*haha suspense is just killing you all, isnt it?? i wear my claddagh on my left hand. sorry that was an unecessary random fact. heres an update*
__________________________________________________________________________
Just as all the slagging and cheering started, Sharon piped up.
'Shush all of ye! I want to hear this! Go on, Damian.'
Everyone immediately fell silent. Damian was still kneeling, the ringbox still in his hand. He cleared his throat, and finished what he was saying.
'Kathy, I'm not sure how to say this, but here goes nothing.
Is breá liom tú. Ba mhaith liom a bheith in éineacht leat, agus déan an obair seo dúinn. An bhfuil grá agat dom freisin?'
I had no idea whatsoever what he'd just said, but whatever it was, it sounded beautiful.
'Um, Damian? That was beautiful, but could I get a translation please?'
Before he told me in English what he'd said, Paul srated to speak in Irish as well.
'Beidh Damian a bheith ag dul go dtí an eaglais luath! Cloigíní bainise ag glaoch le haghaidh an buachaill!' he yelled across the room. This was starting to get annoying, later I needed to brush up on my Irish!
'What did Paul just say to you? And what did you say to me?' I asked.
Damian blushed as he spoke.
'What Paul said was that I'm going to be headed to the church soon, and that wedding bells are ringing for me. He's craic. Now, what I said was a bit more true. I said that I love you, and I want to be with you, and make this work for us. What do you say??'
'Hmm, yeah I REALLY have to think about this... I say yes, Damian!'
His eyes sparkled and he grinned from ear to ear as he placed the ring on my finger. What surprised me was he put it on my right pinky finger, instead of the fourth finger on my left hand. I shot him a puzzled look.
'Oh, you didn't think this was an engagement ring, did ya? It's a promise ring, just for now. This ring was my grandmother's and she got it from my grandfather before he proposed to her. It's a claddagh ring, I have a boy's one. The hands holding the heart symbolize friendship and togetherness, the heart is for love, and the crown is loyalty. See how I put the ring on your right hand with the crown pointing away from your heart? It's worn like that when someone is willing to consider love. I wear mine like that too. It's only worn on the left hand by an engaged or married person.'
'Oh, that makes sense. That's so touching that this was your grandmother's! I feel honoured you gave it to me. I want this to work for us too. I love you, Damian Joseph!' I said, eyes full of happy tears.
He smiled and got up from his position on the floor, taking my hand. We were just about to sit down on the couch when Keith started talking.
'Damo, what's wrong with ye lad? Ye practically just proposed to the girl, and you didn't even kiss her!'
Then Keith started chanting,
'Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!'
'You do realize he won't shut up until we do what he wants, right?' Damian said mischeviously.
'Oh, I know Keith!'
Then he pulled me up into his arms, lifting me off the floor, and kissed me. It was a kiss unlike any other we'd had, this one was full of true, unconditional love and hope. Damian put me down, and everyone burst into applause, including my mom and Janet. I just blushed red. Sharon leaned over and whispered in my ear.
'So, you're a CT lass now! Between you and me, I don't remember the last time I've seen the lad so happy. He really loves you, I can see it even when he just looks at you.'
In response, I just smiled and blushed some more.
Lunch was sushi, which happened to be one of my favourite foods. Of course, any gathering with the lads involved slagging, more so when one of the lads's significant other was involved.
At first, nobody said anything. Then of course, Conor just HAD to start the slagging.
'Hey, Damian could you pass me the wedding rolls?? Uh, I mean, the California rolls.' He said with a huge smirk.
'Kathy, can I see the ring? I mean, the Ring of Fire jar of wasabi paste.' Paul added.
And it went on like that for another 45 long minutes. I was relieved when my mum said it was time for me, Damian, herself, and Janet to go and do the first rehearsal for the upcoming show. We four left, and our mums lagged behind us, no doubt talking about the signifigance of what had just happened an hour ago. I was still in shock from it all! This morning all I had worried about was the radio interview, and now I was promised to the lad of my dreams! My train of happy thoughts crashed when I realized the one that was going to be with Damian this week was not me, but Jessica.
I swear that guy is a psychic or something, because he took one look at me and instantly knew what I had been thinking.
'Kathy, I don't know if you noticed, but the girl wearing my grandmother's claddagh ring is not Jessica, but you..' He said calmly.
'I know, but it still annoys me you have to pretend to be with her...'
'Well, I wouldn't have to pretend if it was you up there and not her....'
'I told you, I can't do it! I'll watch today and see.'
'Ok, but I still choose you over her any day!'
'Good to know! Woah, we're here already. I keep forgetting how close this place is to our houses!' I said.
Damian opened the door for me and we walked into the theatre. It was huge in there, seating for maybe 6,000!!! I caught a glimpse of Jessica, impatiently pacing the stage, obviously anxious for Damian to be there. The four of us went and sat in the front row, adn Jessica sat beside Damian on the side that I wasn't on. She looked at my hand, intertwined with his.
'Nice ring.' She said jealously.
'Thanks.' I replied.
Then my mum started explaining what would happen.
'Alright, this is how we are going to do this. Jessica and Damian, here are the sheet music with lyrics for the songs you will be doing together. There isn't any choreography, just go with it. Let's run the first one!'
They both took the stage for the first number. As Jessica started singing, I realized it was none other than 'Need You Now'. Great, I thought, just peachy keen. Damian started singing, and they moved closer together, until they were standing a foot apart, looking into each other's eyes as they sang. Then she grabbed his hand in hers and looked right at me as she did so. They got closer still, as the song went on. By the end, she was caressing his cheek and holding his hand, while he looked really uncomfortable with the whole thing. They ran through it thrice more, the same thing happened, and he looked more uncomfortable than I'd ever seen. They took 5, and he came over and sat next to me.
'That was so awkward, the way she kept touching me. The whole time, I was thinking how it should be you and not her. Jessica and I don't have very good chemistry together, its just not working. Will you give it a try, please just so I dont have to go through that again??' He pleaded.
'I'll try, but she looks like she'd like nothing better than to fry me..'
'Ah, don't mind her, she's just jealous that I've you and not her.'
He went over to our mums, explained that he and I were going to see how it went, and then he went over to tell Jessica.
'Jessica, I'm going to do the next one with Kathy, just to see.'
'Well, I'm your partner, not her! Whatever, I don't care.'
She looked daggers at me.
We got up onto the stage and started the song, which was 'Just A Song At Twilight'. I thought I would melt into a puddle on the stage the way he was singing so sweetly to me! I was a bit hesitant at first, then he whispered that I could do it, and I was singing right along with him. Not horribly, but not as good as him, either. Our voices blended seamlessly, with his rich baritone, and my regular plus a bit of soprano voice. As the song ended, our parents burst into applause. Jessica sat there, fuming quietly.
An hour later, it was over. Damian walked me home, said he loved me and kissed me goodnight, and left with his mum for his house. Me and my mum walked inside, had a nice cup of barry's tea, then we both headed off to bed. I jumped under the covers with my clothes still on, too tired to change into pajamas. It took a whole for me to settle down. I was running through the day's events over and over again in my mind. I kept seeing Damian down on his knee, saying he loved me. I played that image over and over again in my head, until I finally drifted off into sleep.
__________________________________________________________________________
So, did any of you see that one coming? The part about him not proposing yet, I mean. Comments? Questions? Predictions? Thanks again for reading and commenting, it means a lot to me!