Chapter 23: Peter

I bought a ring for her. Alex and Beth went with me. Alex kept pushing for the big ones but Beth argued that Missy would want something simple. In the end, I went with a gold band with embedded green and yellow diamonds. It cost so much, I had to call Uncle George and get him to release the spending cap on my account for the purchase.

"What the hell you buyin', boy?" he asked.

"An engagement ring." I answered. He didn't ask anything else, just approved the release and called the bank.

"When are you asking her?" Beth asked on the way home, little black box in my pocket.

"Prom Night." Alex snorted from the back seat and Beth sighed. "You got uh comment, back there?" I snapped at him.

"No, Sir." He shook his head.

"You sure?"

He shrugged. "Question is, are you sure. You done, I'm done."

"I'm sure." I can't wait to see Missy's reaction when I ask. "I'm done."

Alex nodded once and Beth sighed again. "OMG! That is so cool." She pulled her cell phone and dialed. "Hey! Peter's asking Missy to marry him at the Prom! I know! What should we..."

I nearly wreck the car getting the phone away from Beth. "Who is this?" I barked.

"Lisa! Peter, relax! God!"

"I'm not tryin' ta tell all God's creation, here!"

"I know!" Lisa and Beth say in tandem. Beth snatches the phone away. "Jesus! I'm just tryin' ta figure out what we should wear! We all goin' together! God Peter!" she paused a minute. "Oh I know, totally!" The conversation slipped to clothing and in the rear view, I saw Alex roll his eyes.

The next week dragged. All I could think about most days was the velvet box on my dresser. It was a daily struggle not to ask her every time I saw her. Then the week of the Olympic finals came up and the Coach came to the house and told my parents that either I was serious about this thing and I needed to put everything else aside for a couple months or I could tell him then and there that I wasn't really interested in being in the Games. I've never really been particularly competitive but every time I had gotten in the water since Alex's Event, I'd thought about what would have happened if I had taken nine minutes instead of eight. It kept making me try harder, swim faster. It's not really about competition but I felt a little foolish being offered the chance and not taking it. Besides, if I won, how could Missy say no to an Olympiad?

After that, I didn't see anyone outside of school, the gym and the pool. But I won a slot - 12th of 16 men chosen. I got home just in time to study for my final exams.

And then: The Prom. Alex had done all the prep work - renting a limo, dinner reservations, corsages for the girls. There were eight of us this time. Me and Missy, Beth and Shawn, Lisa and Doug, and Alex and another cheerleader, TC. He must have talked to Beth about their dresses because the flowers match each girl perfectly. "Good job." I pinch his ass while no one's watching at TC's house.

Beth and Lisa were both in shades of blue, Lisa's lighter, Beth's darker but in almost the same dress. They both looked lovely. As usual. TC was in peach which was a bad color for her but Alex heaped on compliments anyway. Since his eyes never left her cleavage, I suspected he never really saw the dress.

TC was another of Lisa's picks for Alex. "I told him to treat her like she breakable." She told me.

"I've seen TC; she could take half the football team."

"Yeah, an' all the guys treat her like one of the guys - even if she puts out. She wants to be treated like a girl sometimes." Lisa trusted Alex - God only knew why - so I just hoped she knew what she was doing and said ok.

After TC's house, we headed over to Missy's and I started getting nervous. Beth smacked my knee loudly. "Stop twitching! It's annoying."

"Yeah, dude, you ok?" Doug looked genuinely concerned. "I thought you and Missy were an item."

"They are." Lisa sighed. "That's why the cold feet."

"He's gonna propose tonight." Beth added. Shawn went pale and glanced at Beth.

Alex snickered. "Evans, chill. You ask Beth that, Uncle Charles won't leave enough uh you ta bury."

"Yeah." I nodded. "I wouldn't either."

"Dude, chill!" Shawn put up his hand in defense. "If not tryin' ta marry your sister!" He glanced at Beth. "Now. I mean, not that you ain't ... I mean, we ain't even graduate yet ... I mean..."

The girls broke into peels of laughter and Shawn sank back in he seat to sulk. All of which gave me a few minutes to think about something other than the lump in my suit pocket.

Eventually, we got to Missy's house and I was greeted by her father who'd gotten to the point that he'd stopped calling me a 'slick hound' and had upgraded me to 'that McElroy boy'. Hopefully, he'd get used to calling me 'my son-in-law'. We all sat in the living room and waited for Missy to come down. She was late - which was typical. Not her most endearing trait but one I was going to have to live with if I was planning on marrying her. I smiled, thinking of it as my first sacrifice of the marriage: I was no longer going to be on-time for everything.

She was worth the wait. When she finally came down, she was wearing a yellow/gold satin thing that draped down her body. Missy had no figure but the dress actually took advantage of that - if she had been curvy like Trina, the dress would have been too much. As it was, it was simple and elegant and stunning. I had wondered about the color Alex had chosen for Missy's corsage but it was perfect. She had pulled her hair back from her face but left it loose down her back. The engagement ring couldn't have matched more perfectly if she had seen it already.

I glanced at Beth and she smile innocently back. I looked at Missy. She was waiting for some kind of response. I could only think of two and I didn't want to pop the question in front of her father. So I kissed her. Something changes when you're kissing the woman you know will be the mother of your children. I wanted to blow off the rest of the night and start conceiving them. There was a tug on my shoulder and, reluctantly, I let Missy go.

"Hey, com'on, gimme uh break." Her father said. "That's my daughter there, right?"

I tried not to blush. I'm not sure you can control that, but I tried. "Uh, yes Sir. Sorry. I just..." I looked at Missy, "Melissa, you look amazing."

She definitely blushed.

We eventually got in the car and headed to the restaurant. My nerves were gone, replaced by almost giddy anticipation. Everyone kept grinning at me and Missy was getting more than a little frustrated knowing that we were keeping a secret from her. I almost asked over dessert but talked myself out of it. I did have to promise to tell her what the big deal was as soon as we got to the dance.

The Senior Prom, being one of the Big Four at our school, meant that as soon as we arrived, Alex had to go find the Ballroom Team and get ready for their performance. I stalled Missy until after that. Then I pulled her into the hallway. No place special - not the pool or under a moonlit tree. I wanted nothing to telegraph to question and nothing to distract from that ring.