All Dolled Up!

Charlotte’s POV

I wanted to leap off of my perch the moment I heard the sound of his automobile outside of my house so that I could embrace him the moment he came home.

Unfortunately, it was a few hours past dawn, and as such, I could do nothing but sit there, though Charlie did come up and speak to me.

“Hey, Charlotte, long time no see, well at least in person,” he said. I had seen that he had shaved a good portion of his head off - he hadn’t bought a wig yet, and I had reassured him that he didn’t need to unless he really felt like it. I was fine with it - so long as he came home safe. And he had. Some of it had already begun to grow back. He had told me that he was coming home today, I just hadn’t expected it to be so soon in the day.

But, it didn’t matter. The sooner, the better of course.

I wanted to jump up and hug him. It looked like he had lost even more weight, he had told me that the medications affected his appetite, though hopefully he would regain it now.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t let him know just how happy I was at the moment, and could only listen to what he was saying. “So, things have gone okay. I’m due for some more tests, but that’s a week off from now, and so we have that entire time together. Oh yeah, I got something to show my workplace, I don’t know when I should go back actually, but at least for this week I should be good, and maybe then they’ll start me on light duties. I also have a surprise for you, which can wait until nightfall, but I wanted to let you know I was good.”

I did appreciate all of what he said. It seemed that the world wanted to torment me as it took forever for the sun to go down, each minute dragging on and on, until finally, night fell.

I nearly ended up breaking my glass case with how fast I exited it and flew down the stairs. I also nearly tripped over my dress, but I caught myself in time.

“Whoa, watch yourself,” Charlie said, as he came, likely alerted by the noise of me nearly falling.

Instead of responding, I jumped the last few steps and reached out for him. On hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have - he was still recovering from his illness after all, but thankfully I was much lighter than an actual person. “Oof- hey, I’m glad to see you too!” he said as he caught me.

I extricated myself from his embrace, realizing the mistake I had made, and let him relax a little. “Right- I had something for you.”

He led me to the kitchen where there were several roses in a glass vase. “I knew you loved roses.”

“You didn’t have to,” I said. I really meant that. “You’re here, and that’s more than good enough for me.”

“No issue,” he said. “Oh, would you fill them with water for me? They’ll last longer that way. Sorry, I forgot.”

“Of course!” I said. “I think you’ll also be pleased to know that the house is exactly the way you left it.”

“Yeah, I can see that, good job!” he said.

I went to grasp the vase when something stood out to me. Even through the thick glass, I could make out there was something else in it. It was too small to be a rose petal, and the light reflected off of it in a weird way. I wanted to go fill it with water, but it was so odd it continued to draw my attention even while I did so.

I filled it with water, and watched whatever it was remain at the bottom. I fished it out with my finger, and at first I was confused as to what it was that I was holding as it was not something you’d expect to find in a flower vase- a ring.

I turned to see Charlie, kneeling. “Charlotte, will you marry me?”

For the second time, I felt like the world was crashing around me, and as if I couldn’t get enough air into my lungs. But this time, once that feeling passed I was filled with elation, though I could feel the tears coming nonetheless. I nearly fumbled and dropped the vase I was holding before placing it firmly on the kitchen cabinet. “Charlie, are… are you sure about this?”

“As sure as I can be about anything,” he said. “Lying there in the hospital, thinking about your mortality - it also makes you think about what’s important in life. And I can’t see any further reason to wait.” I had been right- the tears started flowing. “Sorry I couldn’t make this proposal more elaborate, I kind of still feel a bit winded just by going up the stairs, we can’t really go outside, and… I wanted to do this before my parent’s visit-”

“It’s perfect,” I said to him. I examined the ring while I dried it off. It had a ruby for a gemstone, and at first I thought that it might’ve been the one he had tried to give me the first time we met, but the band looked like it was made of gold. The ruby was also tinted slightly differently, or that could’ve been a trick of the light. I hesitated to ask him, but felt like I should. “Everything is perfect, Charlie, you don’t need to apologize for a thing. Is this ring the same ring you gave me when you first saw me?”

He had a funny look on his face. “Wha- of course not Charlotte! That had been meant for someone else, but I knew you were fond of the ruby, and I got something that I thought more closely matched the color of your dress,” he said. Right, so it was a different gemstone.

“But, how could you afford-”

“Well,” he said with a deep sigh. “I, I ended up taking out some of my 401k. I mean, there wasn’t that much there in the first place and I took a bit of a penalty for withdrawing from it early but…”

“What’s that?” I asked. Four-oh-one-kay, that’s what I thought he said, but it made no sense to me.

“Oh, it’s a retirement fund,” I said. “But, given everything that’s going on, I’d rather focus on the now rather than the future.”

“Charlie,” I told him. “You didn’t need to do that, your future is as- no, it’s more important than mine. I’m going to remain like this and I don’t need to eat or drink. I don’t even have a family anymore. You should be more concerned about…” I trailed off. “...you should sell my necklace.”

“Huh?”

“I mean, Aunt Emily’s necklace,” I told him.

“Charlotte, that was a family heir-” he began to say.

“I know! But what’s the point of having it if you’re gone!?” I said to him.

“Charlotte, you can relax, I haven’t gone broke yet,” he told me.

“But, you can’t work and-”

“Right, labor laws have changed a bit since you were alive, but they can’t just fire me for that, and I’m getting something from the state because I can’t work,” I told her. “I’m not worried about money right now, and believe me, if I really needed it, I’d sell it.”

“If there was a treatment out there that could cure you, I would give that up in a heartbeat,” I told him.

“I know, but there’s no need for that.”

“And Charlie, if it becomes too bad, you can sell the house too,” I told him. “I know you couldn’t get a good price earlier, but you’ve been living in it for a while now and it looks much better. You could get a better price for it now.”

“Again, Charlotte, I appreciate the sentiment, but I don’t really need to,” he said.

“That’s fine, just always remember that you can.”

“But where would you go then?”

I smiled. “Take me with you. Even if all I am is a doll, keep me by your side, in whatever house you find. Just let me watch over you. I’ve had a lot of time to think, too, Charlie, and for me, that would be enough. Even that kind of existence, knowing you were safe, even if I couldn’t move, as long as I could watch over you as you lived happily and grew old, is enough for me.”

“You can’t be serious about that, Charlotte, and plus this was your family’s home-”

“My family were, Charlie, and you are,” I told him. “I know it hasn’t come to that yet, but if it ever does, please do so without hesitation.”

“I see,” he said.

There was a bit of awkward silence between us now. Granted, I was still elated at the ring I had received, and then the full weight of the realization really hit me - I was engaged!

I let out a cry of joy before embracing him once again.