Page 82 of Return on Love

Today, I’ve sent YodaPrincess a link to a small game I’ve been working on for the past month. That’s the game she’s playing right now. It’s a short game which will lead her to a house where a prince waits to be rescued. It is a fairy tale but one where the princess rescues the prince.

I see Emily and Jen standing by the door.

“Here’s your packet. All the best,” she says handing me the box.

“Uncle Ryan! Can I come with you? I want to meet Eva and Max,” Jen says, jumping over to me. She loves Eva. Sometimes I think she loves her more than me.

I shake my head, “Not now, pumpkin. I have a surprise for Eva. If all goes well, you can come over with your mom in the evening and we’ll have some fun. Okay?”

“Okay! But I will need an apple pie.”

I kiss her and take my leave. I need to be back on time. I check my phone for updates. She’s still playing and I begin the drive back. She’s close to winning when I park the car in front of the house with the packet safely in my pocket and a bottle of juice in my hand.

She kills the demon of loneliness and releases cupid who holds the key to the cell where the prince awaits her. She puts in the key in the door, just as I put my key on my door. The door in the game opens, revealing the prince standing before her.

“Will you marry me? I can’t wait to start the rest of my life with you. I want to be with you every moment of every day.” It’s the text on the screen, but I’m saying it out to her as well. I’m down on one knee. The ring I’d brought from Danbury, from my mother, last week and kept with Emily, is in my hand.

She almost jumps up from her couch, her eyes open wide in amazement. Looking at those eyes still gives me goosebumps, just like they did in grad school. I tried moving on, dated other women, but I’ve never felt so happy, so at ease with myself, so content, as I have in the past few months. I’ve already taken her dad’s and Alex’s blessing.

“You… you knew? You knew I’m YodaPrincess?”

I smile and shrug. “What d’ya say? You better answer fast. My knee is hurting.”

“Yes. Yes. A million times, yes!”

She jumps over to me, and I just hold her tight, sliding the ring on her finger. I lift her up and she wraps her legs around my waist as I carry her to the couch.

“But I’m doing it for the baked goodies and for Max and Jen,” she winks and laughs. The tinkling laugh that makes her face light up, the tiny wrinkles around her lips, the snort that sometimes follows. Everything about her is magical. Saying I’m smitten by her doesn’t even begin to describe what I feel for her.

I look at her smiling face. Oh God! I will really walk over fire to support her, be with her, and keep her smiling. “You’ll be getting goodies right out of the oven, as much as you want.”

I hug her tight and can’t wait to begin this new chapter of my life with her by my side.

THE END