Charlotte
Time froze when I saw the engagement ring nestled in the little black box Talon held out to me. I couldn’t believe this was happening. It had to be a hallucination. It couldn’t be real.
But no matter how much I questioned it, Talon was down on one knee in front of me, and he’d just asked me to marry him. We’d never talked about marriage, but I’d desperately been hoping he would ask me for the last year.
As we got closer to the end of college and our futures loomed uncertainly before us, I wanted to officially solidify our relationship by getting engaged. But I never thought it would happen now, especially not after all the lying and the sneaking around behind my back.
Then it clicked. “Wait,” I said. “Is this what’s been going on? Is this why you’ve been acting so strange and being so closed-off?”
He smiled, still holding out the ring. “Surprise,” he said. “I didn’t mean to make you feel like I was hiding something from you when I planned this out. I figured I could get this all set up without you suspecting anything. As it turns out, I’m terrible at keeping secrets from you. I suppose that’s a good thing because you’ll know if I’m ever holding back from you in the future.”
“So the mysterious errands you had to run?” I asked.
He grinned sheepishly. “I went out that night to a few different jewelry stores to look at rings. I asked Julie from my chemistry class about popular styles, since she’d just gotten engaged. She helped me out so I knew what I was looking for.”
I shook my head. “You know, for a second, I thought you were cheating on me with that bitch.”
Talon shook his head. “I would never do something like that to you. Not for all the money in the world. And I’m sorry I kept this from you and that I was forced to lie a bit to keep this whole thing a secret, but I didn’t want to ruin the surprise.”
I nodded. “I get that now, but at the time, I was really upset. Why didn’t you just tell me what was going on once we started fighting about all this?”
“I thought about it,” he said. “But I didn’t want to tell you when you were mad at me. Talk about taking all of the romance out of it. And I would have proposed sooner, but I wanted to do it on Christmas Day, the anniversary of our very first date. The day I already knew you were the woman I was going to marry. I started saving up for the ring the day after that Christmas.”
“You did not,” I said.
He nodded. “I absolutely did. I told you I fell in love with you the moment we met, and I’ve never doubted my love for you for a single second. And look, I know I hurt you by hiding this, but I never meant for this to upset you. And I promise I’ll never lie to you about anything again. It hurt me too damn much to keep this a secret and hide this from you, even though it was supposed to be a nice surprise.”
I wiped away the tears threatening to spill from my eyes. My thoughts continued to race through my mind at a million miles per second. I thought back to the day before when I was in my parents’ hotel room.
I looked over at my father. “Wait, did you know about this?”
My father grinned at me and shrugged. “Talon asked me for my blessing that day we were at the mall. I said yes, of course. I even helped him pick out the ring.”
I glanced at Talon, and he nodded. I inhaled a deep, shaky breath, trying to calm myself down and get a handle on all this new information rushing at me. Happy tears kept streaming from my eyes, and there was nothing I could do to stop them.
Talon gently wiped away the tears from my cheek with his thumb. “So what do you say, Charlotte? Will you marry me?”
“Yes,” I shouted. “Yes, of course, I’ll marry you.”
Talon slid the ring on my finger, and then he kissed me, slow and long. Every ounce of love Talon felt for me was present in that kiss. It was filled with warmth and love and the promise of an amazing future with the perfect man at my side.
When we finally broke our kiss, my father was walking into the living room with an open bottle of champagne and four glasses. He filled them all and handed them out. All four of us, my old family and my new family, raised our glasses, clinked them together, and drank.
I’d never been happier in my entire life.
The rest of the day couldn’t have been more perfect if we tried. It was a day of celebration and love. Now that my worries had all been soothed, I was in a great mood. It helped that every time I looked down at my hand, the gorgeous engagement ring shined up at me, reminding me that all of this was really happening.
I was getting married to Talon.
Talon and my mother started preparing the food for our big Christmas dinner. The two of them were already as thick as thieves. I offered to help them with the food, but they told me not to worry about it. They said I should just relax and enjoy the day. I didn’t argue with them. After everything that had happened, I could use some time to let it all sink in.
My father was sitting in the living room, watching an old black and white Christmas movie I didn’t recognize. I sat down beside him on the couch. He glanced over at me, smiled, and gave my hand an affectionate pat.
“What are you watching?” I asked.
“It’s ‘Miracle on 34th Street,’” he said. “Have you not seen this?”
“I don’t think so,” I said.
He shook his head. “I thought I raised you better than that.”
I smiled at the joke and leaned my head against his shoulder. “I think you did an all right job.”
My father and I sat in silence, watching the movie, until the food was ready. Talon and my mother had gone all out. The table was laid out with a sliced ham, glistening with a sweet glaze, garlic mashed potatoes, roasted Brussels sprouts, and buttery biscuits. Everything looked delicious.
We all sat around the table, and Talon offered a carving knife and fork to my father.
“Bob,” he said. “Would you like to the do the honors?”
My father smiled and shook his head. “You know, I think you should do it. You’re a part of the family now. I think you’ve earned the right.”
Talon looked surprisingly touched by my father’s gesture. I didn’t really understand why, and I assumed it was some kind of male thing, like the elder man of the family had just given Talon a true sign that he was welcome to the family and that my father approved of him. Whatever it was exactly, I knew Talon was more than excited to be carving the ham and serving it to me and my family.
We all ate the amazing meal, and it tasted even better now that I didn’t feel any tension between Talon and me. Things had been so strained with Talon over the last couple of weeks, but I didn’t realize how bad things were until the problems disappeared from my life.
A planet-sized weight had been lifted from my shoulders, and it felt like I could breathe again. Every single doubt I’d had about Talon’s behavior and our relationship had been put to rest by Talon’s proposal. Every nagging question had been answered, and the truth was more satisfying than anything I’d ever imagined.
It never once occurred to me that Talon might be getting ready to propose. I thought it was the exact opposite, and he was going to break up with me. I was wrong about everything, and I’d never been so happy to be mistaken.
When we were done with the meal, we all settled into the living room to watch Christmas movies. The ‘Christmas Story’ was on one of the cable networks, and we all agreed it was the perfect movie to watch.
I’d loved this movie ever since I was a kid, but now, I was seeing it through a different lens. Instead of identifying with Ralphie, the son, I was watching the parents in the movie, thinking about what it would be like to shop for my own children’s Christmas gifts. I imagined Talon as the father, picking out a tree, teaching our son to change a tire, and getting thrilled about a stupid lamp he’d won as a prize.
Suddenly, this beautiful, wonderful future spread out in front of me, where Talon and I would have children together, spend our lives together, and grow old together. It was the best Christmas gift I could ever imagine, and it was a gift that would last a lifetime.