Sweet Perfection

I paced back and forth as I waited for her to finally get home. I'd spent all day waiting for this. Over and over again, I rehearsed what I was going to say. I even got dressed up. Kayla deserved nothing but the best, and the best is what I wanted to give her.

As I heard the front door creak open, my heart began to race. She walked in and, in that moment, I swore she was the most beautiful I'd ever seen her. I'd spent eighteen years -- and even summers every year after I'd been drafted -- living right next to girl I'd want to spend the rest of my life with and had no idea until two years ago.

I took a deep breath and stood up from my seat on the couch, stumbling slightly, before grabbing her hand and leading her out to the balcony. I opened the doors and heard her gasp beside me. I couldn't help but smirk, feeling proud of myself. Laid out before us was a 100% homemade three-course meal. It'd been my first. It wasn't until she spoke that I realized I was staring at her smile. It always had that effect on me.

"Did you do this all by yourself?"

"Most of it. I, um, burnt the pie so I had to buy one. Everything else came from one of my mom's recipe books..." I suddenly felt very conscious of her eyes on mine, as if she might be angry with me for all of this. I looked at my feet quickly.

I heard her chuckle quietly. It almost sounded like a child trying to hide laughter when getting yelled at. "It's all so great, Jordan," she paused for only a second, "what's it for?"

This was it. I had to do it now. Grabbing her hand again, I pulled her aside and took a deep breath. Here goes nothin'.

"Babe, I've known you my whole life and with every passing day I've become more and more thankful to have you. I know I'm not perfect. I forget to call when I'm on the road sometimes. I suck at folding laundry... and I burn pies..." Her smirk made most of the nervous feelings wash away. She'd always been a sucker for my failed attempts at humor. It was all I needed to keep me from chickening out right then and there. "I thank you so much for always being there when I needed you, for helping me to right all the wrongs and become an okay human being again. I owe you the world. But if you could do me just one more favor, this one simple thing, I promise I'll give you that."

I reached for the inside pocket of my jacket, my shaking hands fumbling with the button a little, and pulled out the small blue velvet box. I knelt down and looked up at the woman I fell deeply in love with. She had tears glistening in the corners of her eyes and I took a second to drink in every inch of her petite frame. Her big blue eyes that revealed tiny specks of green when she was excited, the way she twirled her hair when she was nervous, and most especially, the huge grin on her face. It could stop traffic for miles, I was almost certain. It was the kind of smile that made you instantly happy no matter how sad you felt.

"Kayla, you are so beautiful and you're everything I needed, whether I knew it at first or not. I can't bear the thought of losing you. Would you please, for the love of God, marry me?"

"Oh, Jordan. Get up off the damn floor, would you?" Her tone scared me almost. She helped me up from my position on the floor and pulled me closer to her. She kissed me so hard and for so long I think I got a little lightheaded. When she finally stopped, she leaned up onto the tip of her toes and whispered, "what took you so long?"