Chapter 16 - A Family Nobody Planned
Dating Raymond Winslow was surprisingly unglamorous.
He burned pancakes.
He snored.
He lost his phone constantly.
He also adored Theodore.
Theodore adored him back.
Claire became part of our strange little family.
Sunday dinners became sacred.
Sometimes Evelyn joined.
Sometimes Dr. Chen.
The mansion that had once been filled with whispered conversations about death became noisy.
Alive.
A year after Raymond woke, the foundation opened its first residential center.
Twenty-four single parents and their children could stay there while finding stable work and housing.
At the opening ceremony, Raymond handed me the microphone.
I glared at him.
He smiled.
I told the audience the truth.
“I came to this house because I needed somewhere to live. I thought I was the one receiving charity. Then one night, my crying baby fell asleep on a stranger’s chest. That tiny accident changed several lives.”
Raymond watched me.
Theodore sat on his shoulders.
And I realized something.
Our story had begun with desperation.
But desperation wasn't where it had to end.
After the ceremony, Raymond took me back to his bedroom.
The same room.
He had placed one object on the bedside table.
The green blanket Theodore had been wrapped in that first night.
“I kept it,” he said.
“I know.”
Then he reached beneath it.
There was a small box.
I stared at him.
“Raymond.”
He lowered himself onto one knee.
His recovered leg trembled slightly.
“Technically,” he said, “this is excellent physical therapy.”
I laughed and cried simultaneously.
Then he opened the box.
“Nora Bennett, will you marry me?”
I didn't answer immediately.
He looked worried.
So I made him wait three more seconds.
“Yes.”
Theodore shouted from the hallway.
“YES!”
Raymond looked toward the door.
“Was he listening?”
“Apparently.”
Claire stepped into view holding her phone.
“So was everyone else.”
Behind her stood half our family.
I covered my face.
Raymond laughed.
May you like
For a man who had once asked me to keep his awakening secret—
he had become terrible at secrets.
