Three Months Later…

Savannah, GA USA

Have you ever had a moment when you find the need to pinch yourself? Like shit is just too damn good to be true?

Yeah, well I’m having one of those moments now.

“Jaxson, where are you taking me?”

That question comes from my too-good-to-be-true. My forever gal, Lauren.

“Shhh, babe. You have to work on being patient. We’re almost there, I promise,” I say.

We’re in her hometown of Savannah, GA. It’s just stopped raining. The sun is shining, and I’m on a mission.

“I can’t see,” Lauren whines.

“Yes, babe. That’s the whole point of the blindfold,” I say, leading her down the path.

Lauren and I arrived in Savannah three days ago after a one-week stay in New York. We’re on what I call, The Meet The Parents Tour.

Now, I had no doubts that my mom and dad would fall head-over-heels for Lauren. The same way Gramps and Nana did. The same way I did.

And I was right.

Mom and Dad are crazy about her. Dad channeled Beyoncé and told me I had better put a ring on it.

But the idea of me meeting her parents, along with her sister Becky and her BFF Arabella, petrified me.

Thankfully, her parents love me. Now Becky, was a little harder to convince. Everything Lauren said about her…true. She is indeed a witch. I personally think she may be a tad jealous of Lauren.

“I would have worn ballet flats had I known we were gonna walk on what feels like sand, Jaxson,” she whines again.

“We’re so close, babe. Then, I promise it will all be worth it.”

I hope.

Anyway, Lauren’s BFF, Arabella, and I hit it off right away. Although she calls me a good BadBoy.

The nearly two weeks we’ve spent here in the States, have been wonderful.

Yet, I’m looking forward to tomorrow morning, when Lauren, Truffles, and I fly back to our villa in Paris, France.

Where this all began.

Not to mention Paris is where our life is.

The successful magazine, the fashion line, which now includes Hot Mess Couture, a brand name I convinced Lauren to bring out of the woodwork, as a children’s-clothing line.

And there’s me, still very much the face of ALLMe. The parodic-like spin of the campaign slogan was all abuzz on social media, sweeping the Dixie Lane incident under the rug.

“I can’t believe I let you talk me into wearing this blindfold,” Lauren says, a hint of a chuckle evident.

“Yeah, well, you didn’t mind the blindfold the other night when—”

“Jaxson Malone, hold your tongue,” she orders.

She’s feisty as hell, only one of the many attributes I’ve fallen for.

The last few months spent with Lauren, getting to know her, discovering all that makes her the beautiful, vibrant, sweet—sometimes stubborn—woman she is, left me no choice but to bring meaning to my forever gal.

So, after meeting her parents I got time to get to know her dad a little, let him probe me about my plans for the future. It came to no surprise that my future plans involved marrying his daughter.

“How far are we from the car? It smells damp. Like it’s about to rain again.”

“Baby, if it rains, I brought an umbrella. Hush, we’re almost there,” I calmly say.

As I lead her, the rest of the way, down the sandy path to a spot on the beach I feel is perfect, the sun peeping in and out of the clouds, I can’t help but feel a sense of wow, flowing through my entire body. The same sensation I felt that day I first laid eyes on Lauren at the airport, the first night we kissed under the Paris sky, the first night we made love.

And the first time she whispered, I love you.

“We’re here, baby,” I say, after taking a deep breath to calm my nerves.

“Yay, wherever here is,” she says in that sexy southern accent, sarcastic-laced tone I adore so much. “I hear ocean waves!” she adds.

“Yes, baby,” I say, facing her. “Now, listen. I’m gonna remove the blindfold, but I want you to promise to keep your eyes closed until I say your name,” I add, ready to pull off the blindfold.

“Keep my eyes closed until you say my name,” she repeats in a whisper-tone. “Okay, got it.”

Hands trembling, I pull off the blindfold, remove the velvet black box out of my pant pocket, then get down on one knee.

Breathe, Jaxson. Just breathe.

“Lauren.” She opens her eyes, sees me on one knee, and gasps. “You are the reason I know true love exists, and I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life loving you. You once mentioned you want forever. Well, here is forever, baby.”

Lauren places her hands over her mouth as I kneel, holding the five-carat flower-shaped engagement ring. “Oh my goodness, Jaxson, it’s a flower,” she squeals, her hands now shaking.

I chuckle. “Yes, baby. And the inscription inside says, ‘this flower means forever.’”

Tears begin to trickle down her face as she laughs and cries—giving meaning to tears of joy.

Then I finally get up the nerve to ask, “Lauren Blake, will you be my forever gal? Will you please marry me?”

She looks at me with a playful and happy gleam in her eyes and says…

“Yes!”

Then I sweep her up in my arms and kiss her as light rain begins to fall.

Sprinkles of joy.

“Our first kiss in the rain,” she says laughing.

“Yes. I’m sorry it’s not the Paris in the rain kind of a kiss you’ve been longing for.”

Lauren runs her fingers through my hair and says, “It’s okay, because being with you is like Paris in the rain.”

And the two of us, along with Truffles, and the little bundle of joy we are expecting, will live happily ever after.

---