Ezra nodded in response, “Yeah, I have a lot of planning to do today. I’m sorry that this has consummed me. I promise to make it up to you tonight, Marta. If everything goes as planned I’ll have the next couple days to be with you without restraint,” he said with a smile as he kissed her gently on the forehead, “I’m going to try and finish quick so that we can have some time before dinner to just be together.” He felt a tap on his shoulder and he turned to see Isiah there.

“Ezra, the men are ready. Let’s get started,” Isiah said with a warm smile to Marta, “I promise to give him back for supper,” he said pulling Ezra by the arm.

Ezra allowed himself to be dragged away and waved his goodbye to Marta. The boys made their way into one of the larger rooms that rarely ever got used unless it was a holiday. A few of the men decide to help Ezra with his surprise for Marta, but the rest had gone to train so they didn’t raise suspicion. Isiah pulled a ring out of his pants pocket and passed it to Ezra. It wasn’t anything special, but it had been the ring his father gave to his mother when he proposed. It was the only thing he could salvage when they traveled to his old home. The place had been trashed and almost all the items worth value had been taken. It took all his energy not to hunt down the men who ruined the home he grew up in.

Baer Bakery was also destroyed. The windows were broken and the oven didn’t work anymore. The food had gone stale and the flour began to house bugs. His heart shattered at the sight of his legacy destroyed. It took Isiah and Daniel to drag him out of their. He had made a promise to himself that day that he would restore it when everything had settled. He would go back and reclaim what was rightfully his and Marta would be at his side. He wanted his kids to know hard work and he wanted them to know that he had started from nothing.

“Thank you for holding this. I might have asked her right then and there had the ring been in my pocket,” Ezra said as he watched the men hang lights along the ceiling. He’d managed to get a few of his people to get flowers to spread about the room and the lights had been in storage. It wasn’t a fairytale, but it was the best he could do. The radio was in there playing love songs and the men began to dance together laughing and teasing Ezra. 

“I can’t believe you actually found a Rabbi to convert her at a time like this,” Daniel said with a sigh.

Ezra frowned, “It was hard, but since I’m leading the resistance they feel like they owe it to me. I’m the most likely to die so they want my time here to be fruitful apparently. I won’t complain though. I haven’t told her yet either. I wanted to wait to see if she even said yes. She might not even want to marry me since I’ve done all I have. I barely even get time with her.”

Isiah scoffed, “We all hear you in the middle of the night. You get plenty of time with her. You actually have Atalia trying to sleep in bed with me. She starts in her room, but in the middle of the night I feel her pressed against me like she’s clinging for dear life,” he said.

“Hey, at least you two have girls. We just get to be envious,” Harrod said with a glare as he plugged in the lights to make sure they all worked.
When Ezra was finally satisfied it was around dinner time. He hadn’t realized how anxious he was getting until he started practicing his speech in the mirror. He found it hard to stare at his reflection. He was mostly over what he’d done to Jeremiah and the other man, but it still haunted him whenever he saw himself. He could see the blood splattered on his face and his hands painted red. It took days before the blood finally washed completely away. He nearly drowned himself in bleach to get it off faster. He looked at his watch real quick. It was time. With a deep sigh he went on the hunt for hopefully his fiancee.