Hope for Better Weather

“John, have you seen that thing?” I asked as I scrambled around the kitchen. John and I were hosting Christmas Eve for both our families at my house this year and, needless to say, I was a wreck.

“What thing?” John asked as he walked into the kitchen.

“You know, that one thing I use a lot when I cook.”

“You mean the whisk?” John chuckled as he handed it to me.

“You’re a lifesaver.” I gave him a quick peck before running over to the stove and whisking the gravy I was making from scratch.

“Clark, you need to relax, sweetie. Everything will be fine,” John tried to reassure me.

“I just want everything to be perfect. What if our families don’t get along?”

“Clark, they’ve met each other multiple times and like each other.”

“What if I make everything sick with my cooking?”

“Not going to happen. You’re a wonderful cook.”

“I just don’t want anything to go wrong.”

“And nothing will, I promise,” John said as he pulled me into a hug. “And even if something does go wrong, it can’t be as bad as last Christmas.”

I laughed and rolled my eyes. “You can say that again.”

The timer suddenly started going off and I extracted myself from John’s embrace so I could take the ham out of the oven.

“So what if we told our families we were engaged?” John asked as I was messing with the ham.

I gave a sarcastic chuckle. “We already did that once, remember? I really don’t think we want a repeat of that.”

“No, I mean what if we’re tell them we’re engaged for real, not pretend this time.”

I had only been halfway paying attention to John because of the ham but this caught my attention. “What?” I asked.

I turned around and saw John behind me on one knee while holding up his grandmother’s ring. “Wh…wha…wh..what are you doing?”

“Clark, I love you so much. I know that we first started as a fake couple, but pretending to be your boyfriend and then fiancé was the best decision of my life. I’ve made mistakes along the way, but they just helped me see that I want to be with you forever. Last Christmas I gave you my heart and you’ve had it since then. I want to spend the rest of my Christmases with you…will you marry me?”

I stood shocked into speechlessness as I looked down at John. I nodded as the tears started. I was finally able to choke out, “Yes…yes! I will marry you and spend the rest of our Christmases together.”

John didn’t say anything as he slipped the ring on my finger and then stood up to hug me.

“I love you so much,” John said, his words mumbled from his face being buried in my hair.

“I love you too.”

“Yo lovebirds, we’re here now so if you could stop doing each other in the kitchen that would be great.”

Both John and I looked up to see Ross smirking at us with the rest of the O’Callaghans standing behind him.

Jenny took one look at my tear-streaked face and quickly asked. “What happened? Are you ok, Clark? John Cornelius, did you say something rude to her again? If you did, I swear I’ll...”

“Mom, chill out,” John quickly cut in. “Clark is crying happy tears.”

“John just proposed!” I exclaimed, unable to keep my excitement contained any longer.

“Yeah, like we haven’t heard that one before,” Shane joked, which earned him a smack on the back of his head courtesy of his father.

“And it’s actually real this time,” John said as he glared at his laughing brothers.

“Oh my goodness, this is the best Christmas surprise,” Jenny started crying as she ran over to hug John and me.

“Ma, don’t you think you’re being a bit dramatic?”

“No, I don’t think I am, John. I’ve wanted Clark to be part of our family since you introduced her to us last year but of course you had to mess that up.”

“Well I obviously fixed it,” John mumbled as I chuckled at him.

“Hey everyone, what’s all the commotion about?” Henry asked as he and the rest of my family walked in. This wasn’t how I planned to announce my engagement to everyone but it looked like all the celebration gave it away.

“John and Clark are engaged!” Jenny exclaimed.

“For real this time!” Ross and Shane added in.

“What?! Oh my gosh!” My mom yelled as she ran over and proceeded to engulf us just as Jenny had.

We were soon surrounded by our entire families and I could barely get a word in edgewise.

“Ok, everyone!” I yelled out. “Thank you for your excitement, but our food is going to get cold. We have all evening to celebrate.”

“I’m sorry, Clark,” My mom said as she wiped her tears. “This has just been the best year ever. First Carys had Bryson in June and now you’re getting married.”

“I know mom,” I said as I hugged her and threw a smile over her shoulder at Carys and Patrick. My relationship with my family, especially my sister and brother-in-law, wasn’t completely fixed, but we were working on it. It was much better than what it had been. Plus, I loved being able to spoil my new nephew.

John and I finally got everyone ushered into the dining room and the food on the table. I was about to go in and sit down when John pulled me aside.

“I know it’s cheesy, but when my mom said this was the best Christmas ever she was right. I love you.”

“I love you too,” I smiled up at him.

Giving your heart away during Christmas could be risky, especially in a fake relationship, but sometimes it turned out perfectly.