“Yes. Yes, yes, yes!” She finally forced out, and a roar erupted around us. I stood and put the ring over her delicate finger as the song started up again, the singer choking his way through it behind tears of happiness. I pulled her in for an embrace, and we kissed, deeply, fully, and then held each other tight before being swarmed by our families and friends.
Mom kissed her on both cheeks and congratulated us before going behind the bar and helping bring out the cupcakes. Jordan had gone out of his way to create a fizzy champagne-like nonalcoholic drink for her and filled her glass with it. We toasted and began to celebrate while the music continued.
The party continued well into the night with food and drinks being passed along, and various cocktails designed just for the two of us being passed out. Some were alcoholic, but most weren’t as a nod to Becca and her current situation. I wanted to make sure that any alcoholic drink on the menu for the night had a counterpart that wasn’t, and Matt and Jordan had gone to great lengths to make it happen in such a short time. Even the food was friendly to her stomach, and Melissa and Ava had built a sort of throne for her to sit on that they brought out after I popped the question, sitting it in the center of the room for the two of us to sit in and watch the festivities.
Mason was our personal waiter for the night, and I found out later that he had video called Tom and Amanda right as I got to the stage. Tom was absolutely demanding that we open a hundred-year-old bottle of whiskey with him when he came home next time and have a celebration together. Nick filtered in and out, seeming to enjoy himself thoroughly and high fiving me on every pass.
“I was in on this from the beginning,” he said to Becca as he brought her a second cupcake.
“Lunch and a movie, huh?” she asked as she took a bite. “These are amazing.”
“Well, the lunch and movie were Tyler’s idea, but I didn’t spill the beans,” Nick said. “So now me and Tyler are even, right?”
“Right,” I said, getting a pumping fist from Nick.
“Boom,” he said. “Now you two enjoy yourselves, I have a song to sing.”
“You’re going to sing?” I asked, laughing.
“Damn right I am,” he said. “I haven’t had a chance to belt out anything from a musical since high school.”
“Oh God,” I said.
“This is crazy,” she said as he took to the stage and began singing.
“Well, I wanted to skip right to the engagement party if at all possible, so I had this all set up,” I said.
“But what if I said no?” she asked, the corner of her mouth sliding up into a smile.
“Then I would have to eat a lot of very sad cupcakes on my own,” I laughed. She curled into my arm, and we listened as Mom and Melissa belted out a tune together at the karaoke mic.
Epilogue
Becca
It had been a long day, but heading home was worth all the stress. Working part-time at the internship meant hours away from home and no check to show for it, but the experience was invaluable. It was also something I could put on a resume, and my boss was already talking about how she couldn’t imagine going back to working without me there. It was stressful work, but it was what I enjoyed, so it made it all worth it.
Tyler would just be getting done with his last class of the day by the time I got home. He timed his classes and work so that we could maximize the time we had together with our precious little boy. Michael was five months old as of the day before and was sitting up on his own now. The delight in his face anytime one of us walked back into a room he was in was one of my favorite things in the entire universe. I looked forward to seeing it when I got home.
At the same time, I was feeling like I needed some time with just Tyler. The last few months had been insane, both scheduling-wise and life-wise. Aside from myself and him, Michael was only ever babysat by his grandmothers and only for short periods of time. I hated being apart from him for too long, and we hadn’t explored any overnight situations yet, and likely wouldn’t for some time. Yet, I missed being able to have a lazy evening that bled into a lazy morning with Tyler.
Not that he had much time for laziness anymore. Between being a terrific father, his online courses, and working at the bar enough to pay the bills, he was running on empty a lot, too. A little time for just the two of us would be nice, and I decided as I pulled into the house that I would see about making that happen. Even if it was just an afternoon where we could curl up on the couch and sleep, something just for the two of us.