Chapter 13 - The Promise Under the Stars
Later that night, after Leo had finally fallen fast asleep in the top bunk of the cabin’s rustic bedroom—exhausted from a full day of swimming, chasing frogs, and eating s'mores—Jessi and I stepped out onto the wooden deck overlooking the dark, glassy expanse of the lake.
The night sky was a vast, glittering canopy of stars, completely unpolluted by city lights. Millions of distant suns burned silently in the dark, reminding me of how small we were, and yet how enormous our choices felt in the grand scheme of things.
Jessi leaned against the wooden railing, wrapped in a heavy wool blanket, her breath pluming softly in the cool night air. I walked up behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist and pulling her back against my chest, resting my chin on her shoulder.
“Are you okay?” I whispered, feeling the steady, strong rhythm of her heartbeat beneath the fabric.
“I’m better than okay,” she murmured, tilting her head back to rest against my collarbone. “For the first time in seven years, I feel like the other shoe has finally dropped. Your mother is gone. My health is coming back. And Leo... Leo has his father.”
“He always had his father,” I said softly, tightening my grip around her. “I was just too blind and too far away to realize it.”
“You’re here now,” she turned in my arms, wrapping her hands around the back of my neck, her dark eyes shining in the starlight. “That’s all that ever mattered, Ivan.”
We stood there in the quiet stillness of the northern woods, listening to the gentle lapping of the water against the wooden dock and the distant call of a night owl in the pines. The ghosts of the past were finally laid to rest, buried beneath the weight of truth, forgiveness, and a love that had survived a seven-year war.
“There’s one more thing we need to do when we get back to town,” I said, a slow smile spreading across my face in the dark.
Jessi raised an eyebrow, a playful spark returning to her eyes. “Oh? What’s that? Remodel the kitchen again?”
“No,” I said, reaching into my pocket and pulling out a small, simple platinum band that had been sitting in my wallet ever since the day we visited base legal. I dropped down onto one knee right there on the wooden deck, looking up at her under the blanket of a million stars. “I need to do it right this time. No rushed goodbyes, no deployment orders waiting in the car, and no secrets. Jessica Miller... will you marry me—again?”
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Jessi gasped, her hands flying up to cover her mouth as tears welled up in her dark eyes. She didn't hesitate for a single second. She dropped down to her knees right beside me on the rough wooden planks, throwing her arms around my neck and knocking us both backward onto the deck in a tangle of limbs and laughter.
“Yes,” she whispered fiercely against my lips, her voice thick with happy tears. “Yes, a million times yes.”
