Three Times The Hummel Verse

Not A Birthday Present

"This movie is terrible." Carson said as he moved to turn off the TV, only to be stopped by Shannon.

"There's nothing wrong with the movie. Besides, you can't complain. It is my birthday after all." She said smugly. Carson laughed as he pulled her closer to him on the couch.

It was Shannon's birthday and she wanted to do nothing but stay at home and be lazy. Carson had happily gone with the plan and canceled the dinner reservation he had made in exchange for staying in their pajamas and some Chinese take-out. The day had gone by rather quickly and it was already getting dark outside.

"Do you want to open your presents?" Carson said after a few more minutes of silence. He didn't bother pretending to watch the movie. He stared down at the girl beside him shamelessly, taking in her beautiful chocolate eyes and her messy, short, chocolate hair.

"Sure." She said as she smiled up at him from his lap. Carson not-so-carefully got up, practically dumping her on the couch, and went into the spare bed room down the hall. He came back with three boxes in his hands. He set them down on the coffee table and sat back down on the couch.

Shane stared at the presents for a moment, almost trying to imagine what they could possibly be. One box was really big, while the other two were on the smaller side. She decided to save the big one for last and moved to grab the smallest box.

She opened it carefully and revealed a little black jewelry box. She glanced at Carson before she opened it. He was smiling softly, his eyes never moving away from her face. He wanted to capture her expression when she opened it.

Inside the box there was a necklace. It was a gold chain with a small gold dog print pendant. On one side of the paw print, it was smooth gold. On the other, a beautiful diamond sat in the middle. Shannon turned to look at Carson with a surprised smile. "This is beautiful Cason!" She moved to take the necklace out of the box and turned away so her back was to her boyfriend. Carson took that as his cue and leaned forward to help her put it on.

When the necklace was clasped in place, she turned back around and faced him. Carson smiled back but tilted his head in the direction of the remaining presents on the table. Shane laughed softly before she reached out and grabbed the next one. It was a small rectangle, much in the shape of a movie or video game. She unwrapped it a little quicker than the last and discovered what it was.

It was indeed a movie, but not a movie at the same time. The more she inspected the cover, the more she understood what it was. It was a DVD for tips and tricks to train a dog. On the label, it said it was a double disk set. One was for basic training and the other was for agility training. She smiled as she looked up at Carson again. "This is so cool! I've always wanted to train a dog to jump through a hoop!"

Carson smiled too. "I know. That's why I got it."

They continued to smile at one another before Shannon started to wonder if something was going on. Her first present had been a dog print pendant, the second was a dog training movie. She wondered if there was a set theme to what ever was happening, but in the end she decided that she didn't care enough to ask. What ever it was she would find out about it eventually. She was brought back to attention at the sound of her boyfriend's voice.

"Open the next one." He said calmly. Shane moved to better reach the box on the table. It was a rather big box and she worried that she wouldn't be able to pick it up. "Wait!" Carson said quickly before she was able to lift the lid of the box. She looked up in confusion, only to find him setting up a camera on top of the TV.

"Really? Is it that big of a present?" She said in surprise. She was met with a broad smile and a little nod of his head.

"Okay. Ready." He said as he went to sit back down on the couch beside her. She shook her head as she laughed. Carefully, she lifted the lid off the box and peered into it.

Inside was a little red blanket, but that wasn't what had caught Shannon's attention. It was what was laying on the blanket that she was unable to tear her eyes away from.

Inside the box was a beautiful, small, brown puppy. As she watched, the dog yawned loudly and curled into the blanket even more than it already was. Shannon wanted to scream in excitement and happiness, but she didn't want to disturb the sleeping puppy.

She flashed Carson the happiest smile he had ever seen. Carefully again, She slowly picked up the puppy and held it in her arms. It was a little female, German Shepherd puppy. As she inspected every little detail about her, Shannon noticed that she already had a collar. The collar was green and had little red lady bugs all over it. She smiled again as she looked at it. It was the same collar her family had used for all of their family dogs throughout her childhood.

She finally looked away from the puppy and stared deep into Carson's blue eyes. He had gotten up off the couch and had moved to kneel in front of her. "I love her!" She whisper shouted happily. Carson smiled as he watched her with the dog. She held it so gently that he knew the dog would be well loved.

"I'm so happy you like it, but there is actually one more." At her confused look, Carson tried to further explain. "Now I just want you to know that this is not a birthday present." He laughed at her expression as it somehow had morphed and depicted even more confusion than the last one. "The last gift I have for you is my heart. I want you to know just how much I love you."

Shannon smiled lovingly at him as he moved his hands towards her. For a moment, she thought he wanted to hold her hand, instead, he moved to remove the collar from the puppy's neck. She watched as he started to remove something from the tag loop on the collar. She was confused again. She thought back to what he had just said. 'The gift I have for you is my heart'. She continued to watch him struggle with whatever was on the collar. That was when she looked at the way he was kneeling on the carpet in front of her.

She gasped. She had figured out what was going on. In that same moment, Carson had finally gotten what he had wanted off the tag loop. He placed the collar on the coffee table and presented the beautiful ring to his girlfriend.

"I love you Shannon. You are my everything and I want to spend the rest of my life with you." Shannon felt her eyes grow wet as she stared down at the man she loved. He smiled back at her just as happy. "Will you marry me?"

Shannon didn't feel the need to speak. She just leaned forward and captured his lips in the sweetest and most loving kiss they had ever shared. After a moment, she leaned away and rested her forehead against his. She finally whispered a reply.

"Yes."

***

Once again, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! @fearlesslyfaith !!! I wanted to do this Birthday scene anyways and this was the perfect excuse! Thanks!