“Yes ma’am. I can’t wait to surprise them both,” I tell her. I figured having our families in the same place at the same time will make for the best time to break the news to everyone, including Ari and Christian. Let’s just hope I don’t burn the turkey.
CHRISTIAN
“Thank you so much for picking us up,” Amari’s mom says as she gets in the car.
“Yeah, son. Thank you,” her husband echoes.
“No need to thank me. I’m happy you’re spending Thanksgiving with us,” I tell them.
Rounding the car, I head over to the driver seat with Mr. Santana sitting in the front and Mrs. Santana sitting in the back with Ari.
“Look who we have here!” I hear Mrs. Santana say.
“It’s so nice to see you again,” Ari greets her, giving her a big hug.
From my mirror, I can see Mrs. Santana running her hands through my daughter’s hair lovingly. “Seems like we’ll be seeing each other around often,” Mrs. Santana says knowingly.
“So, you know the plan right?” Ari asks and I laugh.
“She’s been trying really hard to not say anything,” I tell them.
Mr. Santana looks back at his wife and my daughter. “Oh, we know the plan for sure,” he tells her.
“Thank goodness because I can’t keep it in for much longer.”
“You won’t have to, baby girl,” I tell her.
I start driving away from the airport and back to the house where my girl is waiting for her family to arrive. Family, I like the sound of that. Amari was what I needed to complete me. She was the missing part of the puzzle, a big part too. Now with her here, the picture is clear.
“Does that mean I get to call you Grandma?” Ari asks and everyone in the car starts laughing.
“I’d love nothing more than to have a granddaughter like you. Of course you can call me Grandma.”
Mr. Santana clears his throat. “Actually… you can only have her as your grandma if you give me the honor of being your grandpa.”
“I’ve never had one of those!” Ari exclaims and I’m hit with a little bit of sadness. My father was never in the picture and, well, neither was Katie’s side of the family.
“Well, what do you say?!” Mr. Santana replies excitedly.
I glance back briefly to see the smile on my daughter’s face. “You know grandparents are supposed to spoil their grandchildren, right? That’s what my other grandma does,” she tells them and I shake my head at the genius I call my child.
“Did we tell you we brought you some gifts?” Mrs. Santana replies and I know that seals the deal.
“You’re the best grandma!” Ari says hugging her.
“I’ll tell Mom you said that,” I joke.
“Um… let’s not do that,” Ari replies and we all laugh.
“No favorites here. We all love you equally,” Mrs. Santana tells her, kissing the top of her head.
Ari and Mrs. Santana hold a conversation of their own in the backseat while I hold my own with Mr. Cole. “Thank you so much, again.”
“We wouldn’t miss this for the world,” He replies.
“I don’t mean for this, though I’m grateful you’re here for it too,” I tell him. “I’m grateful to you for getting to know me. For listening to me talk endlessly about your daughter, about how much I love her. Thank you for understanding the reasons behind my mistakes and for letting me know how she was doing every time you got the chance.”
“Listen, son,” he starts and the fact that this man has no blood relation to me but can call me those words moves me. “We all make mistakes. You were young back then. I saw you as a hardworking man who wanted to provide for his child while trying his best to not hurt our daughter. If anything, I’m grateful that you were selfless enough to let her go.”
“I don’t think I’d do it again if I could go back in time,” I tell him honestly. I used to think I would make the same decision over and over again because I thought it was the right one. But now, if offered the same choice, I would be selfish. I would have chosen her. I would’ve told her the truth and see where we took things from there.
“We can’t change the past, but you’re getting ready to give her, and yourself, the future you both deserve.”
I smile at this man’s words. I always worried about what he would think of me when he met me. Back then, I didn’t even want him to see me for fear of what he’d do to keep his daughter away from me. But as we sit next to each other on this drive back, with him calling me son, I don’t think I’ve ever had a better role model for a father and husband. I won’t say this to him, not yet, but just like my daughter now thinks of him as a grandfather, I think of him as a father. Not the one who birthed me but the one who understood me.
PART II
CHRISTIAN
I clear my throat and the voices around the dining table slowly come to a halt. I can feel my hands sweating as I grab my glass and stand from my seat. All eyes move to me.
“So, I know it’s Thanksgiving dinner,” I start. I shift my stance so I’m face to face with the love of my life. “And all of you around this table are people I’m thankful for.” I scan my eyes around the room. I look at Amari, Amari’s parents, my daughter, my mother, Emely, and Nigel.
“Damn right you do!” Nigel shouts and a thud comes from underneath the table followed by an “ow” from Nigel, who looks directly at Emely, who gives him a ‘get it together’ look.
I take a deep breath and push myself to continue. “Each of you here is family. Two years ago, it was my mom, Ari, and me sitting around a different table. It was great, don’t get me wrong, but I’m happy that our family has grown.”
I extend my hand and take hold of Amari’s hand. “Everyone here is important to each of us. We’ve been through a lot together, and apart,” I add. “Today, there’s one more thing I want to be thankful for.”
Fixing my eyes on Amari, I lower to the ground until I’m on one knee. The moment she sees me in this position, her eyes water and her mouth opens in surprise.
From behind me, Ari extends her little hand and hands me the box with the ring.
“Oh my God!” Amari says, her eyes shifting from me and the ring to Ari and everyone else in the room.
“I want to be thankful for the possibility of calling you my wife. Will you marry me?”
“Say yes, say yes!!” Ari says from behind me, getting all of us to laugh.
Amari looks around the room once again, and I see the tears rolling down her face. “I would absolutely love nothing more than to be your wife,” she replies. Putting the ring on her finger, I rise up from the ground as quickly as I can. In a matter of seconds, I’m holding on to her, hugging her, kissing her, and spinning her around.
The room cheers as I become the happiest man in the world.
AMARI
“Put me down, put me down!” I tell him through tears. Even with the ring on my finger and everyone else cheering around us, I can’t believe Christian just proposed to me. From the look in the eyes of everyone else in the room, I’m the last to know.