Jesse

The sun was well on its way through the sky by the time we made it back to the house, the world once again swathed in bright greens and blues. Everyone was gathered in the kitchen, working together to set the table and cook a simple breakfast of eggs, toast, and sausage. They allturned as we joined them.

"I'm going to assume that you boys didn't get up early in order to start chores before breakfast?" Mom was grinning from ear to ear. She knew where we'd been, but she'd been the only one I'd told.

Ken laughed and wiggled an eyebrow. "Couldn't keep quiet enough in the house huh?"

His wife Kate slapped him playfully on the shoulder. "Be nice."

He stepped quickly away as he continued. "Don't you remember when he brought…" he snapped his fingers trying to remember. "Oh hell, whatever that guy's name was that one time. It was when we were building the house, so we were living here for a few months. Man they were…"

My mother cleared her throat cutting him off. "That's quite enough of that so early in the morning, thank you, Ken. I'm sure that's not what they were out doing and you're embarrassing the poor man."

I shook my head in laughter at their antics. This was in fact a perfectly normal and expected conversation no matter what time of day when we all got together, and Ash had indeed blushed considerably at their conversation, something I'd never seen happen before. I stepped closer to slip my arm around his waist and brush my lips across his cheek, enjoying the light stubble that he'd yet to shave off for the day.

"I took Ash out to see the sunrise over the east wheat field."

The sea of faces that had been laughing as they tried to come up with ways to continue the dirty jokes without becoming the focus of mom's wrath all seemed to soften all at once. I was the youngest, and they all knew just how many mornings I'd snuck out to watch the sunrise from that spot in my youth.

"I asked him to marry me."

The room was silent, and for a long moment it felt as if the world had stopped moving. I took them all in, everyone I loved, everyone who had loved and supported me all of my life, standing in the kitchen preparing breakfast with jokes and smiles as they had on thousands of other mornings no different than this. So different than this.

They came alive all at once, talking and laughing and moving toward us until we were pulled into their arms. They held us and shook our hands, hugged us tightly, and kissing our cheeks. I watched Ash through the crowd as they jostled us from person to person. I watched as the tears that formed in my eyes were mirrored in his as he was accepted unconditionally and without reservation. As he found a family.

We'd taken the day after the Holiday off so that we could spend a full day with my family before traveling back to the city. We spent our time enjoying long, leisurely meals and wandering around the farm as I showed Ash the fields and hydroponic systems.

Given how dedicated he was to his backyard garden, I believed that he was truly as interested in everything as he seemed. He asked insightful questions and lingered in order to inspect small details I'd long ago come to find boring and monotonous.

We rarely went a moment without touching the other. Our shoulders pressed together as we walked, fingertips linked between us. When we sat at the table, our legs spread, thighs brushing together. When we lounged on the couch after supper, he slipped his arm around my shoulder, and I settled in with my head on his chest.

Each glance my family offered was filled with joy and love. Though I was loath to return to the grind of courses and homework the next morning, I let my eyes close once we settled in on the train, my head resting on my fiancé's shoulder.

We fell back into our routine quickly. We'd only been away a couple of days after all, and when I walked into the office on our first day back, nothing had changed. Except, everything had changed.

There were no clients around, there never were when I arrived. Ash and I had made it a point to match our schedules so that we would both arrive and have a few moments together before his first client each day. They weren't intimate. They weren't even overly personal, but they felt important. They allowed us to let go of everything else and reset together, making sure we were professional and on the same page before he stepped away from our relationship to work.

He grinned broadly at me from where he sat, reading in one of the waiting room chairs, and then quickly set his book on the table and made his way toward me. Our lips brushed briefly before we crossed the room together and I settled my bag beside my desk. His eyes weren't where I'd expected to find them when I turned back around. They weren't close to mine. Instead, as my gaze fell, I found him on one knee, holding out the ring I'd given him.

"This is the most precious item anyone has ever given me. Would you wear it while I work? Keep it safe for me?"

The muscles in my jaw hurt, I was smiling so wide as I offered him my hand. How had I gotten this lucky?

I slipped it back onto his hand before we made our way home that evening. It felt no less important than it had the first time. The next day I found him waiting on one knee when I opened the office door, and the day after. Each day he'd ask me to hold his ring and his heart while he worked, and each day I would return them when he came back to me.