Here at Last (48 page)

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On Tuesday morning,
I awoke to see Nicholas lying on his side propped up on one elbow with a smile on his face.

“Happy birthday," he said.

“Thank you.”
I smiled and stretched, and he reached out and took me in his arms.

“What do you want to do today?" he asked.

“Be with you,” I replied.

“You’ll have me all day and all night,” he smiled.

“Good.”

Nicholas made breakfast for us before Hannah, he, and I went into New York City for the day. I showed them the building where I work, and we went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art before going to
Blossom, one of
my favorite places for lunch.
When we returned home that afternoon, Hannah went upstairs for her nap, and Nicholas began making dinner for me. Neelie and Roger brought their kids,
who
had a great time playing with Hannah before dinner.

Although
I had invited Rhonda
and my parents
, they weren't able to
join us
that evening. I knew that we'd be seeing them on Thursday
for Thanksgiving and looked forward to introducing them to Hannah
.

Eventually, everyon
e left, and we tucked Hannah in
to bed upstairs
before
Nicholas and I loaded the dishwasher and showered before going to bed. When I
left the bathroom and
went into
my
bedroom,
there was a card on top of my pillow
with
small box on top of that. I turned to Nicholas, who
had
just walked out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist.

"What's this?" I asked.

He smiled. "Open it."

When I opened the box, I found a beautiful pair of
teardrop-shaped
emerald earrings
with a single diamond hanging from each
.

Nicholas walked up
to
me and
slid
his
arms
around my waist
. He said quietly, “I know that JT bought you the
emerald
ring that you wear sometimes. I thought you might like some earrings to go with it.”

Tears slipped down my face. “They’re beautiful,” I whispered. “Thank you.”

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When
I
had
told Rhonda that Nicholas and Hannah would be arriving before Thanksgiving, she announced that she was hosting
dinner at her house
. It had been surprisingly easy to convince
our
parents not to have it at their house
this year
. It was getting more difficult for
our
mother to
prepare most of the food
, and holiday meals stressed both of
our
parents.

Hannah
wanted to know
who would be there
, and I
told her that it would be my parents as well as my sister and her family, including
Rhonda’s
three
young
children.
Matt
hew was an only child whose
parents had passed away several years
before so there was no other family for them to visit.

When I introduced
my mother to
Hannah, she stooped down to stroke Hannah’s hair and told her what a beautiful girl she was before taking her into her arms. Then, she asked Hannah if she would like to help her put the whipped cream on the pumpkin pie. With a clear mission, they
walked
into the kitchen
hand in hand.

As Nicholas and
Matthew
began talking, they discovered
that
they had some similar interests, including
math and
working out
. I’d forgotten that
Matthew
had been a math minor in college.

Rhonda’s kids loved Hannah and played hide and seek with her. They also had a lot of board games, including Operation. By the time the buzzer had sounded for about the
thirtieth
time,
the adults insisted on a quieter game so the kids switched to playing
Monopoly
and Gin Rummy
.

Nicholas
stepped
into the kitchen. He’d made several
of the dishes that we would eat, including
apple pie, whole grain stuffing, yams, mashed potatoes from scratch, and
the mushroom
gravy that he, Hannah, and I would eat. We ate a delicious meal and took a breather before the pumpkin and apple pies were served.
T
here were many compliments delivered to Nicholas and Rhonda
for the wonderful meal
.

Nicholas offered to help
Matthew
get some wood for the fire, and they created an inferno that
warmed the family room.

As I stood watching them, my father came up behind me.
“He’s a good boy,”
he said.

I
turned to him and
smiled.
“He’s the best
.
”

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Hannah
had a wonderful time with my family, and it had worn her out. She
was
sound
asleep by the time we
arrived at my house
.
Nicholas
carried her to the door and up the stairs
, and
I followed him while he settled her into bed.
W
hen w
e went downstairs, I heated some water for tea. We
took
it into the living room and sat down on the sofa.

He turned to me. “Thank you for everything.”

I smiled. “You prepared at least half the meal,” I reminded him. “
I’m just sorry I had to work yesterday and couldn’t help.”

He shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. You know I don’t mind cooking.”

I reached for his hand. “
Thank you for being so great with my family.
I’m glad you were there. It looked l
ike Hannah had a good time, too.
”

He smiled. “Hannah had a great time. Your family really made her feel welcome.”

“They did, didn’t they? And my parents.” I shook my head.

“What?” Nicholas asked.

“My mother was
great with Hannah… very gentle. M
y father
said
that
you’re a good boy.”

“Did he?” h
e laughed. “What did you say?”

I looked into his eyes.
“I told him
that
you’re the best.”

Nicholas put his tea down and
turned
his body toward mine. Taking my hand in his, he said, “Sophia, I want this for us.”

I looked at him questioningly.

He nodded. “I want us to be a family.” He hesitated, looking into my eyes. “I want you
to be
my wife.”
Reaching up to touch my face, he
stroked my cheek with his thumb and
said, “Sophia, will you marry me?”

I felt a surge of adrenalin
course
through my body. Although I’d expected that we would probably get here, I hadn’t known how long it would take. However, given that he and Hannah were going to move in before Christmas, this
made sense
.
W
e
ha
d been together for
only
eleven months
,
but
Nicholas had
comforted and guided me and been a solid
presence in my life
since I’d first seen him
in my dreams three-and-a-half
years
before
.
I couldn’t imagine a better friend or lover.
Besides, I was head over heels in love with him.

“Yes,” I
smiled
.

A big smile crossed his face, and h
e wrapped his arms around me
. “I love you so much
.”
We held one another
for a long moment
, and he tucked his face into my neck
where
I
could feel him relax
.

“Did she say
yes
?” came Hannah’s voice from the bottom stair, and Nicholas and I looked up, surprised.

He
smiled
. “She did.”

“Yes!” she said,
fist
pumping the air
before running back
up to her bedroom
.

Nicholas pulled me close to him,
again,
and I quietly breathed a huge sigh of relief.

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The following day was Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year. We avoided the crowds and stayed at home all day. I called Rhonda,
Neelie
, and my parents to let them know that I was engaged
, and t
hey were
thrilled for us
.

Nicholas told me that while he’d considered buying a ring for me, he
decided it would be best
for me to
pick out
something that I would really like
.
I told him that I didn’t need a diamond but that a simple band would do
and that w
e could pick out something before the wedding
. We agreed on
a ceremony in
June since the semester would be over by then, and he’d have some time to breathe.
I
t
would
be simple with
only our families and a few of our closest friends.

I
also
asked Nicholas to
consider inviting
Rachel’s family. While they might see me as someone who was replacing their daughter in Nicholas’s life, Hannah was still their grandchild. I wanted them to feel comfortable to visit as often as they wished.

Chapter
44

Nicholas and Hanna
h
returned to Chicago on Sunday. With only
three weeks
left to pack their things and move, they had plenty to do to prepare.
I’d offered to fly
to Chicago
on
a couple of weekends to help with the packing, but he insisted that he had enough help.
Instead, I would help them unpack
once they arrived in New Jersey
.

I didn’t see Nicholas and Hanna
h
, again, until they
pulled up in front of the house
on
December
1
3
th
.
Lydia and Darr
el
l
had helped with the packing while Rachel’s parents had
taken
Hannah
for a few days
so it wouldn’t be as disruptive for her.
On moving day,
Nicholas’s friends
Paul, Stan, and Larry had helped him load the truck
, and
Rachel’s father had come
to help as well
.
Nicholas told me that Rachel’s parents were struggling with the move as Hannah was the last piece of Rachel that they had.

Nicholas’s birthday was on
Wednesday
,
December 14
th
,
and I’d found no coincidence in the fact that that was the very date on which Max Planck had delivered his new radiation law to the German Physics Society.
I’d always privately toasted Planck on that day regardless of where I was or what I was doing, but it looked as though a proper toast to Nicholas was going to have to wait. He felt that he had
too much going on to celebrate
his birthday
this year
.
Never
theless,
I promised him that we’d celebrate in our own
private
way.

My father,
Rhonda,
Matthew
, and Neelie came over to help un
load
the moving truck, and we had Nicholas’s things in the house by the end of the day. Gratefully, I had a big house and lived a Spartan lifestyle because there was a lot to assimilate.
Nicholas’s furniture was a little different than mine stylistically, but it somehow worked once we placed it in the house.