“Yes.” She said quietly.

“Clementine, I know it’s too soon to ask you to marry me, but I want to make a promise to you. I want to promise you that I’ll always be by your side. I want to be your husband Clemmie and I’d like you to promise me that one day you’ll consider being my wife.”

“I’d very much love to be your wife one day, Rhett.” She smiled and gave me a quick kiss. “Even though this isn’t a proposal, I’m still deeply touched.” She gave me a wide smile as her eyes teased me and I chuckled. “And yes, yes, I’ll be your wife.” And then she started laughing. “Am I being too enthusiastic for a non-proposal?”

“You can never be too enthusiastic.” I grinned, then gave her a quick kiss. “Now shh, let me tell you my poem before I get stage fright.” I took a deep breath and then said the poem I remembered by heart. Her eyes gazed at me adoringly as I said the words from my heart and I knew in that moment that I was already a different man than I’d been just six months before. I was only at the beginning of my journey, but I knew in my gut that I was on the right path.

“There's not a day that goes by,

That I don't remember your eyes,

The first time you said you loved me

And the last time we said goodbye.

I love you more than the stars in the sky

I love you so much, I believe I can fly

You are the dot to my i

I am the apple in your pie.

I'm not a poet, like Frost or Cummings

I'm not a writer like Hemmingway or Poe

I can't build you a house with my bare hands

But I love you so much more than you know.

Each hair on your head is precious

Each breath that you take keeps me sane

Each part of me loves every part of you and I'll say it over and over again.

I love you, Clementine O'Hara.

You stole my heart and I never want it back

You are my reason for living.

You are the joy in my heart.

I promise you that I'll always love you.

I promise you that you'll always be mine.

I promise that with each step that we take.

I'll always be by your side.

We have an eternity to love each other.

We have a love that is pure

You are my soul mate, my better half and

Nobody could love you more.”

“I love you, Clemmie. Thank you for agreeing to be my wife. Thank you for everything.” I pulled her into my arms and I could feel her tears on my cheek as she cried. “Happy tears, right?”

“Of course, happy happy tears.” She grabbed ahold of my face and kissed me hard. “Always happy tears with you, Rhett.”

“And I’m not going to be gone for long.” I promised as I kissed her. “This is just the start of a new journey in our life. This is just the start of our epic love story, you know that right?”

“No Rhett.” She kissed my lips. “This isn’t the start. This is just the end of part one and the beginning of part two.”

“I like that.” I kissed her back. “I like that a lot. This is the beginning of part two. And I promise you Clementine, that part two is going to blow your mind. Part two is going to be the most epic of love stories. Part two is going to make you love me more than you already do.”

“I don’t know if that’s possible, Rhett. I already love you more than life itself.” She stroked my face and played with my hair. “But I’m here for the ride, let’s see what you got.”