You Had Me at Hello

The next day, we went to Magic Kingdom and got a picture in front of the castle before heading off to the different parts of the park and riding everything from Space Mountain to the Haunted Mansion and everything in between. We had a great time, running through the park like we were a couple of kids. Alex seemed to really like the rides like Haunted Mansion because they were dark and we were in a car by ourselves. We spent a good amount of time in that ride making out; it was definitely my favorite time riding it.

At the end of the night, I pulled Alex to the front of Cinderella Castle so that we could watch “Wishes,” the firework show. We watched the show with Alex standing behind me with his arms around me. As soon as the music started and I heard “Starlight, starbright, first star I see tonight” I started to cry. I have no idea why but it is impossible for me to watch “Wishes” without at least getting misty eyed. Something about being there with the man of my dreams made the thought of wishes seem even more powerful than normal. I knew that I couldn’t have wished for a better man to come into my life. I looked over my shoulder at Alex and gave him a quick kiss before returning my attention to the show.

“Remember, we must all believe in our wishes for they are the magic in our world. Now let’s all put our hearts together and make a wish come true!” said the Blue Fairy. At that moment my only wish was for Alex and I to live happily ever after. I honestly couldn’t imagine a more perfect moment. I felt such an overwhelming peace at being in Alex’s arms, even with the thousands of other people around us, I felt like it was just the two of us. Just as the finale went off, Alex turned me around and kissed me (talk about fireworks!).

For the next couple minutes, we just stood in each other’s arms enjoying being together in the Happiest Place on Earth. During that time, the crowds thinned considerably because Magic Hours were about to start. One of the many wonderful things about staying in a Disney hotel is that on certain days, there are “Magic Hours” which means that the parks are open for hotel guests only.

Once the crowds had cleared a little more, Alex pulled away after placing a soft kiss on my lips. After he kissed me, he started looking around and for the life of me I couldn’t figure out what he was looking for. Apparently he was looking for a cast member (Disney employee) to take our picture. As soon as he found one, he walked up to the lady and asked if she could take our picture. He said something else but I couldn’t hear him.

He handed the lady his phone and walked back over to me. He put his arm around me and I put my hand on his chest. We both looked at the camera and smiled. After the lady took the picture, I expected Alex to grab his phone. Instead he told me to close my eyes. I looked at him like he was crazy before doing what he asked. I felt him pull away and was thinking ‘what the hell is going on?’

Alex grabbed both of my hands and turned me so I was facing him and was perpendicular to the castle. “Open your eyes.” Alex said and when I did, I found him on the ground on one knee with a ring box in his hand! “Morgan, I love you more than I thought was possible. You mean the world to me and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. The Blue Fairy said to make a wish and the only thing I could think of was that I would get to spend my days making you the happiest lady on Earth, oh and a Stanley Cup of course.” I let out a small giggle that was distorted by the tears spilling over. “Morgan Elizabeth Pierce, will you do me the honor of being my wife?”

“YES!” I screamed! Alex slid the ring out of the black velvet box and onto my finger. Before I could even look at the ring, Alex was on his feet pulling me into a heart stopping kiss. After a moment, we pulled apart and I finally looked at my ring. It had a white gold band with a large circle cut diamond in the middle with a smaller diamond on either side.

“It’s perfect Alex, just like you! I love you so much and can’t wait to be your wife!” I looked around to make sure the cast member with Alex’s phone was still standing there and to ask if she could take another picture. I was pleasantly surprised to realize that she had been videotaping the whole time. Alex really had thought of everything! She did end up taking one more picture of us before giving Alex back his phone and saying congratulations to us.

We ended up spending another hour or two walking around the park hand in hand. The whole time, I kept glancing at my ring and wanting to pinch myself to see if this had really happened. It sure felt like a dream!

“Do you think we should call everyone to let them know tonight or wait?” I asked as we were walking toward the entrance.

“Your dad already knows. Well he knows that it was going to happen but not when. Jen knows too.”

“What? How?

“I actually flew to Pittsburgh and rented a car to go to your house before coming back to D.C., Jen gave me your address. I went there to ask him for you hand. Let me tell you, I’ve faced off with some of the toughest guys in the NHL and I have never been that scared.”

“Oh Alex! You have no idea how much it means to me that you asked him first.”

“Well I had to do it right.”

“Thank you. For everything. You truly are one of the best things to ever happen to me. I think the song I was listening to when I first met you said it best of all… ‘I know that I had sworn I’d never trust anyone again, but I didn’t have to. You had me at hello. You give me butterflies.’ When I went to D.C., I was definitely not looking for love, but I’m so glad I did.”

“I definitely was not expecting to find my soulmate while touring in D.C.. I will always be grateful that the guys let me talk them into taking a picture that day.”

“We will have to send them thank you cards,” I reply with a smile. By this time we are on the bus heading back to our resort. We were lucky enough to find a couple seats together and before we knew it we were back at our resort and walking hand in hand toward our cabin.