“Women are meant to be loved, not understood.” - Oscar Wilde
The house was alive Christmas morning with the sounds of
young adults’ boisterous laughter. With Ashlee home from college and Chad’s
four boys deciding my place was the place to be on Christmas day, the house was
full.
Chad and I were in the kitchen prepping the feast when
Ashlee decided to ask if there was anything she could do to help. When I handed
her the metallic gold placemats to set on the table, she suddenly looked up at
me and exclaimed, “Oh my god, Mom!” Followed by the question, “What is that?”
“What is what?” I asked.
She pointed to my ring finger. “That! That HUGE ring! Is
that new?”
Well…I’d forgotten to mention it to her as I’d only received
it the night before while she was out visiting friends.
“It’s a placeholder,” Chad smirked and walked out to the
living room to see what his boys were up to.
Ashlee looked stunned. “A placeholder?! What does that mean?”
On Christmas Eve, Chad and I found ourselves suspiciously
alone. He invited me over to his new
house for dinner and a movie. I mean, you can’t really celebrate Christmas
properly without seeing The Christmas Story at least once, right?
After dinner, Chad served me dessert along with a small blue
box tied with a white ribbon. He smiled and stated, “Red, I’d like to give you
this now while were alone.”
I was surprised and looked up at him.
“Go on and open it!” He crouched down next to my chair at
the table.
I slowly untied the ribbon and opened the box. My jaw
literally dropped. “Chad, I…” I honestly was at a loss for words.
“Does it fit?” he asked as he pulled this stunning ring out
of the box and slid it on my finger.
It fit perfectly.
“I’m…” I started to say as he interrupted me.
“I know, honey. I’d like you to wear this and think of it as
a placeholder. You know, so you know when you’re traveling that you have a
place – actually two of them – to call home. And I’m patiently waiting here for
you when you come back.”
“But…”
Again, he interrupted me.
“I know you’re not over Nick yet. I get that. But I want you to know
that when you ARE ready to move on, I’m right here. That’s not gonna change,
Red. I’m not going anywhere. This ring is a reminder of that. That’s all it is
for now.” He smiled, rubbed my back with his hand, stood up and offered me his
hand. “Now, let’s go watch that movie!”
**********
“Chad,” I smiled at him from the kitchen. “Can you come to
the kitchen and explain to Ashlee what this ring means? You’d do a much better
job at it than I would.”
As Chad got up from the leather chair, his boys were
completely silent. Finally, Carson piped up and asked, “You got her a ring and
you didn’t tell us?!” The boys seemed very happy with that news. His sons have
always liked me.
“Maybe,” I smiled, “you should explain it to all of them.”
We all sat in the living room together while Chad explained
what this “placeholder” meant.
