As soon as I was out the Cathedral doors, I gasped placing my hand on my chest as I tried to take a deep breath. The tears started to fall blurring my vision. This was it. It was really, truly over between Joseph and I. Today was the day I had to start moving on from the man I gave my heart to. Today, I was finally going to let go even though it killed me inside at the mere thought.
I made my way down the church steps and started my walk down the streets of New Orleans. Forget getting a ride back to the hotel, I needed this walk. Memories. That's all I had of him now. Of us. As I walked, the tears kept falling at a steady pace and those once cherished memories played in my mind, slowly becoming ones that brought on a stabbing pain in my chest.
"No!" I laughed running from Joseph as he chased me across the beautiful white sand beach of Hawaii. We were on a small, spur of the moment vacation.
Joseph laughed as he reached out to me, "I'm going to get you for that!"
I grinned looking at him over my shoulder, "I'd like to see you try Mr. Morgan!" I laughed as I barely danced out of his reach. Suddenly his arms encircled my waist and my feet left the ground as I laughed. "Joseph! Put me down!"
He set me down but kept his arms around me, "I told you, I'd get you." He whispered in my ear
I slowly turned to face him and wrapped my arms around his neck, "What do you plan to do now?" I whispered back as unconsciously played with the hair at the nape of his neck.
Joseph smiled that breath-taking smile, "Never let you go." He softly said then loosened his arms and went down on one knee pulling out his mother's engagement ring. My eyes widened, tears pricked at the back of my eyes and a small smile graced my lips. "Gracie, you are clumsy, sassy, stubborn and crazy at times." I lightly frowned but he chuckled, "You're also caring, loving, gentle and beautiful. No matter where we are in the world, my home is you. You take care of me and put up with me when at times I don't deserve it. I can't picture my life without you. You managed to sneak up and capture my heart and become my world. My darling Gracie, will you marry me?"
How can your life go from being amazing to being nothing but heartache within a span of eight months? If only I had noticed the signs earlier. If only I had known Persia was after my fiance.
"You're so stupid." I muttered to myself as I furiously wiped at my eyes, "Here it is the day your ex marries the other woman and you're reminiscing about the night he proposed." I rolled my eyes as I wiped under my eye, "Such a stupid girl you are Gracie. So foolish and naive to believe he'd want to spend forever with you."
"What is that?" Joseph's voice sounded from the bathroom doorway causing me to jump
"Jesus, Joseph don't do that!" I lightly exclaimed placing a hand to my chest. "It's nothing really." I said setting the pregnancy test down on the counter
Joseph walked up behind me and wrapped his arms around me placing his chin on my shoulder as he looked down at the test, "How long do we have to wait for the results?" He asked softly
"Two more minutes." I gently said
"What made you think you could be pregnant?" He asked looking at me in the bathroom mirror
"I'm late." I whispered and he sighed, "Not just a day or two." I quickly said knowing what he was about to say. He looked at me curiously waiting for me to tell him. "I'm almost a month late."
"So we could..." He trailed off. A glint in his eyes.
I slowly nodded and gave a small smile, "We could." I whispered. We'd been in this position before. Three times to be exact. All three were false readings and each time, Joseph said the same thing. He didn't think we were ready for a baby especially since his work schedule has gotten a lot more hectic lately.
