Chapter 77

Did he just……..propose? Desi thought in shock, staring into those impossibly blue eyes, seeing the patience as he just stared back, waiting for her answer. An answer which slipped unbidden from her lips, instinct telling her what to say.

“Yes.” She whispered with a soft, shaky smile, a smile which broadened into a grin to mirror his own.

“Yes?” Jay had to double check.

“Yes.” Desi repeated. “Yes, I will marry you, Jay Kelsall.”

Any further response was cut off as he crushed his lips onto hers, and their kiss was spiced, made more poignant by the commitment they had just made to one another. When they finally broke apart, Jay took Desi’s left hand, caressing her ring finger.

“We need to go shopping.” He rolled his eyes at her confused expression, squeezing her finger gently. “For a ring?”

“Oh!” Desi blushed. “Don’t you think you should meet my parents first? I mean, I’ve met your mom……and your dad, I guess, but you’ve not met mine!”

“Okay. Are they in town? Let’s go now.” He sat up, pulling her with him as she laughed.

“Well, let me call them, make sure they’re home.”

Jay grinned, kissing her again. “While you do that, I’m going to call my mom.” He hesitated. “I mean, unless you want me to wait until your folks know?”

“No - call her.” Desi giggled. “Not like I’m going to change my mind if my parents disapprove! Which they absolutely won’t.” She reassured him.

Billie and Richie were still in his kitchen - Richie pouring coffee while Billie removed the last of the char-cookies - Richie’s newly created word - from the tray. When they heard the muted buzz, Richie held up a hand to stall Billie as he took the few long strides required to get to the living room.

“Yours!” He yelled, squinting at the display. “It’s Jay.”

“Oh, the big-mouthed Jay-bird!” She replied, meeting him halfway as Richie brought the phone to her. “Thanks.”

“My pleasure.” He gave her one of his ‘special’ grins - soft yet striking, subtly sexy and devilishly mischievous. A grin to kill - or at least mortally wound - a lesser woman.

Billie grinned back at him, her own expression more relaxed than he’d seen her since the assault. Answering the call, she faked annoyance.

“You have some explaining to do, mister!” She barked, though her grin softened the sound. “Telling Richie about my birthday?!”

“Uh, yeah, sorry about that, mom.” He sounded anything but sorry, though, and Billie was about to find out why. “I have something to tell you.”

“Something good I hope. Oh, thanks.” The aside to Richie as he handed her a steaming mug.

“Yeah. Well, I think so. You sitting down?”

“Nope.”

Here goes. Thought Jay, taking a deep breath. “Thing is…….I uhhh……… I proposed to Desi, mom. And she said yes. We’re going to get married!”

“What?!” This, Billie hadn’t expected. But she couldn’t honestly say it was a bad thing - Jay was clearly besotted with the pretty young nurse, and she seemed just as deeply in love with him. There was only one thing Billie could say. “Congratulations! Wow……does she know what she’s letting herself in for?”

Of course Jay, raised by Billie, inheriting her broad streak of sarcasm and her biting humor didn’t take even a second’s offense, firing back a response.

“Sure she does, mom. She’s met you before.”

“Smartass.” Billie muttered, grinning, seeing the curious expression on Richie’s face, holding her hand up to gesture that she’d tell him the news when she finished the call. “Don’t think that this gets you off the hook for telling Richie about my birthday, though. I still need to kick your ass for that one.”

Jay chuckled. “You may have to get in line…….we’re going over to see Desi’s parents……I haven’t even met them yet. Her dad may not be happy!”

“Well, if he has a problem with my baby boy, he has to deal with me!” Billie told him with a grin. “And I doubt he’s that brave, so you’ll be fine.”

Richie’s curiosity was starting to become glaringly obvious, but he was going to have to wait another few seconds, as his own phone now buzzed, demanding attention. He picked it up, checking the display, then wandered over to the tall windows as he answered the call, wanting just a little privacy. Billie watched him for a moment, then her voice softened as she again addressed her son.

“I really am happy for you both, Jay.” She said. “I’m not going to give you any lectures about hardly knowing Desi or anything like that - you’re smart enough to know what you want, and Desi is sure as hell smart enough to say no if she didn’t want the same thing. Congratulations to you both.”

“Thanks mom.” Jay grinned at Desi as she walked out of the bedroom, nodding her head to confirm that, yes, her parents were in town. “Well, I guess we better get ready and go see Desi’s parents. How about we try to set up a dinner so you can all meet?”
“Sounds good, Jay. Bye.”

“Bye mom.”

“So what did Billie say?” Desi asked, honestly a little nervous - it was one thing to have your boyfriend’s mom like you, but quite another for her to become your mother-in-law, that dread creature, the butt of so many jokes.

“She said that you’re smart to marry me.” Jay tried, but Desi just laughed at him, so he had to correct himself. “Okay, okay, she said you’re smart enough to say no if you didn’t want to marry me, so she’s happy for us both. She also said that if your dad didn’t like me he’d have to deal with her!”

“Oh, trust me, baby, I can handle my dad.” She assured him, sliding her arms around his waist and stepping in close. “I love you, Jay.”

“I love you too, Karenza Desiree.”


While Billie and Jay had been talking, Richie’s call was from Jon, which was why he’d taken it over by the windows. After the initial pleasantries, he’d quickly and quietly told his buddy that Jay had called to give him a heads-up on Billie’s birthday, and he outlined the plan for the surprise party.

“So can you let the rest of the guys know?” He asked Jon in a hushed tone. “Don’t even let her know you know about her birthday - hell, she’s already pissed at Jay for telling me, so I don’t need her getting mad at me too, for spilling it to everyone else.”

“Okay, sure.” Jon had to ask. “And Jay wants us - me - there?”

“Yep.” One little white lie wouldn’t hurt anyone, Richie decided, knowing how much that would mean to Jon, not even needing to be able to see his friend of so many years to know he’d just broken out that megawatt grin.

“Anyway…….reason I called……need to start a bit later today - I got some stuff to take care of.” He chuckled suddenly. “Maybe we should see if we can still pull an all-nighter. You up for it?”

“Hell yeah.” A slight frown. “Billie was gonna come out today, though. She made Teek’s cookies!”

“Uhhh……well, let her know the plan.” Jon shrugged. “If there’s one thing I got, it’s plenty of bedrooms - she can stay too, if she likes.”

“Okay.” Richie looked over at Billie, seeing her now apparently texting someone. He lowered his voice. “I’d rather not leave her alone here today anyway.”

“Why not?”

“Aw, she had another……umm……..wobble a little while ago.” He said carefully, hearing Jon’s soft, automatic reaction.

“That sick motherfucker…….”

“Yeah, but she’s okay now. Of course, she did charcoal a batch of cookies, so a late start will let her make more!”

“Jesus - you’re worse than a kid!” Jon chuckled, then his call waiting beeped. “Ugh. Okay, later, bro.”

Snapping his phone shut, Richie moved toward Billie as her phone buzzed again, and she quickly read the text reply from Jay before grinning and looking at Richie.

“Okay, the curiosity’s killing me……..spill!” He demanded.