Carlos had been with Kiara for a couple of years now. Kiara had changed Carlos for the better. Before they came together or even before they had met Carlos was on a fast track to trouble. After about a year together they had started discussing heir future together. They were only getting older and they wanted to start their lives together. Carlos felt he had other things to accomplish in life before him and Kiara went any further. He preceded his life on the good track by deciding to join the military. Carlos was soon deployed. Everything just started happening so fast, that he couldn’t think straight. He never had a set day as to when he would be back. After about a year away from home Carlos was able to return back to the life that he left behind, injured. He thought for sure that Kiara wouldn’t be willing to stay with him as he continued his therapy. Not knowing what would happen, he decided to randomly show up to surprise her.

Carlos was looking towards an honorable medical discharge; he had blown his knee out. Something he knew he was just prepared for. Kiara was excited; just being able to see him again was going to be a bigger and better highlight in her life. She now knew what was next in her future, marriage and a family. She had ran the idea past Carlos a few times, he wasn’t opposed to it; it was just something he had never thought that far ahead for. A few weeks after returning home, Kiara and Carlos decided to take a trip back to Illinois to visit his mother.


Upon returning home to his mom, she was instantly disappointed in him. Lena, his mother, was upset that he had no intentions of asking Kiara to marry him. She gave Kiara all the blessings in the family that she had to offer, including the fact that she approved of her son being with a white girl. Lena thought Kiara was the sweetest thing to ever have crossed her sons’ path, and she wanted to keep it that way. Carlos’ sister happened to be in town too, it was like another family reunion. Alexandra and Kiara were so close, they were definitely happy to see one another again. While Alexandra kept Kiara preoccupied with girl things, Carlos took up the chance to reconnect with his old friends he was forced to leave behind previous years before. Kiara liked the fact that he was starting to enjoy himself again after all he had went through, not knowing that Carlos’ ex was back in Illinois either.

All seemed to have been going well, besides Lena was still agitated with her son not having a future planned after what he had went through overseas; with being deployed and everything. After a long four hours of shopping, Alexandra and Kiara return and were surprised that Carlos was not home already, for they had a dinner date planned that night.
“Where did Carlos go, or has he been back yet?” Kiara asked.
“I haven’t seen him since all of you guys left earlier.” Lena replied.
Kiara and Alexandra looked at each other almost mummified. Where could he be? Kiara snaps into “Lena” mode instantly. They repeatedly called his cell phone and to their shock there was no reply. In a hurry, Kiara jumps at the door as soon as she heard a car door shut. In comes Carlos.
It didn’t take long for Kiara to jump at his throat, “Where have you been?”
“Hanging with the guys, playing soccer, why what happened?” He replied.
She was furious, “What happened? What had happened was the fact that my heart was racing, and not in a good way. When you don’t answer your phone how am I supposed to react?”
Carlos checks his phone knowing he has four missed calls. “I’m sorry, babe, I was distracted. Kendall showed up and I started talking with her.”
Kiara, getting angrier and angrier at the second, replies, “Kendall, as in the ex that took you numerous months to get over? The first girl you fell in love with?”
Carlos looked around the room with shame. Angry Kiara on the other hand, stomped out of the room with Alexandra following, on her way shoulder chucking Carlos, her ignorant brother. Lena looks at her son with complete disappointment not having any words to share with him.
“What mom?” he finally asked after being ignored for a good five minutes
“Oh nothing, you just have a perfectly good looking girlfriend that you just let run right passed you without even trying to stop her, while you were away being googly eyes with your ex.” Her reply had stung Carlos.

Carlos gave Kiara call after call, with no reply. He showed up at their hotel room that they were supposed to be sharing, and to his dismay, there was no answer. Now he really knew how she felt. He decided that he would give her a couple of days to recuperate. Meanwhile he stayed with his mom. Now trying to get her to talk to him was difficult. Every little thing they said to one another was just small talk. He was starting to feel really uncomfortable, even in the vicinity of his own home. The door would open, and he always thought it was Kiara coming to reclaim their love for one another, but in the end it was just his nosy sister. Call after call, he thought it would be Kiara one of these times, each time he was wrong, just one of his friends trying to get him to enjoy the rest of his son called vacation home. He couldn’t do anything but just mope around; he couldn’t get over the fact that he had hurt Kiara so badly. This was by far the worst fight that they had been in.

Eventually Kiara started calling Lena, just checking in on Carlos. Of course she loves him; she is just too upset to show her face for now. One day she showed up at Carlos’ house, walked in and sat at the table with Lena. Carlos was so confused trying to figure out what type of game she was playing, and what exactly it was that she was trying to prove. Kiara, after awhile, got up to go to the bathroom and Carlos followed her. She opened the door and the first thing she saw was Carlos’ face. She tried pushing him out of the way, but he was too stubborn to move. He tried so hard to get her to talk to him.
“Babe, please just talk to me. It has been a whole week since I was last able to kiss your beautiful face and you are not making anything easy on me.”
She sighs and looks him in the eye, “How am I supposed to trust you when you can’t even answer my calls when you are with your ex? Do you know how that makes me feel?” Carlos looks at her completely dumbfounded, “Exactly,” she says and walks away.

A few days passed and Carlos knew that Kiara and Alexandra were going on a shopping spree. He took this opportunity to strike up a conversation with his mom.
“Mom, what do I do? I feel like I am losing her, she won’t talk to me at all. Mom, I’m desperate.”
“Well son,” she starts “I know what she wants.”
Carlos sighs a huge heavy sigh and looks pleadingly at his mom like he has no idea what she is talking about, “Go on…” Lena continues, “In case it hasn’t gotten through your thick skull, she is in love with you Carlos. In love. When you betray her like that and ignore her calls how is she supposed to take that? Now don’t interrupt me. Kiara wants a ring, son. She wants to know that you will commit yourself to her and only her. It’s been three and a half years, how much more time do you need?”
Carlos was shocked, how had he not thought of that? Of course Kiara got a bunch of bad thoughts running through her head when he didn’t answer her calls. Of course she wants more out of the relationship. How did he not see that before?

Carlos was going to ask Kiara to marry him, as soon as he felt the time was right. I guess the time was now; he really doesn’t know what else he is waiting for. They had money; she had a promising career, why put this off any longer? Thinking that way, he knew he had enough time to make everything just right in there relationship. He knew he had to propose.
“Mom, you have never made any more sense in my life. I can’t believe I didn’t think this through. I love her mom, and the last thing I would ever want to do is hurt her. Help me plan the proposal.” Lena smiled from ear to ear, her dream was coming true. She had sent her beautiful daughter down the aisle, and now her son!

Time had gone by and Kiara and Carlos eventually started talking again. Carlos totally spaced the proposal, and hadn’t thought about it since that night that he talked it out with his mom.
One night, Lena and Carlos were having a discussion in the kitchen about weddings, and Lena reminded her son about the conversation they had two days prior.
“So are you going to ask, soon?”
“Yes ma,” he replied “when the time is right.”
He went on trying to tell his mom what he wanted to wait for. Lena couldn’t take it any longer and she went into her room and came out a couple minutes later carrying the jewelry box that Carlos had hid from her when he was a kid.
“Ma, no, I don’t want to start this again.” Of course Lena didn’t listen to him, she just didn’t care anymore. She pulled out her wedding ring; she doesn’t wear it because Carlos’ dad died. She handed it to him and he refused to take the ring from her hand. He knew he was making her frustrated. After all Kiara had her blessings.

Lena stood proud and happy to be helping her son out and what better way to do it then to keep it all in the family? Carlos had a different way of understanding. He couldn’t possibly take his father’s wedding band to his mother from her. He felt as if he took it, Lena would become upset and feel used. But Carlos didn’t get it, Lena wanted to do this, it felt like it should become tradition. His mom told him exactly why she wanted him to have it and now he finally understood it.
“Son, this is a true honor, your dad would be so happy to see that you are finally acting like the young man that he tried to raise you as.” Carlos soon felt tears sting his eyes.

Carlos had found the one; no one in his eyes could come close to comparing to Kiara. He was in love and he knew he needed to prove it. That night he asked Kiara to dinner at his favorite restaurant. After dinner and wine, he stood up and got on one knee. As tears welled up in his eyes, he looked up at Kiara, his beautiful girlfriend, and opened the box that he made.
“Kiara, I know you have been waiting for this day forever, and I know I have been a real non romantic about it, but right here, right now, at this moment in time, nothing has felt more right or more appropriate then to ask for your hand in marriage. Will you do me the honor of being my wife?”
Kiara couldn’t believe the sight before her eyes, she tried so hard to hold back the tears from the moment he got on his knee, but that didn’t work.
“Yes, I will marry you Carlos. I love you more than you will ever know.”
Carlos got up off his knee, took his fiancé’s hand and slid the beautiful diamond onto it. He swept her off her feet and moved her hair from her face and kissed her sweetly on the lips.
“I know I did this the wrong way, but I promise to ask your dad for his blessing.” She laughed at him, and looked him straight in the eye, “Kiss me.” Little did they know, they had an audience, and the entire restaurant applauded in unison.