My little garden was starting to come along nicely. The first signs of vegetables were slowly showing, and I knew it was only a matter of time before I could harvest my first self-grown produce. The weather had been perfect for it -mostly sunny and warm with the occasional shower.
Sadly, I didn't always have time to take care of it. Work kept me busy, and Leon wasn't much of a green thumb. I often found dead, brown leaves between the green, and was forced to cut them off. My plants were growing nicely, but they were also dying. Whatever produce I was going to have, it wouldn't be much.
While gardening was a great way for me to relax between work and training, Leon had found an even better way.
He had spent a lot of his hard earned money on a hot tub, which we placed behind our house. I knew he had wanted one for months, but had needed some time to save up for it. Once he had put enough money aside, he hadn't wasted another day before ordering one. It wasn't the cheapest one, but it definitely wasn't the most expensive one, either.
The first night once it had been installed and set up, we soaked for at least an hour. The hot water felt fantastic on my aching body, and for a while we both simply sat there, enjoying the relaxing feeling it gave us both.
I wasn't sure whether I was surprised or not, but Leon had voiced the wish to learn more about cooking. He didn't cook us every meal during the day, but he made us dinner every now and again. He had bought a book with ideas and instructions, and I saw him reading it most nights.
His food was good, too. Every time he learned a new recipe he was eager to try it out. It had been a long time since he had last burned a meal, and the quality of his food had definitely improved as well. But even if his food hadn't been good, I was still grateful to get a hot meal every now and then. A fresh, self-made hot meal at that! I wasn't one for cooking, and Caelan wasn't too interested in what he ate either, so we usually ended up eating cereal, toast or a ready meal. The difference tasted pretty good.
As it turned out, Leon was rather popular amongst his customers. Everyone seemed to love his work (with the occasional exception, of course), but he was still surprised when one of his previous clients invited him over to her party. He was allowed to bring a plus one, so I went with him.
Mariah Carey's house was huge! And she sure knew how to throw a good party! The guests were having fun, one of them even played the keyboard. Leon and I and some others were dancing to the music, there was food for everyone, and drinks were being offered, too.
However, after a short time I excused myself. I was very curious to see the rest of her house, not just the back garden.
I figured that a house as big as hers had to have some treasure inside it, so I went upstairs where it was quiet when no one was looking. My fingers had been itching for ages, it had been years since I had last taken something. She was rich, she wouldn't miss anything, and she would be ale to replace things easily.
At first I couldn't decide between her washing machine, dryer and her light, but took her light in the end. It was fairly easy to hide, and wouldn't be as obvious as a big bulky machine when I re-joined the party.
The rest of the evening Leon and I spent dancing and watching the stars. No one said anything, and I was rather pleased with myself.
The day after, however, Caelan had a big unexpected announcement to make.
"I'm moving out, sis." It wasn't completely unexpected, of course. Leon and I had thought that he wouldn't want to live with us together forever, especially now that he was earning a nice sum of money by himself and was financially able to afford his own place. But he hadn't mentioned anything, so I was still a little surprised.
"When? Where will you go?" I was happy for him, but I was slightly taken aback by this sudden decision, too.
"Tomorrow morning. I bought an apartment in the city." So it was only sudden for me then. He had obviously been planning this for a while. "I don't need to take much, just my clothes really. Why waste time, right?"
I nodded, and true to his word a taxi was waiting for him the next morning, ready to take him away. Of course I was thrilled for him, but the idea of living only with Leon was weird, too. All my life my brother had been living with me, and now suddenly he was leaving for the big city.
We promised to visit each other often, hugged, and then his taxi drove off.
Caelan's move to his apartment made me realise something. Me and Leon - we were getting old. The first signs of wrinkles were showing on our faces, and I was starting to feel silly with my long hair and ponytail. I got it cut to something I felt more comfortable with, and was surprised by how much I liked my new hair style. Having short hair after having had long hair all my life took some getting used to, but I soon saw the advantages. I didn't have to tie it back for work any more to begin with, but decided I felt better that way.
We were both doing well in our jobs. I had been promoted to team captain, and Leon's reputation was spreading more and more throughout the city, too. We were both doing well.
"What are you doing today?" He asked me one morning. My hours hadn't changed much, so, once again, it was a Thursday morning.
"I didn't plan anything besides working out. Why are you asking?"
"I was wondering if you'd like to go out?" This was definitely a week of surprises for me. First Caelan moving, now this... It wasn't like we never did anything together, but usually Leon let me know in advance, not on the day. I got the feeling like this was spontaneous for him as well, and was intrigued.
"Sure, that sounds nice. What did you have in mind?"
He gave me his cutest smile. "You'll see. I've got a few things planned." I had a good feeling about this, and decided not to complain about being left in the dark for once.
At first, we went to this Dive Bar, called "Pigskin Bar". Apparently, one of his customers had recommended it to Leon and he had wanted to try it. I was a little sceptical at first, since I wasn't too sure what a dive bar usually included, and was happy to see that it actually looked like a nice place. There were tables outside in a little garden-type area, and the window was a gigantic fish tank.
We started by playing a bit of table soccer. I had never played it before, and didn't think that Leon had, either, so we were both equally bad at it. We did a little better at the shuffle board, and had fun with both.
When we got hungry, we ordered some food at the bar. It was too early for cocktails, but thought that the food would still be good on its own. We had hot wings, and were surprised to see how big one portion was. We had to ask for some water after the first bite since they were so spicy, but they were delicious and we enjoyed them.
"Are you ready?" Leon asked me once we had finished the wings and had played another round at the shuffle board.
"Ready for what?"
"I have something... special in mind. Trust me, Ebony. You're going to love it." I couldn't tell if he looked nervous, but he was definitely excited. What choice did I have? I agreed. I followed him into the taxi, trying my hardest to figure out where we were going for the entire ride. Once we got out and started walking it was pretty obvious.
He had brought me to the other end of the waterfall - the one that started at our house, and ended in this lovely lake. There even was sand down there, so it could easily pass as a small beach. It had been a while since I had had the time to leave the house just to be around nature, so this was immensely appreciated.
I had not expected to be brought to a place this beautiful, but what I had expected even less was Leon dropping down to one knee, telling me to stay where I was.
"Ebony, I have loved you since we were children, and you made me the happiest boy in High School when you agreed to go to Prom with me. Then you made me the happiest man alive when you asked me to move here with you, and now I'm asking you to make me the happiest man again, for the third time. I believe I have waited long enough to ask you this. Ebony Blackwood - Will you marry me?"
I couldn't stop staring at him, kneeling before me showing me the most beautiful ring in the world. The air had caught in my lungs, I had never felt like this before.
"Y-yes" I managed to say between focused breaths, feeling an incredible amount of happiness rising up inside me.
"Then allow me to stick this ring on your finger, beautiful."
And I did.
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Note: Yes, Mariah Carey - I kid you not!
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Wishes fulfilled:
Water plants
Improve Logic Skill
Earn a raise
Earn a promotion
Buy Something worth at least S250 (hot tub)
Go Hot-tubbing 2x
Meet a vampire
Steal something
Kiss Leon
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