The plan for leaving to Las Vegas Friday nite, was that Mr. W was going to go home after work, nap, then hit the gym, and come pick me up at 2 am. While I waited for him I would clean the house, pack, do laundry, and hang with the Fuzzy One. With a 4-hour drive, we’d arrive around 6am.

When, at 2am, I hadn’t heard from Mr. W yet, I called him to make sure he didn’t oversleep and forget to get up altogether. He picked up the phone from inside his car, driving. He said that he was running late because altho he’d finished up at the gym at 1:30a, he saw he’d missed a call from his daughter, and her voice mail said she had decided to come with us. So he’d driven back home to pick her up and she was right then in the car with him. I was excited she would be with us, as she really is a load of fun, but as he told me this I wiggled the ring off my finger and placed it carefully in my jewelry box at home.

Driving to Vegas with Daughter in the backseat, Mr. W reached over and held my left hand. He felt around my finger, and said, “Did you bring it?” I shook my head. “What?! Where is it?” he demanded.
“Home,” I told him.
He looked at me with bug eyes. “Are you serious? Why would you DO that? I wanted to tell my parents this weekend!” I just stared back at him, unable to get into it with his daughter right there, and I gestured behind me and looked at him, like, “Because!” He said, “I guess I’m not gonna tell them,” and sulked. Why couldn’t he tell them without the ring exhibit? Like they wouldn’t believe him? I KNEW it was all about showing off the ring. Ha!

All day Saturday, we hung out with his parents, his brother, bro’s daughter, and her boyfriend. Bro’s daughter had a sparkly on her finger, too. They told us at a Chicago pizza joint (where we all have to go every time we’re in Vegas) that they were recently engaged, and that her boyfriend proposed onstage during karaoke. And it was captured by the karaoke bar and posted on UTube! Which, by the way, we watched instantly by accessing the internet on Bro’s iPhone. The boyfriend went onstage with her, held her hand, sang “their song” while she wiped tears off her face, and then he dropped to his knee and said he loved her, wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, and popped the box open. The whole audience was cheering and clapping. It was so cute! When she showed off her 3-stone marquis with the row of baguettes on the white gold band, she said proudly, “All by himself.” I laughed and complimented his taste in the ring, and instantly I felt pretty sheepish. Yeah, I’m definitely keeping this ring. =P

Sunday morning, before leaving Las Vegas, Mr. W came back in the bedroom to wake me up after he’d been up for awhile to hang out with his parents. I told him groggily I think I’m a lesbian, and he asked why, and I said I was just dreaming about being with a woman, and he said, “Oh, lemme go back out there and tell my parents we aren’t getting married after all cuz you’re a lesbian.”
“You told them? When?”
“Just now.”
“What did they say?”
“My mom said, ‘Your dad asked me, “Why’re they coming to Vegas this weekend? They gettin’ married?” and I told him, “No, they wouldn’t do it like that.” And I told your aunt Jeanne you were coming out this weekend and she said, “Are they coming out here to get married?” ‘ ”
“Why does everyone think we’re getting married? What the heck!” I exclaimed indignantly.
“And they asked me, ‘Can we congratulate her? Is that okay?’ and I said, ‘Sure, quietly. And not in front of my daughter.’ Haha.”

So when I walked out to say good morning to them, they each gave me a big hug and a kiss and congratulated me. Quietly.