Can't Love Christmas

Epilogue - One Year Later

They walked through the trees hand in hand, comfortable now with just the low light from his phone. Ash sat down on the round daybed she had requested Rowan buy in the summer, while he went to the shed to grab the blankets and pillows.

He tossed them at her while he crawled over her. "Ohh! They're warm!"

"I may have borrowed your hot water bottles to try and keep them warm before we could get out here."

"You are amazing. That was brilliant."

"Well, I knew you'd be wearing a tiny little dress again and didn't want your legs to be cold out here." He sat beside her and pulled her close while she arranged the first blanket over their legs. She wrapped the second one around their shoulders.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before he whispered in her ear. "So, how was your night?"

"It was good. Devin tried to talk Scott into doing the Polar Bear dip tomorrow."

"Is Devin doing it?"

Ash cackled. "No. But he thought Scott should. Scott was probably drunk enough he would have agreed to it too if Devin made the right argument."

"Are we still going to do it?" 

"Of course. It was an important moment in our relationship, and we will honour that memory by doing it again."

Rowan harrumphed. "Well, I'm worried about getting to the airport with the snow they are calling for. How early do we need to leave?"

She turned to face him fully and grabbed his hand. "Rowan, love of my life, star of my dreams. We have plenty of time. I made sure of it when we booked the flights. No backing out now. Are you finished packing?"

"Yeah I'm all set."

"Great, so we can go take the dip, and then we can just come back here, shower and eat some lunch, then we'll go to the airport."

He sighed heavily. "Okay."

"I feel bad we missed Christmas though."

Rowan pulled her back to his side. "We're not missing Christmas exactly. We are just having a late Christmas. Christmas is just a day. The day can happen whenever and still be magical if that's what everyone wants."

Ash snorted. "I see the student has become the master in the ways of the Christmas Spirit."

"I learned from the best. I'm sorry your trip home was delayed because of me."

"It's okay. This way we don't have to feel guilty about making everyone else work extra hard over the holidays."

Rowan shifted in his seat. "Well, I could have closed if none of them were willing to work."

"But, that would have ruined so many traditions! You have to host Christmas dinner!"

He shrugged. "We could have sorted out the dinner part and had someone else manage it."

"But, then it wouldn't have had the hot chocolate! It's not Christmas without your hot chocolate."

"I would have left the recipe for them. Don't worry. They probably wouldn't have even noticed I was missing."

"Of course they would have missed you. Everyone loves you, Rowan. You're like, a pillar of the community."

"Now I know you're exaggerating!" he laughed, but she frowned. 

"No, I'm serious. You do so much. Everyone respects you. They can count on you and they all know you have a good heart."

"Yeah, but they also think I'm a bit of a scoundrel."

"They really don't think that. When people talk about you, it's really not the vibe I get from them."

"That's because they don't want to offend you. Perhaps I'm a 'Reformed Scoundrel' because of you." He leaned over and kissed the top of her head, while Ash cuddled closer to Rowan's side.

"It's too bad it's so cloudy and we can't see the stars tonight." Ash murmured.

"Yeah, that would've been perfect."

Ash shrugged. "It's already perfect. I've got you." She turned her face up and gave him a light kiss. "And it's snowing!" Light flakes floated to the ground around them, but they sat protected under the awning. Ash rose from her spot to try and catch flakes on her tongue, and Rowan's phone beeped. "Is it midnight yet?"

"Almost." He got up from the couch with one hand in his pocket, and walked towards Ash with a smile on his face. She beamed back at him and twirled around in the snow. When she stopped, he was two feet away, kneeling on the ground. Ash gasped.

"Cinders, one year ago today we sat together in this clearing and I told you I was falling for you, but that was a lie. I had already fallen for you. I was hopelessly in love with you and I asked you a question I was terrified of hearing the answer to. Since you said yes that night, I have been happier than I ever thought was possible. I know it hasn't always been easy, but I hope that it's been worth it. Since the day you finally moved in with me, and we got to call the cabin our home, I could always count on coming home to see you, waking up beside you, spending all those little moments together. Since then I have felt peace, and so much love."

He cleared his throat and continued. "Ash, you love with your whole self, and I don't know what I have done to deserve you, but I am thankful for you every single day. You have opened my eyes and my heart to things I didn't even know I wanted. You bring joy to every day and everything you do. I love you so much, and I want to live every moment of my life with you. So now, here I am. One one knee in the snow, about to ask you another question that I am really hoping you'll say yes to." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the little black box, popping it open to her. "Ashtyn Wagner, will you marry me?"

With a yelp, Ash threw herself on him, toppling them both to the ground. "Rowan," she whispered into the side of his neck, "of course I will marry you."

Rowan laughed, "I'm sorry love, can you please repeat that a little louder? I think you said yes, but I just want to be sure."

She pulled back and peppered his face with kisses, saying yes with each one. Finally he captured her lips in a quick kiss before she pulled away and buried her face into the collar of his jacket, laughing.

"Did you want to see the ring?"

"Yes." It was muffled by the coat, and she made no move to see it.

Rowan reached up to pet her hair. After a few more minutes she finally pulled back enough to wipe her eyes and for them both to stand up. She led them back to the daybed and cuddled against him while he fumbled with reopening the box.

She looked down at the pear shaped solitaire sitting in the velvet. The box had a little built in light that made it sparkle and throw rainbows around them. "It's beautiful."

"Would you like to try it on?"

"Yes please." She held out her hand while he plucked it from the box and slipped it on her finger. A perfect fit. A soft 'oh' escaped her, and he grinned.

"Do you like it?"

"It's perfect. I love it."

"I'm glad." He placed his hand on her cheek in a caress, and leaned down towards her. Their lips met in a kiss that was full of love and a promise of forever. "Happy New Year, Cinders."

She leaned over and pressed another kiss to his lips. "Happy New Year, fiance."

His responding grin was one of the biggest she had seen. "I could get used to that."

"You know, someday, we're going to have to tell our kids that we got together because of a very stupid bet based on a poor character assessment and even worse holiday opinions."

He chuckled into her hair. "I can't wait. Hopefully they'll be smarter than us."