Light in the Shadows

              At five-thirty, I put in an order with our favorite Chinese place and got in the shower.  I dressed in jeans and the button down shirt Maggie had gotten me for my birthday.
                    She came bursting through the apartment door, arms loaded down with bags.  She and Rachel had made a serious dent in their credit cards.  “Did you buy an entire store?” I joked, coming out from the kitchen. 
                    I looked behind her to the picture that she had yet to notice.  She was too intent on showing me her purchases.  “I found these awesome boots that will look killer with my jean skirt!  Check them out!”  She pulled out a set of knee high boots that looked exactly like the other pair she had sitting in the closet.  Though I didn’t dare tell her that.
                    “They’re great, baby,” I said, leaning in to kiss her soft lips.  Maggie dropped the bags and wrapped her arms around my neck.  “Mmm.  You taste amazing,” she moaned into my mouth and I forgot momentarily about my big plans for the night.
                    Before we could get too carried away, there was a knock at the door.  “Who the hell is that?” Maggie griped.
                    I laughed into her downturned mouth.  “Food. I ordered from China Chef.  Figured your day of consumerism would make you hungry,” I said.  Maggie rubbed her belly. 
                    “Good thinking.  I’m just going to put the bags back in the bedroom,” Maggie replied grabbing her purchases.  She still hadn’t noticed our new wall hanging and I didn’t say anything.  It was important that she saw it on her own time.
                    I gave the delivery guy money and took our dinner into the kitchen.  Maggie’s shriek from back in the bedroom made me grin.  “You put the bed together!” she yelled as she came flying down the hall and leaping into my arms.
                    “You are so going to get lucky in that thing later,” she promised running her hands up my shirt.  I pulled her hands away.  As much as I wanted to go in the direction she was heading, I had other plans for her this evening. 
                    “Come and eat your dinner, my little nympho,” I told her, getting our plates out of the cabinet.  Maggie grumbled but the smell of Chinese food ended any further complaining.  We ate our dinner together, laughing, talking and simply enjoying being with each other. 
                    “I’ll clean up; you go into the living room and get comfortable.  I’ll even watch a chick flick if you want,” I said, smiling.  I knew what was coming and my stomach flipped over with my nerves. 
                    “Thanks, baby.  I love you,” Maggie said as she kissed me again.  I started piling the dishes into the sink, waiting not so patiently, for her to call out to me, asking me about the new picture above the couch. 
                    By the time I was finished, I realized Maggie was strangely quiet.  I went into the living room to find her staring at the matted and framed canvas. 
                    “What is this?” she whispered, her eyes never straying from the new artwork.  “Did you paint it?” she asked, looking at me over her shoulder.
                  I nodded, letting her take the time to absorb what I was trying to tell her through my picture.  It was a silhouette of the two of us, darkened in shadow but with a brilliant, bright light behind us revealing the intricate details of our faces bowed in close together.  Butterflies rose in flight around us and it vibrated with the love I felt for the girl standing before it.
                    On the bottom, in neat script, I had carefully written: And he asked her to share his forever.
                    While she stared at the picture, I pulled out the small velvet box I had kept in my pocket all day and got down on one knee.  When Maggie turned around and saw what I was doing she gasped, her hands flying to her mouth.  And then she did the craziest thing.  She fell down to her knees in front of me. 
                    “I’m the one who’s supposed to be on my knees here.  You’re ruining the moment,” I teased her.  She held her hands to my cheeks and gave me one of her