Violetta Craft's Arc

Chapter 63 of 65

By two in the morning the clinic hallway had gone silent. Paul had taken Elowen home hours ago. Lymber left after the last feeding, kissing Violetta's forehead and promising to come back at seven. The nurse checked Eli, adjusted his blanket, and dimmed the overhead light on her way out. Violetta shifted against the pillows. Her incision pulled when she breathed too deep. Eli slept in the bassinet with one fist against his cheek. Jordie stood by the window with his jacket over his arm. He had not left the room since Eli was born. His hair stuck up in the back from the chair. He kept looking at the bassinet, then at her, then back. "You should sleep," Violetta said. "You've been up as long as I have." "In a minute." He came to the bed. He sat on the edge, careful of her leg. He set his jacket on the floor. His hand went into the pocket and stayed there. "What," she said. He pulled out a small square box. Black velvet, worn at one corner like he had carried it a while. He held it on his knee. He did not open it yet. "I was going to do this at the house," he said. "With Elowen there. I had a whole thing." Violetta's hand went still on the blanket. "But you said it today," he said. "That you could see past today now. I have been seeing past today for months. I didn't want to wait for a better room." He opened the box. A thin gold band with one small stone. Nothing showy. He had picked it himself. She could tell because it looked like something she would wear. "Violetta," he said. His voice caught and he waited it out. "I know what I did. I know what I promised when we moved in. I am asking for the next thing. Marry me." She looked at the ring. She looked at Eli asleep three feet away. She thought about the year of Saturdays she had almost made him do. She thought about him driving her to the pediatrician at three in the morning without being asked. "Yes," she said. He let out a breath like he had been holding it since the delivery room. He slid the ring on. It fit loose over her swollen finger. He curled her hand closed around it so it would not slip. He leaned down and kissed her. Eli made a small sound in the bassinet. Violetta looked at the ring on her closed hand and started, quietly, to count the months.