“Wow and you grew up with nannies?”

“Mmhmm. Howie and I were carted around by chauffeurs and mothered by nannies. When Shelly was born, she was prim and proper; she was entered into every beauty pageant known to man. She was born to be on toddlers and tiaras. She was showered with gifts, attention and love. All the while Howie and I longed for the affection our mother gave our little sister. He was my only real family. It wasn’t until I started to reach fame that my parents came around.”

“That is nothing I am used to. My dad is a mechanic and my mother is social worker. I have one, younger brother who works with my dad at his shop. We didn’t have much but what we did have was each other and that’s all that matters. I visit them every Sunday in Burbank, and they support me in everything I do.”

“I would trade my life for that.”

“You would really trade your life for mine? Your tennis playing, multi-million dollar contract, having anything you want life,” she asked, in disbelief.

“Yes, really. Growing up I never felt I had a real family. I was thrown into tennis the moment I could pick a racquet up. Howie was thrown into the books. Never made anything lower than an A- his whole life. I never knew what love was like until I met you. Now that I’m saying it out loud, I wouldn’t trade my life for anything. If I did, I wouldn’t have met you.”

“Baby,” Lara said, her lip quivering.

“I’m serious, with you and Bex, I finally feel like I could have some sort of real family. I’ve been carrying this thing around; I bought it about a week before we got back together. It was my plan B if you decided not to take me back,” I said, getting up and digging a box from my bag. I placed a perfectly wrapped, small box in front of her. She stared at it because of its size. Knowing the size of the box could be something she was not expecting. She looked at me and I signaled for her to open it. As she reached for the box, I could see that she had stopped breathing. My heart was beating rapidly as her fingers started to unwrap the mysterious box. The wrapping uncovered the famous blue box that most women loved and longed to see. She looked up at me, speechless. Please God, don’t let this run her off I thought. I couldn’t afford to loose her again, she’s the best thing I have going in my life. She opened the Tiffany box to an Azure colored diamond, the same color as her eyes, in a platinum setting. She sat there, looking at the ring, and I plucked it out of the box and held it up.