Eye of the Beholder

Justin took her to dinner at a modest restaurant afterward, and as they talked, he had to seriously ask himself whether or not he really was in love with her. Every minute he spent with Taylor only increased his belief that he was, as there was never a moment when he didn't absolutely enjoy being with her.

As they ate, he was staring at her and not really listening.

"Justin?" he heard her say.

"Sorry. I was just sitting here staring at you."

"Well, speaking of that, I was thinking about getting contact lenses."

"What? Why? Why would you do that?" he asked gently.

"I don't know. Wouldn't you think I was prettier without the glasses?" she asked with genuine concern.

He reached over and took her hand then said, "You look perfect to me—honey."

When he finished his sentence with 'honey' that feeling flooded over her yet again.

She felt her eyes welling up with tears even as she smiled bravely and asked him, "Are you trying to make me fall in love with you?"

He knew he should say, "Maybe" just as playfully as she had, but he couldn't. Instead he told her, "Yes. I...think I am."

He saw a tear fall from her left eye first and then the right. He picked up a napkin and reached across and gently dried her cheeks.

"Then...it's definitely working," she told him before adding, "sweetheart", again.

"Taylor? If you want contacts that's fine. But I love the way you look right now, and I see no reason to change that—unless it's important to you. If it is, then I'll support whatever you want to do. But please don't ever think you need to for me, okay?"

Justin saw another tear fall as she said, "It's definitely working."

He stood up, leaned across the table, and kissed her.

As he slowly pulled away, he told her, "I'm glad. That makes me very happy."

When he came to pick her up on Sunday, both Joseph and Elizabeth welcomed him like he was already a part of the family. Taylor had shared some of what happened on their date and told her parents, "I think I'm falling in love with him."

Her mom nearly cried and her dad hugged her saying, "You've got a really great guy there, honey."

"Yes. Yes, I do, don't I?" she said as she, too, teared up again.

Justin hadn't paid any attention to what she was wearing, but when they got in his truck she asked, "Is this okay?"

She was wearing a very pretty black sweater with a cute, white blouse underneath. The long sleeves ended in French cuffs and gold cuff links. Her hair was as pretty as it had been the day she brought him lunch, and Justin thought she was gorgeous. She wore a short, black skirt with it and a pair of three-inch black heels that gave her a more sophisticated look than he'd seen before.

"It's more than okay, honey. It's perfect."

He leaned over to kiss her then said, "Just like you."

"I just always feel a little self-conscious in anything that's, you know, form-fitting because it highlights what isn't there. Maybe one day a little...augmentation...might be in order, you know?"

He turned the engine off, turned to look at her then said, "I love your body, Taylor. I love it just the way it looks. If you want bigger boobs, then just like contact lenses, that's okay. But please don't change anything about you for me. Ever. Okay?"

He reached over and touched her face then said, "Will you promise me you won't?"

He saw her eyes glistening again as she nodded and said, "Yes. I promise."

He smiled at her then without thinking said, "I'm glad, because I love you just the way you are, sweetheart."

She blinked several times then in almost a whisper said, "You...you love me...or you love the way I am?"

He placed his palm on her cheek then with a smile said, "Both. I love you just the way you and...I love you, Taylor."

A tear fell as she said, "I love you, too, Justin. I love you so much."

He kissed her softly and held her for several seconds as she rested her head in the crook of his neck.

"Come on. We need to get going, okay?"

"Can you hold me for just a little while longer?" she asked very quietly.

"I can hold you for as long as you like, honey," he told her.

As she put her tiny arm around his neck and held him back she said, "I never even allowed myself to dream, let alone think, I'd ever meet someone like you. And now that I have, it feels like I'm living in a dream of some kind, you know?"

He pulled away just far enough so he could look at her then brushed her hair back and said, "I do know. I really, really do because that's how I feel, as well."

He kissed her again then said, "Are you ready yet?"

She nodded and smiled then told him, "Yes. I'm ready. I'm a little nervous, but I am ready."

The welcome Taylor got was even more inviting than the one Justin had just received on his second visit. Justin's mom was beside herself at having her son finally bring someone home to meet her.

Claire told her she looked beautiful the moment they met, and it was obvious it was said sincerely. David said told her she looked very pretty, and for the first time since she'd met Justin, she was able to believe it. She knew she wasn't beautiful, but she felt secure believing she was beautiful to them, and more importantly, to Justin, the man she already knew she was in love with.

His parents, and even Joel, saw the way they looked at each other the entire afternoon and into the early evening. It was so obvious they were in love, even a blind man could have seen it.

They all talked openly and almost non-stop, and Taylor felt like she was with family the entire time.

Just before they left, Justin went to use the bathroom and nearly bumped into his dad who'd had the same idea.

"So what do you think, Dad?" he asked.

"I think you done good, son. That's what I think."

"Yeah, me, too," Justin told him. "And I think she's beautiful, too. Inside and out."

His dad smiled then said, "I won't argue that. But remember, as long as she's beautiful to you, nothing else matters."

Justin laughed quietly then said, "You were right. Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder."

His dad smiled at him then said, "I'm proud of you, Justin."

"Thanks, Dad," he said before the two men spontaneously hugged one another. That hadn't happened for a very long time, but between Justin's gratitude and his father's pride, it did happen, and it felt absolutely right.

Both David and Claire hugged Taylor goodbye and told her how much they enjoyed getting to know her.

"Please come back often," Claire told her.

"Yes. Anytime," David said. "You don't need Justin to be with you, either. You're welcome to stop by whenever you like, okay?"

Joel surprised her more than anyone else when he told her goodbye.

He hugged her, kissed her on the cheek then said, "Justin and I kid around all the time. But I've never seen him act like this before. You know, since he met you. I can't speak for my big brother, but I know he thinks you're the best thing that ever happened to him and truth be told? I couldn't agree more."

When his parents both said, "Here, here!" she felt herself tearing up yet again and told Joel she felt the same way about him and their family.

She thanked them again, wished them all goodnight, then took Justin's hand as they headed out to his truck.

This time, once they were inside, Taylor turned to him and said, "Justin? You...you don't have to take me home right now...unless you'd like to."

He looked over at her and asked, "Are you sure, sweetie? I'm in no hurry. I'll wait as long as it takes."

"I'm sure," she told him.

She smiled then said, "I'm very sure."

Justin's place was a typical bachelor pad. It was a spartan, no-frills kind place in need of a woman's touch. But tonight, the only touch Taylor cared about was Justin's.

When he closed the bedroom door, she put her arms around him and told him again, "I love you, Justin Anderson."

He held her tiny body close, smiled, then said, "I love you, too, Taylor Donovan."

She kissed him then began unbuttoning his shirt. She smiled up at him then said, "Then please...love me."

They slowly undressed each other, and at every step of the way, Justin told her how beautiful he thought she was. He'd hooked up with a couple of girls who wore glasses, and a few who were very 'light upstair's. But he'd never been with a woman was both and who didn't really have a figure to speak of.

Taylor's body really was more like a boy's than a woman's, and yet Justin couldn't stop thinking about how much he loved her or how much he wanted her. It didn't matter that her breasts were little more than large, round areoles with very hard nipples in the middle. He didn't care there were virtually no curves anywhere. He even insisted she keep her glasses on when she said she wanted to be able to see every bit of him when he made love to her, but would be glad to take them off.

None of that mattered because, to him, Taylor was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen, and the only woman he'd ever loved.

As he held himself above her while they made love, Taylor was so happy she was on the verge of crying again as she tried to take all of him in, and not just the part of him that was actually in her. Yes, that part was thick and long and...amazing. But what truly amazed her was that this man—this beautiful, gorgeous man—who'd made her feel like she was the most beautiful woman on earth, was here, making love to her and telling her how much he loved her.

It really was like living in a dream; the most amazing and wonderful dream of her life. But it wasn't a dream. Justin did love her, and he did think she was the most beautiful woman on earth.

They made love two more times that night, and when he asked her to stay with him, she happily agreed. The next morning, she made breakfast for him then offered herself as dessert, knowing he wanted her as badly as she wanted him.

No one asked any questions at her house when he dropped her off at around 10am, or at work when he showed up just before noon. Her parents only smiled and told her how much they liked Justin while Joel only smiled that 'knowing' smile of his.

A month later, Justin asked Taylor to move in with him, and without a moment's hesitation she said 'yes'. He let her know she could do anything she liked to make it more of a home, and Taylor took him up on his offer. But each time she thought about making changes, she asked him for his opinion. Even when he told her over and over again, "It doesn't matter, honey. If you like it, I'll like it, too," she continued to share her ideas with him, because what mattered to him mattered to her.

When she mentioned how she still needed to find a job, Justin told her he'd support whatever it was she wanted to do, but let her know she didn't have to work.

She put her arms around him and said with a smile, "So you want me to stay home and make delicious meals for you all day then make love to you all night?"

"I think I could stand that," he told her trying to sound very serious.

"But wouldn't it be nice to have some extra money?" she asked finally being serious.

"I make more than enough to support us, honey," he told her.

She knew that was true, but said, "But as your live-in girlfriend, I think I should be contributing in more ways than just keeping you happy."

Justin loved her even more when she was so playful like this and told her so.

"I am mostly teasing, but not about the live-in girlfriend part," she said being serious.

He pulled in close then said, "Then let's change that."

"And how would we do that?" she asked, wondering what he had up his sleeve.

He stepped back then reached, not into his sleeve, but into his back pocket, and pulled out a small box he'd put there earlier that evening intending to ask her later on. But this was the perfect time, and he was about to let the moment pass.

Taylor's hands flew up to cover her mouth as he knelt on one knee while opening the box.

"Marry me, honey. I love living with you as my girlfriend, but I want you to be my wife. I love you more than life itself, and I want to start a family with you. So, Taylor Donovan...will you? Will you marry me?" he asked with imploring eyes.

Taylor was crying openly and nodding her head as she tried to speak and held out her left hand.

"Yes! Yes, I will marry you, Justin. A thousand times...yes!"

He slid the ring on her very thin finger then stood up, lifted her chin, and kissed her softly.

"I love you, Taylor," he told her.

"And I love you, Justin," she said back as tears continued to fall.

When he married her just three months later at a rustic old chapel, Taylor's father was thrilled for his daughter and also secretly happy that her dream wedding was so much less than she'd always talked about. It was scaled back because she realized all of those other things weren't the dream. The dream was the gorgeous man she loved with all her heart.

As Justin stood at the altar with her, he glanced over at his father who smiled, nodded, and winked. When he looked back at the pencil-thin woman in white standing in front of him, the pretty woman in the black glasses who made him feel like no other ever had, he fully understood the wisdom of his father's words.

Beauty truly was in the eye of the beholder, and Taylor Anderson was the most loving, beautiful woman he'd ever known. Were it not for that sage advice, he had no doubt he'd have never seen the beauty he'd found in the face of his amazing and yes...beautiful wife.

Nor would he ever have known the joy of having a daughter of his own less than a year later when Taylor gave birth to a healthy baby girl they named Bethany Claire to capture most of the names of the other most important women in their lives.

When Justin, Joel, and the rest of both families went to visit Taylor in the hospital for the first time after the birth of her daughter, David watched his son holding his little girl and told him again, "You done good, son."

He thanked his father then told his father-in-law he was right.

"Having a daughter does change your life."

He, too, winked at his son-in-law who sat next to Taylor as he held Bethany with one arm. He put the other around his wife and told her how much he loved her.

He smiled at his dad and said to him as he looked down at his beautiful daughter and then his wife, "You were so right, Dad. But today I'd say, 'Beauty is in the arms of the holder'."

No one else was paying any attention to anyone or anything but the bundle of joy in Justin's arms, but his dad understood. And as Justin sat there surrounded by everything that mattered to him, he did, too.