Chapter 16 - The Question on Grandma’s Porch
I proposed to Elena on the back porch.
No crowd.
No photographer hiding in the bushes.
No viral stunt.
Just us.
Grandma’s roses had started blooming.
I held out the ring.
Elena stared at me.
“You’re serious?”
“Unfortunately.”
She laughed through tears.
“Yes.”
Mom was the first person we called.
She screamed so loudly I moved the phone away from my ear.
The wedding planning brought new tests.
Everyone had opinions.
Location.
Food.
Guest list.
Old Aiden would have surrendered.
New Aiden listened, smiled, and said:
“We’ll think about it.”
Sometimes that meant yes.
Often it meant no.
Nobody died.
The world kept turning.
We decided to marry in the garden behind the Victorian.
The morning of the ceremony, Jonathan arrived wearing the same navy suit—or one that looked suspiciously similar.
“You realize,” he said, “the last time I stood on this porch, your family was attempting an unauthorized relocation.”
“Please don’t put that in the toast.”
“No promises.”
Mom overheard.
“Put it in.”
We laughed.
Before the ceremony, she pulled me aside.
“I have something for you.”
Grandma’s cufflinks.
“She gave them to me years ago. Said I’d know when you needed them.”
My throat tightened.
Mom fastened one.
I did the other.
“You think she’d be happy?”
Mom looked toward the garden.
“She’d complain about the flowers.”
I laughed.
“Definitely.”
“Then she’d be happy.”
Minutes later, I walked outside.
The house stood behind us.
Not as a prize.
Not as nine hundred thousand dollars.
Not as something won.
May you like
As the place where I had finally learned to stop disappearing inside other people’s expectations.
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