Curtains Close; Take a bow. I think we fooled all of them now.

Oli's POV

"Anthony, keep the kids upstairs would you?" I yelled, putting the toolbox down beside me.

"Why?" He called back, shuffling himself to the top of the stairs and looking down at him.

"I'm taking up the floor. I'm going to find that damn ring!"

It had been pretty quiet without her around. Usually the kids would yell and scream together as they played, but without her here, they seemed really mellow and sad. Anthony and I had been trying to play with them to cheer them up, but we were kind of miserable ourselves.

I'd been wanting to take up the floorboards for a while to find her ring. It had given me relief because the longer it was under the floor, the longer I had before I had to plan how I would pop her the question. Originally, I'd planned to take up the floor in the middle of the night. That way she wouldn't see me doing it. On the other hand though, it would be really difficult to spot the tiny ring in the dark. So I guess I had found one good thing about her leaving for a little while.

I had been having dreams about her. Thinking about what she might be doing right now. It was almost impossible to sleep. Not because of the dreams, but because of the fact that I was alone in my bed. I guess you never know how much a person means to you until they are gone for a while.

It had been around twenty or so minutes, I was six floorboards out and still no sign of it. I could have sworn I dropped it around here...

"Daddy?" Sienna said from the top of the stairs.

"Yes sweet?" I said, putting all of my attention on her.

"What are you doing?" She asked, putting her hand on the railing of the stairs. "You're banging things around."

"I am." I replied, watching her and smiling. "But you need to stay upstairs so daddy can find what he dropped between the floorboards." I smiled, feeling a surge of excitement about the whole thing. Just thinking of Sienna in a bridesmaid dress makes me want to propose today.

"Is mommy going to be home for my birthday?" She whispered, turning around and facing away from me.

Shit. I hadn't even thought about that. Nobody had. I'd been so wrapped up in Rain's situation that I had totally forgotten about Sienna's fifth birthday. It was next week. I looked sadly down at my knees, hoping that she wouldn't mind.

I watched Anthony storm out of Hanley's bedroom. "Sienna!" He called. "What did I say? You are supposed to stay with me and Hanley!" He knelt down beside her. "What are you doing?"

She looked nervous. "I was talking to daddy." She simply replied, before tottering off back into Hanley's room.

Anthony stood at the top of the stairs looking down and raising an eyebrow. "Sorry about that..." He gestured at her as she left. "I see you've torn the place apart." He muttered, as he walked back out of sight.

Looking down at the board I was unpinning, I touched the old wood. It was scratched up a bit, but in decent condition. As I lifted it, I saw something glistening in the corner of my eye. Looking down in utter relief, I saw her ring. It was in perfect condition, but a bit dusty. I lifted it up and could have shouted with joy.

After putting the house back together, I went to join Anthony upstairs. He was sat on the bed, watching the two kids draw together on the floor.

"Hey. You sorted it?" He said, leaning forward.

I nodded and sat down on the ground behind Sienna. I played with the kids for the rest of the afternoon, scooping Sienna around in my lap and watching closely over Hanley. They were good kids. I didn't blame Hanley for reacting the way he did. Even I reacted slightly. It was effecting us all. I just tried to hide it from everyone. Tried to make things normal, even though we were missing a crucial part of the family.

Notes

When should he propose? :) x Drop me a comment or private message?