Little Things | An Original

26

Dalton

What Maeve doesn't know is that at the end of our Ireland trip, we're taking a detour to Italy. Our friends will go home, and we'll fly over to Italy instead.

I'm proposing to her while we're there.

Her whole family is in on the surprise, and they are actually gonna meet us there in Italy. Maeve and I will have the proposal night to ourselves, and then her family is going to surprise her with a party the next day.

She has no clue.

"I'm so excited for this trip," Maeve says as we sit in the airport. I rest my hand on her thigh and smile.

"Me too, babe," I say. "We're going to have a blast."

Maeve smiles before leaning her head on my shoulder. "Thank you for always having fun with me."

I kiss the top of her head. "I love being with you," I say. "You being my partner-in-crime is my favorite thing."

"There should be a show about us," I say. "Cause we're so fun."

"There should be a show about your whole family," I say. "Between Maren being a sports star, you being a brilliant business woman and supermodel, plus everyone in your family always has something interesting going on."

"We're like the Walmart version of the Kardashians," Maeve says.

"More like the normal version of the Kardashians," I say.

Once we get on the plane (Ryker sitting with us in our row), Maeve shuts the window blind and falls asleep. I go back and forth between listening to music and an audiobook, and that gets us to Ireland.

It's early in the morning when we get there, so all of us stay up and eat an early breakfast. Watching the sunrise out the window, and enjoying the company of friends. Then we all go to our separate rooms to get some sleep.

Later in the evening, we all go out to a real Irish pub. Since we're in Dublin, it's the perfect place to be. It's miraculously warm outside, which means we could all walk there. The breeze is cool, and we're all ready to have some fun.

Maeve's hand fits perfectly in mine while we walk into the bar, and then we find the bartender to order our drinks. A few minutes later, everyone is at a table and enjoying the night.

"This is just what we all needed," Ryker says. "A fun vacation with the best people on Earth."

"Cheers," Nate says. Riley leans her head on his shoulder. I hope for her sake that they're doing well. I know Quinn has gotten into Nick's mind a little bit in the past year or so.

Maeve's hand lands on my knee, and I wrap my arm around her shoulder. "How ya doing, babe?" I ask.

She smiles. "I'm glad we're all here."

"Me too," I say. "This is going to be the best trip. At least it already feels that way."

-

The next day is all about exploring Dublin. We see some of the landmarks around, and we all go on a hike. Followed by a nice nap with Maeve in our hotel room. (Plus some extra-curricular nap-tivities).

The beer festival is going strong, so our group starts a bar crawl around 4 o'clock. Maeve's parents text her to ask if we're having a good time, so she responds by sending a picture of me to them:

Then she smiles. "You look so cute right now. And you have a little beer mustache."

I chuckle, before pressing my lips to hers. "And now we both have one."

Maeve giggles, then kissing me back. "I love your goofiness. It brings me joy."

"You bring me joy, baby," I say. "Come on, let's go find our friends. They probably think we conveniently got lost."

Again, Maeve laughs as our hands interrwine, and we catch up with the rest of our friends. What makes me the most happy is that my friends have treated Maeve as if she's always been a part of our group. It's never felt like my friends and Maeve are two separate entities. They love her almost as much as I do.

Zack and Paisley have told me over and over again how great of a fit Maeve is for my life. I agree with them, but mostly because I also think Maeve and I were made to be together.

Her ring is still safely with her parents. I gave it to them, so that Maeve wouldn't accidentally find it. I didn't want the surprise to be ruined. I want our day to be extra special for her. She deserves it the most.

In a few days when we go to Italy, we're going to be staying in the home my family owns there. The plan is for me to go for a coffee run that morning, which is when Grayson will meet up with me to give me the ring. All disguised as me picking up coffee while Maeve will be in bed. This is a normal occurrence for us, so she won't think it's strange.

I have a lot of surprises lined up for that day, and she's not going to have a clue.

I already know it's going to be one of the best days of my life. Maeve has changed me into a better man, and she inspires me every single day to grow and learn more about myself and the world.

There's so much I could say about being with Maeve. Honestly, I could go on for hours about how much I truly admire her. Life is short, so you need to tell the people closest to you how much you care about and love them.

I've definitely made sure that Maeve knows how much I appreciate her presence in my life. We belong together, and we both know it.

That's part of the reason we recently got a house together. We've talked about these steps. Maeve said she'd say yes in a heartbeat if I asked her to marry me. Which is exactly why I'm not waiting much longer.

The countdown starts now. In four days, Maeve and I will be getting engaged.