--
Chapter: Thirteen
The weeks that followed the engagement felt like something out of a dream.
What started as a surprise birthday proposal bloomed into a journey filled with meaningful steps—real ones. The kind that take two hearts from promise to reality.
And it all began with family.
---
Celine had always been her parents' jewel.
Their only child.
Their everything.
They'd sheltered her, prayed for her, and watched over her like a rare butterfly they feared the world might crush. So when she first told them about Nathan—the man she loved, who had come back just for her—their reaction wasn't exactly excitement. It was cautious curiosity.
"Are you sure he's serious, Celine?" her mother had asked, sitting cross-legged on the living room couch.
"Yes, Mama. He proposed. In front of everyone. He came back because of me."
Her father said little at first, but she could see the concern behind his glasses. Celine understood—it wasn't that they didn't want her to be happy. It was that they feared she would be hurt again.
But all of that changed when they met Nathan.
---
He arrived at her home with quiet confidence, dressed neatly in a collared shirt and holding a box of fruit for her parents and a bouquet for her mother. He bowed respectfully, addressed her father as "sir," and listened attentively to every question they threw his way.
And when her father asked, "What are your intentions with our daughter?"
Nathan looked him straight in the eye and replied:
"To honor her. To protect her. To never stop growing beside her."
Silence filled the room.
Then her mother reached for a handkerchief, already wiping a tear.
By the end of that evening, they were asking him what type of soup he liked and what village his people were from.
Just like that, Celine's parents accepted him—not just as a fiancé, but as family.
---
Meeting Nathan's family was an entirely different experience—but just as heartwarming.
He was the only son, raised with love and responsibility by his parents, and surrounded by three doting sisters who wasted no time in pulling Celine aside and teasing her like a new best friend.
"You're so pretty!" the youngest, Tife, squealed, clinging to Celine's arm. "Please don't change hairstyle before the wedding o!"
"She's glowing," the eldest sister, Tosin, observed with a wink. "Love is feeding her well."
Nathan's mother was a calm and prayerful woman, and the moment she embraced Celine, she whispered a blessing into her ears.
"You're the answer to our prayers," she said gently. "Nathan has always been good to others. We prayed he would find someone who would be good to him."
By the time they all sat together for dinner, Celine felt like she had known them for years. The laughter, the banter, the stories—it was warmth she hadn't realized she craved.
In those few days, both families began to knit together something precious.
---
Meanwhile, life outside love began to take its shape.
Nathan received a long-awaited call from his uncle—a senator with deep political ties. A vacancy had opened up at the state teaching hospital, and with a few calls and a solid recommendation letter, Nathan was offered a permanent position as a medical officer.
He was thrilled—not just because of the job, but because it allowed him to stay close to Celine, to begin laying down real roots.
He found a modest, two-bedroom apartment not far from the hospital but deliberately away from his parents' home.
"I want us to have our space," he told Celine. "A place we can build from scratch. No pressure, no shadows."
Celine nodded, her heart full. "That's the most thoughtful thing I've heard all week."
He moved in quickly, furnishing the house little by little—sometimes even asking Celine to help pick curtains or suggest color schemes. It wasn't a home yet, but it was becoming one—brick by brick, memory by memory.
---
Celine, on the other hand, was in a season of waiting.
She had completed all requirements for graduation and was eagerly anticipating her NYSC (National Youth Service Corps) posting. The official letter hadn't come yet, but she prepared daily—checking portals, collecting documents, shopping for white sneakers and khaki trousers.
Some days, the waiting made her restless. But Nathan was her steady hand.
"Use this time to rest," he would say. "You've carried so much these past few years. Let this be your season of peace."
She took his advice to heart.
She spent her mornings reading, her afternoons helping her mom around the house, and some evenings with Nathan—sitting in his new apartment, sipping tea, planning futures they weren't rushing into but deeply excited for.
---
Their weekends were often filled with marriage counseling sessions, visits to elders, and small introduction meetings. Nothing too grand yet, but enough to show they were serious.
At one point, her father pulled her aside and said, "This man… I can see your peace around him. That's how I know it's right."
Celine smiled, heart swelling.
Because this was peace she had never known before.
Not the kind that was loud and exciting and dramatic like her past with Ben—but the kind that felt like home.
---
One evening, sitting outside Nathan's new home, Celine watched the sky darken while he prepared dinner inside. She looked at her engagement ring, the sparkle catching the last bit of sunlight.
She thought about how far she had come—from heartbreak and betrayal to healing and hope.
From crying alone in her room to laughing with Nathan in his kitchen.
From being told she wasn't enough… to being treasured by a man who never stopped choosing her.
And she whispered to herself, smiling gently,
"Truly… every disappointment was a blessing in disguise."