& it's all because you're by my side.

After our moment of complete bliss, and my eyes finally dry, Joe brought me around the side of my house towards the front.

I gasped at the sight I saw.

There was a white, horse-drawn carriage sitting in front of my house.

An older man, in a long top hat and suit, sat on the front of the carriage keeping the horses in place.

“For me?” I whispered in awe.

“Of course.” He winked at me.

“How did you know that I love horse-drawn carriages?” I stared at Joe, my eyes sparkling in excitement.

He shrugged his shoulders lightly, a smile playing on his lips. “I’m that good.”

“Right,” I gave him a look.

“Well, first of all. It’s a romantic gesture. What girl wouldn’t swoon at a horse-drawn carriage?”

I rolled my eyes playfully at him.

“And you know all those times that I surprised you while you were in school? Well, I didn’t just sit around your house bored all day. I spent some time with your dad, and he filled me in on some of your favorite things.”

“No way!” I grinned at him in awe. I guess it never occurred to me that him and my dad would actually speak without me around.

“Yes way!” He retorted, before letting out a small laugh.

He led me to the carriage, allowing me to climb on first once we had arrived.

We snuggled in next to each other on the plush red seats, a soft blanket thrown over our laps to keep us warm.

“This is amazing,” I told Joe, glancing up at his beautiful profile as the horse began trotting down the street. “Thank you.”

He turned towards me, a sweet, closed-lip smile adorning his features. “You’re welcome,” he told me quietly, bringing up a hand to gently hold my face.

He leaned forward and gave me a small kiss.

He separated our lips after a moment, but kept his face within inches of my own. “I have a present of you,” he whispered sweetly.

“Why am I not surprised by that?” I told him as a smile spread across my face.

He let out a small chuckle before leaning back and digging a hand into his jacket pocket.

He pulled out a velvety jewelry box.

He handed me the dark burgundy box before speaking again. “It’s the last day of your birthday month.”

I glanced up at him, the box resting in my hands. “And I was just getting used to the daily presents.”

He chuckled before urging me to open the box.

A light red color formed on my cheeks as I slowly opened the box, sparkling silver being the first thing to catch my eye.

My smile grew as I stared in awe at the beautiful silver locket. “Joe, it’s beautiful!” I whispered.

Written in diamonds, in beautiful cursive letters, was ‘I love you’. And just underneath the writing was a hole, as if for a key.

“This has to be my favorite present so far!” I continued to whisper, my eyes turning glossy as if tears were about to fall. “This is so special.”

A genuine smile graced his features as he spoke. “And that isn’t even the best part.”

I watched him in confusion as he lifted a silver chain out from underneath his shirt. Dangling on the chain was a small, silver key, looking to be the perfect size for the hole on the locket.

He leaned forward with the key, placing the end of it into the locket, allowing for a small click to be heard and the locket to pop open.

I opened the locket completely, staring at the small pictures inside of it. On one side of it was a picture of Joe and I, the widest grin across his face as I kissed his cheek. On the other side was a picture of Joe and Noodle, Joe kissing the top of Noodle’s head as she stared excitedly at the camera.

“Those are adorable,” I tore my eyes away from the locket towards Joe. “The perfect pictures.”

His eyes sparkled with happiness before he spoke. “I’m glad you like it.”

“I don’t just like it, I love it.” I declared as he lifted the locket to clip it around my neck. “Now you hold the key to my heart.”

He smiled as he wrapped an arm around me, pulling me close so I could rest my head on his shoulder. We sat in silence for a moment, both with ginormous smiles across our faces.

“So what was it that you wanted to tell me?” He finally asked.

“Well,” I began. “The main thing was I love you, but…” I paused, contemplating if this was the right moment to tell him the other thing. “The other thing can wait until tomorrow. I’m enjoying this moment too much.”

"Ok," he replied simply before we fell back into a comfortable silence.