My hand flies to my mouth. “Sam…”
“I’ve lived in your house covered wall-to-wall in tinsel and twinkle lights. I’ve survived four Christmases with a mechanical reindeer winking at me every time I take the trash out. I’ve waited through night shifts and fielded phone calls at 3 a.m. when you couldn’t make it home.” He takes my hand, steadyand sure, eyes bright. “And there’s not a single thing I’d change. Not one. Because it’s you. It’s always been you.”
Tears blur my vision, hot and fast. “Oh, my god.”
He takes one big deep breath that I almost feel in my chest too. “Francesca Louise Thompson, will you do me the honor of being my wife?”
“Oh, my god.” A noise bursts out of me, half-choked and messy. “You… I… We… This is…”
“Still not hearing a yes,” he jokes, but I can hear the anxiety in his voice. Four years of being together have taught me so much more about my man. My future husband. My, oh my god, my very own live-in Grinch.
My mind glitches as I stare at him, mouth open. “But are you sure?”
He stands now, cupping my face in his big hands, warming my cheeks and wiping a tear I didn’t even know had escaped. “Baby, I want to spend every moment with you for the rest of my life. I have never been so sure of anything. You’re my favorite person… Christmas obsession and all.”
And suddenly I can’t stop the tumble of thoughts, a rush of memories. I think of that first Christmas Eve, standing on his porch with frozen fingers and a Santa hat slipping down my head, singing so badly the neighbors probably considered calling the cops. I’d made a fool of myself just to make him smile—and he hadn’t looked at me like a fool atall. He’d looked at me like maybe I was exactly where I belonged. And now here we are, years later, and he’s asking me to stay forever.
“Yes,” I shout over the music, throwing myself at him. “A million times, yes.”
He catches me easily, holding me close, twirling us around. Somewhere behind us, the reindeer winks, the lights beam, and the whole house glows again, brighter than ever.
He kisses me, and when I pull back, I can’t resist grinning. “You know this means you’ll be untangling lights with me until we’re old and wrinkled, right?”
He squeezes my hand tighter, a smile on his lips. “Worth it.”
