Gaining a brother

Now that the proposal had been accepted and Anthony had been calmed down enough to return to his seat, it was time for the two of them to discuss the conditions of their changed relationship. The first thing that Rebecca asked, doing so in a serious tone, matched with a serious expression and folded arms, "What if we have no sons? Will I have to give the ring away to someone else, or do I get to hand it down to our daughters?"

Although this was very much a joke, as her talk of conditions had been from the very beginning, there is some truth behind every 'just kidding'. Just like that, there was also some hidden truth, some deep nested worries and insecurities in Rebecca's words, covered by serious questions in a not so serious setting.

For Anthony, Rebecca's way of handling the questions she had, was reassuring. Realizing the tone the conversation would have, his already worry-lacking state, became even more relaxed. He intertwined his hands in front of him, as they were lying on the table and said, "I suppose so…" But it wouldn't be Anthony talking to Rebecca, if he didn't ramble from time to time. This was one trait they seemed to have in common. Where Rebecca did it when she got nervous, Anthony would fall and slip into that mode when he got a bit too excited. There was no one who could blame him for feeling a bit excited after Rebecca accepted his proposal, not even Rebecca herself. So, shortly after getting out that first sentence, Anthony proceeded to create some scenario's of his own and answering questions that hadn't even been asked yet.

"But then again, it is possible that we won't have any children of our own, be it son or daughter. I suppose that if we have neither of our own, we can always adopt to have an heir for the ring. Oh! If you want, we can even add some new elements to it. Because now that I say it out loud, it sounds a bit unfair that a daughter can only inherit the ring if she has no brothers. But I suppose since neither can actually keep the ring for themselves for long, it doesn't matter who gets it. You know what, if you make it down the aisle with me, it is yours and you can pick who you want to give it to next. As long as it is within the family."

Rebecca could no longer keep up her strict, serious front, and chuckled behind her closed hand, before she said, "In that, I will have a race each year and the person who manages to win the most by the time the oldest becomes thirty, or by the time either of them are ready to get married to someone, that child shall get the ring." Anthony quite liked the idea and instantly nominated himself as the lead juror for each event, while the role of host and announcer of the victor, was reserved for Rebecca. With no children in sight, the matter of the ring had been settled, before Rebecca had even taken formal ownership of the ring by getting married to Anthony.

After they had talked about the ring, Rebecca reaffirmed that her brother could stay with them for as long as he needed and/or wanted to. She had no plans to make him homeless for the third time in his young adult life and Anthony had no desire to either. Although Rebecca had no doubt that Anthony would never think of kicking her brother out, she needed for it to be said, just to ease her own mind. She needed him to still feel wanted and safe when she told him the big news and for that she wanted to be able to tell him without even a fraction of doubt, that he would not be losing a sister, but gaining a brother. That he would always have a place to call home as long as she was around.

The way the conversations was going, and the way they were handling each topic, proved to Anthony all the more, that Rebecca was the right girl for him, as this type of banter, this silliness, this unexpected bravery, was what he loved about her so much in the first place. She too found their talks to be confirmation after confirmation and gave her more confidence that her decision to accept his proposal had been the right one.

After sitting in that bakery for the better part of two hours, they felt like all the major topics had been discussed and they were ready to leave. Not only did they need to make their way over back to Anthony's place and warm up the dinner Rebecca had prepared for the day, not knowing it would be her celebratory dinner for her engagement, but they also needed to think about how and when they would break the news to other people. At least the list of who they would be announcing it to, had already been established.