Part 98 ********** “Lizzie? We’re home!” Liz looked up from her scattered notebooks, a grin spreading across her lips as she heard her mother’s voice floating from the doorway. Dropping her pencil, she ran down the hall, jumping into her mother’s arms. “Mom!” “Liz!” Nancy rest her cheek against Liz’s shoulder as the two of them hugged. She had missed this. She had missed her daughter. “Got another one of those for me?” Jeff dropped his bags, holding his arms open to Liz. “Dad!” She threw herself in his arms, her eyes closing with happiness as she realized that her parents were back home. The two of them separated as Claudia walked into the room, stepping up to give Liz a hug. “Honey bear, we missed you.” “I missed you guys too. I’m so happy that you guys are back home, there’s so much I’ve been dying to tell you.” Nancy smiled, brushing away a tendril of stray hair away from her face. “That’s great sweetie. Why don’t you give us a few minutes to unpack and get your grandma settled, then you can tell us all about prom and everything else that we’ve missed while we were gone.” Liz practically skipped into the kitchen, her happiness unable to be contained. “Ok, I’ll get dinner started.” ************* By the time that the adults had unpacked and settled in, Liz had dinner started, waiting for the food to finish cooking. She had taken a seat at the dinner table, quietly twiddling her thumbs. Jeff, Nancy, and Claudia made their way into the kitchen, each of them positioning themselves around the table. Claudia was the first to speak, her excitement mirroring that of Liz’s. “First thing’s first, honey bear. How was prom?” A dreamy smile plastered itself on Liz’s lips as she remembered the wonderful night. “Well, I’d have to say that it was the most magical night of my life. All of us met up at Chez Pierre for dinner, and then we went to the Hilton and danced all night.” Claudia grinned, reaching over to take Liz’s hand in hers. “I’m so glad that it was a night to remember for you. I remember my own prom like it was yesterday. That’s the night your grandpa proposed to me.” Her fingers absently ran across the back of Liz’s hand, brushing softly against the rock on her finger. Liz paled a little, giving her a tight smile. “Really? You never told me that you and grandpa got engaged then.” Claudia’s eyes lit up as she went back in time, recalling the night of her own prom. “Well, it was officially when he asked me to marry him. But he didn’t have money for a ring, so all I had was his word. We didn’t tell anyone that we had agreed to marry each other until three months later. Jeffrey went and talked to my father, asking him for my hand in marriage, but my father wouldn’t allow it. He didn’t think that Jeffrey was good enough for me.” “So...how did you and grandpa get together if your father didn’t approve?” Claudia grinned, a mischievous light burning behind her eyes. “We eloped. Simple as that.” Liz sat silently, taking this information in. She had never heard that story before. The stories that her grandmother always shared were the ones where she and her husband had fallen in love. How they had realized that they were soul mates, and that no matter what anybody said or did, their love was much stronger because they believed in each other. Because they simply loved each other, and that was enough. “Lizzie, is something wrong? You’ve been awfully quiet.” Liz nodded, trying to find the courage to announce her engagement to her parents and her grandmother. She had pictured this conversation in her mind’s eye, so many times. But now that it was actually here, she couldn’t help but feel the anxiousness build in the pit of her stomach, her palms sweating as the nervousness sank in. An image of Max and Noah flashed into her mind, making her smile. She could do this, because it was all for the three of them. Everything they had to get through to be together would be worth in the end, because love like they shared was what grandma Claudia had with grandpa Jeffrey. It was love between soul mates, and like grandma Claudia always said, “They probably aren’t a soul mate if it isn’t complicated.” And the situation they were in was definitely complicated. Finding the strength deep in her heart, Liz found her voice to speak. “I have some news that I’ve been meaning to share with the three of you since prom, but it’s kind of been left hanging because I wanted to tell you guys this in person.” Jeff smiled, encouraging Liz to continue. “What’s your news honey?” Liz swallowed past the lump in her throat, taking a deep breath. “Well, I guess there’s really no easy way to say it, so I’ll just come out and say it. Max and I got engaged after prom, and we’ve decided to have the wedding in June, right after graduation.” Jeff sat back in his chair as if someone had kicked the wind out of him. “Huh?” He wasn’t really sure if he had heard her correctly. Liz held up her left hand, the diamond on her finger sparking in the light. “Oh.” Nancy shook her head as if to clear it, but it just didn’t seem to be working. How was she supposed to respond to that? Her baby girl had just told her that she was getting married. It wasn’t that she was unhappy, more a little concerned that Liz had no idea what she was getting herself into. That maybe she had been caught up in the moment and hadn’t had a chance to think things through. She had realized from the night they had all spent at Claudia’s, that Max and Liz were probably going to get married eventually. But not so soon. They were barely out of high school, and they were taking on a huge responsibility that they might be too young to deal with. “Are you sure that’s such a good idea?” Liz felt tears prick her eyes. As much as a part of her wanted to get defensive and get angry, she had learned that it would never accomplish anything. She knew that had the roles been reversed, and that she and Max had to deal with Noah wanting to get married young, she knew that she probably wouldn’t want him to, if she just keep him a little boy for just a while longer. But she knew that it wouldn’t work in that situation, and it wasn’t going to work here either. Liz nodded, her brown her swishing across her shoulders. “I do. I’ve been waiting all my life for Max, and now that he’s here, I don’t want to wait another minute.” Jeff finally found his voice. “If what you say is true, which I’m sure it is, why the rush? You and Max are still so young. You have the rest of your lives to tie the knot. Why not wait? What’s a couple more years?” “A couple of more years is like waiting a lifetime. Waiting is just putting the inevitable on hold, and I can’t do that anymore.....I don’t want to.” “But why so soon?” Nancy began wringing her hands, worry etched in her brows. “Max and I are going away to college this fall. He’s decided to go to ACC, while I go to UNM. The two of us will undoubtedly move in together. Would you rather that we lie to you guys?” “Of course not honey, but it all seems a little sudden. I believe that you and Max are meant to be. I’ve come to accept that, but I’m worried that maybe Max asked you, and that you were caught up in the moment without thinking things through,” Jeff sighed. “Well, that would be a little impossible since I was the first one to propose.” “What?” “I asked Max to marry me first, but then he pulled out his ring. Apparently, just as I had planned on proposing to him, he planned on proposing to me too.” Breaking her silence, Claudia stood up, pulling Liz into a hug. “Well congratulations, honey bear.” She whispered into Liz’s ear, so that she was the only one to hear. “You make me proud, sweetheart, and I don’t think you could’ve done better than Max. He’s your soul mate, Lizzie. Don’t let anyone or anything stand in the way of that. Not even your parents.” Liz’s head bobbed against her shoulder. Claudia pulled away, quietly excusing herself into the living room while Jeff and Nancy continued their discussion with Liz. Liz wiped her palms against the denim of her jeans, her eyes asking her parents to understand. “I know that this is a lot to spring on the two of you, considering you guys just got back, but I just wanted to be honest with the two of you before you heard from someone else.” She gave a bitter laugh. “I know all too well how things can get twisted around, and how ugly it can turn out.....I know that you guys may not understand what I have with Max, but even I can’t explain it. When he goes home at night, I can’t help but feel a part of me hurting, like it’s physically impossible for me to be away from him. It breaks my heart that I can’t feel his arms around me when I sleep, that he and Noah live in a separate house from me. That each and every night, the three of us have to part ways because we still live under our parents’ roof, and that a simple legality like marriage keeps the three of us from being a family....I know I probably sound selfish, but I can’t keep doing this. It feels like I’m tearing out a piece of my heart every time we part ways....You may not agree with what we want to do, but there’s nothing you can do to stop us. Max and I are going to get married, regardless of what anyone has to say....” A sob escaped her lips, as she finished her speech. “But I just want you guys to know, that I’ve always wanted the two of you to be present at my wedding. I could never imagine not having you guys there, giving me your support.....But I would understand if you guys....if you would prefer not to be there..” Nancy stood up, her chair falling behind her as she dashed towards Liz. She pulled her into a tight embrace, unable to let her go. “Your father and I could never do that. If this is what’s going to make you happy, we’ll just have to suck it up.” She cupped Liz’s face in her hands, a sad smile on her lips. “I don’t want to lose you over something like this.” Jeff walked slowly to his girls, enveloping them in his arms. He placed a kiss on Nancy’s head, moving to place a kiss on Liz’s temple. “I’m still....I agree with your mother, but...can you give me a little more time?....I just can’t believe that you’re not my little girl anymore.” He squeezed them a little tighter, his voice turning into a hushed whisper. “Just give me a little more time, and come June, I’ll be there to walk you down the aisle.”