Brittany and Lewis were the perfect couple, except they weren’t married yet. After overhearing a conversation, Brittany learned that Lewis wanted children but was waiting for her. Then he started secretly dating her sister, and Brittany had to find out what was going on.
‘Mum, welcome. Come in,’ Brittany said to her mother, who entered the house with her younger sister Carla. She invited them to dinner at her house, which she shared with her boyfriend Lewis.
Brittany and Lewis had been together for five years and had moved in together after only six months of dating. It was a perfect relationship, except for one thing: he still hadn’t proposed. Although Brittany was in no hurry to get married, she wondered if Lewis was thinking about it.
They told everyone that they didn’t need a wedding or any papers to prove their love. They already lived like husband and wife. That was enough for her. At least, that’s what Brittany often told herself.
To tell the truth, she dreamed of wearing a white dress and walking down the aisle to him. She wanted them to start a family. But she didn’t like the idea of pressuring him.
‘WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?’ Her scream made everyone turn around, including Lewis, who stopped hugging Carla.
Brittany’s mother had been urging her to get married, so she suggested this dinner to calm her down for a while. Maybe she would realise how wonderful their relationship was even without a wedding.
Lewis prepared and began chatting with Carla, but her mother did not change her sullen expression. They sat down to eat, finished, and Brittany began cleaning up. At some point, Lewis and her mother disappeared while Carla sat on the porch talking on the phone.
Brittany didn’t want her mother to pressure Lewis, so she went to look for them. They were in her bedroom. Her mother must have asked him to talk in private. She couldn’t help but eavesdrop.
‘When are you getting married?’ she asked her mother.
‘In time. When we’re ready,’ Lewis replied.
‘That’s not good enough. You’re getting all the benefits of a wife without putting a ring on her finger. What about children?’ her mother pressed, and Brittany flinched in surprise, hiding behind the door.
‘I want children, Mrs Madsen. But I don’t think Brittany is ready for that,’ Lewis replied, and Brittany stopped breathing. She heard Carla return and hurried to the kitchen to continue washing the dishes.
But inside, she was almost dying of emotion. Did Lewis think she wasn’t ready or didn’t want to have children of her own? Was that why he didn’t want to marry her? The thought almost broke her heart, but she tried to hold back her tears as she washed the dishes.
A few minutes later, Lewis and her mother came out again, and her mother seemed to be in a good mood. She wondered what they had talked about after she left, and decided it was better not to know.
Carla decided to stay with them for a while. She took the guest bedroom, and Brittany didn’t think twice. She had stayed with them before.
But then Carla noticed that Lewis was often in the guest room with her. They were laughing about something, and she didn’t want to eavesdrop, so she left them alone.
The next day after work, they went out for coffee together, but they didn’t say anything to her. ‘Everything’s fine,’ she told herself again, but it wasn’t.
After overhearing a conversation between Lewis and her mother, she thought that he might be distancing himself. She had a gut feeling that something was going on, but she couldn’t figure out what it was.
Their after-work trips to the café continued, and Brittany began to feel jealous of their relationship.
On Carla’s fifth day here, she decided to follow her. They always went to the local Starbucks in their neighbourhood in Maryland, and Brittany knew the way perfectly well. She stood on the street and peered into the shop, keeping away from the door so that no one would notice her odd behaviour.
When Lewis approached, they greeted each other and then, for some reason, started laughing. What’s so funny? she asked in a cat-like voice.
Suddenly, Lewis reached into his pocket and took out a box. It was the very box that every girl dreams of receiving. What’s going on? she thought in shock. Where did he get this box? Why did he give it to Carla? Was he lying to her? Were they cheating on her? Was Carla the girl he really wanted to marry?
So many questions raced through her mind when she saw Carla smiling at the box and jumping up from her seat to hug Lewis.
‘That’s it!’ she said aloud and finally entered the shop. Although, she was more like stomping in. ‘WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?’
Her scream made everyone turn around, including Lewis, who stopped hugging Carla. He looked panicked and reached for the box, trying to hide it.
‘Why are you trying to hide this from me? What’s going on here? Are you cheating on me with my own sister? WHAT IS GOING ON?’ Brittany shouted, tears rolling down her cheeks. She didn’t care that everyone in the shop was looking at her or that Carla was trying to calm her down.
Lewis looked around, then looked at her seriously. Suddenly, he dropped to one knee. ‘Brittany, I didn’t want to do this, but will you marry me?’ he asked with a serious expression on his face.
WHAT? Brittany thought quietly but with amazement. She stared at Carla, who was smiling and nodding at her. Had she completely misunderstood the situation? Had they been planning to surprise her?
‘Yes,’ she whispered after a few seconds of stunned silence, and the shop erupted in applause. Brittany hugged Lewis when he stood up, but she was still in shock. ‘I think I need to sit down.’
They offered her coffee, and Carla began to explain what had happened. ‘Lewis invited me to stay at your house because he wanted to help find the ring. That’s what we’ve been doing all these days, as well as trying to plan the proposal before I had to leave.’
‘I can’t believe it. Thank you so much for your help, Carla,’ Brittany said, putting her hand on the table. She looked at Lewis. ‘I’m so sorry I lost my temper. I don’t know what I was thinking.’
‘A few days ago, when your mother arrived, she hinted that you might not want children with me because I hadn’t proposed to you. So I decided to do it as soon as possible,’ Lewis explained, and Brittany almost kicked herself for letting her paranoia get the better of her. She should have listened to the entire conversation between Lewis and her mother instead of walking away halfway through.
‘That’s so wonderful. I love you so much, sweetheart,’ she told him, and they kissed easily in front of a smiling Carla, who four months later became a bridesmaid at their wedding.
What can we learn from this story?
- Never suspect your loved ones without reason. Brittany began to believe the worst about Carla and Lewis until she learned the whole truth.
- Trust your partner. Lewis just needed time to pop the question, and Brittany’s mother’s words pushed him to do so. But Brittany should have trusted him from the beginning.
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