I walked slowly down the stairs of my house, my mom and my aunt standing at the bottom and clapping their hands wildly.

I laughed.

“You two! You’d think I was going to my wedding or something. Ross hasn’t even told me what we’re doing tonight.”

It was a surprise for me, and I trusted Ross. Mom and Aunt Hayley shared a look between them that immediately made me suspicious. I wondered if Ross had told them, and why they were keeping it from me.

“You look beautiful, honey,” Mom said, rushing forward to hug me, being careful of my makeup and hair, that she and my aunt had helped me with.

“You do,” Aunt Hayley said with a nod of her head. “If he weren’t in love with you already, he would have fallen for you tonight.”

I knew she was just teasing, but I couldn’t help flushing in pleasure. Ross had picked out the dress and insisted I wear it, apparently with help from both our moms, who provided the accessories. It was a strapless maxi dress in a pale blue they all said complemented my eyes. I was pretty sure both of them were in on the big secret that I felt everyone had been keeping from me for a couple of weeks.

At least I knew it wasn’t anything bad. It had been six months since the whole thing with Natalia was sorted out and I felt better about us acting like a family unit as far as Sophia was concerned, rather than always fighting. That was, until she met Sophia and they spent the day together. Then, the next day she was gone. She disappeared without a word. I just didn’t understand it. Yet, I was alone, everyone else had expected her to leave even sooner.

“Can't you two at least give me a hint?” I begged. Just because I knew it wasn’t anything bad, didn’t mean I wasn’t anxious about it.

“What is he planning? Just a little bit?”

They both just laughed at me and came at me to give me some more hugs. Then there was the sound of a horn outside.

“That’ll be your young man,” Mom said, planting a hand on my back and urging me forward. “Don’t you dare keep him waiting.”

I rolled my eyes at her antics, but I did leave. When I saw Ross’s car outside, I felt a bit giddy. I had the feeling like it had all happened before, but I didn’t think too much about it as I ran down the porch steps and across the drive to get to the car. I jumped inside and turned to Ross with a huge smile. It melted into shock when I saw he was wearing a full tux. Again, there was that niggling familiarity.

“Are you ready to go?” he asked.

Over my shock, I smiled. “Definitely.”

We drove around, and I was growing more confused by the moment. When we stopped outside his house less than half an hour later, I turned to Ross.

“What’s going on?”

He just smiled. “Wait there. I’ll explain in a moment.”

He got out of the car and rushed around the front to open my door for me. He held his hand out, and I let him help me out of the car. Then he curled my arm around his and walked me to the door.

“I didn’t want to make it too big a production, but I did do my best.”

He opened the door and let us in, and I got the shock of my life. Because that niggling familiarity wasn’t just back, I recognized everything. Even in his small living room, with all the furniture pushed aside. It would be difficult to mistake the terrible decorations and the low lighting.

“Prom?” I said quietly, glancing up at him.

He nodded, looking a little anxious. He pulled me further into the room. There was slow music playing already, and it was exactly the song they’d played that night. I wondered how he remembered it that well. It was after we’d danced to the song that everything had gone wrong.

“I looked around for some photos and videos, so I’d get everything just right. I’m reenacting the whole thing, trying to fix what I ruined back then. My mom even played her part and took photos of me when I left the house to pick you up.”

“When did you? How did you? Why did you?”

I couldn’t find words. Maybe because the setting was bringing back memories, and not necessarily good ones. I looked up to meet his eyes. I still thought he seemed nervous, but he smiled at me with confidence.

“Trust me, Jessica. This isn’t going to be a complete replay. And I know you forgave me, but I wanted to give you the good memory I should have back then.” His smile looked nervous for a moment. “Or something along those lines. I do hope you like this.”

We danced, and I held back my worries. We’d been together for over six months, we were happy together. There was a long line of family and relatives and friends from both our sides that would be lining up to hit him if he ever made a wrong move. I was fine.

After a few minutes, the song drew to a close. My heart was beating fast as I remembered that night. Ross had looked as nervous back then as he did at this moment at the end of the song, when they were supposed to announce the prom king and queen and, instead, I got the shock of my life. I’d wanted Ross to kiss me at the end of the song, and I was hurt when he didn’t, and all my visions of the rejection of my first prom were replaying in my mind.

Ross pressed his lips to mine. It calmed my heart a little, as there was a break from the old script. I went to wrap my arms around his neck and deepen the kiss, but he pulled away from me. Then he did the last thing I expected.

Ross dropped to one knee, one of his hands reaching inside his coat pocket. My mind knew what he would pull out, and I still gasped when he held the small white box up to me.

“Ross?” I said, my voice shaky. “What are you…?”

He smiled nervously, opening the box to show me the silver ring with three diamonds shaped in a crown. I didn’t even realize I was crying until the tears blurred my vision.

“I never got to do this before, and I’m pretty sure I’m not good at it,” he started.

I let out a sob. He reached for my hand with his free one, and I gave it freely, squeezing back when he squeezed my fingers gently.

“I love you, Jessica. More than anything, other than my daughter.” He paused, and we both laughed because we both loved her the most. Then another gentle squeeze. “The past several months, I won’t say they were the happiest. I was happy before I met you with my little family that was just my daughter and me. But ever since you joined us, we’ve both come to love you, and want you to join our family, officially. We’ve talked about you adopting Sophia, but this comes first.”

He paused again and took a deep breath. I had my other hand pressed against my mouth to hold back the sobs wanting to come out.

“Jessica,” he said, his voice low but clear, dark eyes watching me intently. “Will you please marry me?”

I sucked in a sharp breath. I’d expected the question, but it brought back another wash of tears. Ross waited me out patiently, and I tried to get hold of myself, so I could give him an answer. When I did, it was in a low whisper, but very strong:

“Yes.”

I couldn’t get more out without breaking down again. Ross grinned up at me. Using one hand, he pulled the ring out of the box, snapping it shut. Then he adjusted the hand he held, so it lay flat on his palm, and I watched through blurry vision as he put the ring on my finger.

Then he rose up, his arms wrapping tightly around me as he lifted me to spin me around. I realized he was laughing, and joined in a second later. He set me down and pressed a hard kiss to my lips.

“There’s still one more thing,” he said excitedly.

Ross held my hand and pulled me behind him. I kept my eyes on his back as he led us out to the back porch, and I got a second surprise when I saw our families there. There were more decorations put up, this time more tasteful, and everyone was dressed up. Even Sophia was there, between our moms, wearing a pale pink princess dress.

“She said yes!” Ross yelled, throwing up both our hands.

There were shouts and whoops and calls of congratulations as they caught sight of the engagement ring on my finger. Sophia squealed and jumped up and down before rushing us. Ross let go of my hand to pick her up and throw her up in the air as they both laughed in delight. Our moms came forward for hugs and kisses, followed by our other relatives that had come into town, likely for just this occasion.

Then Ross was there, holding Sophia. They were both smiling at me, Ross holding out a hand for me to join them. They both pulled me into a hug that lasted a few minutes, until my mom started complaining, to shouts and laughter, about sharing the soon-to-be-bride and we broke up to join everybody else.

I looked around at my family, and I thought I couldn’t be happier.

* * *