Four Hundred Seventy Seven

Four Hundred Seventy Seven
"Do you know where my flower went?"
"What flowers?"
"The flower I got at the grocery store for Avery!"
"Dude. It's in the car. You said you wanted to leave it cause you wanted to surprise her later on."
"Oh yeah... Hi Alicia."
"Hello Crew."
"Where's Anya?" Heather asks.
"She's in the room with Estella and em."
"And your father?"
"Mann... He's in the den with uncle Jonathan."
"Doing what?"
"Helping him get ready, I guess. They have the door locked!" he shrugs.
"Well, You and I are gonna go get started on dinner."
"Ok!" He sighs.
"Dude, Relax. You seem hella rattled."
"I am mom. I am going go ask Avery to be my girlfriend."
"I thought she was already?"
"Yeah..."
"Then what the hell. I'm so confused."
He fishes in his pocket.
"I got her this..."

"Crew, Jonathan is gonna beat your ass!" She laughs.
"Thanks a lot mom."
"Crew! I'm teasing. But let me see what's inside the box."
He opens the box and it is a small silver ring with a tiny amethyst.
"Whoa... You got her a ring?"
"It's from walmart," he shrugs.
"Ok cool... but it's a ring. how much did it cost?"
"I used some of my money I won coming in 3rd at the art contest."
"Crew you won 250 bucks. How much was the ring? This is a real stone!"
"100 bucks," he whispers.
"Fuck. You are really serious about Avery?"
"It's a friendship ring."
"Dude. That is a promise ring. It's very beautiful."
"I need the keys to get my flower out of the car."
"Your dad has the key."
"And I can't get it from him 'cause the door is locked."
Heather groans in frustration. "I will text him to bring you the key, but seriously, Alicia you better get ready. It's getting late."

I quickly change into a pair of jeans and an Audioslave t shirt. I grab my jacket and my beanie and head downstairs.
"You look amazing!" Teresa says.
"Just a t shirt and jeans." I shrug.
"You're... you. This is the version of yourself that Jonathan loves most. You in your jeans and your band t shirt."
I take a seat on the couch and Jonathan and Kenny emerge from the den.
"You look amazing sweetheart."
"Thanks, Jonathan. You look pretty amazing yourself." He is dressed in a pair of jeans and his Soundgarden t shirt, and the irony doesn't fail me.
He hands me a black orchid.
"It's beautiful. Thank you so much."
"I guess we better get going!" he smiles.
"We will be back soon!" he yells to Teresa.
"Not a problem. You two behave."
"We will try." he winks.

Jonathan opens the car door for me and then gets behind the wheel.
"You really do look amazing." he says as he kisses my cheek softly.
"Where are we going?" I ask.
"You'll see."

We end up in Central Park. He grabs my hand and leads me to Strawberry Field. It's been ages since we've been here. He grabs my hand and leads me to the Imagine circle.
"What on earth!" I laugh as he pulls me into his arms. We start to dance. 'All You Need Is Love' , is playing someplace over a speaker.
I rest my head on his chest.
"This is nice." I murmur as I snuggle closer.
"See. I told you! I planned go take you on a perfect date."
He leans down and kisses me.
"I figured we could have a few moments just being... u know..."
"I love this."
"I do too." He sighs heavily. Every time I come here; I think of the happiest day of my life. You wearing that beautiful wedding dress. If I could go back and do it all over again, I would do it a million times.
I think we should do it again!" he says.
"Really?"
"Mhm."
"You've already married me... twice." I nod.
"Well what's wrong with three times?"
"Absolutely nothing. I'd marry you 10 times if I could, Jonathan."
The music stops and he runs his hands through my hair.
"Maybe on our anniversary in June-- We can come back here and do it all over? That is if you want."
He grabs my hand and leads me away from the circle and down a path.
"Of course it's what I want."
We take a seat on a bench underneath a large tree.
We have been through a lot these past 6 years. Even during the bad times I've always been so thankful for every single moment."
"I feel the same way." I nod.
"Ok... So June 29th. We have a date to come here and renew vows."
"Absolutely!"
We spend an hour at the park on that bench planning our future. "There's something I want to show you!" He says. We walk north for a few minutes and he leads me to another bench. We sit and he wraps his arms around me.
"Look up sweetheart!"
"Oh wow. I never thought it would be possible to see actual stars in the sky in the city."
I let out a gasp as I see several shooting stars.
"This is absolutely beautiful!"
"This is what I miss about Oregon." He says quietly. "Just sitting outside and looking at the stars. No noise. No excessive lights. You just stare at the sky and you get lost."
"Jonathan... are we okay?" I ask.
"Of course we are."
"You just seem so sad."
"I'm sorry. I guess I am a bit down."
"What's got you down?"
"Just life in general. It isn't fair."
"But it has it's good moments, too." I nod.
"Alicia. I don't want to upset you, but I have something I need to talk to you about, and I'm scared. I wanted to wait until after Christmas, but I can't. I'm really scared and I don't know what to do because you will probably hate me, and you will probably decide to leave me."
"What?"
He stares at the ground and looks terrified.
"Sweetheart. I don't like keeping shit from you, and if you want to leave... it will destroy me; but I'd understand..."
"Jonathan? What's wrong?"
"Please don't get mad at me baby." He whispers.
"Why would I be mad?"
He looks tormented and terrified. My gut is telling me that whatever he's been hiding is gonna destroy me.