You're All That I Want

"What's that, sis?" I asked hoping everything was alright.

"Two things," she said. "First, Jeff got promoted and it's at the location here in town. We're moving back."

I jumped up excited. I was so happy to have my sister back. Her moving away shortly after our parents died was horrible for me.

I sat next to her and hugged her, "Jo, that's awesome, I miss you so much."

"I know, Chelsea. Me too."

"What's the second thing?"

Jo smiled and said, "I'm pregnant."

I screamed and pulled her into a tight hug. As I was crying tears of joy an idea sprang up.

"You have to move in here," I said.

"Chels, no. It's your home now."

"No way, Jo. I'm just here because we wanted to keep it in the family. It's too big for me. With you guys having a family now, it should be yours."

As we cried holding each other, she said, "Well, I guess I'll talk it over with Jeff."

"I'm good with it," he said laughing.

"There, it's settled," I said smiling.

"But where will you go?" Jo asked, pulling away from me.

"Don't worry about it. I'll just buy a condo," I said.

I wasn't worried about it. The house was too big for me and getting a smaller place would be a welcome move for me.

I asked her, "When are you moving back?"

"February," she said. "Our house is already listed for sale."

"Awesome. I'll move out of the master suite and take over my old room. You guys can move right in and I'll move out as soon as I find a nice place."

She agreed and I was ecstatic to have them coming back home.

*********

The end of January came and I was having trouble finding a condo that I liked in the area where I lived. I could've bought a nice one about twenty minutes from my office, but it was in the opposite direction of where I was currently. It was also farther away from Brett.

We were progressing nicely and I had considered asking to move in with him, but I didn't want to presume anything. We were already spending all of our spare time together and it felt like we were an old married couple sometimes. I absolutely loved it. He never mentioned anything regarding moving in together though and I'd been looking for more than a month.

My sister eventually moved in and I told her to redecorate any way that she wanted. She declined and said that she wanted to live in mom's decor for a while before making changes. I understood completely. I missed her as well.

On Valentine's Day, I still hadn't found a new house. I was going to start looking at larger houses just to stay close to Brett. Jo tried to talk me out of that. She reasoned that I shouldn't limit myself like that just in case we break up. I understood that, but didn't agree with her.

Bree had turned 13 on the fifth and with a little support from me, she convinced Brett that she could be trusted to stay home alone. I didn't know there was an actual state law mandating that children couldn't be left unattended until they were 13, but she did and she had it printed out and ready for her argument with Brett.

That gave us some more opportunities to be alone together. I treasured the time I'd spent with Bree, but I didn't realize how much I'd come to love the alone time with my man.

We were sitting in a nice restaurant, eating our lover's day dinner, enjoying our time alone, when Brett said, "I know you're having trouble finding a place to buy."

I nodded as he slid a ring box across the table to me.

My eyes must have bulged out of my head looking at the purple velvet case. I couldn't believe he was proposing. My heart raced, I was sweating bullets, and he wasn't saying anything.

I looked at him and he smiled. He opened the box and said, "Chelsea, love. Will you move in with me?"

I was stunned. I looked back down at the box and there wasn't a ring in it. There was a house key.

I got pissed and was just about to go off on him when he smiled and said, "Wait! I did that backward."

He pulled another ring box out of his pocket and slid it across the table.

I started crying as he opened it and a beautiful solitaire engagement ring was shining in the light of the room.

The blood was rushing so loudly in my ears that I almost didn't hear him say, "Chelsea, will you marry me?"

I cried as I held my hand out for him to put the ring on my finger. He looked at me confused as I turned my hand examining the ring.

I looked up at him and he looked stricken and sad. "What's the matter?" I asked.

"Are you going to answer the question?"

I smirked and said, "Which one?"

"Either? Both?" He said.

"Yes to both, my love."

He came around and hugged me tightly.

I said, "I should be hitting you for teasing me like that. What kind of a trick is that to pull on a girl? Putting a house key in a ring box? You should be ashamed of yourself."

He laughed and said, "I thought it was kinda funny. The salesgirl that gave me the extra box told me not to do it, so you might be right."

I playfully slapped his shoulder and said, "You should always listen to a woman's advice regarding engagements."

He smiled and kissed me deeply.

Breaking the kiss I said, "Brett, since we're getting married, I want you to go back to school. I'll pay for it so there's no need to worry about the money and Bree's old enough to handle herself."

"Chelsea, you don't have to do that."

"I want to. I want you to be happy. Working two jobs to make ends meet isn't making you happy. I could even use you at my company if you wanted. You've got real artistic talent. I'd bet you'd be a great designer."

We argued about it for a while but he eventually agreed that going back to school was the right thing to do.

Bree was still awake when we got home to Brett's house. She gave me a hug and Brett told her that I would be moving in with them.

"Get out!" She shrieked. She jumped up and hugged him. "Thank you, big brother. I love you to death but I need her as much as I need you right now."

He looked sad at that comment, but I knew he understood. Raising a teenaged girl is a challenge on its own, but Bree was a whole other thing entirely. She was 13 going on 30 and she and I had bonded and I was adopted into a big sister role. I was happy that she was happy.

Then she saw my ring. She screamed and hugged me. "You're engaged?" She asked.

"Yep," I said with my biggest smile.

"This is so awesome," she said. "I can't believe you didn't tell me!"

"We're also going to be making some changes now, Bree," Brett said.

She cried as he told her that he was going back to school.

"I'm so glad," she said. "You gave up so much for me. I'm so happy that you're finally doing things for yourself. I'll always love you for what you do for me."

"You're worth all of it and more, little sister."

I stood back, crying with my love for those two. I couldn't be any happier than I was at that moment. Over Bree's shoulder, I saw the photo of our parents. Looking at their smiles, I knew they would be happy too.

***********

Final thoughts: There won't be a sequel to this per se, but like with some of my other stories, these characters will pop up again soon. Thanks for reading! - BH