Zachary

As soon as Evelyn stopped getting sick every time she ate something, I made dinner reservations at her favourite restaurant, Patina. Patina was an upscale restaurant at Walt Disney’s Concert Hall in Los Angeles. It's been one of Evelyn's favourite restaurants as long as I've known her. I remember her telling me her dad would take her there every time she would come visit him, even when she lived in New York City with her mom and brother.

I know she didn't have the best relationship with either her brother or her father but anyone would tell you they were taken from her too soon. Evelyn and Ryan's relationship was just starting to blossom into a healthy sibling relationship when he committed suicide. I remember seeing her at the funeral. To this day, I don't understand how someone could look so broken yet so beautiful. Back then, I still hated her but I had an undeniable urge to hold her as she wept. I regret not doing it now. Who knows how different hints would have been if I would have just approached her.

I suppose that's why I approached her at her father’s funeral. We had just had that argument, the one where she told me she still loved me. I knew if I didn't talk to her then, that it would be months, maybe even years, until we spoke again. If I hadn't spoken to her then we wouldn't be where we are now. I wanted to be there for her and I was, and now I can't even imagine not having her at my side.

A soft, small hand in my bare shoulder catches my attention and pulls me out of my thoughts. “Hey, are you okay?” Evelyn asks me. I turn my head up towards her and notice her brows are furrowed together in worry.

“Yeah,” I smile. She was so cute when she worried. “I'm fine.”

“Okay.” She sits next ton me on the bed and stares at me like she doesn't believe me, worry still prominent in her face. “Except you told me you were getting in the shower twenty minutes ago,” she adds.

“I'm fine,” I lean over and kiss her sheep reassuringly. “I'm just thinking.”

“About what?” Evelyn asks curiously.

I shrug, answering honestly, “The past; me and you.”

“Oh,” she smiles. “Well, what about it?”

I shake my head, not really wanting to get into it. “Nothing really.” Evelyn throws me a look to keep talking and so with a sigh, I did. “I was just thinking about how different some things would have been if I would have reacted differently.”

“Well,” she starts slowly, “you can't worry yourself about those things.” Evelyn grabs my hand and entertained our fingers.

“I wasn't worrying, just thinking back.” I press her hand to my lips. “Are you ready?”

“Yeah,” she replies, standing from the bed, I follow her lead. “I won't be long. Whitney and I are just going to do a little shopping. I don't want to buy a lot until we find out the gender, you know?”

I nod, allowing the tips of my fingers to graze the fabric stretched over her stomach. A baby bump is growing but still barely there. “Well, take your time. There's no need to rush home. Whitney can have you today but tomorrow you're mine.”

“Okay,” Evelyn smiles. She places her hands on my sides as she kisses me. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” I promise. “Have fun.”

“I will,” she calls as she walks out of the bedroom.

Later that day, I find myself in my car. Evelyn had texted not too long ago and told me she and Whitney were going to eat and then she would be on her way home. If I was going to do this, I had to do it soon.

I pull into a familiar driveway and take a deep breath before slowly stepping out of my car. I shut the door behind me, and click the lock button on the remote before walking up the path to the front door. I knock on the door three times before taking a step back and waiting for the door to open.

A woman answers the door with a smile on her face a few seconds later. She’s thin and has short dark hair. “Zack,” she greets happily.

“Mrs. Sanders,” I smile back. “How are you?”

She steps back and allows me into the house, after offering me a glass of water she replies. “I’m doing well. I didn’t expect you here today. Is Evelyn okay? The baby?”

“Oh, yeah, yeah,” I reassure. “They’re great. Evelyn is finally getting past the morning sickness.”

She nods as we sit down, me on the couch and her in the chair next to me. “Well, that’s good! So, where is she?”

“She’s out shopping with Whitney,” I tell her.

She smiles. “She sure does love to shop, doesn’t she? Oh, and Whitney! I am so glad you helped her move here, Zack. That was such a nice thing for you to do. Evelyn needs all the support she can get and with her best friend living across the country, that would have been hard.”

“Yeah, I totally agree. I’m glad Whitney decided to move. I was more than happy to help.”
Mrs. Sanders takes a sip of water. “Well, Zachary, not that I’m not happy to see you, but what are you doing here?”

I chuckle to myself quietly. “Well, actually, Mrs. Sanders. I’ve come to speak to you about Evelyn. See, I know that Evelyn and I have been taking this relationship a little fast this time around, and usually I would agree with you but…I’ve loved Evelyn since high school. I’ve just forgotten that I loved her. I know that sounds stupid but…”

She interrupts me shaking her head, “It doesn’t sound stupid, dear. I think you and Evelyn just met at the wrong time in life, and now that you’re older, well…I think you two are exactly where you should be.”

I smile, grateful she knew where I was coming from. “Exactly,” I take a deep breath. “Well, I guess the reason why I’m here is because…I want to marry her, Mrs. Sanders. I really, really do. She’s the love of my life, the mother of my child. I don’t want to go without her another day. I want to ask her to marry me, but my mother taught me to do things a certain way. And, well, before I can ask her to marry me I have to ask you for your blessing. It just wouldn’t seem right to ask without talking to you first.”

Mrs. Sanders is watching me as I speak with a huge smile on her face but I feel nervous about her answer. Evelyn is the last of her immediate family she has, and I’m asking for her to give her away. She keeps fidgeting with her diamond ring on her left hand and I watch her as the second's tick by.

“Zachary,” she starts, “of course, I would love for you and Evelyn to get married. I have always thought that you were good for her.”

I let out a breath of relief. “Really? Oh, that’s great news!”

Mrs. Sanders brings me into a hug. “Have you bought a ring?”

I shake my head. “No,” I tell her. “I wanted to make sure you were okay with it before I got my hopes up. Plus, I would hate for her to find the ring somewhere.”

Without saying anything, Mrs. Sanders pulls her diamond ring off her finger and offers it to me. “Take it.”

“What? No, I…I can’t take that from you…I…” I stutter before she interrupts me.

She smiles, still holding out the ring. “Evelyn’s father gave me this ring when I was eighteen. He was the love of my life. The kind of love that is so special, that most people don’t get to experience it. I think you and Evelyn have that same kind of love.” She takes my hand and places the ring in the palm of it. “My husband and I were planning on giving the ring to Evelyn or Ryan when they were ready to get married. So, now I give it to you to give to her.”

“Well, thank you, Mrs. Sanders,” I reply. I take the ring and look at it between my fingers. It was absolutely gorgeous and had a vintage charm about it.

She takes me into a hug again. “I’m glad you found each other again, Zachary.”

“Thank you,” I smile. “I’m glad we did too. I, uh, hate to do this but I should really get back home before Evelyn starts wondering where I am.”

“Oh, of course,” she grins and leads me to the door. “Oh, and Zack?”
I turn back to her. “Yeah?”

“When do you plan on asking her?” Mrs. Sanders asks curiously.

I rub the back of my neck. I hadn’t actually thought about when I was going to ask Evelyn. I was worried about getting her mother’s blessing, and then finding the perfect ring. I figured I would get Whitney to help me plan something epic. “I…I don’t know,” I answer honestly. “I want to plan something special.” She nods and we say our goodbyes. I jump into my car and take a deep breath. Finally, relief.

The next night, Evelyn and I get dressed for our first date in weeks and head to the city. Evelyn looked beautiful. She wore a black dress that reached her thigh and was loose around her barely-there baby bump. The dress had lace sleeves and showed off her collarbone perfectly. I resisted the urge to brush my lips against her skin.

Evelyn gets quiet after the main course which catches my attention. She keeps looking around the restaurant as if she’s trying to take it all in before she finally locks eyes with me.

“What’s wrong?” I ask her.

She shakes her head with a small smile on her lips. “Nothing.” I throw her the same look she threw me yesterday, and she continues with a sigh. “I was just thinking about my dad. The last time I was here it was with him.”

I give her a weak smile. “We could have gone somewhere else.”

“No,” she says quickly. “No, I love it here. It reminds me of him. I don’t want to stop coming just because he’s gone.”

I reach across the table and grab her hand. “So, then we won’t.”

“It just sucks, you know? I mean, I came here almost every year for my birthday with him. And now…” she stops.

I squeeze her hand slightly. “And now I’ll bring you. Every year, we will keep the tradition going.”

“Oh, Zack you don’t have to do that,” she laughs slightly.

I let go of her hand and sit back in my chair. “Well, too bad, baby girl.” Evelyn smiles and agrees, and then as dessert arrives, we change the subject.

After dinner, Evelyn and I head back to Huntington Beach. A part of me couldn’t wait to get her home, to pull off that dress and make love to her but another part of me didn’t want the night to end. I was surprised when Evelyn said the same thing.

“Let’s go do something,” she suggested. “I mean, in a few months I’m not going to feel like doing anything and then once the baby is here…”

I chuckle, agreeing. “Alright, I know somewhere we can go.” She smiles and grabs my hand. After lacing her fingers with mine, she places our hands in her lap.

Once we enter Huntington Beach, I make a couple of turns and we pull up to the side of the beach and I park. I walk to the passenger side and grab Evelyn’s hand. “Zack, what are we doing at the beach?” Evelyn asked me looking around.

I smile. Good, she didn’t recognize where we were, not yet anyway. “You said you didn’t want to go home. Come on, don’t you trust me?” I bring her hand to my lips

She bumps me with her hip. “Of course, I trust you, jerk.”

I laugh and start to lead her into a wooded area off to our right. “Well, come on then.”

Evelyn follows as I slightly pull her through the trees, careful to not allow any branches to swing back and hit her. She’s grumbling something about heels, soft dirt and being pregnant and I’m quietly laughing at her and reminding her to watch her step. Right before we reach the opening, we pass a large tree and Evelyn halts.

“Oh,” she whispers. I turn to her and smile.

“Recognize it now?” I ask her.

In response, Evelyn backs up to the tree and pulls me against her. My hand rests slightly above her head on the tree. Slowly, she brings her lips to mine like she did the first time we were here at this tree, the first time we kissed.

I begin to feel a warmth spread through me and I pull her closer to me as she tangles her fingers in my hair. I nibble her lip and a soft moan escapes her mouth.

“Did you just bring me here to make out with me?” She mumbles against my lips.
I smile against hers. “You kissed me first. Just like the first time.”

Evelyn pushes me away with a smile on her face. “Shut up,” she giggles. I could listen to her giggle every day for the rest of my life.

“Come on,” I grab her hand again and walk through the clearing. I wrap my arm around Evelyn’s shoulder as we look at the sanded cliff. Apart from the littered trash, it looked just as it did the first time I came up here with Evelyn.

“Beautiful,” she whispers. She walks towards the center of the cliff. “This was the best first date I ever had,” she confesses.

“Well, good,” I reply. “I worked hard on that date, you know. It took time to plan it. I had to have someone else set up while I picked you up, and then make sure they were gone before we arrived.”

“I remember,” Evelyn smiles, walking past me and towards the edge of the cliff. She stops a few feet from the edge and I follow her. We look out into the ocean that stretches on and on and on for miles and miles. It really was a beautiful sight. I stand behind her and kiss her cheek “You brought me flowers, brought me here. There were tiki torches everywhere. It was so beautiful. You had wine and you made dinner – your secret sauce. And then the rain,” she laughs. “You were so upset.”

I laugh too. “Of course, I was upset. I planned this evening out for it to be perfect and forgot to check the weather. I just wanted it to be perfect.”

“Don’t worry, it was,” Evelyn admits.

“Well, I don’t have tiki torches, or wine or secret sauce this time,” I sigh as I dig my hand into my pocket, “But I do have this.”

As Evelyn is turning to face me, I’m slowly getting down on one knee. Her mother’s diamond ring is between my fingers and I’m offering it to her. My heart is pounding so hard I think I’m going to vomit. I watch Evelyn’s face turn from curious to surprise as I open my mouth.

“Evelyn Jane Sanders, love of my life and mother of my child, I have gone twelve very, very long years without you by my side. I don’t want to do it again. I love you.” I take a deep breath, I’ve never been so nervous in my entire life. “Will you marry me?”

Notes

The End! Thank you guys for reading, commenting, subscribing and rating! I hope you guys enjoyed the sequel! Some of you say the ending went a little too smoothly and I totally agree. Maybe one of these days when I rewrite it I'll add one final obstacle for them. The reason why I didn't add it this time around is because A) I knew if I kept going and went past 25 chapters Evelyn and Zack probably wouldn't have gotten the happy ending they deserve and B) I kinda feel like Evelyn and Zack's story isn't quite over! Maybe another sequel when I'm ready and have more time? Who knows!

Again thank you so much for all the continued love and support! And special thanks to Kimmie, imagine fiction, AGirlIKnowNamedLarisa and MeRi for commenting!

Title credit: Good Charlotte "Life Changes"