Dreams Of Fame
1.29 - Proposal
“Have you heard anything from José yet?” Jo asked Travis.
Travis shook his head.
José had rushed Summer to the hospital right after finding her, leaving Zoe to go back and let everyone back home now that José was taking care of her. Travis and Zoe had gone to the hospital to see if they’d let them see her, but the hospital wasn’t allowing any visitors at the time.
José decided to stay in the waiting room until she woke up, while Travis and Zoe headed back home. They had children to take care of, after all, they couldn’t leave Jo with babysitting duty all the time.
Now, a day later, everyone was gathered in the living room waiting for a call from José. Clara and Jacob were also celebrating their birthday that day. The actual dates were about a year and a half apart, but they’d gotten in the habit of celebrating it on the halfway point after Jacob had requested it at a few years earlier.
Travis had hoped that would work out for Liberty’s situation as well, but it was obvious she wasn’t going to be able to make it to this party. She would’ve already been there.
“Well, you know what they say,” Jo said. “No news is good news.”
Travis nodded. “It’d still be nice to hear something.”
“I know, Travis. All we can do right now is trust that the doctors at the hospital are doing all they can to make sure she’s okay. Plus, someone’s got to watch these children.”
Jo and Travis turned to look at Giovanna, Zoe, Clara, and Jacob.
“A long, long time ago, I lived in a little cottage in Windenburg with my husband. It was lovely! But one day, I knew I had to leave! So, I burned it down! Then, me and my husband flew all the way here, to Willow Creek!”
“You flew?” Jacob asked, a frown on his face. “I don’t think that’s possible.”
“Just listen to Granny’s story, dummy,” Clara snarled.
Jacob gulped and looked back at Giovanna attentively.
“But in Willow Creek, all the characters from my most favorite books came to life! And then there was a war. A war of the stories! But my husband and I were fine, because we slept in someone’s house until it was over.”
Jacob turned to Clara. “Even you know that isn’t real, Clara.”
“Yeah, you’re right..” Clara sighed.
“Were you one of the characters from the stories?” Zoe chimed in.
Giovanna gasped. “That’s right! I am a character from a story now!”
Travis turned back to Jo, and nodded. “You’re right. Someone’s got to watch the children.”
The oven went off, and Jo smiled. “Sounds like the cake is ready everyone!”
As Travis helped everyone set the dining table, Jo pulled her cake out of the oven. Travis helped her put some candles in it, and the two carried it over to the table, singing happy birthday.
However, the whole time, all Travis could think about was how distraught Liberty would be when she realized she’d missed one of her kids’ birthdays.
Meanwhile, in the hospital, José walked quickly down the hallway to Summer’s room. The doctor has just been to the waiting room to let him know she was waking up. He knew he should call everyone else, but first, he wanted to see her by himself. The last time they’d seen each other, they definitely hadn’t left on the best terms, and he wanted to attempt to remedy that. Why would Summer spare him a thought if her family was in the room with him too? He’d pretty much caused this whole situation with the stupid outburst he’d had that night.
He pushed open the door to her room slowly, and carefully shut to behind him.
“…who’s there?” a quiet voice spoke from the bed.
“Summer, I, uh… It’s José.”
“José?” Summer muttered, forcing herself to sit up on the bed.
“Summer, you don’t need to sit up, please, lay down and recover,” José said quietly.
“I’m… I’m not going to lay here and look weak, José. Not in front of you.” As if to prove her point, she stood up, and walked over to the middle of the room, where she stood with her ams crossed.
“Okay,” José nodded, accepting that there was no arguing with her. “I’ll make this quick then. I just want to say that I’m sorry. I was too focused on the beginning of our relationship, and not what came after. That was… so unbelievably stupid of me.”
Summer nodded.
“And… I just want to say that I still love you. If you’ll still have me…” he dropped down to one knee, and pulled out a ring. “I’d love to spend the rest of my life with you.”
Summer gasped. “Well! I definitely wasn’t expecting this! I… I want so badly to say that I’m still mad at you José, because by all means I should be. But clearly, you’re one special guy, because I’m still going to say yes.”
She stood up, and allowed José to slide the ring onto her finger. Then the two kissed.
They heard a sudden screaming from the hallway and they both turned to see Zoe Patel. She yelled something that was inaudible because of the thick wall of glass between them, then she stormed off down the hallway.
“Do you think she’ll be back?” José asked.
Summer shook her head. “I think she can see now that there’s no point in messing with our family."
A couple hours later, José had called the house, and the whole family had gathered in Summer’s room. Despite the doctor’s insistence, Summer refused to lay back down in bed, and eventually, he gave up and allowed her to celebrate with her family for the time being.
“Auntie Summer, tell us about where you were!” Clara demanded. “Auntie Zoe said that you were in this pink forest!”
“Well,” Summer chuckled. “I definitely don’t remember that. I don’t remember any of that at all!”
Clara looked very taken aback. “Maybe Auntie Zoe lied then!”
Jacob turned to her and rolled his eyes. “Like Auntie Zoe and Granny don’t lie about their stories to begin with.”
Summer laughed. “I heard it was your guys’ birthday today. So, happy birthday!”
“I wish you would’ve been able to get us a present…” Clara muttered.
“You waking up is present enough for me, Auntie Summer!” Jacob declared proudly.
“Uhhh… for me too!” Clara said quickly.
Across the room. Travis was talking to José.
“Congratulations again, José,” Travis smiled.
“I’m just glad she said yes,” José admitted. “I wasn’t positive she would, I’ve been the worst boyfriend ever lately.”
“The worst boyfriend ever?” Travis laughed. “Come on, José! You’ve spent the last few days searching for her to try to remedy your mistakes. Personally, I think that’s very admirable.”
“Well, thanks. I appreciate that.”
“Honestly, I’m just glad she found a guy as great as you. She’d been hung up on me for such a long time, and I knew the moment I started dating Liberty that she wasn’t going to take the news well. And, she didn’t. But with you around, she doesn’t drink nearly as much. I mean, of course, she still drinks plenty, she’s Summer, but not to the point of incapacitation. So, she’s going to be a lot better with you around all the time.”
“And I’m sure glad she reached out. I don’t know what I’d be doing with my time if she hadn’t.”
Meanwhile, Zoe and Giovanna were sitting on the other side of Summer’s hospital bed.
“Your school thing is really coming along,” Giovanna muttered.
“Yeah!” Zoe said cheerfully. “They’re starting on construction this week! I’m going to have them hang pictures of both of us somewhere inside, because it’s sort of like… our school.”
“Our school?”
“I’m paying for it with money made from your stories and paintings! And it’s going to be named after me because I’m the author of the A Day in the Life of Granny series.”
“Oh! That’s really cool!”
Other than Liberty’s continued absence, things were finally okay again.