A Real Fine Place to Start (Sparks Fly #2)

Part Three

Nathan sat at the table, the wood legs of the chair scraping against the worn linoleum, his fingers tapping in nervous rhythm. "I guess maybe you guys should sit down."

Lydia gave Nathan a reassuring smile before she pulled out the chair next to him, while Jimmy turned the water off at the sink.

Nathan breathed deeply, the planned speech he had rehearsed over and over suddenly disappearing from his mind as he was now in the moment. His eyes focused on the table in front of him, unable to meet either Jimmy or Lydia's eyes as his fingers kept up their steady pattern. He had never anticipated being this nervous. He knew he was taking a huge step, one that he and Haley had talked about before, but here, in this moment, it all suddenly became very real.

Nathan wanted to marry Haley.

He had never really said it out loud, instead had always just assumed that was where they were heading, and by moving together to Philadelphia to start a new life, marriage would soon follow. But in those last months at Duke, with Haley preoccupied about graduating, and his thoughts tumbling about the draft, he had found his mind wandering to a new thought. Marriage. Family. Love. All of it was right in front of him, had been really since he was sixteen and he had first walked into the tutoring center. There were times when he wondered how they had gotten to this step so fast, it was only yesterday that they were in high school, enjoying the beginning moments of their relationship. Yet still other times Nathan found himself thinking they should have done this a long time ago, thrown caution to the wind and just said what they felt, that they wanted to be together forever, no holds barred. He loved her, she loved him; it was all they needed.

But now over five years later, with the moment right in front of him, he was terrified. He glanced up at the patient faces of Lydia and Jimmy, two people he had grown closer to than his own parents, and in every way that mattered, he considered them his family. Before meeting them, he had grown up thinking that fathers were supposed to beat you down to build you up again, the way Dan had. A part of him had known that real fathers supported you, wanted you to do the best you could, yet he had resigned himself to living with Dan and the constant criticism. That was until Haley came into his life and brought her family with her. They had become his family.

Lydia gave Nathan's arm a reassuring squeeze and Nathan felt the words come, the speech he had practiced, ready on the tip of his tongue. "I'm sure you guys have figured out why I wanted to talk to you." He gave them a wry smile.

"Yeah, we kind of figured it would be coming sooner or later." Jimmy chuckled.

"I've loved Haley for five years. I've loved her completely and without reservation, which wasn't always easy for me. I grew up in a family that never really showed each other support or care, and it wasn't until I met your family that I really knew what I had been missing. Being included in your family has meant the world to me." Nathan paused briefly, taking a deep breath. "And Haley has been the center of that for longer than she probably even realizes. I love her more than I've ever loved anyone and I can't imagine spending one day without being with her or hearing her voice." Nathan smiled at Lydia, reassured by the beaming smile that lit across her face.

"I would like to marry your daughter. I want to have her be the first person I see when I wake up and the last person I see when I go to bed. I want to know that she's mine forever, and to know she wants to have me as well. I want a family, and a house, and I want it all with your daughter." Nathan paused then, his eyes moving from Lydia to Jimmy. "I hope you'll give your blessing."

Jimmy's face was a mask of seriousness, his eyes unreadable. Nathan felt his pulse pounding in his ears, his heart waiting to hear the words he had never doubted would come.