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Hilly laughed, chokingly. “I don’t think that’s a saying.”
“Well, I hope it’s true for me, then,” Cisco returned. “Hilly, you are the love of my life. The minute I met you, I knew you’d be the woman who changed my life. And I want that. I want you.” He opened the box and held the square-cut emerald surrounded by small diamonds out toward her. “Would you, Kayhill Duncan, do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
He’d used her full first name on purpose, letting her know he was madly serious about not only Hilly, but the Kay of old, and every one of her incarnations in-between.
Tears filled Hilly’s eyes as she gazed at him, and Cisco felt a fission of fear.
Was she going to turn him down again?
He straightened his spine. If she did, he’d keep working on her, sticking with her, loving her, until she said yes. Whether it took months or years, he wasn’t ever giving up.
“Yes,” she said simply.
Cisco gaped. “Yes?”
“That’s what I said. I’d be a fool not to marry the man I love,” she returned softly.
In his excitement, Cisco almost fell over as he scooted forward on his one knee, scrabbling in the box to extract the ring which he shakily extracted then eased onto her finger.
“Hilly, you’ve made me the happiest man alive.” He leaned forward and placed his face against her belly, breathing her in, not quite able to grasp the reality of it yet.
Wife.
Hilly was going to be his wife.
“And you,” she finally answered, “have given me back…everything. My self-esteem, my life…”
She ran her hands through his hair and drew him up, her face the very essence of happiness.
Their lips met.
They both sighed.
Their kiss was just the beginning.