Twin Flames, Two Souls Journey Through Time – The Professor - Chapter 20

                  As the months rolled on, Daniel and Amelia fell into a lovely normal, and thankfully boring existence.  Amelia continued writing, Daniel continued teaching, and they continued growing together as a couple.  He still lived in his apartment in San Mateo, and Amelia lived in her house in Vallejo with Lucy and their five cats.  They each spent nights at the other’s house while continuing on with their daily life.  They discussed moving in together but couldn’t decide where to live.  Amelia and Lucy had grown to love the area they were living, especially the city of Napa, they loved the way the houses looked, the neighborhoods, the proximity to a lot of The East Bay.  They loved the Peninsula too; it was where they were born and raised and spent the majority of their lives living, plus they also knew all the good places to eat there, while they were still struggling to find good restaurants on this side of the Bay.  Daniel grew up in Sonoma County, so Napa is part of his old stomping grounds.  His father still lived in Sonoma, and he liked the idea of being close to his father, but that commute was way too much on a daily basis. With traffic it takes two and half hours to get to Oceanview from Vallejo, Napa would add another hour to that with traffic.  Even without any traffic it would be an hour and half commute each way every single day.  After all he was the only one who had a job that required commuting, both Amelia and Lucy could work from home.  Amelia suggested a Tuesday and Thursday late morning class, where he stays in San Mateo on Tuesday and Wednesday night, and then comes back to Napa on Thursday.  That way he really only commutes once each way per week.  The idea intrigued him but would require keeping his apartment.  Since both of them were still under rental agreements at the moment the decision wasn’t imminent. 

                  Amelia’s birthday was coming up, and ever since Amelia mentioned the idea of spending Christmas in Paris, he had started discussing his idea with Lucy.  He wanted to take Amelia to Paris for Christmas and New Year’s as she had always wanted to spend time visiting the sights and then he thought about asking her to marry him while there.  He knew how close Amelia was to Lucy, so he wanted to both ask her opinion and in a weird way her permission.  Amelia would be the first to say that she doesn’t need anyone’s permission about her life, but he also remembered during their first meeting that she said her and Lucy were a package deal.  Being an only child, he would never understand the closeness between Amelia and Lucy, but their bond was undeniable, and Lucy had become a trusted friend to Daniel as well over the months that he and Amelia had been dating.  He also wanted to keep it as a surprise which would be difficult with how much of a bloodhound Amelia is.  So, while Amelia was in the shower Daniel went over to Lucy’s side of the house, “Lucy do you have a second, I wanted to ask your opinion about something?”  “Are you going to ask me to help you pick out a ring for Amelia,” a nonchalant smile on her face?  Daniel felt flustered, “I was actually going to ask you about surprising Amelia with a trip to Paris for Christmas for her birthday gift, but yeah I was thinking of asking her to marry me while we were in Paris.”  “She would love that, can I give you one piece of advice,” “please that’s why I’m here, that and to make sure you are ok with the idea?  Amelia has made it perfectly clear that you and she are a package deal.”  “Ask her on our parent’s anniversary, 12/27, she thinks of their anniversary as a lucky day since they were married for almost sixty-five years.”  “That is such a great idea, thank you.  What about the other part?”  Lucy looked at him questioningly, “are you ok with our getting married, I don’t want to make you think that you are not welcome, she has said that if you and I were drowning, she was saving you.  I don’t have siblings, but it doesn’t take a genius to see how close the two of you are.”  “When Amelia would talk about you before you started dating, she always talked about the connection she felt towards you.  I couldn’t relate to what she was saying, I still can’t as it is nothing that I have ever felt before, but I have watched the two of you interact for a while now, even when neither of you were aware that I’m watching, the connection between the two of you is undeniable.  I’m happy for Amelia and for you Daniel, and we keep to ourselves, as long as you are fine with it, I’m happy to keep things the way they are.”  Daniel felt relieved, “As you know I grew up as an only child, I was unsure initially, but I have grown attached to you and I feel the same as Amelia, we want you with us.”  “I will say it is nice to have someone to play scrabble with, Amelia refuses to play with me.”  Daniel laughed, “Yeah your ability to triple word score nearly every word drives her nuts.”  “When you come from a large family competitiveness is part of the gig.”  “Can I ask your opinion on what kind of ring to get her?”  “Amelia doesn’t care about having a huge diamond ring, she actually prefers sapphires, and since it’s your birth stone that would be a good choice.  Her preference would probably be for a pink one.”  “I know she always wears that multi-color sapphire ring, so I was thinking the same thing.”  “That ring isn’t real either, Amelia would rather the stone look perfect than a cloudy ‘real’ stone.  Don’t feel the need to spend a ridiculous amount on a ring.”  “I know she doesn’t care about those things, but I also know she is particular, maybe I should just ask her, and we pick out the ring together?”  “She doesn’t need an engagement ring, you could just make her a wedding band, maybe with an unusual design,”  “unusual design?” Lucy pulled up some pics and showed Daniel types of rings that Amelia would like.  “Ok I get what you mean, different colors and shapes of stones.”  “Yes, she would like that.”  Daniel heard Amelia open the bathroom door, “She just got out of the shower I better go, but thank you so much,” and he gave her a hug. 

                  Daniel took Amelia out to a nice dinner in Jenner, a nod to their first weekend together.  After dinner they went for a walk along the beach to watch the sunset.  There is where he handed her the birthday card which included the trip information.  Amelia opened the card and was smiling as she read it, when she got to the part about the trip to Paris for Christmas and New Years, she stumbled out, “what is this?”  “We talked about doing trips, and you mentioned you wanted to see Paris during Christmas and New Years, I spoke with Lucy about it, and she said you would love it.  Do you not like it?”  Amelia had unshed tears in eyes, and she gave him a tight hug, “I love it, I can’t believe you did this, it’s too much, the dinner was more than enough.”  “I mean it’s a gift for me too.”  They walked over to a large piece of driftwood to sit down, and Amelia laid her head on his shoulder.  “I love the gift Daniel, but it feels too big,” “You don’t get to decide that, it’s my gift to you.”  She nudged him with her shoulder and kissed his cheek.  “So, when do we leave?”  “We leave on Christmas day and leave on January 4^th; I’m going to have to really buckle down to do my grades before the trip.”  “I can help, I know you have to grade, but I can do anything else you need me to,” “I may take you up on that.”  “Daniel?”  “Yes Amelia…”  “How would you feel if I upgraded us to first class for the trip?”  “That’s a lot of money Amelia, like over ten thousand dollars a ticket.”  “Maybe business class then, it can be my Christmas present.”  “Let’s talk about it later,” and they sat on the log while watching the sun set. 

                  Amelia was getting really excited about their trip to Paris, and when Daniel said that he thought it would be nice to celebrate what would have been her parent’s sixty-seventh wedding anniversary by having a nice dinner at the Jules Verne restaurant inside the Eiffel Tower, she thought it would be fun to get all gussied up for the date.  They will be in Paris; they should treat themselves to something special from the fashion capital of the world.  One evening she asked, “Daniel,” “Yes Amelia?”  Since we are celebrating my parent’s anniversary with a nice dinner, I thought that it might be nice to for us to get something nice.”  “What do you mean by nice?”  “I thought something bespoke, a nice suit for you and a dress for me.  It would be my treat, since you paid for the trip and we both agreed that upgrading the flight is too expensive.”  Daniel tried not to smile, Amelia always got this lilt in her voice when she wanted to ask him something that she was afraid he would say no to, he loved the idea, it would be perfect for the proposal.  He didn’t want to make it seem like he was too eager with the idea, after all he was trying to keep the proposal a surprise.  “You always get this funny tone to your voice when you are about to ask me something, do I make you nervous?”  “No, I think it is because Matt always pitched a fit about my spending money, or making plans without discussing it with him, because he didn’t like feeling like he owed my anything.”  “I’m not Matt,” “Oh trust me I know, for one you have managed in the four months we have been together not to ever stick your dick inside someone else, or put me down, or yell at me and then hang up on me.  I know you are nothing like him, I just don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.”  “Amelia, I think it’s a great idea, we are going to be in Paris, we might as well play the part, and we can always wear them again.”  “Thank you,” “Why are you thanking me, you’re buying the outfits.”  “Thank you for being sweet and appreciative of it, and for being willing to do something girlie.”  Amelia was chewing on her lower lip, which is her tell that she has something else she wants to say and is unsure of it, “You’re chewing your bottom lip, spit it out Amelia.”  “I don’t want to be bossy,” “but you can’t help it.”  She gave him a side eye with a smirk, “I love the look of a plaid pant with a velvet jacket, would you be ok with that?”  “I’m fairly simple, but I’m willing to try it on.”  She leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek, “Thank you for being willing to try, reason number 10,241 why I love you.”  

                  They were sitting in their seats on the flight, they upgraded to premium economy, and they were able to sit in a row with just two seats, Daniel took the window, and Amelia took the aisle.  She was not the biggest fan of flying, and this would be the first time she and Daniel would be flying together.  She has this weird ritual of humming Take Me Out to the Ballgame during takeoff, she does so silently in her head, but it helps calm her down.  Daniel saw her mouthing the words as the plane started accelerating and asked, “what are you saying?”  “I hum take me out to the ballgame in my head during takeoff, I don’t know why that song, other than I know all the words, it helps take my mind off of this metal torpedo speeding down the runway.”  He squeezed her hand as they sped down the runway until they were finally in the air.  It’s an eleven hour flight so they had brought things to occupy them during the flight.  Daniel pulled out Amelia’s latest book to read, when she looked over she couldn’t help but start laughing, “really??”  “What, you wouldn’t let me read it, a sale is a sale honey,” and he gave her a quick peck on the cheek.  The flight attendant saw the book he was reading and mentioned how she hadn’t had a chance to pick it up yet, but she is looking forward to reading it.  Daniel got a coy smile, “really, you know I actually know the author?”  “I heard she keeps a pretty low profile, so is she nice or a Karen?”  Amelia tried really hard to keep a straight face, as did Daniel, “she’s actually quite lovely, I’ll tell her how I met a fan of hers today, it will make her day.”  She handed them their drinks and went down the aisle with the cart.  Amelia looked at him with her peripheral vision and shook her head, “Really??”  He whispered into her ear, “what I can’t be proud of you; besides you know what is does to me when you turn that delicious shade of pink.”  Amelia shifted in her seat, “it’s an eleven hour flight, don’t start what we can’t finish.”  Her unique shade of pink started to tinge the tops of her ears, which forced him to have to cross his legs, the reaction caused a smirk to form on her face. 

                  They touched down at Charles de Gaulle the next morning, they had managed to get a little sleep on the plane, but she was going to need to take a shower and a nap as soon as they got to their suite, no matter how much she wanted to go touring the city.  Driving past the Eiffel Tower took her breath away, she had always felt compelled to see Paris and the Eiffel Tower, once she had met Daniel she realized it was because her and Daniel had had a wonderful life there.  They both stared out the taxi windows taking in the city, Amelia rolled the window down a little to smell the snow and feel the cool air hit her face.  Daniel had gotten used to her always being hot, he’s learned to always have a sweatshirt handy.  “The city feels so familiar doesn’t it,” he said to her, “I know it’s surreal.”  He squeezed her hand while they each stared out their own window.  Daniel had rented an amazing apartment with a view of the Eiffel Tower, once inside he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind as they stared out the apartment’s window, “not a bad view huh?”  She turned to face him, “This is amazing, even more amazing is that I’m here with you, and that you did all of this for me, simply because I said I had always wanted to spend Christmas and New Years in Paris.”  “Well technically, it’s the 26^th,” “I do not care, holidays aren’t important to me, I don’t have any happy childhood memories surrounding them.  They are just another day; it’s more the idea of being here during this time.  Thank you so much,” and she gave him a deep and passionate kiss, he pulled away and said, “I thought you wanted to take a shower and a nap when you got to the room,” he said with his signature cheeky grin.  “I do, but since I’m going to be taking a shower, I might as well be dirty when I do it.”  He loved her smart mouth, and she was more than happy to remind him why.

                  They woke with the soft lights of the city gently filtering into the bedroom, Daniel squeezed his arms that were already currently wrapped around Amelia a litter tighter.  She turned to look at him and gently caressed his face.  He said, “While I could stay here forever, I’m starving, we should get dressed and at least get something to eat, and we can do a little exploring tonight.”  “Agreed, plus we worked up an appetite,” she said with a mischievous smirk as she rubbed her nose against his.  They got dressed and wound up having dinner at a tiny bistro down the street and then taking a walk around the city afterwards. 

                  The next morning, they got up and needed to go to the designer’s boutique to get their outfits that were specially made for their dinner that night.  Amelia wanted to keep the outfits a surprise, but she loved her beautiful navy dress, that would coordinate with the black watch plaid slacks that were part of Daniels suit.  They got back to the apartment later than they expected and started getting ready for their dinner.  As Daniel was getting ready he pulled the ring from out of his bag, surprised that he had been able to keep Amelia from finding it or about it.  He had chosen a three stone pink sapphire ring the center stone a darker shade of pink, and the side stones a lighter shade.  Lucy told him that Amelia would absolutely love it.  As he stared at himself in the mirror, he started getting nervous, not at the idea of asking Amelia to marry him, but at the possibility that she may say no, it’s only been five months.  She has never once brought up marriage, but he noticed how she always watched the videos of different wedding dresses that came across her feed as she scrolled.  He knew that most women dream about their wedding days, so he figured it was just something women did.  Now that the moment was upon him he was starting to get nervous.  The bedroom door opened and Daniel ‘s mouth dropped open, and his hand reflexively went up to his heart looking at Amelia in her navy dress.  “You look stunning Amelia,” she blushed and averted her eyes briefly as she made her way over to him.  He looked so handsome in his plaid pants and navy velvet blazer with black satin lapels.  “You look so handsome,” and she ran her fingers gently along his lapels.  Daniel felt overwhelmed and had tears well up in his eyes, “what’s wrong, why do you look like you are going to cry?”  “Nothing, I just can’t believe how amazing you are, and how lucky I am,” “I think we are both lucky personally,” and she gave him a chaste kiss, then she gently wiped away the hint of her red lipstick that stained his lips.  He looked at Amelia and he was overcome, “I had made special arrangements to do this at the restaurant, but I don’t think I can wait,” Amelia looked at him puzzled as she saw him get down on one knee, and pull out a ring box from his pocket, “Amelia Anne Jenkins these past five months have been the happiest of my life, every day I spend with you I think that I can’t possibly love you more, and yet every single day you somehow make me love you more than I did the day prior.  I know it’s fast, but the thought of living without you is uncomprehensible to me, will you marry me?”  Amelia was stunned into silence, which was a rare moment indeed, with tears in her eyes she responded, “are you sure?”  He nodded his head in response, “I can’t imagine spending my life without you either, of course I’ll marry you.”  He placed the absolutely stunning ring on her finger, and he stood back up and hugged her tightly, “I can’t breathe,” she squeaked out and he pulled away and they laughed.  He went to kiss her, but she pulled back and pointed to her crimson lips, “I don’t care about some lipstick,” “I don’t either, but if you kiss me we will never make our reservation, and we look too good not to go out.”  He pushed out his lips into a pout and responded, “FINE!”  Amelia booped his nose and replied, “while I can’t wait to peel you out of those slacks and jacket, it took me three hours to primp and squeeze myself into this beautiful dress, and we both look so good we should go to dinner, and then we can have our way with each other when we get back.”  He nuzzled into her neck and whispered, “you sure.”  Amelia could feel here resolve waning, he knew that her neck was her kryptonite, as his hands wrapped around her waist pulling her close against his erection, “careful, those are bespoke, you’re going to bust the zipper.”  Daniel couldn’t help but laugh, as he dragged himself away from her.  He kissed her cheek and grabbed her hand as they walked towards the door and hailed a taxi to the restaurant. 

                  During dinner Amelia kept staring down at the ring Daniel had gotten her, “Do you like the ring,” he asked?  “Yes, it’s beautiful, you did good,” “Lucy helped,” “I figured.  I can’t believe you were both able to keep this from me.”  “Me either, you’re such a little blood hound I thought for sure you would find it.”  “Nope I was completely caught off guard.”  As she said that Amelia saw an older couple across the restaurant and she was reminded of the date and her parents, and how they wouldn’t be at her wedding.  Daniel held her hand across the table, “I know I wish my mom could be at our wedding too.”  Amelia was in awe of this man sitting across from her, “I really wish sometimes you weren’t so good at reading my mind.”  “I can’t read your mind, but you get this melancholy look on your face whenever you are thinking of them.”  “It is really sweet that you asked me to marry you on their anniversary, that date is special to me, it represents sixty-five years of love.”  “It was actually Lucy’s idea; I can’t believe I didn’t think of it myself.”  “How would you feel about us getting married on the same day?  I know it’s two days after Christmas, and it won’t be convenient for our guests, but I don’t really want a big wedding, do you?”  “We have a while to figure it out, I don’t imagine 12/27 is a busy day for venues.”  “Probably not, my parents were married at City Hall, I imagine it was probably the first day they were open after Christmas.  My mom said she didn’t even know she was getting married; she was in a red raincoat.  She said her sister had made her a wedding dress, but she let Sally wear it in the backyard.  Being nine months pregnant at the time she probably wouldn’t have fit in it, but I wish I could have at least seen it.  My mom said it was beautiful.  It’s a shame she wasn’t the least bit sentimental.”  “It’s too bad we are here alone; the way we look today we could totally get away with getting married right now.”  “Why don’t we get married now?”  “Because our family isn’t here, I was just joking.”  “I know, but why not?  We are dressed up, I mean it won’t be legal, but this can be just for us, and then we can have the official wedding next year.  We can tell everyone we got engaged, but no one else needs to know about this but us.”  “I actually really like that idea, but it’s 8pm at night, there is no one who can marry us tonight.”  “I bet if we asked the waiter he would have a suggestion, it would be strictly ceremonial, there is no legality to it.  We are inside this beautiful restaurant inside the Eiffel Tower, in the City of Light.  What else do we need?”  Daniel looked into her eyes, she was right as usual, what else do they need, “OK, I’m in, but I’m not sure where we are going to find anyone.”  “Leave that to me,” she replied, and she was off and running.  One thing he absolutely loved about Amelia was her tenacity, once she put her mind to something she was going to complete it come hell or high water.  Her eyes get incredibly intense, and she gets this cute little furrowed brow.  When the waiter stopped by the table she asked if she could speak with him for a moment, and when she came back she had a huge smile on her face. “I take it, it went well.”  “He said he would see what he could do, that the chef apparently knows someone who knows someone, his accent was a little hard to follow.  Have you changed your mind?”  “No, of course not.  I just don’t want you to be disappointed if it doesn’t work out.”  “I won’t be, it’s just a silly idea, in truth it doesn’t matter to me if we are married, as long as we are together.  I mean I’m human, I have dreamed of having a wedding, and I love looking at wedding gowns, but I don’t need it.  A piece of paper doesn’t make me feel secure, it’s YOU that makes me feel secure and loved.”  Daniel could feel the emotion welling up in his throat, and he squeezed her hand from across the table.  The waiter came up to the table with a bottle of champagne and told them it was complements of the chef.  About thirty minutes later a man in a dark suit came to our table, he introduced himself as Pierre Moreau and explained that he was a member of Parliament and related to the chef’s wife, and that he would be happy to marry us symbolically. 

                  They went out on the viewing deck of the restaurant, the cold air from that height was cold even for Amelia.  Pierre started, “We are here to join the two of you together as a family.  May you always remember that while love is important, developing patience and kindness towards each other is what will help during difficult times.”  Daniel squeezed Amelia’s hand tightly.  Due to the frigid temperature Pierre continued with the vow’s, Daniel turned and faced Amelia and repeated his vows to her, “I, Daniel, take you, Amelia, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; till death separates us,” his voice catching on the tell death separates us.  Those words reminded him of Amelia’s heart issue and the thought of losing her terrified him.  She could sense something was wrong and he smiled at her to reassure her.  It was Amelia’s turn, “I, Amelia, take you, Daniel, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; till death separates us,” happy tears welling up in her eyes.  “Do you have rings to exchange?”  Daniel responded, “I have one for her, but there is not one for me,” Amelia spoke up, “actually I do have a ring for him.”  Daniel looked questioningly at her, and she gave him a cryptic smile.  Amelia handed her ring back to Daniel and their waiter Louis stepped out on the viewing deck.  “Amelia, I give you this ring as a sign of our covenant.  You are the love of my life, and my very best friend.  With all that I am, and all that I have, I honor you,” and he slid her engagement ring back onto her finger.  When it was Amelia’s turn Louis handed her a silver ring and Daniel looked at her again and she just smiled and repeated her vows, “Daniel, I give you this ring as a sign of our covenant.  You are the love of my life, and my very best friend.  With all that I am, and all that I have, I honor you,” and placed the ring on his finger.  He saw that it was a piece of aluminum foil formed into the shape of a ring and even appeared to have a little design scratched into it and he couldn’t help but chuckle at her resourcefulness.  Pierre continued, “May the two of you always remember how you feel about each other today, and may your love continue to grow with each day.  You may now kiss each other.”  Daniel and Amelia kissed softly, and as they turned around they saw the rest of the restaurant watching and clapping for them.  They all walked back into the restaurant and Amelia started to feel incredibly self-conscience with so many eyes on them, Daniel pulled her closer to him and wrapped his arm around her as they made their way to their table.  They both profusely thanked Pierre for coming down on such short notice and how much it meant to both of them.  They offered to pay for his time, which he flatly refused, but he did accept the champagne they offered.  He raised a toast to them, and he wished them a long and happy marriage.  As he finished, Amelia and Daniel stood and he leaned in and gave them both the European double kiss handshake and walked towards the kitchen, they assumed to talk to the chef. 

                  Daniel looked at his ring and smiled, “did you make this ring or did the waiter?”  “Louis the waiter made it for me, when I was talking to him it suddenly occurred to me that I didn’t have a ring for you, and he suggested making one out of foil just for the ceremony since all the stores would be closed.  I thought it was a brilliant idea; I had no idea he would make it look so good; I mean for a foil ring.  I promise I’ll get you a real ring.”  “He actually did a good job; I like the idea of having one made that is similar in design to his one.”  “Mel knows someone who designs jewelry, so I can absolutely do that.”  Amelia could sense people were still watching them and she was feeling uncomfortable, “you ready to go honey, you seem uncomfortable?” “Actually, yes please, too many eyes on me.”  With that they paid their bill, left Louis a 1,000 € tip on top of the tip already included on the bill.  As they were getting up to leave the other diners started clinking their glasses, and Daniel and Amelia kissed each other, and gave a little wave in appreciation as they walked towards the elevator.