My heart was in my throat, my palms perpetually sweating no matter how many times I wiped them off on my pants. This was the moment I’d both anticipated and dreaded. Ever since the idea came to me, I couldn’t stop planning it. That had been six weeks ago. Now it was go time, and I only hoped I could get through it without losing my mind.

When I came out of the bathroom, I found Ellie’s dad alone in the living room, messing with his new camera. Ellie was in the kitchen with her mom, preparing for Christmas dinner, and my dad had made up an excuse to run home, giving me the time I needed to get through this.

“Hey, Mr. Teller,” I said and sat on the couch.

He turned to me from his spot on the recliner with a smirk playing on his lips. “When will you stop calling me Mr. Teller? You’d think after twenty-two years, you’d give in and just call me Doug like everyone else.”

“My dad taught me to treat my elders with respect, sir.”

“Elder? Son, we’re family.” He rolled his eyes and went back to tinkering with his new toy.

“Well, speaking of being family, there was something I wanted to ask you.” I cleared my throat and prepared myself for the biggest question of my entire life—well, second biggest. I wasn’t worried about his answer—I had no doubt he wouldn’t object, but I was nervous about his reaction.

Ellie and I had decided to keep our relationship quiet until we had everything figured out. However, it didn’t take the school long before the other teachers had started to figure it out. At first, we brushed it off, but just after Thanksgiving break, we finally caved and admitted it. Although we still kept it from our families. It wasn’t that we didn’t want them to know, because we did. Our reason for keeping quiet in front of our parents was to spare them the heartache in the event our romantic relationship didn’t work out. It would be a lot harder for them than it would be for us if we realized we were better off as friends—which I felt certain wouldn’t happen.

“You should probably go ahead and ask before Ellie comes back into the room. I’m sure you don’t plan for her to find out this way.”

I cocked my head to the side, wondering how he’d guessed my intention.

“Coby…” He set his camera on the table and leaned forward, settling his elbows on his thighs. “I’m not sure when your relationship moved from friends to more, other than it was before Thanksgiving. Your efforts at trying to keep us in the dark are noted, but I’ve gotta tell ya, son…you two aren’t fooling anyone.” A huffed chuckle seeped out as he shook his head in jest.

Had I known we hadn’t been as secretive as we’d thought, there would’ve been no need to stay at separate houses that weekend. But I pushed past the groan that rumbled in my chest, unable to go back in time and change things now, and moved forward with my question.

No longer feeling nervous to ask, I took a breath and smiled. “I’m aware I don’t have to say this, but I love your daughter. Ellie is the most important thing to me—always has been. And she always will be. We haven’t been officially dating for long, but I feel like we’ve been together our whole lives. Our souls have always belonged to the other, same with our hearts, but it’s taken us twenty-two years to see what everyone else has. So even though our relationship is young, our love for each other isn’t.”

“You didn’t come in here, away from everyone else, to tell me you love her,” he said, jumping in the first chance he had. “I’ve been friends with your dad for a long time. Our families have spent almost every Christmas together, and not once, in over twenty years, has he ever had to run home to put gifts away. To be honest, I was expecting her to open a ring box this morning. When she didn’t, I figured maybe y’all weren’t ready for that yet—or haven’t admitted to being ready. But the second your father excused himself, I had no doubt what you were waiting on. And I’ve gotta say…I’ve loved you like a son since the day you were born, but just knowing that you’re waiting to ask me for my permission…” He lowered his head, shaking it slowly. “It means the world to me.”

“Well, I haven’t asked yet. You haven’t really let me. Every time I try, you tell me things I’m supposed to say to you.” We both shared a laugh, and when the humor quieted down, I realized it was time. “I will take care of her until my dying breath. I’ll love her more every single day until the heavens no longer exist. She’s been my world from day one, and that’ll never change. I want you to know that first. I need you trust me when I tell you she’s my beginning, my middle, and my end. She’s my best friend first and foremost, but I can’t wait to add the title of my wife second to that. Will you please give me your blessing in asking her to marry me?”

He glanced away for a moment and pulled in a shaky inhalation. I’d anticipated the nerves this would give me. However, I never gave any thought to how emotional it would be for him. When he finally turned to face me again, his eyes layered with a sheen of tears, he said, “Under one condition.”

“Anything.”

“Until you were about four, you called me Mr. Yeller. Then it was Mr. Teller—although don’t for one second think I never heard you refer to me as Old Yeller. You’ve refused to call me Doug, no matter how many times I’ve said it—”

“Sir, I’m sorry, but I just can’t call you by your first name to your face. It feels disrespectful.”

“And that’s okay. But if you want to marry my daughter and truly become the son I’ve always seen you as, then you have to call me Dad. You already have one, and I’m not trying to replace him. I just—”

“That’s it? That’s all I have to do to get you to say yes? Then you’ve got yourself a deal.” I stood, practically bouncing on the balls of my feet, and waited for him to do the same. When he stuck out his hand the way people do when coming to an agreement, I wrapped my arms around him, pulled him in for the girliest man-hug I’d ever been a part of, and whispered, “Thank you…Dad.”

During dinner, Ellie and I continued to keep up the charade of only being friends. I was aware our parents knew, but she hadn’t been privy to that information. I’d decided to keep that to myself until later. After we’d all eaten and the kitchen had been cleaned up, my dad said goodbye and left, but before he did, he gave me a hug that told me everything his words couldn’t. A few minutes later, I asked Ellie to come somewhere with me.

“What are we doing here?” she asked as soon as we got out of the car at our old high school. She took my hand and followed one step behind me. “I never thought you’d step foot on these grounds again.”

“My dad told me the seniors decorated the field this year for Christmas, so I figured we’d come check it out. They did this our freshman year. Do you remember that?”

“Oh my gosh! I forgot all about that. It was so pretty, too.”

The second we rounded the corner and approached the gate to the baseball field, her hand tightened around mine and she gasped, her pace slowing to the point I nearly had to drag her behind me.

Clear Christmas lights were strung along the fence, then tethered to poles someone had stuck into the ground at each base, before meeting in the middle at the pitcher’s mound to create a canopy of light. Everything else was dark, making it that much brighter. It was absolutely stunning. My dad had outdone himself with this one, and I couldn’t wait to thank him. But first, I had a question I needed Ellie to answer.

I led her to the mound, where we stood facing one another. Her gaze followed the strings of lights surrounding us, yet mine remained glued to her expression. Her eyes lit up in awe, while her mouth gaped in unadulterated excitement.

“This is nothing like what they did the last time,” she whispered, as if speaking too loudly would alert someone to our presence, causing them to kick us out.

“Do you remember it? Remember us coming out here that night after dinner?” It had been such a distant memory, nothing that really stuck out over the years. So much had happened in our lives since then, which made that one particular night that much harder to recall.

Her eyes turned to slits, and she pulled her lips to one side in thought. Then the corner of her mouth curled up, and it was obvious she remembered the same thing I had when I originally came up with this plan. “They only ran lights along the fence, but they were different colored ones, not all white. And we went around stealing all the blue ones because we thought it’d look better with just red, green, and white,” she recalled fondly with soft giggles wrapping around her words.

“I guess they got smart this year, huh?” I held her hands between us and waited for her curious gaze to find mine. “It’s hard to believe we’ve been gone for over four years. Even harder to believe that Christmas was eight years ago.”

“It seems like forever. Sometimes it feels like we’ve lived an entire lifetime since then.”

“In a way, we have. Some of it was good, some bad. We’ve gone through some hard times and easy ones. But the best part about it all was that you were right there. By my side. No questions asked.”

“Are you going to get all sappy on me?” she teased, but I didn’t join her in her laughter.

“I know we agreed not to change anything between us other than where you sleep every night. We’ve been back here twice over the last month, and both times we’ve kept up the façade of being friends.”

“It’s not a façade, Coby. We are friends.”

“Yes, and that’ll never change. But we’re more than that, too. And I think I’m ready to share that openly with the world.”

“You could’ve just said something earlier. You didn’t have to bring me all the way out here to tell me you’re ready. I mean, I love this. It’s sweet and romantic, but I don’t need grand gestures from you.”

I glanced around the dimly lit field, out into the darkness beyond, and then back at her. “Being here with you—in DeArmanville—reminds me of where we started. This was the beginning of us…we just weren’t aware of it yet. You became my best friend in this town.”

“Coby,” she whispered, but rather than for secrecy, it came out softly on a gasp. “You’re going to make me cry. And I don’t want to. Seriously, stop being mushy. Just tell me you love me, kiss me, and let’s go back home so we can tell our parents.”

“But I have something else to say first.” I squeezed her hand and released the other, needing to grab something out of my pocket. Luckily, she didn’t notice while staring into my eyes. “Like I said…this is where we began. I have no clue where we’ll end up, where we’ll go from here, but I’d love nothing more than for us to do it together. Six years ago, on this mound, you became my biggest cheerleader, and you’ve never stopped. No matter what I’m doing, you’ve always been there to support me all the way. So right now…”

I lowered myself onto one knee, still holding her hand in mine, but in the other, I held up the diamond I’d only seen in photos of my parents. Her eyes widened, and the fingers on her free hand covered her lips. It took everything in me not to tear up at the sight of her, but I couldn’t keep the emotion out of my voice.

“Right now, on this same mound…” I had to pause, needing a moment to compose myself. “You’ve been my champion, my partner, my best friend. You’ve been my confidant, my roommate, and now my lover. But I need more. And I only want it with you. I’d love for you to be my wife, the mother of my children, my companion for life. Will you marry me?”

“Oh my God, Coby.” Her soft words shook with so much sentiment I could feel it in my soul. “How are we going to explain this to our parents? They don’t even know we’re dating. Not to mention, we’ve only been together for a few weeks.”

Her concerns felt like a punch in the stomach, but she hadn’t said no. And I trusted she wouldn’t. She simply needed to come to this the same way I had, the same way we had both come to the realization that we were meant to be together.

“It doesn’t matter how long we’ve been a couple. We’ve loved each other our whole lives, and that’ll never stop. This moment has been in the making for over twenty years. If you’d like to wait, then I’ll wait. I don’t want to, but I will for you. There’s nothing I won’t do for you.”

A tear fell from the corner of her eye, and my heart plummeted to the bottom of my gut. The only thing that revived me was the words that followed. “I feel like I’ve been waiting my whole life, and I’m ready to start living…with you.”

I didn’t even bother slipping the ring onto her finger before standing, wrapping my arms around her, and taking her mouth with mine.

“What about our families?” she asked once we finally broke apart to catch our breaths.

“I don’t think we’ll have a problem explaining anything to them.” I turned my head toward the dugout and watched as our parents stormed the field, heading our way. “Something tells me they already know.”

She followed my gaze and gasped, then ran to her mom who caught her in her arms.

“Let’s see the ring!” her mom shouted with overflowing enthusiasm.

That’s when we both remembered I hadn’t given it to her yet. As soon as I slid it past her knuckle, admiring how perfect it looked on her, she held out her hand for the three of them to see. “It’s perfect,” Ellie said while staring right at me, a sparkle in her eyes.

And it was. “I was going to get you a big rock so the whole world would see how much I love you, but when my dad offered me my mom’s, there was no other ring meant for your finger.”

“This was your mom’s?” She pulled her hand out of her mother’s grasp and held it close to her face. “Wait…when did you talk to your dad about it?”

“Thanksgiving.” I shrugged.

She turned back to her parents. “And when did y’all find out?”

Her mom waved her off with a breathy giggle. “Honey, we’ve known since you both were still in diapers. But if you’re asking when we found out about the proposal…he asked your father after we opened gifts this morning.”

* * *

Hours later, we were tangled in each other’s arms in a hotel room. We’d been sleeping separately since coming into town for the holiday, but after tonight, I refused to be apart from her. And it would’ve been too awkward to have sex in either of our parents’ houses, so I’d taken her one town over to the only hotel that was still considered local.

I trailed my fingertip along her stomach, around her belly button, and across her hip. “I can’t wait to see what you look like pregnant with our baby. I think you should stop taking your birth control.”

“What?” She was half-asleep, almost drunk on the number of times I’d made her come. But with my confession, she seemed wide-awake. “Coby, we’ve only been engaged for like four hours. We still have to get married.”

“Then let’s do that tomorrow.”

She curled into me and sighed against my chest, the heat of her body covering my bare side. “As much as I’d love that, I think we need to wait until summer. We’re both teachers, and I don’t know about you, but I’d like to go on a long honeymoon and enjoy it.”

“I just have no desire to wait any longer. I feel like everyone has told us our whole lives that we belong together, but we ignored them. And now, it’s like we’ve finally caught up, and I refuse to push pause.”

“That’s not what we’re doing.” She tilted her head back to peer into my eyes. “I understand you’ve spent the last however many weeks planning to propose, but have you given the wedding any thought?”

“Only that it’s you who walks down that aisle toward me.”

“Well, I have. A lot, actually. I had no idea you were going to do this, or that we’d be here this fast. But ever since the first night of us really being together, after we told each other how we feel, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about the day I marry you.”

“And what have you thought about?”

“I’d like it to be here. Small, of course. Nothing over the top or fancy—definitely a white dress but barefoot. Other than that, I don’t care about the rest.” She held up one finger, and I matched it with mine. “I’m not asking to wait until summer because I think we’re moving too fast or because I need time to plan something extravagant. It’s because the start of our marriage should take place where our lives as friends began. I think our parents deserve to be involved. And of course, I’d love the freedom to take off for as long as we want and not have to worry about school.”

“I think that sounds perfect.”

And that’s exactly what happened.

Almost every morning from that night until June, I’d mentioned how badly I wanted her to stop taking her pill. I practically had a countdown calendar, eager to start a family with her. And finally, two weeks after the end of the school year, we went back to DeArmanville and vowed to love each other forever.

“I promise to always be your best friend,” she said while sliding a gold band over my knuckle.

“And I promise to always be your phone home.”