Robin
I wake up slowly, finally realizing that Denny isn't beside me. I sit up and glance around the room, rubbing the sleep from my eyes and slipping out of bed. I grab a pair of clean panties from my drawer and slip one of Denny's soft long-sleeved shirts on, ruffling my unruly hair as I make my way downstairs.
"Denny?" I peek my head into the living room. He's standing by the Christmas tree. His back is to me, but when he hears my voice, he whirls around quickly, holding something behind him. I look at him curiously and he smiles sheepishly, blushing.
"Is everything all right?" I walk over to him, stretching up on my tiptoes to kiss the corner of his mouth. He kisses me back lightly.
"Of course everything is all right," he says nervously. "I just... want to... give you an early Christmas present."
"Denny, it's only December 10," I point out.
"I know," he pouts. "But I don't want to wait." He looks so worried and so earnest, and suddenly, I'm concerned. I grip the bottom of the shirt he's wearing in my hands, twisting it slightly.
"Okay. Give me my present," I tell him, smiling reassuringly. He grins at me before taking a deep breath.
His shirt slips from my hands as he slowly kneels down in front of me and holds up a tiny black velvet box. "Denny," I gasp, covering my mouth in surprise, my eyes widening.
"I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Robin." His voice is soft and reverent. I've imagined this moment, fantasized about it, and after last night, I thought it might come soon, but I hadn't expected it today.
"I want to spend the rest of my life with you," he repeats, "and I don't want to wait anymore. I love you, and I want to move forward as soon as we can. So..." I notice that his hand is shaking. Is he actually nervous? Does he really think I'll say no? "Will you marry me?" he finally asks.
He lifts the lid of the box and I gasp again as I stare at the ring inside.
I fall to my knees in front of Denny, closing the box and laying it aside before framing his face with my hands. His expression falls and he looks at me mournfully. "You don't like it?" he wonders. I press my forehead to his, gently shaking my head back and forth.
"Denny, I love it," I breathe. My heart is pounding so hard that I can barely hear myself think. "I just want you to know that I'm saying yes to you. I'm not saying yes to a beautiful ring. I don't need anything but you to be happy." He's beaming now, and I wrap one arm around his shoulders, tangling my hand in the hair at the back of his neck.
"Yes, Denny. Yes, I'll marry you." He throws his arms around me and kisses me over and over excitedly. When he pulls away briefly to take the ring from the box and slip it onto my finger, I realize that he's crying.
"Denny," I soothe him, stroking his hair with my free hand, "did you really think I would say no?" He intertwines our fingers, gazing at the ring I'm now wearing for a moment before he looks at me once more.
"I'm afraid you'll come to your senses and realize you could do so much better than me," he admits. "That you'll find a man with the heart he was born with who's never been sick so you don't have to worry about him."
I sigh, brushing my nose over his and lightly pressing our lips together. "I know I worry about you," I acknowledge. "But that's because I love you, Denny. I only want you. I'd never be happy with anyone else. Okay?" He nods and I kiss him again.
"The ring really is beautiful," I tell him.
He smiles bashfully, tracing it with his finger. "I saw it in a shop window and I knew it was yours," he muses. He pauses for a moment before he adds, "It was February 23."
"February 23? Denny, we weren't even dating then!"
He cups my jaw in his hand and runs his thumb over my lower lip as he chuckles. "I was already madly in love with you," he reveals. "I was head over heels the instant you held my hand in your bakery. You don't know how hard it was for me to leave that first night. I never wanted to let you out of my sight." He bends so that his mouth is caressing mine. "I feel like I've been waiting for you for my entire life, Robin."
"I'm here, Denny," I murmur, leaning up so that our lips connect.
We kiss, and it's different than any other kiss we've shared, because it carries the weight of a thousand beautiful promises for our future.
