He held her tight, right hand over the shoulder, the other around the waist. Trying to match the music's rhythm, he began swinging in a steady pace. He stayed quiet and maintained the dance... and a second later the verses started pouring.
One step after another, one verse after the other, one chord in between... they danced for a couple of minutes, sand rippling beneath their feet. Eventually - the music slowly subsided and, except for the ocean waves, silence reigned once more. At that moment, Erik shifted. He took one step back from Doreen, but held her hands in his. "I love you too." - he said, with some emotion, reminiscent of shyness, in his voice.
He kneeled on one foot, hands still steady, and continued "I wanted to ask you a question today. But I realised that no matter how much I love you, it would be a selfish one. So I found other questions that needed to be asked as well..."
Having run back outside, Peter and Benjen were just behind him when Erik said "I want to marry you, Doreen." - he then kept his right hand clutching Doreen's, and with his left hand turned to pick Benjen's small arm - "But I must ask Benjen, too, if he wants this... if he wants me as a father."
From beside Ben, Peter took a few shy steps forward, to Doreen, then presented a small box, clearly meant for jewelry. "And I also have to ask if you'll accept my son as your own." - then Erik took the box, opened it to reveal a simple golden ring with a ruby on top - "So, Doreen Angela Naggar, will you marry me?"
![[Image: JNC-sig2.png]](https://discoverygc.com/wiki/images/7/7c/JNC-sig2.png)