Tightrope

Epilogue

FOUR YEARS LATER

WILL

"Stanley, come!" 

Our dog came running from our room, where Becca was reading.

"Hey!" She called out as our Black Lab Golden Retriever Mix left her side and ran to greet me at the door.

"Oh, good girl, Stanley. I love you." I petted her. I liked to tell Becca that Stanley was one of the two loves of my life. She accepted it, willing to share her spot with our dog. Still, I knew there was only one love of my life. There had always been just one love of my life.

And as much as I loved her, it wasn't Stanley.

I tried to get my hands to stop shaking as I walked toward our bedroom. We had moved in together three years ago but had only started actually living together alone two years ago when Nate moved fifteen minutes away for college. 

The secret hung heavy in my pants pocket, and my heart leaped with anticipation. 

Becca was sitting in the bed, reading a book. She wore sweatpants, and her night glasses were way too low on the bridge of her nose. Her hair looked like it had been tied into a bun hours ago, but had started falling down from the weight of it all. 

She looked absolutely gorgeous.

"Hey, how was your day?" She asked, getting up, greeting me with a kiss, and sitting back down.

"It was good. Exciting." I said, sitting down next to her. "How was yours?" 

"Quite good, actually. Worked on a couple of things from home and then had lunch with Julie and Addison. They said the honeymoon went great, by the way, but that they were just happy to see the dogs again." Becca elaborated, still looking down at her book.

The word honeymoon did strange things to my heart.

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask you something," I started, swallowing hard. It was time.

"What is it?" She asked, still not looking up from the book.

When I didn't answer, she put the book down and looked at me, concern growing in her eyes. "Will? You okay? What is it?" 

I stood up and walked to her side of the bed, digging through my pocket to find the black velvet box. 

I dropped to one knee, and Becca's hands went flying to her face, covering her mouth with a loud slap.

"Becca, we've known each other since we were five years old, and now, we've spent more time together than we spent apart all of those years ago. I think even as children we knew that there was something more between us, or at least I knew. I've always looked up to you, Becca. I've always been in awe of you. You are so strong and beautiful, and smart, and resilient, and so damn funny. You've always been my rock, biggest cheerleader, and best ally. I want to spend the rest of my life being that for you. You're my best friend, and you're my home, Becca. I want to spend the rest of my life with my favorite person. Rebecca Contreras-Cole,  I love you beyond reason, will you please marry me?" 

The weight of the secret completely left my body as I finally asked her what I had been meaning to ask for months now. Well, the truth was, I had wanted to marry her pretty much ever since she appeared in that arena all of those years ago, but I had to give us time to live our lives separately and together as adults. 

I felt her before I heard her. 

Becca launched herself off the bed and right into my arms. I fell backward, holding on tightly to her as she pressed her lips to mine.