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When I got to the venue, I was greeted by the three most important women in my life.
“The man of the hour.” She smiled and kissed me. “I just knew you were gonna be late tonight. I'm glad you’re on time, because there’s something I want to show you before everyone steals your attention tonight.”
“Yeah, Dad.” Casey tugged at my arm. “Come on, before the crowd notices you’re here and pulls you away.”
They quickly whisked me off to a private room in the venue. I held Harlee in my arms and kissed her cheeks while being escorted, hoping her giggles and kisses would take the edge off the nervousness I felt about my proposal. When we got to the room, there was a large canvas covered with a black cloth. When Casey removed the cloth and revealed a hand-painted portrait of the four of us, tears instantly stained my cheeks.
“Aww Dad.” Casey hugged me. “Don’t cry. We just wanted to do something special for you, outside of what we already know everyone else will do.”
“Yeah, babe,” Ariane chuckled. “Don’t cry. You're gonna make me cry and ruin my makeup.”
I wanted to propose to her right then and there, but I held off until the perfect time. My peers knew Ariane as my assistant and we’d done a great job at hiding Harlee from the world, but that night I wanted to formally introduce her as the mother of my child and my new fiancé.
After a while of mingling, accepting gifts, and taking pictures with some of my closest friends, I felt it was time for my proposal. So, I took Harlee on stage with me and took the microphone into my hand.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” I said, “I wanna thank you all for coming out to celebrate my birthday tonight. I know a lot of you probably had better things to do than come out and party with this old man.” I chuckled. “I also wanna give an extra special thanks to Ariane and Casey, for putting all of this together. I had no idea. So, thank you.”
They both smiled and blew kisses at me from the crowd. Taking in how beautiful Ariane was with her evening gown and glowing skin, I felt like the luckiest man in the world. The tiny slaps from Harlee’s hands to both my cheeks intensified that feeling and pushed me on with my proposal as well.
“That’s not all I wanna say tonight,” I continued. “Tonight, I would like to introduce you all to the newest member of my family—my daughter, Harlee Bianca Taylor.” There were several gasps heard around the room, but also cheers. “She was given to me by someone very special. Someone I fell in love with so unexpectedly. This woman came to me at a time in my life when I felt hopeless. Angry. Alone. And she made everything so easy, so much better. She gave me hope and a different view of the world, simply by being herself. And for that, Ariane Pratts...”
I stepped down from the stage and handed Harlee over to Casey, who was in shock at what she knew would come next. Then, I turned to Ariane, looked her square in the eyes and got down on one knee. Her face was so full of confusion and passion and thanks and glee, I was eager to get the ring from my pocket and pop the question.
“YES!” she answered before I even asked, making everyone in the room laugh and erupt with cheers and congratulations. “Yes! I will marry you!”
“I love you so much, Ariane Pratts. Like I promised you, I will devote the remaining years of my life to making you happy. Thank you for not giving up on me.”
“Oh Logan, I love you too. You’ve already kept your promise, babe. You made me the happiest woman alive. Thank you.”
As I kissed her passionately, I silently thanked God for everything…for giving me Ariane, the love of my life.
The End
