Always Us (Always and Forever 2)

“How’d your mom take the news?”

Her question stuns me; we have barely talked about Gwen. Shit, I never even told Gwen about my plans to propose, don’t really know if I should or not. I’ve been trying to keep her and Shayla apart, keeping them as two different things in my life. I think it would be best if I keep this to myself, at least until Gwen and I are more stable in whatever this relationship is.

I have had this ring since before my father passed, not knowing when I would find the right time to do it. But here in paradise, where we are us and connected as one, it feels right. What happened over the past few months is now completely behind us, and all it took was one day. If we can fix month’s worth of hurt in one day, what kind of hurt could we fix in a lifetime together?

“I didn’t tell her, you’re the first person I wanted to tell.” I don’t want people to think that just because I’m attempting to make things right with Gwen, that we’re all of a sudden super close and I’m forgiving all the shit she put me and my dad through. I still have my reservations, and I wish everyone would trust me and support what choices I’m making.

“I’m the first to know?” She’s so quiet, I almost ask her to repeat herself. She knew about the ring, just not when I was going to take the leap.

“Yeah, you’re my mom, my best friend. Besides, I need your advice, I need this to go off without a hitch.”

“You’re my best friend too, Trey.” I can hear the smile in her voice. She is the sweetest woman alive, besides Shayla. Kathy is my mother, and I know she worries I’ll take my mom back and forget her. Though she has never said it, I can tell when her and I talk about Gwen. There is a standing fear that never lingered before. But she stays silent, because she doesn’t want to hold me back from anything that my heart may or may not want. Kathy lets me be me and never stops loving me for those choices, good or bad.

“Okay, so I was thinking…” I continue telling her about all of my plans and when I get her approval, I make sure she’s doing okay, checking if she needs me. When she promises me she’s getting there, I end the call.

I stare at the phone in my hands like it’s the last call I am ever going to make. I hit dial for the second time and wait anxiously.

“Hello?” His voice booms through the line, it’s deep and husky and ever more reason to have me on fucking edge.

“Hey, Tom, it’s Trey.”

“Oh, hey! How are you doing?”

I’ll be perfect if this phone call works in my fucking favor.

“Well, I’m in California with our favorite girl.” I laugh nervously, looking around the patio and checking the doors to the house, making sure she hasn’t stepped out of the bath. I know her pretty well, her baths can take hours if she really wanted them to.

“Dang, lucky, what brought you two there?” Here it goes, I debate whether I should rush it out in one breath or ease it into casual conversation. However, neither seems like a good game plan, so I decide to approach with caution.

“I wanted to bring Shayla here and get away from all the crap back home.”

“You know, I underestimated you. My little girl is pretty lucky to have you to take care of her.”

I feel my chest puff up, swelling in pride. I love taking care of Shay. It’s one of my favorite hobbies.

“She deserves a break.”

“She does, she came here last weekend and spent two days with me. She looked exhausted, you know—worn down.” I frown, my eyebrows furrowing when I don’t recall her telling me this. I know we weren’t talking every day, but I still wish she would have told me that she was this stressed, instead of hiding everything from me.

I change the subject, not wanting to tell him that Shayla and I were on the edge of breaking up, especially before I ask him for permission to marry her. “I wish we had more than three days, but hey, listen, there’s

something else I wanted to ask you.” Hearing a familiar voice sound off in the background, I ask, “Is Kings there?”

“Hell yeah, I am, fucker! You miss me?” He chimes in like the fucking glory hog he is.

“Damn it, Kings, watch your mouth!” You would think his dad would just give up at this point. Kingston has been cussing since we met at age eleven and God knows how long before that.

“You’re not calling to tell me she kicked you out?” Kingston asks, brushing off Tom, with his mouth full of some kind of food, chomping loudly.

“Actually no, it’s going pretty awesome here. So that’s why I wanted to talk to you, Tom. I planned to call you after Kingston, but I guess we’ll kill two birds with one stone.” My stomach is in knots; taking a deep breath, I close my eyes. Here we go, cowboy.

“I’m calling because I want to ask Shayla to marry me. She’s the love of my life and my relationship with her will always be my best accomplishment. I would like to have your blessing to marry your daughter.”

The shattering of glass vibrates and echoes in the background.

“Tom? Kings? Is everything okay?” I ask, worried.

“You want to marry my little girl?” Tom’s voice is barely above a whisper.