Naya: Still want us to come over tonight?
            Felicia:  Not sure who is more excited, Emily or Aaron.
            Naya: I still can’t believe I let you talk me into this.
            Felicia:  Like you were going to say no when my kid asked you to be the subject of her “Someone I admire” video for school.
            A knock at the door drew my eyes from my phone. I was expecting Quinn—we’d been meeting regularly as he prepared for the Praxis, the test required for admission into the teacher education program. Over the course of the last year, he’d gone from the person who exemplified everything I hated about teaching to being one of my favorite students. Despite his tastes for preppy, brightly colored clothes that hadn’t changed, I always looked forward to our meetings. But instead of Quinn, Jake stood at my door, knuckles poised against the frame.
            “Hey! Come in.” Over a year after we first met, seeing him unexpectedly still left me with butterflies in my stomach. He’d let his hair grow out and the blue tie he wore made his eyes all the brighter.  When he leaned over the desk to brush a kiss against my lips, I inhaled the familiar sandalwood. “I wasn’t expecting you until later. What’re you doing here?”
            He shrugged. “I got on an early flight and wanted to see you.” He still traveled all the time and had been in D.C. the last few days. Flip apparently knew a lot of people and spoke highly of Jake and Carlton’s work—they’d been in high demand since finishing at Thurmond. Jake settled in the chair on the other side of my desk.
            “I’m glad, but I have a meeting with a student in a few minutes.”
            “That’s okay.” He flashed me his sideways grin and reached into his pocket. “I, uh, need to ask you something. I didn’t want to wait until later.”
            My heart leaped. Until Tyson and Eric’s wedding, I’d tried to settle my expectations, not waiting on a proposal, but after he hinted, I couldn’t help being on the lookout. We’d talked more openly about marriage and family. Though I’d been happy before, I was excited to take that new step with him. I’d almost proposed myself a bunch of times, but he always got such a kick out of surprising me, that I held back. Still, dude, c’mon already.
My office wasn’t the most romantic place, but he knew how important work was to me, and our relationship had begun through work. Is this the moment?  I held my breath, wondering what he’d say.
            “I’ve been thinking,” he said, pulling something from his pocket I couldn’t see. “We should have done it a while ago, but it’s probably time we…” He trailed off, glancing at whatever was in his hand.
            “Time we…?”
            “Look into replacing the hot water heater. There will be some good sales soon. What do you think?” He offered me a piece of gum across the desk and stuffed the package back in his pocket. “I’d hate to put off something so important, you know?”
            I hoped I tempered my expression as my heart rate slowed back down and I swallowed my sigh. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”
           
            A few hours later, we settled on Felicia and Aaron’s couch, and Emily stood in front of us wearing her fanciest princess dress and favorite soccer cleats. “Ladies and Gentlemen,” she said with a flourish. “You are about to watch my movie. It’s about Naya and it’s really good. You can clap at the end.” She raised her fist to her hips and nodded sagely at Aaron. “Roll it, Dad!”
            Emily’s face filled the screen, her hair pushed off her face with a bright orange glitter headband that matched her sweater. “Hi, I’m Emily and this is my project about someone I admire. Her name is Naya, and she’s a doctor but not that kind that helps people with, like, medicine and stuff.  She’s still cool, though.”
            I laughed along with everyone else. Emily was insistent we watch her school project before she turned it in. Aaron had been helping her edit for weeks, and Felicia told me he was likening himself to the next Tarantino with this little project. She was patting his knee, his face suffused with pride as the twins climbed all over both of them. Now that I’d earned tenure and had Jake in my life, I thought more about kids. I wanted two and Jake wanted six, so we had some more discussing to do.
            “Naya is my parents’ friend, but she’s my friend too. She is a good teacher and gives the best hugs.” The screen cut to a photo montage of Emily and I through the years and tears pricked at the back of my eyes seeing time pass from me holding her as a newborn to one a few weeks ago when she and the boys had come over to our place for the night. The dearth of photos in the middle made me sad, seeing what I’d missed out on when I was trying to be what Davis wanted.
            “Naya went to college for a long time and now she works at one. I want to go to college one day, but not for that long because I don’t like school that much. She is smart and people like her.”
            “I like you," Jake whispered in my ear.
            “You kind of have to. I’m your ride home.” I rested my palm on his leg. “But I like you, too.”
            Emily returned on screen after photos of Thurmond cycled, including one of me in my academic robe at commencement the previous spring next to Flip, both of us giving a thumb up to the camera. “In conclusion, I admire Naya because she works hard and doesn’t give up, even when things get bad and that’s a good thing. She is one of my favorite people in the world.” The film ended with her toothless smile and enthusiastic wave. “Thank you for watching my video!”
            I half expected to see “An Aaron Daniels Joint” flash across the screen, but it just faded to black and we all clapped and hooted as Emily took center stage with a deep bow. “Bravo!” we all called out. “And you did it all by yourself, huh?” Jake gave her a high five, shooting Aaron a side glance.
            “My dad helped a little,” she said. “But he wasn’t as good as me at coming up with ideas.”
            “Everyone’s a critic,” Aaron said, pretending to wipe away a tear.
            It had been a long day for us both, but he pulled me to him when we stepped into our house from the garage. His warm hands settled on my hips, the wall of his chest pressed to mine. “Hi,” he murmured, dipping his chin to kiss my jaw. Those feathery kisses woke me immediately and my body buzzed with the promise of what would come next.
            I rested my palms on his chest. “I’m glad you’re home.”
            “Mm hmm,” he hummed against my skin, lips traveling down my throat as one of his hands strayed lower, pulling me closer. “Me, too.”  Our lips met, tongues dancing, and I let myself get lost in it. With Jake, I could let go in a way I hadn’t ever been able to with other people. I began unbuttoning his shirt, but he stilled my hand.
            “What’s wrong?”
            “Nothing,” he said, stroking my cheek. “Let’s get to the bedroom. I want to fall asleep with you after.” He motioned to the tiled floor and decorative wrought-iron bench. “Well, this may not be comfortable.”
            I laughed, taking a deep breath to calm myself. “You might be right.” I brushed my lips against his playfully. “But it’s unfair to kiss me like the world is ending and then tell me to wait.”
            He groaned, forehead touching mine. “I know, but I can’t kiss you any other way.”
            I smiled up at him, knowing if I was tired, he must be exhausted after traveling all day. “You say things like that, and I think this cold tile floor might not be that bad.” I took his hand and led him up the stairs to our bedroom. “But, c’mon.”
          “Damn, I forgot I need to send Carlton something before the morning.” Pausing outside his home office, he shooed me forward. “Give me two minutes and I’ll be right behind you.”
           I remembered Jake’s ex warning me work always came first, and I’d worried about it at the time, but now I was used to the man I loved being possibly more Type A than me. When we’d first been together, he tried to hide it, never bringing work home, and I could tell it was making him anxious and leaving things unfinished left him on edge. Finally, we talked about it, about what we both wanted, how we’d balance our personal and professional needs with each other. It was working for us. So, instead of pouting, I said “sure” and thought ahead to how I’d have his full attention when he came in. I was playing through scenarios in my head as I stepped into the master bedroom, but stopped short when a video started on the mounted TV.
            The same silly opening music from Emily’s video played and a moment later, Jake’s image filled the screen, a bright orange, glitter dusted headband holding back his hair and a hideous bright orange sweater stretched across his chest. “Hi, I’m Jake and this is my project about someone I love. Her name is Naya, and she’s a doctor, the kind that helps people by making the world better, but not with medicine.” He tipped his head and grinned. “She’s cool.”
            “Naya is the love of my life, but she’s my friend too. She is a good teacher and gives the best hugs. She is smart and people like her.”
            I held my hand over my mouth. From the toys in the background to the ridiculous outfit, this was a shot for shot remake of Emily’s video until it cut to a new scene.
            Aaron’s face filled the screen. “Nay doesn’t give up, even when she wants to. She’s always been like that, and I think she always will be.”
            “Dr. Turner doesn’t let me get away with anything.” Quinn’s video was a selfie, the campus union in the background and the low hum of activity as background noise. “She’s helped me figure out what I want to do with my life. I never expected it, you know? But she really helped me find something I care about. Thanks, Dr. T!”
            Jake’s arms slipped around me as the video continued. “Surprise,” he said into my ear.
            “Nay is a force to be reckoned with,” Wes said into the camera. “She’s also the only one who can effectively give Felicia shit, which is just icing on the cake.” He grinned, and that wasn’t something I’d seen from him often since his girlfriend turned down his proposal and broke up with him.
            “What did Wes say about me?” Felicia slid into a chair on the screen. “Anyway, girl, you know you are my best friend and the person I most trust to hide a body. Sounds like it might be Wes’s.” She blew a kiss into the camera.
            Felicia and Aaron’s twins pushed their faces into the lens and yelled in unison, “Aunt Naya is good at playing trucks!”
            Jill’s image flashed on the screen and she said nothing but patted her chest twice. “She knows.”
            I wiped tears from my cheeks as the video cut quickly to another of Emily in her orange outfit matching Jake’s. “Remember, my video was first, Aunt Naya. Jake copied me.”
I laughed despite my tears, and Jake rested his chin on my shoulder, holding me close.
            His image, once again, filled the frame.
         “In conclusion, I love Naya because she works hard and doesn’t give up, even when things get bad. She loves with her whole heart and makes me feel like my life is complete and the possibilities are endless. She’s a good basketball coach and the best dance partner. She is absolutely my favorite person in the world.” Jake smiled widely and waved at the camera. “Thanks for watching my video!”
The screen faded to black until “An Aaron Daniels Joint.” rolled across the screen and I laughed, turning to face Jake. “That was amazing.”
         He brushed a tear from my cheek, studying my face with a grin. “It was Emily’s idea, actually.” He loosened his grip on me, bringing my fingers to his lips before dropping to one knee in front of me. “I told Aaron I didn’t know how I was going to propose, that I wasn’t sure what to say to make it special, and she told me just tell you all the things I like about you.”
       My voice cracked. “If you ask me about fixing a household appliance, so help me God.”
His laugh broke the tension in the room and my heart rate slowed because this was us. “I felt a little bad about that.”  I expected a joke, but he squeezed my hand, his expression softening. “I love you, Naya.”
            “Jake.” My tears returned and I brought my hand to my chest. I repeated his name, watching him reach into his pocket.
            “And I wanted you to see what I see—how much you mean to everyone around you and to know how lucky I feel to be the man who gets your love and your puns.” He opened a black, velvet box and my breath caught at his words as the light caught the brilliant stone. “Because I do feel lucky, and I—”
            “Yes. Yes!” I fell to my knees with him and flung myself at him, our lips meeting as we toppled to the floor together. “I love you,” I said, breathless, my emotions swirling. “I’m the lucky one.” I dropped my mouth to his again.
            “You didn’t let me ask yet.” He laughed, rolling so we were side by side. “Will you marry—”
            “Yes!” I said, kissing him again as he laughed into my mouth and slid the ring on my finger. “Yes,” I repeated, our eyes meeting. “I love you. I want forever with you.”
            Our embrace was tight and our kisses long and languid, the moment slowly evolving from soft and slow to heated and frenzied. “Make love to me now,” I murmured as his lips trailed down my neck, hands roaming. I was straddling him, my hair falling around our faces, the familiar way our bodies fit together still thrilling.
            “Do you want me to get the headband first?”
            “Let’s save that for the wedding night.”
             "I like the sound of that."
             I inhaled sharply as his fingers moved lower on my body and then under my skirt. "A wedding night?"
             Jake's kiss was a promise of everything to come. "A wedding."

***
I hope you enjoyed this bonus epilogue.
Look for The Fastest Way to Fall in fall 2021.
It’s Wes’s story and you’ll get to see Jake and Naya again!