He’d carried her into the bedroom they now shared and laid her on the bed and held her close to him as she cried. He only wanted to be there for her because he had no idea what to say in that instance. So, he just held her while she cried into his shoulder.
After a time- he wasn’t quite sure how long it had been- she wiped the tears from her eyes and looked up at him. She was petite like his mother, and fit perfectly into the crook of his arm. She smiled at him. “Thank you”, she whispered.
“For what?” he asked quietly.
“For letting me be insecure for a moment. I don’t usually get moments like those.”
“Any why not?”
“I’m just not used to being able to fall apart like that. I was a mediocre girl growing up, I was never special unless I was on stage dancing. That was the only time I really shined. Only with the stage makeup on and the costumes was a good enough, or pretty enough, or smart enough to do whatever I wanted in life as long as it pertained to dance.”
“Lilah, you’re beautiful without all that caked on crap. You’re smart, and you keep me on my toes, but you keep me centered. I don’t fret so much as I used to before you came into my life on a permanent basis.”
“Are you sure your parents don’t mind me staying here like this?”
“Do you have anywhere else to go?”
“No, not really.”
“Have they said anything about you being here?”
“Not that I know of.”
“I’ll give you this answer; No, they haven’t. They’re happy to see me happy.”
She smiled. “You mean that? I make you happy?”
“Yes, you make me happy”, he said with a smile on his face. “You keep me balanced, Lilah. God knows I need balance in my life.”
She laughed. “You do tend to be anal retentive and over analytical.”
“And you’re such a free spirit. You’re a little flighty and I’m always serious.”
“You’re very much like you parent’s that way.”
“At least they know when to relax and have a good time. I don’t.”
“I do!” she said in a cutesy little voice.
“Could you teach me?”
“I’ll try.”
He pressed his lips to hers for a soft kiss, then opened the drawer on his bedside table and pulled out a small black velvet box out of it. He slid off of the bed onto one knee. “Delilah, I love you more than words can say. You’re my balance in this crazy world. Do me the honor of taking my name and being my wife?” He opened the box to a small diamond ring.
Tears flooded her eyes again as she stared at the ring. “Are you kidding me, Jakey? You want me to marry you?”
“Yes. Marry me. Be my wife.”
She held out her left hand to him with a brilliant smile. “Yes! Yes, Jacob, I’ll be your wife!”
He smiled back at her as he slid the ring on her finger. She grabbed his face between her hands and kissed him fiercely as his arms wrapped around her waist and he lifted her up off of the bed and stood with her in his arms. She pulled away and looked him in the eyes. “We need to tell your parents”, she laughed.
“Let me get dressed and we can go do that.” He pressed his lips to hers one more time before setting her down and digging through his drawers to get some clothes to put on.
---------------
They walked down the stairs hand in hand to where his parents were sitting on the couch watching TV. It was a movie of some sort. “Mom, Dad, can we talk to you real fast?”
“Please don’t tell us you’re interrupting our movie night to tell us she’s pregnant”, Brie said with a groan as she sat up from where she was curled up against her husband’s side. “Because I’ll knock your head clean off your shoulders, Jacob Micah.”
“Why do you assume that she’s pregnant right away, Mom?” Jake asked.
David hit pause on the DVD remote, then looked at his son and the young man’s girlfriend. “Jacob, take a good look at your older brother and tell us we’re wrong in assuming that.”
“You’re wrong to assume that about me, Dad”, Jake said frankly. “I’m a little more responsible than Malachai. I’m 23 with no kids. Malachai’s 28 with three and he’s been married as long as his oldest kids are old.”
David and Brie both nodded slowly. “Ok, Jacob, we’re sorry. We shouldn’t compare you to Malachai. What’s your news?” David said.
“We’re getting married”, Jake said with a smile.
“Congratulations”, Brie said to them both. “I’m glad to see such a happy couple decide to make it official. Meanwhile, you’re looking for a job, Jake. You’re really taking off.”
He smiled. “Thanks, Mom.”
David just studied his son and future daughter in law for a moment. He was careful not to say anything until he found what he wanted. When he found it, he spoke. “She’s the same thing for you that your mother is for me, isn’t she, Jake?”
Jake nodded. “Yes, Dad. She keeps me grounded, she keeps me sane. She’s keeps me from being too anal retentive but she keeps me focused at the same time.”
David nodded. “That all sounds very familiar. That’s exactly what your mother does for me.”
“Then you approve?”
“Enough to pay for the entire thing, including a honeymoon. What does that tell you?”
“You’d do that for us, Mr. Draiman?” Delilah asked.
“Yes, Delilah. I’d do that for you. You make him happy. Honestly, this is that happiest I’ve seen my son since I can remember.”
“Jake’s never smiled as much as he has since you’ve been here, Delilah. You’re a good influence on him”, Brie added.
“Was he a sad child?”
“No, I was a serious child, especially during adolescence”, Jake responded.
“He was the one of our children that busted his ass to get the grades to get into Loyola and then killed himself on his MCAT’s to get into the Johns- Hopkins. All of our children make good grades, but Jake was the one we knew we’d see straight A’s from”, Brie explained.
“I’m an overachiever”, he said with a sarcastic grin.
Brie laughed, then looked at Delilah. “I’ve come to discover that all of my boys are just like their father; overachievers. Jake’s just got the worst of it.”
---------------
The next afternoon, when the whole family was at his parent’s house, Jake and Delilah announced that they were going to get married. “Whoa, Jake, that’s great!” Jordan said. “Way to go, twin brother!”
“You’re not pulling a me, are you, Jake?” Malachai asked.
“No, ‘Chai. I’m not marrying her because she’s pregnant. I’m marrying her because I’m in love with her and I want her to be my wife. After we’re wearing wedding bands, then we’ll talk children. Until then, if I have to wrap it twice, I’ll do it because I don’t want to run the risk of her getting pregnant just yet.”
“Always gotta be the responsible one, huh, Jake?”
“What seems to be your problem, Malachai?”
“I feel like Mom and Dad are more proud of you than they are of me.”
“I can’t answer you that, Malachai. All I know is that I’m living my life the best way for me. You being a young parent might be what’s best for you, but that’s not my thing. I have too much in life that I want to achieve. You have your career. I have yet to really get started in mine. We’re nowhere close to in the same boat, so I don’t see where you’re getting the idea that I’m being compared to you or you to me.”
Malachai sighed. “I don’t know what brought that on, Jake. I’m happy for you. Really I am.”
“We’re both happy for you, Jake”, Mandy said after giving Malachai a good smack upside the back of his head.
“Malachai”, David said, having heard the entire conversation, “Your mother and I are just a proud of you as we are your brother. We’re proud of all of you children in the same way for all of your achievements. You’ve had a nearly ten year career with your band. That’s nothing to blink at. You guys have shown that you have staying power.”
“Then when are you and our Uncles going to let us tour with you, Dad?” Malachai asked.
“Convince your Uncles that you think you deserve it. I already think you do. You don’t have anything to prove to me.”
---------------
Jake went to be that night mentally exhausted, as did Delilah. Dealing with the emotionally insecure Malachai was exhausting. Jake wondered what was wrong, but had not answer. He wished he could sit down with his brother so that he could figure out what was wrong. But he knew that the problem was only in Malachai’s head. He knew his brother all too well.
The only thing either of them wanted to do that night was sleep. When she climbed into bed next to him, she snuggled into his embrace and rested her head against his chest. She silently wondered if the woman that would be her mother in law did the same thing to her husband every night. She wondered if there were nights when she just did feel up to making love to him and they would just lie in bed together and comfort each other. That’s what she needed after having to listen to her soon to be brother in law’s insecurities. They were rather disheartening. She didn’t know a lot about what the family had been through, but 28 year old Malachai seemed to have a huge chip on his shoulder.
As Delilah lay there curled against her man’s side, she looked to the future. She wondered if he’d manage to get through his get to do his research and help the people he wanted to help. He had a lot of work ahead of him, she knew that much.
She looked to the comment he made earlier, ‘After we’re wearing wedding bands, then we’ll talk children’, she recalled him saying. I think we should start immediately after we’re married. I’m glad I don’t have to wait for to you finish medical school to marry, but I don’t want to have to wait out your research to have your child. I bet we’ll have a girl first. That would be cute. She looked up at the man that lay next to her. His eyes were closed and his breathing was nice and even. He was relaxed and drifting off to sleep, if not already there. You’ll be a great Daddy, Jake. I already know you will. You had a great example growing up from your father. And you’ll be a great husband too. You had a great example as a kid when you watched your father take care of you mother. And with that, she settled in and let herself drift off to sleep.
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