I WANTED HER TO BEAR WITNESS TO THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION I’LL EVER ASK YOU
I pulled out the last sign.
MARIELLA, WILL YOU MARRY ME?
My woman nodded. Her head bobbed up and down with enthusiasm as she swam toward me. I dropped the signs, and they drifted to the floor. There would be time to get them later.
Mariella grabbed my arm and pointed up. We surfaced together. She yanked off her mask and regulator in one motion.
“Ask me again.”
“What?” I wiped the water from my eyes.
“I don’t want to read the question. I want to hear it.”
Laughing, I held my gear in one hand and cupped her cheek with the other. “Mariella, my very own star of the sea. Heart of my heart, love of my life, will you marry me?”
She lunged toward me, pushing my head under water as she wrapped her arms around my shoulders. “Yes!”
I surfaced again, seeking her lips. Our mouths collided.
“I’ve got a ring.” I slipped the chain out of my wet suit to show her the two-carat emerald I’d picked out on our last trip to Colombia.
“Don’t you dare drop that in the ocean.” She laughed and followed me back to the boat.
I waited until we were both on deck before I unclasped the chain and slid the ring on her finger. “You’re not going to regret this, Mariella. I can’t wait to create a home with you.”
She tilted her hand from side to side before she met my gaze. “Haven’t you learned anything at all in the time we’ve been together?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, home isn’t a place, it’s a feeling. We don’t have to settle down somewhere to build a home. My home is wherever you are.” She put her palm over my heart. “You’re my home, Kai, just like I’ll always be yours.”
We stayed anchored in the bay until the sun disappeared beyond the horizon. I didn’t think I could love her any more than I already did, but every day she taught me something new and gave me another reason to be grateful she was mine.
“I hope we’ll bring our children back here someday.” I put my arm around her shoulder as I navigated the boat back to the dock.
“Let’s get started on that right away.”
“As soon as we get back to the cabin,” I promised.
“Or sooner?” she asked.
“We’re reliving a lot of things this weekend. Is that what you have in mind?”
Mariella reached past me and shifted the boat into neutral. Then she headed below deck. “If you come down soon, I promise we’ll both be coming soon.”
I dropped the anchor.
It didn’t matter where we went. As long as we were together, we’d always be home.