to give me his. Your real engagement ring is at the house—but I couldn’t wait until we got back to ask. I’m hoping you’ll wear this as a wedding ring one day, but for now—mphf!”
His lips landed on mine as he spun easily around and captured my face with his hands. “You really want to marry me?”
“Yes, I really want to marry you.” I smirked. “Do you want to marry me?”
“Yes! Oh, God, yes…Nelson!” He took my mouth in a blistering kiss. “Yes, I will marry you.”
