“ARE YOU SURE I don’t need to change?” I asked, looking down at the pajama pants I wore with my boots and parka. “I know you love me and all, but do you really want to be seen with me in public looking like this?”

Vaughn feigned a grimace as he looked me over. “Not really. Tell you what, if we run into anyone we know, I’ll just put a bag over your head.”

“You’re too kind to me. Really.”

He grinned, and, after zipping up his down jacket, shoved his sock-clad feet into a pair of boots and then stood up. I noticed he didn’t take his wallet or keys, and it made me wonder just what he had planned. Would we be making snow angels? Having a snowball fight? Bringing Frosty to life?

“You ready?” I asked.

Vaughn’s long legs ate up the space between us, and as he reached for my hand, there was no uncertainty in his eyes, no tension in his neck or jaw. Nothing but confidence radiated from the man who’d single-handedly made this the best day I’d ever had.

“I am,” he said. “Are you?”

When I nodded, he gave me a small smile and zipped up my jacket the rest of the way. Then he laced our fingers together again and said, “Close your eyes.” I obeyed without protest, curiosity causing the adrenaline to pump harder through my veins. What did Vaughn have up his sleeve now?

Staying close to him, I let him lead me through the house, and I guessed he was taking me out the back door.

“Are your eyes still closed?” he asked.

“Mhmm. Promise.”

“Good. Keep them that way until I tell you to open them.”

“Yes, sir.”

There was the sound of the deadbolt clicking open, followed by the lock on the handle, and then the door opened and a rush of cold air flooded into the house. Snow crunched under Vaughn’s boots as he stepped outside and guided me, taking care to make sure I didn’t trip.

The night smelled like fresh snow, and I took a deep lungful of air and let it out slowly as the sound of music filtered softly out of the speakers we’d set up outside for nights spent under the stars with a fire in the pit and a bottle of wine between us.

“Carter?” Vaughn whispered in my ear. “You can open your eyes now.”

My eyes fluttered open, and what I saw then took my breath away.

“Vaughn,” I said, my voice shaking as my vision blurred. “What did you do…”

He didn’t say anything, just took the hand I had on his arm and brought it to his lips, kissing my palm as he watched me silently. I had to wipe my eyes as I looked out over the yard, where every tree, every bush, and even the pillars on the back porch were covered in multicolored twinkling lights. Strands were draped across the yard, like stars you could reach out and touch, but it was the massive Douglas fir we’d nicknamed Big Woody that caught and held my attention.

My feet moved toward it of their own accord, and when I came to a stop a few feet away, I had to crane my neck to take it all in. Covered from top to bottom not only in lights, but in a multitude of ornamental balls of every color and size, the tree rivaled any that could be found outside the city malls. Golden tendrils of shimmering ribbon trailed down the length of the tree from the top, where a star perched at the highest peak.

“This is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” I whispered, unable to believe what I was looking at. “How did you even do this?”

“I’d do anything to make you happy,” Vaughn said, his chin coming to rest on my shoulder as his front pressed against my back. The heat of his body made me shiver as he continued, “And I know you and Christmas trees…”

“Can we keep it like this all year?”

He kissed my temple. “If that’s what you want.”

“The neighbors might hate us.”

“Most likely. We could do it anyway.”

I laughed as my head fell back onto his shoulder. Nothing will ever be able to top this perfect moment. Not ever. I didn’t even feel the cold anymore as we stood there, Vaughn’s arms covering mine as we stared up at the magical sight before us. I hadn’t seen them at first among the other ornaments, but now the crystal icicles and hearts revealed themselves, interspersed at intervals between the balls, and toward the bottom was an ornament wrapped like a present, but the lid was cracked open a few inches, revealing a small black box—

A black box? Is that…

My whole body froze, my chest seizing, my heart stopping. Vaughn must’ve felt it too, because he dropped his arms and stepped away from me, and then he was walking forward toward the tree. The world went into slow motion as he reached inside the present, and when he pulled out the small velvet box, I thought my knees would give out. Vaughn’s thumb brushed over the top of the velvet as he turned to face me, his eyes full of hope and love…and maybe the tiniest bit of nervousness.

“Carter Anthony Pierce,” he said, taking a step toward me, “love of my life. The reality of you is better than anything I could’ve dreamed. Before you, I didn’t need anyone to feel complete. I had my work, and I assumed that would be the love of my life. That maybe some of us weren’t meant to find someone to share their lives with. But then you stumbled into my ER with your wit and your charm and your unassuming nature…and I was lost. It should’ve scared me to think I could no longer live a happy, fulfilling life without relying on another person, but it didn’t. You were the piece of me I didn’t know I’d been missing for so long, and I don’t want to know what a day without you would feel like.”

I didn’t realize there were tears running down my cheeks until Vaughn took another step forward and brushed them away with the back of his hand. Needing his touch, I put my hand over his, keeping his palm against my face.

“I love the way you love. Love your students. Love your family. Love me. It’s all-encompassing and so vital to everyone who meets you. There isn’t a day that goes by that I’m not grateful you’re mine, and believe me, I realize what a lucky bastard I am. And if there ever comes a day where you think I need reminding, you have permission to kick my ass.”

I cracked a smile and sniffed as I wiped away a fresh set of hot tears. Backlit against the lights, Vaughn had never looked more beautiful or more breathtaking—until he dropped down to one knee, right there in the snow.

His eyes shone up at me as a smile curved his lips, and then he opened the lid of the jewelry box, where a band of gold nestled into the black cushion.

“Vaughn…” That was all I could manage before he took my left hand, pressed a kiss to it, and then looked back up at me.

“I love you, Carter. I loved you the moment I saw you, I love you now, and I’ll love you seventy years from now. Will you marry me?”

I was nodding before he finished asking the question, a smile spreading across my face as I said, “Yes. Yes, yes, yes, I’ll marry you.”

Vaughn’s grin matched my own as he took the ring out of the box and slid it up my finger, and then I was pulling him up to his feet, eager to get my hands—and mouth—on my future husband. His arms went around my waist as mine wound around his shoulders, and it was slow motion again as our lips met, and our future was sealed with a kiss.

And as the snow continued to fall around us, I knew this was the beginning of a lifetime of many happy years to come.