Chapter 15 - THE SECOND PROPOSAL
Z
Nine months after Celeste was born, Beckett lost his first argument to his daughter.
She wanted his watch.
He said no.
She screamed.
He gave her the watch.
Violet stared from across the kitchen.
"That's a two-hundred-thousand-dollar watch."
"She was upset."
"You're creating a monster."
"She's teething."
"She is chewing on platinum."
Beckett removed the watch.
Celeste protested.
Violet folded her arms.
"Stay strong."
"Easy for you."
"I'm her mother."
"Exactly. She respects you."
"She respects boundaries."
"Same thing."
Their life had become strangely ordinary.
Beckett still ran one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the country.
Violet had returned part-time to her work as an interior designer.
Celeste attended physical therapy once a month and had been discharged from respiratory monitoring.
Her lungs were healthy.
The genetic condition remained only a marker.
No disease.
No immediate threat.
Eleanor visited every Sunday.
She asked before coming.
That might have been her greatest transformation.
She brought one toy.
Not twenty.
Usually.
Beckett and Violet had been dating for six months.
Mini golf happened once.
He hated it.
Violet won.
He accused the course of structural bias.
They went again the next week.
Then, on an ordinary Tuesday evening, Violet walked into her apartment and found Beckett cooking.
Or attempting to.
Smoke filled the kitchen.
"What happened?"
"Chicken."
"To the chicken?"
"It resisted."
Violet opened a window.
Celeste sat in her high chair wearing mashed carrots in her hair.
"This feels unsafe."
"I had a system."
"Your system is on fire."
"The oven is off."
"Romantic."
Beckett looked nervous.
That frightened her.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"You look weird."
"I look normal."
"You look like you're negotiating with Congress."
He wiped his hands.
"Sit down."
Violet narrowed her eyes.
"Why?"
"Please."
She sat.
Beckett stood across from her.
No suit.
No restaurant.
No photographers.
No violin quartet.
Just their baby throwing carrots.
He reached into his pocket.
Violet froze.
"Oh."
Beckett took out a ring.
Not the old ring.
A new one.
Smaller.
Simpler.
Beautiful.
Celeste slapped the tray.
Beckett looked at her.
"Please allow me thirty seconds."
Celeste shouted something incomprehensible.
"Thank you."
Violet covered her mouth, laughing.
Then Beckett knelt.
Her laughter disappeared.
"The first time I proposed to you, I thought marriage meant combining two lives without changing either of them."
His voice was steady.
"I thought love was something that could fit into the structure I had already built."
Violet's eyes filled.
"I was wrong."
He looked toward Celeste.
"You left because I asked you to choose a future without something you knew you wanted."
He looked back at Violet.
"And somehow, after everything, you gave me the chance to discover I wanted it too."
Tears rolled down her cheeks.
"I don't want you to marry me because we have Celeste."
Violet nodded.
"I don't want you to marry me because you loved me once."
He took her hand.
"I want you to marry me because you love who I am becoming."
His voice cracked.
"And because you believe I will keep becoming someone worthy of you."
Violet could barely see him through tears.
"Violet Laru, will you choose me again?"
She looked at Celeste.
Their daughter stared back while chewing a spoon.
Violet laughed.
Then she looked at Beckett.
"Yes."
His eyes closed.
Relief moved across his face so powerfully that she almost laughed again.
"Yes?"
"Yes."
He slipped the ring onto her finger.
Then Violet grabbed his shirt and kissed him.
Celeste screamed.
They separated.
"She objects," Beckett said.
"She's jealous."
"I'll negotiate."
"No."
Beckett lifted Celeste.
The baby immediately grabbed his tie.
He wasn't wearing one.
She settled for his hair.
Violet stared at them.
Her family.
Messy.
Unexpected.
Imperfect.
Real.
Later that evening, Beckett called Eleanor.
"We're engaged."
His mother was quiet.
Then she asked, "Is Violet happy?"
Beckett smiled.
"Yes."
"Then congratulations."
No discussion of stock.
No family name.
No public announcement.
Just congratulations.
After the call, Beckett walked into Celeste's room.
Violet stood beside the crib.
"She's asleep."
He wrapped his arms around Violet from behind.
"Remember the hospital?"
"Every second."
"I walked in for a medical checkup."
"And destroyed my peaceful life."
He kissed her temple.
"You had a peaceful life?"
"No."
They smiled.
"I used to think that day ruined my schedule," Beckett whispered.
Violet turned.
"What did it do?"
May you like
He looked at their sleeping daughter.
"Saved my life."
