The Ring

The good thing about buying a ring for a man is the price. For a few hundred dollars you can get a nice band while a woman’s ring will soak you for a few thousands. 

“I’ll take that one,” I pointed to a silver band with an intricate design twisting around it. 

The saleswoman smiled as she retrieved the ring from the display case. “Nice choice. Would you like to see the matching woman’s band?”

I forced my voice to remain neutral and my smile pleasant. “No thanks. I’ll bring her to pick a ring another time.”

The woman accepted my lie and I left the store with Jake’s ring tucked safe in my jacket pocket. He and I had been together for three years now. We’ve been a couple for two and living together for one. That was his anniversary gift to me last year, asking me to move in with him. This anniversary I was going to surprise him with a proposal. I had it all planned out. A nice dinner for two at home, a movie and then present him with the ring.

Jake, as it turned out, had other ideas.

“Dale and Aaron are taking us out to dinner tonight,” Jake greeted me at the door, holding five different colored ties. Which do you like? I'm going to wear my navy blazer and a white dress shirt.”

I gaped at him for a moment, unable to think of anything except how the perfect night I envisioned wasn’t going to happen. “I thought we agreed to spend the night alone.”

“I know, Steven but what could I say? They wanted to take us out for our anniversary as a gift. It would have been rude to say no.”

I swallowed my disappointment and picked a maroon, grey and navy striped tie for him. “You’re right. Wear this and I’ll wear my grey jacket.”

Jake nodded and handed me a navy tie before scurrying off to our room. Alone I pulled out the little ring box from my pocket and sighed. Proposing in a restaurant wasn’t an option which meant I had to wait until we got home to pop the question. I waited until Jake was safely in a shower before going to our room and hiding the ring under my pillow. 

The restaurant turned out to be a nice one. Italian, Jake’s favorite food, and family owned which made it even better. All during the meal I kept silent, only chipping in the conversation when something was thrown my way, and picked at my food. Jake on the other hand was celebrating to the fullest. Not only did he order a large pasta dish with wine but multiple deserts as well. Damn near finished everything too all by himself so it was no surprise when he announced that he was feeling sick. Luck for us the restaurant was only three blocks from home and Jake managed to make it to our bathroom before emptying his stomach. I can’t handle puke so I got the bed ready for him. 

“That was horrible,” he moaned as he staggered to the bed and collapsed on it. “Oh god..”

“It’s okay, hun. You just overdid it a little,” I stripped him down to his briefs before tucking him into bed. “Try to relax and I’ll make you some weak tea later with toast.”

Jack looked at me with watery eyes. “I’m sorry, Steven. You were right, we should have stayed home and celebrated our anniversary together. Now I ruined it.”

I sat down besides him on the bed, my eyes glancing over at my pillow. “No you didn’t. Besides, it isn’t over yet.”

I watched his face as I retrieved the ring box and handed it to him. His eyes widened and he sat up, the blanket falling to his lap as he opened the box. 

“Oh my god,” he whispered, placing a hand over his mouth. “Oh my god… this is…” 

He lifted the silver ring from the box and examined it, running a finger over the Celtic design around the outside. He looked at me, joy and disbelief all over his face. Swallowing hard I smiled at him. “I love you, Steven. Will you marry me?”

“Yes,” it came out as a choked laugh as he threw his arms around my neck and hugged me tight. Seconds later I was thrown to the floor as he made a frantic dash from the bed to the bathroom. 

Sucking it up I went in with him and stroked his hair as he dry heaved over the toilet. He looked up and gave me a weak smile. “I love you,”

“I love you too, hun. For better and worse, I’ll be there for you, even if it means holding your hair back while you're hugging porcelain.”

He managed to laugh at that and soon the retching passed and he was able to stand. I left him brushing his teeth and found the ring buried under the bed sheet. When he emerged from the bathroom I was waiting on bended knee, ring in hand. Laughing he gave me his left hand and I slipped the ring onto his finger, relieved that it fit before standing up.

“I guess I need to get you one now,” he said, admiring it. “We’re also going to need to set a date, decide on the location and the guest list.”    

“Hun, we’re not getting married next week,” I said, pulling off my tie and going to the closet. “We have lots of time to decide all this.”

“Are you kidding? We don’t have any time,” Jake went to our desk and grabbed a pen and pad. “You know as soon as I tell Dale he’s going to throw an engagement party. He loves parties as much as I do so there’s that. We have to figure out our budget , pick a date, choose a venue, start a registry, create a wedding website, book vendors..”

I tuned him out at that point and focused on getting undressed. I knew he wasn’t going to let this go until he worked it out of his system and nothing I said would deter him. Dressed in sweatpants went to the kitchen and made him a cup of chamomile tea and grabbed a few crackers. When I returned I found him in bed, pad on lap, busy texting up a storm on his phone. Shaking my head I placed the cup and crackers on the bedside table and climbed into bed besides him.

“Happy Anniversary, hun,” I said, trying my best to ignore his light.

He leaned over and kissed my forehead. “Happy Anniversary, my husband.”

Husband. I smiled at the thought and wrapped myself in the warm, fuzzy feeling as I drifted off to sleep.