by Susan Isaacs
"Sure. It's pitch black in here." Bonnie stuck her hand out and groped for a lamp. She turned it on and squeezed her eyes shut at the light. She looked like Mr. Magoo. "Now say it."
"You're beautiful. I love you. What was the third thing?"
"I'm a truly fine person." The base of the lamp was a big china chicken. She turned it off.
"You're a truly fine person," I said.
"I told Gideon not to let you up here."
"I told him I was going to tell you I loved you, so I became his pal. Anything I want. His house is my house. His chicken lamp is my chicken lamp." I turned it on again and pulled down the sheet a little. She'd taken off my T-shirt.
She pulled the sheet all the way up. "Listen, I guess you'll be hearing this a lot, but I'm sorry about your brother. I'm sure it's going to be very painful for your family, and it's too bad you can't be spared that."
"Thank you. It's too bad you couldn't have been spared your pain."
"Thank you," she said. "I don't want to seem insensitive, but I'd like you to leave now."
"Why? Are you going to cry or something?"
Bonnie gave me an angry nudge. Some nudge. It practically knocked me off the bed. "You want to hang around and watch?"
"Yeah."
"Well, I don't want you to. I want you to go."
"I can't. I promised Gideon I'd ask you to marry me."
"Well, ask me and then get out."
"All right. Will you marry me?"
Somehow, all of a sudden, she knew. She didn't make any wisecracks about my having a previous engagement. She didn't tell me to leave. She just said "Yes," but then she told me I couldn't kiss her because she had sleep breath. I kissed her anyway. It was a sweet and beautiful kiss. After it was over, she asked, "Am I really beautiful? Objectively."
"No."
"Am I really a truly fine person?"
"You're not bad."
I stood up, took off my clothes and got into bed.
"Do you really love me?"
"More than anything in the world, Bonnie."
"I've known that for years, Stephen."
And together we turned off the chicken lamp, and we began our life.
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