Chapter 9 - A PROPOSAL IN THE RAIN
It was a Tuesday in October—exactly seven years to the day since they had parted ways.
Nathan had orchestrated the evening with meticulously hidden precision. He asked Lydia’s parents to fly in from California to watch the triplets, giving him and Lydia their first proper night alone in months.
He drove her not to a five-star restaurant or an exclusive country club, but to Northwest 23rd Street—to the small, quiet park just down the block from the apartment where they had once shared a life.
The Portland mist was falling gently, dusting the autumn leaves with silver moisture.
"Why are we here?" Lydia asked, laughing as Nathan pulled a warm plaid blanket from the trunk and wrapped it around her shoulders.
"Because this is where we broke," Nathan said softly, leading her to a quiet bench under a towering oak tree. "And this is where I want us to begin again."
He turned to face her, taking both of her cold hands in his warm grip.
"Seven years ago, in a kitchen down this street, I asked you to marry me. I had a ring, but I didn't have the wisdom to understand what a promise really meant. I thought love was something you agreed to once, and then went off to achieve other things."
Lydia’s heart hammered against her ribs. She looked into his eyes, seeing every memory, every triumph, and every painful lesson reflected back at her.
"I spent seven years learning that love isn't a agreement," Nathan continued, dropping to one knee on the damp grass. He produced a small velvet box from his coat pocket. "Love is a choice you make every single morning. It’s choosing to stay, choosing to listen, choosing to put the people you care about above everything else."
He opened the box. Inside rested a magnificent ring—a radiant-cut diamond flanked by three small, brilliant sea-glass-colored sapphires, representing their three daughters.
"Lydia Holt," Nathan said, his voice thick with raw emotion. "You gave me the greatest gifts of my life. You gave me a second chance I didn't deserve. Will you marry me? Will you let me spend the rest of my life being the husband you deserve, and the father our girls need?"
Lydia covered her mouth with her hands, tears spilling over her eyelashes, sparkling in the streetlights.
May you like
"Yes," she choked out, her voice filled with pure joy. "Yes, Nathan! A thousand times yes!"
He slipped the ring onto her finger and stood up, pulling her into a fierce, passionate kiss as the rain fell lightly around them, washing away the last remnants of their painful past.
