Page 112 of Paradigm

“And if your visa doesn’t get approved?” her father questioned. “What then? Arlowe lives there. You live here.”

“I won’t leave her again,” Arlowe spoke up.

“Arlowe…”

“No, it’s okay. I get it. I left before, and you had to see your daughter hurting. I want kids of my own one day, and I can’t imagine how hard it’s going to be to have to watch them have their hearts broken. But I’m not leaving her ever again. If her work visa doesn’t get approved, we’ll date long-distance until we’re both ready to take that step. Then, we’ll get engaged, and she’ll come over on a fiancée visa. I know that’s hard on you because it means your daughter will live far away from you, but I wouldn’t want that for her if she didn’t want it for herself. I would’ve asked Eline to marry me when we were in college, but I knew she didn’t want to move to the US back then. She wanted to be here, finish school, start her career, and figure things out. We made the difficult choice to separate for that reason.” Arlowe glanced over at her. “I think it was the right choice, but I’ve been pretty miserable since I lost her. She’s the only one for me and always has been. I love her more than life, and I want to be her wife one day. I’d like us to have those kids I want together because I know that she wants the same thing.” Arlowe looked at Eline’s father. “And yes, I own my own company with three of my friends. We started out in our garage, and we’ve worked really hard for years and years to make something amazing. Now, we have an office and employees.” She turned to Eline’s mother. “I have a little money saved up. Not much. And I rent, so I don’t own a house yet, but I have paid off my car, at least, and I have a retirement plan and health benefits and everything else like that. So, yes, I can take care of myself. And I know Eline doesn’t need me to take care of her in that way, but I would if she needed me to.”

“She offered,” Eline said.

“Offered what?” her father asked.

“When I was trying to figure everything out, she offered to take care of me until I could get back on my feet. Arlowe loves me. I love her. I want everything she wants, and we’re going to be together.” Eline looked at her mother. “I know you don’t want me to leave again, just like you didn’t want me to go the first time, but it’s what I want. It doesn’t mean that I won’t come back for a visit. It does mean that I will be happy.”

Her mother considered this for a moment, looked over at her father, and then turned to Arlowe.

“How many children, exactly?”

“I’m sorry?” Arlowe asked.

“You mentioned wanting children. We’d like grandchildren. We know Eline wants them. We have one room in our house. Should we get two or three smaller beds, or just leave the one that Eline slept on when she returned?”

Arlowe looked over at Eline and asked, “Two or three smaller ones?”

“We’ll see,” Eline said with a little laugh. “Now, is our interrogation over? Will you start acting like the civil parents I know and love, and we can eat dinner?”

“I suppose so. But I’m curious to learn more about Arlowe’s company strictly from a learning perspective. Would it work for math, your algorithms?”

Eline smiled and shook her head.

“I’m going to plate the chicken. Just get your computer out and show him how it works, or we’ll never hear the end of it,” she said.

“I’ll help you,” her mother said, rising with Eline.

“I’ll be right back.”

Eline bent down, gave Arlowe a quick kiss with a wink, and Arlowe smiled up at her.

“You want to see it?” Arlowe asked Eline’s father.

“I’d love to,” he replied.

Eline and her mother went into the kitchen and got to work putting the food on plates.

“She is still madly in love with you,” her mother noted softly.

“And I’m still madly in love with her.”

“I can see that. It won’t stop me from worrying, Eline.”

“I know. It’s what I want, though.” She looked over at Arlowe, who already had her computer out on the table and was sitting next to her father, showing him something. “She’s the love of my life in the same way that he’s yours. I can’t let her go again. I won’t.”

“Then, you don’t. Your father and I didn’t mind America when we lived there before. I’m sure we can make a couple of visits a year. And you’ll come here, of course.”

“Of course,” she replied.

“Let’s eat, then. And you can tell her that if she wants, she can loosen up that tie she wore to impress us. Might be cutting off her circulation.”

Eline laughed.