Merry Ever After

“Ah, yes, one of my favorites. Speaking of going big or going home… I’ve been thinking about you and me and our special friendship as we count down to the holidays and the new year.”

“What about it?” I ask warily.

“Don’t give me that look,” he says, smiling. “It’s all good things. Such as whether I might convince you to marry me one of these days.”

“Marry you?”

“You told me to speak English to you, right? That you want to learn?”

“Yes, Sofia and I are learning together,” I say of the young woman our family has “adopted” since Jason saved her young son’s life.

“So you understand what the word ‘marry’ means.”

“As I have been married in the past, I do understand.”

“Excellent.”

“I don’t want to get married again.”

He frowns. “Why not?”

“Because.”

“That’s not an answer, Marlene.”

“It’s the only answer I have, Alfredo. I like things the way they are. We have a nice time together. Why does it have to be more than that?”

“Because I love you, and I want to be with you all the time and not just some of the time.”

I knew he cared for me, but to hear him come right out and say he loves me and wants to be with me all the time comes as a surprise. Well, sort of a surprise… It hasn’t been so long since I lost my husband that I don’t understand the difference between friendship and romance. My time with Alfredo is most definitely the latter. I just learned that term—latter—in English class last week. There’s former and latter. While I enjoy my friendship with Alfredo, it is indeed a romance.

“And I’m a fool,” Alfredo says, “because today is certainly not the day to have this conversation when you’re preparing for the biggest party of the year. My apologizes, sweetheart. We shall revisit this at a more appropriate time.”

He’s so dear and so kind and so… well, everything, that I reach for his hand and cradle it between both of mine. “Will you give me some time to think about your kind offer?”

“Of course. Take all the time you need. I’m not going anywhere. I just… I want you to know that the time we’ve spent together is the best time I’ve had since I lost my dear wife. You are so very special to me.”

“And you are special to me. Very special indeed.”

“It’s enough for now to know that.” He leans in to give me a kiss on the cheek. “Have you eaten anything since breakfast?”

I think about that for a minute. “I can’t say that I have.”

“I’ll go find you a snack. Be right back.”

After he goes, my mind races with thoughts I never expected to have again. Marriage. My goodness, the man is full of surprises!

Livia comes into the room. “There you are.” She’s as tall as I am petite, and while my hair has gone snow-white, hers is still dark with streaks of silver running through it.

“Alfredo made me take a break.”

She sits next to me and puts her feet up on my coffee table, as at home here as she is in her own home. I wouldn’t have it any other way. “He’s a good man.”

“Yes, he is.” Lowering my voice, I tell her, “He wants to get married.”

“That’s no surprise.”

“It was to me!”