Sylvia

The little girl twirled her silky brown hair, giggling at me with a smile as big as a watermelon slice.

“Sylvia, would you please stop staring at our guest!” Her mother laughed, shaking her head. “I am so sorry about that, Paul. I’ve never seen her act like this around any of our other friends.”

“Oh, no, you’re quite alright. She’s probably just not used to having me around.” I returned my gaze back to her glowing face. “Is it kind of weird with me being here?” Her blue eyes widened and before I knew it she’d jumped down from her seat and was dashing over to her mother as fast as her stubby little legs would carry her. Clicking across the wooden floor in the short heels and purple dress her mother had struggled to get her in before the occasion, she took refuge behind her now-standing mother.

The petite woman looked at me embarrassed and apologetic. “Again, Paul, I’m really sorry that I couldn’t find her a babysitter tonight.” She bent over to  pick up her daughter and grunted as she threw her up to her shoulder. “Ms. Doris is almost always available, but she recently came down with a nasty case of the flu.”

Unable to stifle a grin, I looked down at my plate, inhaling the delicious aromas of steaming spaghetti and exhaling a light-hearted chuckle. Looking back up, I waved a hand of understanding. “I know how little girls can be, Rachel... My niece was the exact same way when she was her age.”

“You mean unpredictably crazy and out-of-control?”

“More like incredibly funny and a joy to be around.”

She sighed, using her free hand to push back a curtain of brunette hair that had fallen out from behind her ear. With her sparkling blue eyes she stared lovingly at her mischievous daughter, who was now swinging her legs back and forth as she sat suspended from the hi-chair of her mother’s arms.  Adjusting her daughter higher up on her shoulder she put on a playful voice. “Alright, Ms. Sylvia, I think that’s enough for one night. What do you say we take you to bed?”

Weighing her options, Sylvia peered over her mother’s shoulder toward her room down the narrow hallway and glanced back at me. She nodded vigorously.

“Alrighty, then. Before we go, why don’t you tell Paul ‘Goodnight’?” Reluctant, she slowly rotated her head back toward me and at the first glimpse of my apparently laughable face recoiled, burying her head into her mother’s delicate shoulder. Rolling her eyes, Rachel mouthed, “Give me one second.”     

She turned and walked down the hall toward Sylvia’s room with the hem of her glittering blue dress dragging across the floor. We were supposed to go dancing tonight, but on account of my phone call to Ms. Doris, we’d experienced a change of plans.

Immediately after she and Sylvia crossed the threshold of the room and light leaked into the hallway, I silently arose from my seat and slipped a sweaty hand into the inside pocket of my coat jacket. Digging around I felt a cool and relieving touch of the object that would forever change my life: the engagement ring.

As stealthy as a cat on the prowl I tiptoed down the thankfully carpeted hallway. The murmuring of Rachel and her daughter grew louder and louder until I came to a smooth halt at the edge of the doorway..

“Now, honey, I know that this must be confusing, but if you go to bed it will all make more sense in the morning.” That was my cue.

Wiping my hands down my silky pants, I breathed in a gust of hope and stepped through the threshold. Rachel was facing the far wall of the pink, polka-dotted room, pulling a fluffy white blanket over Sylvia. After getting the blanket just below Sylvia’s chin, she hunched over her, gently pressing her lips to her forehead. “I love you, Sylvia.”

Just like at the beginning of the night, an irrevocable smile crept in between Sylvia’s rosy cheeks.

“What’s wrong?” Rachel asked. Sylvia yanked her hand from out underneath the cover and aimed a tiny finger at me. Rachel spun around quickly.

“That would’ve looked nice on the dance floor, tonight.”

She laughed, tilting her head in perplexity. “What’s going on, Paul?”

“There’s something that I need to ask you.”

“And what’s that?”

Kneeling down, I extended my clenched fist, opening it up to reveal the diamond ring. “Rachel Thomas, will you marry me?” She gasped, reeling back onto the edge of Sylvia’s bed in disbelief. Tears streamed down her gorgeous cheeks.

I stayed knelt down, my heart thumping like a drum. I gulped, “So what will it be?”

 I’ll never forget the response I received.

Dropping her hands down from her mouth, she began to say, “My answer is-”, but before she could finish, Sylvia exploded from the bed, throwing herself into my arms.

“Her answer is ‘YES’!” Although those were the only words she spoke to me that night, they were the most important that I’ll ever hear in my life.