Dear Diary,
AJ’s reaction wasn’t what I expected but then again I wasn’t sure what reaction
to expect from him. There were so many
reasons that I could think of that AJ could be upset. And I could see every one of those reasons flicker across his face.
AJ just stood there speechless for
two minutes and twenty-one seconds. I
saw the varying expressions play across his face from surprise to several I
couldn't place. I was happy that he
didn't ask any of the typical questions such as "how?"
“Is that what you’ve been upset
about?” he asked finally.
“Yes, but I don’t know if I would
really call it upset,” I tried to explain.
We sat down before we continued.
“Are you upset that you are
pregnant?” he questioned.
“No,” I said without
hesitation. “I was upset that we had
never talked about this. I have no idea
how you feel about being a father again.”
“I have to admit that I never
really thought about it before, Sarah.”
I looked down, not able to meet his eyes. “But I have been thinking about talking to you about our future.”
“Really?” I couldn’t help but think that he was just
saying that. I knew that was unfair to
think that of him though.
“I was going to talk to you
tonight about it. Actually, ask you
something instead.”
“Ask me something?” I asked
surprised.
“Sarah, you know that I love you
and I’ve loved you for a long time.” I
nodded; unsure what to say as he tenderly caressed my cheek. “I want to be able to tell everyone about
us. When you are ready but I want you
to know that I want this to be more permanent.”
“AJ,” I said with misty eyes. “I love hearing this but I have to wonder
about the timing.”
“Sarah, I know that anything that
I say won’t convince you more than what I can show you.” He stood up and walked to the Christmas tree
and pulled off the Marine ornament that he gave me.
“Open the globe, Sarah.”
“It opens?” I was surprised as he
showed me the secret hiding place.
Inside I saw a beautiful diamond ring.
“AJ?”
“Sarah,” he said as he took the
ring before slipping it on my ring finger.
“Will you marry me?”
I realized that he was telling the
truth of thinking about this for a long time.
The ring must have been in the ornament when he gave it to me. He certainly didn’t have the opportunity to
put it in there since I told him the news.
“I’m sorry for not trusting you,
AJ. I should have known that you
wouldn’t ask just because of the baby.”
AJ smiled at me before slipping a hand to my still flat belly then leaning
down.
“So, Little Jarhead, do you think that you could convince your mom to answer my question?”