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I chuckled at the roll of her eyes, which momentarily settled the churning nerves in my stomach. When Bee set her toothbrush down and declared she was done, I rushed to spit, then propelled her into the living room.
“You’re so pushy this morning,” she grumbled, leaning against my splayed hand between her shoulder blades and trying to slow the pace of her footsteps.
“I’m excited.” This was our first Christmas living together, and it was going to be one we’d never forget. For good reasons, I hoped.
She muttered something about Neanderthal, then cut off with a gasp. “Is that for me?”
I grinned so hard it hurt. “Yeah, babe. I’ve been dying for you to open it.”
Her eyes roved over the massive box. I’d used three rolls of gift wrap on that one alone.
“Can I open it?”
I laughed. “That’s why I woke you up. But first, Merry Christmas, sweets.” Wrapping her in my arms drew a contented sigh from deep in my chest.
Bee hugged me hard. “Merry Christmas to you too. I love you.”
“And I love you back.”
She looked up at me from under her thick, dark lashes. “Do you want to open yours while I open mine?”
I shook my head. “No, I want to watch this. Get into it already.”
She let out a little squeal as she ripped at the layer of gift wrap. I handed her a pair of scissors to cut open the boxing tape, then smirked when she opened the box flaps.
A suspicious glare was cast my way. “Are you serious?”
“Yep.” I grinned as she extracted a second large wrapped box.
With more wrapping discarded and a third wrapped box revealed, I snickered again when irritation cracked through Bee’s amusement.
“Nico!” she exclaimed when the fourth box, the size of a shoe box, still hadn’t revealed the precious gift.
I sat beside Bee when she dropped onto the couch. Unbeknownst to her, this was the perfect position for things to come.
The fourth box revealed a fifth, then a sixth, and by the time the seventh sat in the palm of her hand, her fingers shook.
“Neek?” My name held a tremble that wasn’t there before.
“Open it, baby,” I gently urged.
Slowly, agonisingly, with tears already shimmering in her eyes, Brooklyn unwrapped the last layer to reveal a ring box. She inhaled a shuddering breath and searched my face for meaning. “Is this…”
I plucked the box from her hand and dropped to one knee before her. Her hands flew to her mouth and failed to hold back an astonished sob.
Numbly, I flipped the little lid open and cleared the thickness from my throat. “This has been a long time coming, eh?” I smirked. “Brooklyn Aroha Andrews, my queen, will you marry me?”
Unexpectedly, her eyes narrowed. “Is this because of my meltdown at the gym?”
I scoffed. “Wanna tell me where I got the time to get this designed and custom-made especially for you, paid for, then wrapped in a shit-ton of boxes, one day out from Christmas?” I arched a brow, then softened my voice. “This wasn’t a spur of the moment decision, sweetness, and not one I took lightly. I’ve had it planned for months.”
“Really?”
“Really, babe. So, what do you say? Wanna get married?”
Bee nodded and blinked away her tears. “Yeah I do.” She then pointed at herself. “Because this bitch has waited long enough for you to lock her down.”
Laughing heartily and filled with monumental relief, I plucked the ring from its case and slid it onto her shaking finger.
