It's always said the Sister's were proposed to by many so, "You belong to me no one else" HamLiza?
“….and that’s from the way out of prison on Peggy’s 17th birthday,” Eliza said, the laughter already in her voice. “When Papa got the call, he just shook his head and dragged us all down to the station to pick up our drunk sister.”
The photo, a darkened image of a heavily intoxicated Peggy balanced between her sisters, made Alexander laugh. He could almost hear the slurred “I’m fiinnneee” Peggy was groaning in Angelica’s face.
Eliza had found the photo album in the basement, tucked into an old box they had never unpacked when they moved into a larger house to accommodate the growing pack of children. Now it was perched on Alexander’s lap while Eliza cuddled into his side on the couch.
“And that -” Eliza pointed to the next photo down - “is from the next morning.” A younger Peggy scowled into the camera while Eliza and a strange young man held her up in bed, her hair stuck out at odd angles and what looked to be a smudge of vomit on her face.
“Who’s that with you?” Alexander asked, pointing at the man. Eliza peered down at the man, then gave a small gasp.
“Oh, that’s Lucas,” she said. “He was my boyfriend senior year of high school.” Alexander hummed, looking down at the mischievously grinning brunette. Eliza pointed to a photo on the next page. “There’s our prom picture.”
Eliza and Lucas smiled awkwardly in the doorway of the Schuyler family house, the desire to get going plastered across their faces. The next page also had a few images of Lucas, but he disappeared after the image of Eliza with her acceptance letter from Princeton.
“He was a good guy,” Eliza said, as if reading Alexander’s jealous mind. “But neither of us wanted to do long distance and I wasn’t willing to follow him to Stanford.” She looked down at the last photo of them together, laughing on some beach. “That’s a lie, I’m sorry. That’s what we told everyone. He… he actually proposed and I turned him down.”
“Oh?” Alexander raised an eyebrow. Eliza nodded.
“I wasn’t sure I loved him. He wanted a demure housewife anyway. I was willing to be a housewife, but not as demure as he preferred,” she said with a sigh. “And again, I didn’t want to move to California.”
“Well, forgive me but I am sure glad you rejected that guy,” Alexander said, and Eliza laughed, the loud, tinkling laugh that Alexander loved so much.
“I wonder why,” she said, and it was Alexander’s turn to bark a short laugh. She looked back down at one of the pictures of Lucas. “I wonder where he is now.”
“You could look him up on facebook,” Alexander suggested, jaw set hard. Eliza looked back up at him, lips pursed.
“Alexander, there’s no need to be jealous. I married you, not him, remember?” She gently placed a hand on Alexander’ cheek, using it to turn his face towards her. “You, Alexander. I love you.”
The gentle love in her eyes and the way she said the words so assuredly calmed the little churning of jealousy in Alexander’s stomach. He nodded, putting an arm around her waist and pulling her in close.
“You belong to me, no one else,“ he said, pressing his lips against her forehead. Eliza laughed again.
“Okay Othello, calm down on the theatrics,” Eliza joked. Alexander squeezed her tight against his body.
“I mean it, you’re mine,” he said. Eliza looked up at him, and then pressed a quick kiss to his lips.
“And you’re mine too,” she said, tangling their hands together and going in for another kiss.
The photo album was placed on the coffee table and quickly forgotten.