: : The Proposal : :
: : Summary : : The night, or rather morning of Alex's conception. We also get to see how Rick proposed to Evy.
~
Evelyn sat at the table in the hotel caf� sipping on a cup of cocoa and a smile crept across her face. For the second time that morning, Evelyn fondly remembered her wedding night. After recalling every moment, every word, every touch, every sigh, her thoughts turned to Rick's proposal...
"Evelyn, will you marry me?" he said.
That was easy enough Rick thought. 'Evelyn will you marry me'. He said those five words over and over and over again. Even though Rick had decided on their way back from Hamunaptra that he would ask Evelyn, it had been a week since they had returned and he still had not gotten those five words past his lips to Evelyn's ears. He was scared to death. He was scared of two little letters. N and O. What if she said 'no' Rick thought a thousands times. What if she thought he was not good enough to marry? What if, what if, what if... Rick tortured himself mercilessly as his imagination ran wild with all types of reasons why she would say 'no'. What would he do if she turned him down?
After three days of pure hell, Rick decided to just ask and get it over with. But every time Rick opened his mouth to ask her, it would go dry, his tongue would swell up and his brain would forget the English language. 'da da da' where the only incoherent sounds he could mutter.
"Talking to yourself O'Connell?" Jonathan said cheerfully as he sat down next to Rick, who had a shot raised to his lips.
When he entered the casbah, Jonathan had seen Rick sitting at the bar talking. The only problem was he was talking to no one. He wondered if his sister had succeeded in driving the poor man crazy. Since they had returned to Cairo, his sister and O'Connell were almost inseparable and he knew from experience that Evy could be a hand full.
"I guess you could say that" Rick said after he swallowed his drink.
"My sister's driving you crazy huh? The usual" Jonathan said to the bartender.
"I guess you could say that too" Rick looked at Jonathan sideways then poured himself another drink.
"Don't worry. If you stick around you'll get use to old Mum" Jonathan said as he poured his own drink. "But I must warn you. She will nag you about your drinking."
"Oh yeah" Rick smiled as he looked at the glass held between his pointing finger and thumb.
Drink was a comfort to him but he knew that if Evelyn said 'yes' to him, he would have no more need to drink. She would be all the comfort he needed.
"Most definitely!" Jonathan downed his own shot. "But you've got to love her" he said off handedly, not realizing that Rick already did. "She's the good sort. And I'm not just saying that because she's my sister" Jonathan assured Rick. "I wouldn't trade her for all the gold in Egypt" he said honestly. "So what were you talking to yourself about?"
Rick actually considered telling Jonathan that he was going to ask Evelyn to marry him but quickly changed his mind.
"Nothing you'd be interested in."
Rick and Jonathan talked about nothing for the next twenty minutes before Rick told Jonathan he had something to do and left. Rick was to meet Evelyn at the Museum of Antiques to help her with something. As he walked to the museum, he rehearsed his line. 'Evelyn will you marry me? Evelyn will you marry me?' Easy. Easy as pie he thought. He could do it. He would do it. Do it before the day was over. He had wasted enough time already. He would do it today come hell or high water.
When Rick got to the museum, he had to go around back because it was closed to the public and would reopen in a week. He knocked on the back door and shortly after Evelyn opened it.
"Hello" she smiled.
"Hello yourself" Rick smiled back and leaned in and kissed her. "So what is it you need help with?" Rick asked as he followed Evelyn inside the museum.
"There's a bit of a mess in the library" she said over her shoulder.
When they got to the library, Rick could not believe what he saw. He was looking at a library whose bookcases, all of them, were toppled over.
"What happened in here?"
"A small accident" Evelyn said.
"Small?" Rick looked at her incredulously.
"Yes well..."
"Who did this?"
"Well..." Evelyn said as she looked around the library.
"YOU did this?" Rick looked at Evelyn when she did not answer his question.
"Well yes... but it was an accident."
"How in the world did you do this Evelyn?"
"I told you it was an accident!" Evelyn said, getting a little irritated. She did not care to be reminded of how clumsy she was.
"I heard you. But HOW did you do it?"
"I was trying to put a book on one of the top shelves and the latter I was on decided to stand up straight..." Evelyn explained what happened.
After hearing and picturing Evelyn balancing herself on a latter then falling into one bookcase, then that bookcase falling into another and so on, Rick could not help but laugh.
"I don't think it's THAT funny" Evelyn frowned at him.
"I do" Rick laughed.
"Well" Evelyn said and put her hands on her hips. "Are you going to help me or stand there all day laughing?"
Rick sobered when he saw her scowl and smothered his laughter. "At your service ma'am" he bowed mockingly. "Where do we... start?" Rick said as a laugh escaped his lips.
"Well..." Evelyn said, ignoring his laugh and looking at the fallen bookcases. "I'm not sure."
Once they figured out where to start, they worked for 2 hours before taking a break. Evelyn took Rick on a tour of the museum and afterwards they went back to the library and worked until they had all the bookcases standing. Evelyn told Rick she wanted to get all the books back in their proper place, but she could handle that by herself and it would probably be late when she finished. Rick told her he did not want her to be alone at the museum at night so he stayed and helped.
"I am exhausted!" Evelyn said when she put the last book back where it belonged. "It's been a long day and I'm ready for bed."
Rick was not tired but he was hungry.
"Don't you want to get something to eat?"
"No" Evelyn said. "I'm too tired to eat."
That response blew a hole in Rick's plan to ask Evelyn to marry him over dinner. Rick was determined though to ask Evelyn before the day was over and his only choice was to ask her now.
"Evelyn" Rick said.
"Yes"
Rick's stomach started churning and his palms started sweating. He took a deep breath and tried to open his mouth.
"Wha... ah..." he said as he shifted his weight from one leg to another.
"Are you alright?" Evelyn asked, concern evident in her voice. Rick looked as if he were going to be sick.
"ah... y e a h" his voice shook. "Evel... Evelyn..."
"Are you sure you're alright?" she asked when Rick did not say anything else.
"Y e a h" he nodded his head.
Then Rick stood there like a statue, a dumb statue and could not get the words out of his mouth. 'Will you marry me' seemed easy enough to say. So why was he having a difficult time?
"Rick" Evelyn walked up to him and laid her hand on his cheek. "Are you SURE you're OK?"
"Fine" he shook his head nervously. "I'm ah... I'm fine. I ah... wanted... ah... I wanted... ah to... ah... yeah... I wanted to... " he backed away from her.
"You wanted to..." Evelyn tried to prompt Rick when he just stood there staring at her like a fool.
"Yeah, I'm fine" he said, so nervous that he did not realize he had already given that answer. "I just wanted..."
"Yes..." Evelyn said.
"Evelyn... I ah... have something... to tell you" Rick said then mentally punched himself. He had something to ASK her not tell her.
Evelyn wondered what was so hard for him to tell her. Then she began to worry. Was he trying to tell her he was leaving Cairo, leaving her? Was there someone else in his life that he had not told her about? Had he made her fall in love with him only to desert her?
"Yes" Evelyn said in a trembling voice as tears started in her eyes. She braced herself for the worst.
"I was wondering..." Rick started, too nervous noticed her trembling voice and teary eyes. "I needed to know... What are you doing for the next 70, 80 years?"
"What?" Evelyn was bewildered. What was she going to be doing for the next 70, 80 years?
"You got any plans?"
Of course she had plans. She wanted to continue her education and complete her doctorate in library sciences, she wanted to become the leading expert in archaeology and Egyptology, she wanted...
"I mean, will you be to busy for... do you think you'll have time..." Rick got tongue tied again and cleared his throat. "Ahem... What I'm trying to say is..." Sweat broke out in his armpits and Rick started pacing.
"Rick" Evelyn said as she watched him pace back and forth. "What is it you want to say to me?"
"I'm trying to say..." he ran his hand through his hair as he continued to pace. "Evelyn..." he stopped his pacing, looked at her and took a deep, deep breath. 'I love you. Will you marry me?' he said in his mind. "What do you say to you... me... us... you and me... me and you... us... yeah... us getting hitched. Getting hitched, you and me" he said.
"Getting hitched?" Evelyn was not familiar with that expression.
"Yeah" Rick said, not realizing what she did not understand his meaning.
"I don't know what you mean."
Damn it! Rick thought. He had gotten it out but she did no understand what he was saying. Then he thought, hell, I jump into everything else. Why not jump in and just ask her in plain English? English she can understand.
"Evelyn... will you... will you be my wife? Will you marry me?" he rushed out before he lost his voice.
There! He had said it and it really was not that hard. Now he waited. And waited. He started wondering how long it would take her to answer. Hopefully not as long as it took him to ask. Then he started torturing himself again. What if she said no? Was she trying to find the right words to let me down easy? She was staring at him with her mouth opened but no words were coming out.
"Evelyn?" Rick asked. "Will you marry me? Please?"
She heard his question and understood it but she could not seem to speak. Evelyn had wanted to hear those words from him and now that she had she could hardly believe he had said them.
"If you need time" Rick said, fearing that she was about to turn him down. "I understand. I know everything happened so fast. But" he started to plead his case. "I feel in my gut we're right. You and me together. And I want to spend the rest of my life making you happy."
Evelyn started crying and her tears rushed down her cheeks. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with him too. She just could not make her lips move to tell him that. Rick walked up to her and took her face between his hands and used his thumbs to wipe her tears.
"Evelyn please... please say 'yes'. I promise I'll be a good husband."
"yes" Evelyn whispered.
"I promise to let you drive me crazy if that's what you want to do. I promise not to ever take another drink in my life. I promise..."
Then Rick realized she said 'yes'. He looked at her in astonishment and now he was the one not believing what he had heard. She said 'yes' not 'no'. She said 'yes'! He wanted to hear 'yes' but he was having difficulty accepting that she had said 'yes'.
"Yes?" he asked, hoping he had heard right.
"yes" Evelyn whispered again as she shook her head.
"yes?" Rick said and his eyes started to water.
That 'yes' filled his heart with a feeling of absolute joy that he had never felt before. She said 'yes'. He was overwhelmed with the emotions that were running through him. She said 'yes'. She would be his wife, he would be her husband. She said 'yes'. They would be together for the rest of their lives. She said 'yes'. He was the happiest man alive. She said 'yes'. And his dream had come true.
"yes" Evelyn said.
"yes?" A tear escaped down Rick's cheek as the love he saw in her eyes rushed over him like a flood. He rested his forehead on hers. "yes?" Rick was in shock.
"yes" Evelyn said and cried even more as she wiped his tear.
The two stood there looking at each other, smiling. The truth settling in the minds and hearts of them both - they were going to be married. Rick came out of his shock first and wrapped his arms around Evelyn's waist, lifted her off the ground and spun her around.
"Whoooaaaa!!" he shouted.
Evelyn laughed a joyous laugh and wrapped her arms around his neck as the man she loved swirled her around. After making himself and Evelyn dizzy, Rick staggered to a stop, squeezed Evelyn tight and set her on her feet. They shared a tender kiss, rubbed noses and stood, still embracing, smiling at each other.
"Evy!"
Damn it! Jonathan! Rick thought.
GO away Jonathan! Evelyn thought.
Jonathan walked into the library looking at its restored condition. "Looks like you've been working hard."
"Leave Jonathan" Rick said in a menacing voice, still holding Evelyn close. "NOW!"
Jonathan saw Rick's back and Evelyn's arms wrapped around his neck and knew what they were up too.
"Oh please" he sighed. "Can't you two take a breather. I..."
"JONATHAN! GET!! OUT!!!" Rick shouted.
"Yes well..." Jonathan said, slightly offended that he could not even tell his sister his good news. "I know when I'm not wanted" he said then turned and left the lovebirds alone.
"I wonder what he wanted" Evelyn smiled up at her new fianc�.
"Who cares" Rick said then lowered his head to steal another kiss.
At the moment, Evelyn did not care what her brother wanted. All she cared about was the man holding her. When the kiss ended, they rubbed noses again.
"Yes?" Rick grinned.
"Yes" Evelyn grinned back.
"I promise you won't regret it."
"I'm sure I won't" Evelyn said and they stood there smiling and staring at each other for several long minutes. "Are we going to stand here all night?" Evelyn eventually said.
"We could" Rick said. "Or we could go find a chaplain."
"I think the chapel might be closed this time of night. Besides" Evelyn said. "We have a lot of planning to do."
"Planning for what?"
"Our wedding."
"How much planning does it take to go to the chapel and get married."
"Rick" Evelyn said as she dropped her arms from around his neck. "We have to make arrangements with the chaplain, I have to get a dress, I'd like to invite a few family friends..."
"How long is all that gonna take?" Rick said, dropping hands from around her waist and frowning slightly.
"Six months maybe."
"Six months?! Evelyn that's too long" Rick protested.
"No it's not. Not really."
"Yes" Rick shook his head. "It is."
After much discussion, they settled on having the wedding in two months. The time passed quickly and their wedding day came. It was a small, cozy wedding with a few of Evelyn's childhood friends in attendance. Jonathan gave Evelyn away then took his place next to Rick. He would soon be family and he was the closest thing Rick had to family or friend so he stood up as best man.
The growling in Evelyn's stomach brought her back to the present. She looked at her watch and decided to go back to the suite. She was sure Rick was up and ready for breakfast and probably wondering where she had gotten off to...