Brooke
I can’t believe we’re about to land in New York. I’m so excited I hardly slept a wink last night. I’ve never traveled outside of Georgia, and I’ve certainly never flown before. Vaughn’s parents are picking us up at the airport, and we’re going to stay at a hotel. Callen has Brody while we spend four days up here, and he’s promised us he will take good care of him while we’re gone.
We’ve just landed, and the captain has announced that we’re free to get up to claim our carry-on luggage. “How was your first flight, Angel?”
“It was amazing. I was a little nervous at first but once we were in the air I was fine. Although the landing was a little scary too.”
He laughs. “Well, you have to do it at least one more time so we can get home.” I shrug, not really caring. It wasn’t that bad, and now that I’ve experienced it once, it probably won’t bother me again. I’m probably more nervous over the fact that I closed the clinic for four days. I still haven’t brought myself to hire another veterinarian, and of course Vaughn used this as another chance to remind me why I need to. Had I done it already, we’d still be open right now. Of course he’s right, so I’ve promised him I would start looking as soon as the holidays were over. It’s two weeks before Christmas, certainly not the ideal time to try and hire someone.
We walk off the plane and Vaughn instantly takes my hand. “This place is a zoo,” he warns, holding me close. There are holiday travelers everywhere, and no one is paying attention to anything other than themselves. I shake my head, shocked. We hurry through, trying to make our way to baggage claim. We only have one bag, but there’s no way I was flying to New York without luggage. I told Vaughn for starters I’m going to freeze my ass off, and second, I want to have room for souvenirs. He laughed, but caved, and let me pack a light suitcase. Taking my brother’s advice, I flagged our suitcase with some ribbon so it would stand out from the rest of the bags on the conveyor belt. The light starts flashing and the belt starts to move, carrying bags into the room. We’re both watching for our basic black rolling suitcase. It takes a few minutes, but it appears, as do his parents.
They come running over to greet us with a hug and a kiss. “Welcome to New York, dear.”
“Thanks, Mama Anderson.” I’ve recently started calling her that because I have a hard time calling her by her first name. We were speaking over the phone one day when I explained that it’s simply my upbringing. In the south we rarely refer to someone older than us by their first name. When I offered this as a compromise, well, let’s just say she was thrilled.
We’re heading out to the parking lot when Vaughn gives his father the name of the hotel we’re staying at near Rockefeller Center. I clap my hands, excited. “I can’t believe I’m going to get to see it. The lights are going to be just beautiful.” Everyone around me looks at the southern girl with the thick accent. I blush and take Vaughn’s hand as we approach the car.
“I’m sorry we don’t have a room for you to stay with us.” Mama Anderson blushes.
“Mom, I’ve told you. I want to stay in a hotel with Brooke. As excited as we are to visit, this is our vacation too, and it’s the first time Brooke has left Georgia. I want to show her around.” His mama nods.
Traffic is a mess as usual, but we finally make it to the hotel. “We’ll see you two for dinner in a little while.” They wave goodbye and pull away.
“If they’re leaving, how are we getting to their house for dinner?”
Vaughn chuckles. “Angel, we’ll take the subway and then walk.” My face lights up yet again. My first flight and now my first train ride. I feel like a little kid again. I’m getting to experience all these firsts with my love. We walk into the hotel and straight up to the counter. Vaughn gives the woman standing there his name. She pulls up our reservation. He signs a paper and she gives us two keys with directions on how to get to our room. When we get up there, I’m thrilled. The room is small, but has a gorgeous view of Rockefeller Center. It’s breathtaking.
I can see people skating around on the ice and there are lights all over the place. Vaughn comes up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist. He whispers in my ear, “Have you ever ice skated before?”
“No, where am I going to find a frozen lake in Georgia?” I give him a look that screams really.
“They have indoor rinks,” he says like it’s common knowledge.
“I guess, but no, I’ve never ice skated, and I don’t know of any indoor rinks.”
He laughs. “Okay, do you want to change before we go out?” I shake my head no, and continue to look out the window. It’s already after five and I’m starved. We probably should have gone straight to his parents for dinner, but he wanted to get us settled first. He takes my hand and pulls me toward the door. “Let vacation begin.”
***
Brooke
I just experienced my first night in New York and I’m in awe. I got to ride the subway to Vaughn’s parents’ place. They rent a small apartment that only has one bedroom. They moved after Vaughn left, knowing he wasn’t going to move back home. It’s a cozy place with a doorman and a nice view of the city, but it’s small. After dinner we walked a little, and then took a cab back to the hotel where we made love, and then did our relaxing exercises together. He hasn’t been doing them much lately, but being that we are out of our comfort zone, and we don’t have Brody, we thought it was a good idea to help us relax after a busy night.
Today we’re going down to Rockefeller Center to walk around. We’ll go do a little shopping, stopping to check out the window displays as we go, and have dinner.
“Ready, Angel?” Vaughn is bundled up in a coat, beanie, and gloves, waiting by the door. I quickly slip into my stuff and he takes my hand, leading me down to the lobby of our hotel and out to the streets of New York. It amazes me that his parents don’t live far from this beautiful attraction. There is so much to see in this area alone, and I’m so glad we came at this time of year, because it’s absolutely stunning. He pulls me close, holding my two hands, and says, “What would you like to do first?”
I shrug. “I just want to walk around and check everything out. Maybe pop into some stores.”
We walk down the street hand in hand, pointing out lights and all the Christmas decor. Now don’t get me wrong, we decorate for Christmas in the south, but nothing like this. I mean, this is an entirely new level of decor. I’m simply in awe, pointing places out that make me smile.
We loop around and make our way back to the Center, and I notice Vaughn has started walking a bit faster. “What’s the rush?”
“I wanted to surprise you, but it took us longer to walk around than I thought. We have tickets to go to the Top of the Rock.” He tugs me, hurrying along. “I don’t want to miss our slot.” We finally arrive and Vaughn pulls two tickets from his pocket and shows them to a gentleman who leads us to where we need to go. We wait in line with the rest of our group, and it takes a little while but when we finally get up there, the view is breathtaking. Vaughn and I take a ton of pictures together with my phone from different angles with different views in the background.
“Babe, this is amazing. Thank you so much.”
“Thank you for being here with me. This view may be stunning, but it’d be nowhere near as beautiful without you.” He leans in and presses a kiss to my lips.
When he pulls away, I have a huge grin on my face. “Aren’t you becoming quite the romantic?”
“Oh Angel, you haven’t seen anything yet.” We make our way back down, and when we do, we stop to get a pretzel from a street cart. I’m too excited about walking around to stop and eat. The sun is setting, and more and more lights are starting to illuminate the night. It’s getting cold, but I really don’t care, because it’s such a romantic night being out here with Vaughn, hand and hand. I spot a small shop and we decide to duck in. I want to buy something for my niece and nephew. The place is amazing. There are toys of all kinds around me, things for all ages. I find a bear for Beau and a doll for Becky. Thrilled with my purchase, we head back out, and now Vaughn pulls me back toward the ice skating rink.
“What are you doing?”
“I want to take you ice skating.”
“But I’ve told you I’ve never been ice skating.”
“You’ve never flown either, but you did it, and you’re here. You can’t come to Rockefeller Center and not ice skate, or at least attempt to.” He gives me his full on you’re not going to win this one sexy smile.
“Fine. Let’s do it.”
“I’m glad you agree, because we have a scheduled time to be on the ice, and we need to get our skates.” I laugh and shake my head. This guy has all kinds of things planned for us today. He walks me toward the skate house, where he gives them his name for his reservation. They ask for our shoe sizes and they hand us skates. We take a seat to lace them up, only Vaughn takes my leg and rests it on top of his. “It’s important that your skates be laced up tight.” He quickly ties my lace so the skate is snug around my ankle, and then does the other one. I stand, trying to balance on my skates as I walk to the railing at the edge of the rink, while Vaughn takes the ice like it’s no big deal. He steps on and takes my hands, pulling me with him, and suddenly I feel like a newborn deer learning to stand. I’m wobbly and feel like I’m going to fall, but lucky for me, Vaughn knows what he’s doing and holds on to me. He starts teaching me how to push off, and slowly I’m getting a little better. At least now I can move a bit. The view is amazing. Everything is beautifully lit up, making for a romantic evening. That’s when I notice the ice is starting to clear, and I’m in a panic, thinking we have to get off, and I’m in the middle of the rink. I’m slow, and there’s no way I can move as quickly as the people around us. The music fades out and suddenly One Call Away by Charlie Puth starts playing as Vaughn pulls me around the rink. He’s facing me, holding my hands and skating backward, singing to me. It’s the most romantic thing ever. I can’t believe he’s managed to get the entire rink just for us. My eyes well with tears, Vaughn is singing the song I once sang to him, letting him know I would be there for him. Now that he’s strong enough to be my superman, he’s letting me know it. He spins us around, nearly causing me to fall, but of course he catches me with laughter in his voice. When I’m finally steady on my feet once again, he drops to one knee in the middle of the rink, reaches into the inner pocket of his coat, and reveals a tiny black box.
My eyes go wide and my hands go to my mouth. “Angel, I’ve been going over this entire proposal in my head for the longest time now, but nothing I came up with seemed like the right words to tell you how much I love you and need you in my life. You were my superwoman when I needed you, and now I want to return the favor. Please let me spend the rest of my life being there for you the way you were for me. Please, will you marry me?”
I instantly nod my head yes as my hand trembles. He slips this beautiful round cut diamond onto my finger and then stands, spinning me around, he screams out, “She said yes” with laughter in his voice. The crowd around us claps and cheers as he pulls me around the rink for one last loop before others join us. When we get to the exit, his parents are there waiting for us. His mom is crying tears of joy, and now I’m crying too, because I think it’s beautiful with all they’ve missed from his life with him away, they got to witness this special moment. Then she shows me the phone she’s holding with my entire family on the screen watching, and it causes me to let out a sob. Hundreds of miles away and my entire family was still a part of my engagement.
They’re all waving and laughing at the look of shock on my face seeing them in the phone. They congratulate us and wish us a safe flight home before we hang up. People are now walking off the ice and congratulating us on our engagement. “Thank you so much. I’ve had the time of my life, and you certainly pulled off an engagement I’ll never forget.”
“You’re welcome. I love you, Brooke, and I meant it when I said I want to spend my life supporting you and being there for you. Together we can get through anything.”
His parents each hug us one more time. “Now let’s go, our dinner is waiting,” his dad says.
We all laugh and walk off toward the restaurant to enjoy dinner with my future in-laws.