Words Worth Waiting For

It's Martin Luther King day and Eric and I are enjoying our Monday morning, sipping our coffee, he is reclined back on the sofa with his head on the arm and I am sitting opposite of him using the other arm of the couch as my seat. 
 
"Eric, what would you do if I proposed to you?" He commenced to do what I call his "dirty diaper trick" where he tries to pretend he's asleep even if he is sitting upright; his smirk gives him away every time.  "Eric, will you marry me?" I smiled.  Eric's smirk got a little bigger-eyes still closed.  Just then, Connor enters and says..."WHAT?  are you and daddy getting married?!?"
"Well, I asked him but he hasn't said yes yet."  Connor dramatically pretends to faint at the very thought of marriage--to him all girls have cooties.   
"Daddy...are you going to marry Teresa?" He asked through clenched teeth emulating Eric's pose.  Eric has on a big, wide, teeth exposed grin, his closed eyes are marked with wrinkles from the effort to keep them shut.
"Come on Eric let's go to Vegas, It'll be fun," I am having too much fun watching him squirm.  "Is it money or are you just not ready?"  He opened his eyes and looked straight into mine "I'm ready," he smiled. 

****

I walked in the door with pizza in hand.  The evening was chilly and upon entering the house I was pleasantly surprised with a blazing fire in the fireplace and a fully decorated living room.  Connor had covered the walls with a multitude of newly created pieces of art of different mediums: crayon on paper, collage, finger paint, and watercolors.  The lamps were covered with scarves and toys were strategically placed.  Afghans draped over furniture completed him idea of the ultimate party theme.  Connor bounced to meet me at the door with Jace on his heels.  "Teresa, Teresa, we're going to have a big party for you! We're going to have a....a....a...."
"Pizza party," Eric finished.
"Yeah, a pizza party and a dance party!"  Connor ran up to Eric and "whispered" "I didn't say it Daddy, I didn't say it!"  This is when I started to get suspicious.  Again, I saw Eric's smirk and noticed that he was avoiding direct eye contact; I knew something was up.  Dinner commenced and we had a dance party in our living room (we do this quite often although none of us really can dance by any professional or probably 'allowed in public' standards).  

We put the kids to bed and went to enjoy the peace of the evening.  We sat side by side on the hearth, our backs being warmed by the fire, chatting about nothing in particular.  Finally I turned to him, "You're acting strange," my narrowed eyes searched his face for hints,  "And I'm pretty sure Connor's in on it."
"I don't know what you're talking about," his eyes remaining on the floor directly in front of him. 

"Well then, I'll just have to get the scoop from Connor when I pick him up from school on Wednesday," I joked.  Eric pulled me to my feet and was hugging me, giggling.  He began to whisper in my ear "I love you so much.....you are such an amazing woman....and I want to spend the rest of my life with you"  A feeling that I can best describe as sunshine filled me.  Such an amazing, life-changing, powerful wave of emotion flowed over me.  It was the words  "I want to spend the rest of my life with you" that echoed in my ears and gave me everything.  He proceeded to get down on one knee and slide the ring on my left ring finger.  "Teresa, will you marry me?"

"Yes.....yes.....yes!"

The ring is beautiful and I already have an insurance policy on it (I just don't trust myself) but in that moment and even now the thing that continues to keep me filled up are those words that he whispered into my ear.  Words worth waiting an eternity for..."I want to spend the rest of my life with you"