Unspoken - 19. Port and Porposal

Bryce nursed the glass of port in his hands, still looking down, before finally lifting his head to look at us as we placed our own glasses aside.

“Proporrò.”

Nicolo fainted.

We were sitting on the couch sipping at port, as Bryce dropped his bombshell from the love seat. He had said he wanted to visit the weekend, without his dolce. It was unusual for him to visit alone, considering they both went to Juilliard, and thus had travel planning easy. But Bryce had insisted he come alone, and that he had news of great import to share. I am glad that both Nicolo and I had set our wine glasses down before Bryce shared his news, because mine would have dropped from my hand as Nicolo fainted, slumping dramatically to the floor. Port everywhere would have been a bitch to clean up.

It didn’t take long to slap him to wakefulness, at which point we gave Bryce a damn good hugging, before sitting back down. Nicolo was looking so very fucking proud, but I just signed ‘why?’ and leant back, picking up and sipping at my port. Bryce had brought it, we generally didn’t drink wine, but this was obviously a special occasion. I don’t know how he got it, being only 20, but I didn’t care; he’s always been more mature than his age would suggest, and he’s never made a serious mistake.

“Dad, you once told me that you had the epiphany that you wanted to marry papà when you realized you couldn’t imagine life without him. Papà, you said you realized you were going to propose when you thought of seeing another dawn without dad. I feel like that. I feel like I would die if I ever had to wake up knowing I’d not see that face. Just the… just the thought… fa male al cuore.”

‘Does P know how you feel?’

Bryce shook his head laughing. “Of course dad. We’ve been saying ‘ti amo’ for two years now.“

“Sei ancora a scuola, Bryce, non pensi che sia troppo presto?”

“No, papà. Il matrimonio sarebbe dopo la laurea, ma non vedo l'ora di fare la proposta.”

We nodded, agreeing.

‘B, you’ve always had a good head on your shoulders, and even if we disagreed we wouldn’t stand in the way of love. We love P almost as much as you do. You fit each-other so well.’

He nodded, “Yes. I wanted to tell you two in person, and I wanted to get your opinion on my idea.”

“Qual è il vostro piano?”

“I’ve made reservations for June for a romantic weekend at a cabin in the Adirondacks outside Lake Placid, and a hike to Wanika Falls. I want to propose at the bottom.”

Nicolo smiled “Circondati dalla natura.”

I agreed. ‘P will love it, loves anything to do with waterfalls. Romantic, quiet, beautiful.’

“Perfezione.”

‘Have you got rings yet?’

Bryce nodded, pulling two small boxes out of his pocket, handing them over. “I’ve been setting money aside since my first ballet.”

We each took one and opened them up to see. I stroked the bluish silver metal with a finger gentle as if it were fragile, even though I knew in my mind it wasn’t. A glint caught my eye, and I shifted the box to read the inscription on the inside of the ring.

AMORE INFINITE B & P

I leant over and peeked at the one Nicolo was examining, and gently shifted it so he could see the engraving as well. He looked up at Bryce, who smiled nervously. “Perfetti,” said Nicolo, and Bryce’s smile widened. ‘I agree. Perfect for you two. We love you, B. Bring P with us to the Bucello Christmas, we’ll buy a fourth ticket. You have our blessing.’

I don’t think he really believed he wouldn’t really get it. They’ve been dating since they first kissed when they were fifteen, and Bryce has been over the moon for his dolce the whole time.

“Bryce, ti ricordi quando ci siamo conosciuti?” He nodded. “Da allora avete fatto molta strada e non potremmo essere più orgogliosi.”

Bryce stood, and he slid over to us, pulling us both into a happy teary hug. “Ti amo, padri, ti amo.”