She wiped her face.
“Why did you not say that before?”
“Because I was afraid.”
“You are big.”
“That does not mean I’m brave.”
She thought about that.
Then she pointed at the engagement ring on the table.
“I took it off.”
“I noticed.”
“Pick it up.”
Ethan obeyed.
“Ask again.”
He lowered himself onto one knee.
“Clara Vale, will you marry me?”
She looked at Diane.
Diane smiled but did not answer for her.
Clara looked at my mother, then my father, then me.
Finally, she looked back at Ethan.
“Yes.”
He placed the ring on her finger.
Then Clara said, “But no more secret promises.”
“No more.”
“And when the baby cries, you get up.”
“We should discuss a schedule.”
“No.”
Everyone laughed.
Even my father.
The wedding took place six days later in the glass conservatory at Bellmere Botanical Hall.
Clara wore an ivory dress with long sleeves and a gold ribbon beneath her belly. Her hair was pinned back with small white flowers.
Ethan wore a dark suit and the silver watch Dr. Vale had given him after university.
Before the ceremony, my father asked to speak to Clara.
“I need to apologize,” he said.
Clara studied him.
“For what?”
“For assuming Ethan could not truly love you.”
She waited.
My father continued.
“I thought he was acting out of guilt.”
“He did feel guilty.”
“Yes.”
“But that is not all.”
“No.”
Clara nodded.
“Good apology.”
My father almost smiled.
“Thank you.”
“You can still come to the wedding.”
“That is generous.”
“But your speech cannot be long.”
“How long?”
“Four minutes.”
“I was thinking five.”
“Four.”
“Agreed.”
During the ceremony, Ethan’s hands shook as he put the ring on Clara’s finger.
She noticed.
“You are scared,” she whispered.
The guests heard her.
“Yes,” Ethan admitted.
“I am scared too.”
Then she smiled.
“That is okay.”
When they kissed, my mother cried into my shoulder.
Three months later, Clara went into labor at Saint Orison Medical Institute.
