Passed down for generations

Anthony was still explaining his sudden proposal, while Rebecca was doing her best to remain calm and listen to what he had to say. "I did this because I didn't want to lose my opportunity to be with you, if and when a chance for me to confess arrived. I am glad I did, because today that moment is here I believe, and I hope I was right in believing that." He looked at Rebecca with a hopeful expression and then added, "I know you might not be ready to be my wife, but I am ready to be your husband. You are the most wonderful person I have met in my life, flaws and all. You can see past my aloofness, ignore my unnecessary tall frame, calm the storm when I am feeling angry, and you manage to bring out the best in me. I would be a fool if I didn't try to connect you to me for life. I will do my best to help you in whatever way I can, be there for you and your brother when you need me, and make sure you feel the acceptance and love you deserve but haven't received until now. So, if you aren't ready to fill the role of my wife, I hope you can take this ring as a promise of me one day giving you that title and that you will accept whichever title you feel comfortable with at the moment, be it girlfriend or fiancé."

Rebecca couldn't believe what she had just heard and even her tough front couldn't handle the intense, pure, love that Anthony was throwing at her. It cracked the moment he said that he was ready to be her husband and by the time he told her that she could pick the title she wanted to have, slowly her tears came falling down. Anthony's words had just been too much for her. Having been rejected so many times, despite giving her all to the people she loved. Losing her place to exist in someone else's life, over and over again, she had started to close herself off. Hiding away all her feelings in order to not let herself get hurt or taken advantage of. But ever since she had met Steve and Noah, her life had started to improve in more ways than she could have imagined. Now the only thing that had been missing, had arrived for her as well. The little girl inside of her was finally feeling like there was a place where she belonged, a place where she would be accepted. That a person had arrived who wanted her for who she was and not what she could provide them with.

Anthony of coursed noticed the tears and started to panic a bit, because the last thing he wanted to do, was to make her cry. So, he began to reassure Rebecca that it was okay for her to say no, while he used his fingers to wipe her tears away. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to push you into a corner like that. Of course you don't have to choose one or the other per say. You can say no to being my girlfriend as well, … although I hope you won't…. I just thought that this could make both of us even more happy, but maybe I misinterpreted your words and saw signs where there weren't." Rebecca began to laugh, seeing as she was finally not the one being frantic in a situation. She covered Anthony's hand, which was still busy wiping away the tears that were falling, with her own as she looked at him with a smile. Anthony returned her gaze, finally looking back into her eyes, and Rebecca continued to smile in silence for a brief second, before she pulled his hand down from her face. With one hand holding his, the other was used to look for the ring from the plate in front of her.

With shaking hands Rebecca fished out the ring and cleaned it up in the glass of tap water that was sitting on the table. Doing this while not uttering a single word and just gently covering one of Anthony's hands with her own, both simply resting on top of the table. After the ring had been cleaned, Rebecca finally took a proper look at it and saw just how beautiful it was. It had a level of detailing she didn't expect from a ring that a kind, but simple guy, like Anthony would choose. Anthony, who was still waiting for an answer to his proposal, decided to break the silence after noticing her staring at the ring and asked, "Do you like it? It used to belong to my great-great grandmother. She then gave it to my great grandmother, who then passed it on to my grandmother and so forth. This ring has been passed down for generations and when I told my mother that I found a girl I liked, she passed it on to me, to give…, well to you. When we get married and have children of our own, the ring will be given to them to use for the girl they like."