Re: Home: Iris and Manning
Once, she may have gone along with things simply in response to his wants. But she'd passed those days, able now to recognize her own wants, and respond to them. It made for more gratifying times between them, knowing that their wants were mutual, and mutually satisfied. She knew, now, that she enjoyed being pressed against the wall, held there by the strength of Manning's body, and she knew that he enjoyed it too.
That he was so certain, and so serious about it, made the air escape from her lungs in a soft rush. She'd had so many different thoughts about marriage in the years that she'd known him (most of them being that he would find someone else to eventually marry), and she never quite expected it to be her. No matter what he'd said those times that had startled her and made her gone quiet in not knowing how to reply.
Even with her earlier question over the phone, and even with her more recent confidence in the sharing of their life, she still wasn't entirely prepared for him to set her down so that he could drop to a knee and hold the tiny box out toward her. The ring inside was polished to the point that it caught even the slightest bit of light and sparkled it back toward her, and it took a moment for her to really understand what she was seeing and what was happening. She reached her fingers out to touch the combination of metal and stone, expecting it to be cool, but its time in his pocket must have warmed it.
It was hard to say how she managed to find air for words, but she could feel herself nod just before she replied out loud. "I want you to be my husband..." She wasn't loud about it, but neither did her voice tremble or shake. "Yes."