Her Russian Millionaire

“In all honesty, I don’t really feel comfortable trying for children until after we are married. You do still see marriage somewhere in our future, correct?” Jalisa asked.

“Yes…somewhere in the future.” Erik smiled like he had a secret.

After the three had enjoyed a cinnabon, they waited for their plane to be called. Erik sat next to Jalisa while Nikita was next to an outlet, keeping her game pad plugged in to negate the battery life she was spending right now.

“What would you do if I asked you to marry me right now?” Erik stretched an arm around her.

“What would you do if I asked you to come to church with me?” she fired back.

“What would you do if I said that I thought about what we talked about last night and I have decided to get right with the Lord?” Erik kept on phrasing his sentences like a question to match hers.

“What would you do if I said that I doubted your seriousness? Getting right with the Lord is not just a decision that you make. You need to pray. You need to talk to Jesus and confess your sins and ask him for his divine forgiveness.” Jalisa looked at him.

“What if I told you I was working on that? I prayed with you at breakfast, did I not?” Erik took her hands in his. “I want to be a good Christian and a good husband and man. I want to live my live next to you and be with you every step of the way.”

“Are you sure?” Jalisa asked.

“I am.” Erik squeezed her hands in his, a solid grip that was meant to show her how serious he was.

It was then that Erik did it. It wasn’t like in the movies. Erik didn’t make a spectacle out of her; he knew she would not want that. Instead, he simply reached into his pocket and pulled out a small velvet box. Passing it to her, he waited for her to open it to reveal what they both knew would be inside. Jalisa’s mouth opened and closed several times before she finally made sound.

“How long have you been planning this?” she asked.

“Is that a yes?” He crossed his fingers and laughed.

“It’s been since before you rescued me? Or after?” she continued on.

“Is that a yes?” Erik grabbed her hand and held up the box in her hand, trying to draw her attention back to the most pressing issue. “Open it.”

“Oh!” She gasped as she flicked the box open. Inside was a ring with a princess cut diamond set in a silver band. All along the edges sat tiny red rubies that continued all along the band. The inscription on the inside read J.P.

“Jalisa Petrov?” she asked.

“Yes. We won’t have those names on any legal documents, but we will both know in our hearts that we are Mr. and Mrs. Petrov.”

“Yes!” she cheered. “Of course!”

The two embraced over and over, kissing and hugging until Nikita came over.

“You two need to calm down with public displays of affection before we get politely asked to leave because of a complaint by an elderly white couple.” Nikita put her hand on her hip. “What’s going on anyway?”

“Look!” Jalisa squealed and showed her what was in the box.”

“Oh, my goodness!” Nikita placed a hand to her chest, but her surprise was false.

“You consulted her, didn’t you?” Jalisa turned to Erik.

“I might have.” Erik had the decency to look a little sheepish.

“He did.” Nikita laughed.

They chatted amongst themselves, discussing wedding plans, until it came over the scratchy intercom that it was time to board. The three got on the plane and never looked back.

*******

Their honeymoon took them to Japan, where they stayed for a week. They landed in Tokyo and took a bullet train to Osaka. Each day they visited another prefecture, slowly working their way back up to Tokyo, where they would depart back to England. Though it was untraditional, Nikita came with them. She had nowhere else to go and could not stay a week in England by herself.

One of the biggest attractions was food, of course. They skipped the fancy, rich people restaurants in favor of real Japanese street food. Jalisa recorded Erik and Nikita sampling various dishes that they had never had before to see their reaction. Some of the time it was great but other times Nikita looked like a baby who had just been fed a lemon for the first time.

They visited shrines and hot springs and participated in a tea ceremony. Jalisa snapped photos of her two favorite people enjoying everything Japan had to offer. They spoke in broken Japanese to each other and learned lots of new words. The best part was the monkey park, where Japanese monkeys played with the group.

The two newlyweds slept in a hotel room right next to Nikita’s. At first, Jalisa was very concerned about being in a strange place and not having Nikita by her side, but Erik comforted her through it. They made over and over and over, holding nothing back and expressing all their love with their bodies.

“I love you.” Jalisa’s hands drifted up above her.

“I love you, too.” Erik smiled down at her.

“You are perfection and I am so lucky to have you.” Jalisa felt tears prickle in her eyes.

“I feel the same way about you. I thank God every time your heart beats. You are so important to me. I…I have no idea what would have happened if I had not met you.” Erik kissed her palm and the tip of each one of her fingers.

“Don’t think about that.” Jalisa’s voice broke.

“I mean it,” Erik whispered. “You are my everything. My sun and my moon. God has made me for you and you for me. We are together by his grace. He is good at all times.”

“At all times he is good.” She smiled.

“I never want this to end.”

“It doesn’t have to,” she vowed.

She meant it with every fiber in her being. This never had to end. And it didn’t.

The end.