💍The Proposal💍

Part 7

"There's something else," I said
taking out the box with my engagement ring for America. "I've been sleeping with this darn thing under my pillow," I smiled, jokingly. I took out the ring, and showed it to her. It was gold, with my green birthstone and her purple one sitting next to each other on the top. She looked at me curiously. I was sure she probably had a million questions. I decided to ask her one of mine. "Do you like it?" She kept opening her mouth to speak, but she just nodded. I could see the happy tears glistening in her beautiful eyes.

"Twice now I've tried to do this
on a grand scale and failed spectacularly. As it is, I can't even get on one knee. I hope you won't mind if I just speak to you plainly," I said. She nodded again, seeming speechless. I swallowed, a little nervous, but why should I be? America loved me, and I loved her.

"I love you," I said simply. "I
should have told you a long time ago. Maybe we could have avoided so many stupid mistakes if I had. Then again," I added, beginning to smile, "sometimes I think it was all those obstacles that made me love you so deeply." I saw the tears collecting in the corners of her eyes. That's another thing she changed about me. She didn't make me confused when she cried anymore. I knew exactly what those tears meant: she loved me.

I continued, "What I said was
true. My heart is yours to break. As you already know, I'd rather die than see you in pain. In the moment I was hit, when I fell to the floor sure my life was ending, all I could think about was you." I stopped. I was about to cry too. I didn't mind these tears, but I needed to finish this first. "In those seconds, I was mourning everything I'd lost. How I'd never get to see you walk down an aisle toward me, how I'd never get to see your face in our children, how I'd never get to see streaks of silver in your hair. But, at the same time, I couldn't be bothered. If me dying meant you living," I shrugged, "how could that be anything but good?"

America let the tears stream
down her face, and I'd never been so happy, so in love. I can't even describe it, it was the best feeling. "America," I said quietly as she wiped her eyes. "I know you see a king here, but this isn't a command. This is a request, a plea. I beg you; make me the happiest man alive. Please do the honor of becoming my wife."

She still seemed to be
speechless. She crawled into my arms, and held me tightly. We kissed slowly, and I felt the connection again. It was even stronger this time. How had I ever thought that I knew what it meant to be in love before this very second? I wanted this so badly. I pulled back. Even if I already knew, I needed an answer. Our eyes met, and I was grinning like an idiot. She opened her mouth, and I felt every memory I had with her rush to the front of my mind. This was the girl I wanted from the beginning. This was the best day of my life. The day America said "Yes."

At the beginning of my
Selection, I doubted I would be able to find a wife in a random mix of thirty-five girls. It seemed impossible, to find a princess, a spouse; to find love. In a way I was right. I didn't find a princess, I found a queen; I didn't find a spouse, I found a soulmate; and I didn't just find love, I found happily ever after.

THE END