Family Matters

Chapter 47

For the next few days Joe was trying to gather all his courage several times a day to try to ask Liz to marry him again. But whenever he wanted to say either Marry me or Will you marry me? again all that came out of his mouth was either What's for dinner? Or What do you wanna do tonight?

He knew he wanted to ask her again, he knew he wanted to marry her, but something inside him stopped him from verbalizing his wish to spend the rest of his life with Liz. Even after he had gone to a jewelry store to buy an engagement ring for her – he had secretly checked her ring size from one of her many everyday rings and it took him three hours in the store to find one he really liked – he just never found the courage or the right moment to pop the question again. He was thinking about making it a huge thing, like those flash mob proposals online, but then he remembered how much Liz hated them.

"Imagine being put on the spot right then and there. You would be forced to say yes or everyone around and online would hate you. And then you'd have to shatter their heart even worse later on," she once told him, "That's just mean." And Joe had to admit that he agreed with her.

He didn't even manage to propose spontaneously because most of the time they were together they were either working or eating or sleeping or at Jean's. He had missed the perfect moment at the concert – exactly ten months after they met and nine months after he had realized he might feel more than just friendship for her – during her favorite song. The moment was gone and whatever opportunity he might grab for the next, real proposal it couldn't even get close to that missed chance. And Joe was crushed about it. Crushed enough for Liz to notice even if she was in the office most hours of the day and asleep for the rest of them.

"It's nothing," Joe simply replied one night when she had asked him what was bothering him.

"It doesn't look like nothing," Liz replied concerned as she had finished putting the dishes into the dishwasher.

"Really, it's nothing."

Liz narrowed her brows and walked around the kitchen isle where Joe was sitting on a high stool. She stood between his legs and put her hands on his hips while looking down into his eyes now being a little taller than him. "Tell me," she asked him again.

Joe looked into her eyes and for a moment he thought that would have been the second most perfect opportunity to ask for her hand but again something in him stopped him. Instead he said something else that was on his mind, "I miss you."

Liz forced herself to smile a little and wiped a loose curl out of Joe's face. "I miss you, too," she said quietly, "I'm sorry, I never thought this project would take this much of my time and energy."

Joe just looked down at his hands lying on his lap and nodded.

"Do you want me to quit it?" Liz suddenly asked.

Joe's head shot up and he looked at his girlfriend with surprised eyes. "What?"

"Do you want me to quit the project?" she asked again, "I'd be working less and we could spend more time together."

For a split second Joe was seriously considering asking Liz to quit it but he didn't have the heart to do it. He knew how much the project meant to her and how much she was thriving with the opportunity and the newfound leading position that came with it. So, he shook her head and smiled a crooked smile. "No, I don't."

"Are you sure?"

"One hundred percent."

Liz returned his smile and leaned down to kiss him gently. "You know," she eventually said when they broke apart, "I had enough coffee today to still be wide awake."