The Goy Next Door (Girl Meets Goy #2)

Chapter 18 Tasting the afikomen

Before Leah could do or say anything, Asher was right in front of her on one knee. He grabbed her hands and held the afikomen cover between them. “I hope this is a good prize for finding the afikomen,” he said with a nervous chuckle.

His cheeks flushed and tiny drops if sweat lined the edge of his face under his adorable curly hair.

“Leah, from the moment I saw you at that BBYO dance when I was in ninth grade, I knew we were soul mates. I could see you were special, you were kind and smart and beautiful and you have always been the perfect partner. I’ve been imagining our lives together since I was 14 and I know we’re still young, but we’ve been together for a third of our lives. We’ve grown up together, we’ve matured together, we’ve become adults together and I want us to go through every life transition together. I want us to continue growing up together and eventually get old together.” He stared into her eyes as he said it.

Leah’s heart still wasn’t beating and she couldn’t move or say anything.

“In the last eight years I’ve imagined proposing to you in a million different ways, but I thought that doing it here, in front of our families, on Passover would be the most meaningful. So, Leah Rachel Rosenberg, will you marry me?”

This was the last thing she had expected from Passover. She’d expected an outburst from her mother. She’d expected embarrassing comments from the parents about her and Asher. She’d expected some awkward moments with the random woman Cindy who was invited, but surprisingly fit right in. She’d expected to drink too much wine and eat too much matzah. But she’d never expected this. They’d only been back together for two months. Sure, their history stretched eight years, but…but…but…

Leah looked up at her parents who stood between the kitchen and dining room holding hands. She saw Asher’s parents sitting down leaning into each other. She saw Shira smiling. And she looked again at her parents. Holding hands. Isn’t that what she wanted? Someone to hold her hand when they got older? To help her clear the table after a holiday meal? Asher was the right partner for that.

She looked down into his eyes, inches from the afikomen cover in between them and she nodded slowly. The nod seemed to restart her heart, which now beat faster than ever to catch up. Asher jumped to his feet, threw his arms around her waist, and spun her around, cracking the afikomen between them.

When he put her down, they kissed and Asher gently opened the afikomen cover. Inside, covered in matzah crumbs, was a white gold band with an elevated square cut diamond. It was dainty, classic, and beautiful. She let him slip the ring on her finger and after giving it a very long look, she wrapped her arms around Asher’s neck and kissed him.

“Mazel tov! Mazel tov!” she heard everyone around the table saying. Maybe it was all the wine, but Leah felt drunk with happiness in that moment. She was loved and in love and would continue living out the dream of the life she had always imagined for herself.

When they pulled away from each other, Leah again looked at the ring on her finger. It was more beautiful than she could have imagined and it sparkled when the light hit it. She gave into it all and let herself smile giddily and continue to hug and kiss her new fiancé.

“Well, are we all getting a piece of the afikomen or what?” Leah’s father said, bringing her back to the Passover seder. She let the kiss between her and Asher linger and then they unwrapped their arms from each other.

Leah held out the afikomen cover with the broken pieces of matzah inside. The afikomen was passed around and everyone took a piece of the blessed matzah. Traditionally, the afikomen is supposed to be the last thing eaten at the seder. It symbolizes the Jewish sacrifice and is meant to leave that taste in the mouth for the rest of the evening. Leah knew the symbolism of the hidden matzah and wondered if it was at all connected to Asher’s decision to hide the ring in there. But most likely, knowing him, it was just a silly thought.

She didn’t think of her new engagement as a sacrifice. She thought of it as an acceptance of her destiny, the life she was meant to have. And it would be a good life with a happy marriage and beautiful Jewish children to pass down their traditions to.

With everyone back reclining at the table, they sang Passover songs. They had lost count of how many glasses of wine everyone had, but it was probably about the same number of different keys that everyone sang the songs in. The men slapped the table during the way too long rendition of “ Had Gadya ” and Savannah kept everyone on track when the counted the verses of “ Echad, mi yodeya ?”

Eventually, they tired of singing and the conversation lulled. It was time to end the seder and go home. Asher’s parents and Leah’s parents congratulated everyone and hugged each other, commenting on how lucky they were to have wonderful in-laws.

“It’s not something to take for granted!” Savannah exclaimed. “I know plenty of people who don’t get along with their in-laws and it causes so many problems, especially at holidays! We don’t need to worry about that!” Everyone laughed.

Leah wondered if wonderful in-laws was equivalent to Jewish in-laws, but she pushed the thought aside because what did it matter anymore? She hugged and kissed Asher again who promised to call in the morning and he left with his parents.

Cindy stayed and helped clear the table. “Congratulations,” she said quietly to Leah as she stacked up plates. “You and your family seem so happy.”

“Thanks,” Leah responded, stacking her own set of dishes.

“They’re just happy Leah is marrying a Jewish guy!” Shira laughed as she grabbed a plate of matzah to bring to the kitchen. “The last time Leah brought a guy home, well, it was a goy.”

Leah looked at Cindy, remembering the gossip Savannah had told her about their guest. That she was recently divorced from her own failed marriage with a goy.

“It’s good you’re marrying a Jewish man,” Cindy offered. “You’ll have the same values and traditions. I’m alone because my kids prefer to spend Easter with their father instead of Passover with me. I don’t even want to think about what will happen at Christmas and Hanukkah.”

Leah offered a sympathetic smile and nodded. Maybe everyone was right about the marrying Jewish thing. Maybe she was simply too young to understand its importance. They finished clearing the table and Savannah shoved as much as possible in the dishwasher while her husband washed pots and pans. When there wasn’t much left for everyone to do, Cindy thanked her hosts and left. Leah and Shira then said goodnight and went upstairs to their bedrooms.

Leah changed into pajamas, brushed her teeth, and washed her face and then, still wearing her new ring, she went into her big sister’s room.

“So, you excited?” Shira asked when Leah plopped down on her bed. “What a turn of events.”

“You knew about this?” Leah asked remembering how Shira barely looked for the afikomen.

Shira nodded. “Asher told us last week about his plan. Mom was a little shocked at first, kept saying how young you were and how you two should wait until you’re older, but I guess she figured better you marry Asher now than risk you bringing any more goys home.” Shira laughed.

Leah rolled her eyes. “Would it really be so bad? If I did end up with a goy. Like honestly! Isn’t Meredith’s dad Christian? And what about Emily’s parents? Or Sage?” Leah was naming people from their temple who had parents with mixed marriages.

Shira shrugged. “I don’t know, every marriage is different. But enough about that! You’re marrying Asher! Tell me, what’s in store? What’s going to be the wedding plan?”

“Shira! I’ve been engaged for like two hours and most of that time was spent cleaning up. I haven’t had time to think about that!”

“Please,” Shira responded. “Nobody starts thinking about their wedding when they get engaged. You’ve probably been thinking about it since you first laid eyes on Asher when you were in eighth grade.”

It was true. Leah had thought all about their wedding hundreds of times. There were periods she imagined a spring wedding outdoors and others she thought they’d have a destination wedding in some exotic place. She thought about having a hundred bridesmaids and what kind of dress would best fit her figure, but all those thoughts were from years ago. Since their previous breakup, since her senior year of college and her move to Manhattan, she hadn’t once thought about her wedding. Did she still like what she had once imagined?

“Well, no rush,” Shira continued. “You can take a year to plan it or longer. As long as I am the maid of honor, it really doesn’t matter.”

“Of course you are the maid of honor!” Leah gasped. “But let me officially ask you! The real question will be if you’re going to bring a date!”

“Well, that depends on who I am dating at that time!” Shira laughed. While Leah was a serial monogamist who had barely dated, Shira was the opposite. Living in Los Angeles, she was going on several first dates a week. Sometimes there were second or third dates, sometimes even more, but no one seemed to last longer than a month or two.

“I’m not ready to settle down,” Shira said. “I’m not like you, Leah. Not in a bad way or anything, I just, I am not ready for a real relationship.”

The girls gossiped into the night until Leah felt her eyes closing. Instead of sleeping in her sister’s bed, she led herself to her own bedroom and was asleep before her head hit the pillow.