Mil SO (Military Significant Other)

17. Birthday Surprise

Watch for time changes. The last chapters were in Feburary (Valentine's Day), and the months will be changing more rapidly now.

~

March 2012

Heath was my rock. School got easier and my PTSD and panic attacks were almost nonexistent. Heath and I had been going out for three months by this point and I was over the moon. My love for him never dulled and he could still make my stomach flip with his small romantic gestures. My aunt and uncle cooled off a bit and started hanging around the house more. Overall, my life wasn't so hard anymore.

I was sitting in the cave during lunch when Nash came bursting in with a huge grin on his face. I looked at him curiously. Today was my birthday. Something was up with Nash and Heath. Heath wasn't here yet and he was normally the first one.

"You, my Captain, need to come with me," He said. He didn't even give me a choice as he pulled me off the couch and down to the cafeteria.

"What the hell, Nash?" I said confused. He only picked me up and made me stand on a table. I was about to get down when I saw Heath. He was wearing a tux and had flowers in his hand. I looked around to se a lot of people pulling out their phones. I looked up as music started playing.

Heath handed Nash the flowers and broke into a dance to Jason Derulo's song 'Marry Me'. My eyes bulged as I continued to watch the display. More people joined in on the dance until practically half of the cafeteria was in on it.

After the song was over, Heath walked up to me and helped me off the table. He got down on one knee and I felt tears well up in my eyes as I covered my mouth with my hands. It was dead silent as people waited to hear what he was going to say.

"I want to say something so wonderfully thought provoking and romantic that you would fall in love with me all over again, but all I want to say is that I love you... and I want to be with you no matter what," he said, repeating the words he said to me in San Diego. I could feel my body trembling with shock, but it was a good shock. "I was going to ask my girlfriend to Prom, but I'd rather ask my fiancé. What do you say? Will you marry me?" he asked.

I was shocked. Nothing he'd done up to this point would have made me even guess this was coming. It seemed surreal. I was half expecting to wake up. Heath pulled out a small Tiffany blue velvet box and opened it. The ring was beautiful. It was a princess cut diamond with two diamond-studded bands that crossed each other in swivels. I realized I hadn't given him an answer yet.

Sure, it was kind of soon and we were young, but I did love him. And I wanted to be with him for the rest of my life as well. I smiled lightly and tried to speak but I couldn't. I settled for nodding like a maniac. His smile widened as he slipped the ring on my finger and stood to hug me tightly. There was a lot of clapping and cheering as we hugged. Heath pulled back slightly and kissed me deeply, which led to a lot of wolf whistling.

"I love you," I said hoarsely. He chuckled and rested his forehead against mine.

"I love you too," he replied. He took my hand in his and led me out of the cafeteria and to the man cave where we made out until lunch was over. Heath was serious about waiting which I was surprisingly fine with.

"Congratulations," Brooklyn hugged me when she caught up to me afterschool. We'd actually become really good friends as well. Kaden gave me a friendly side hug before Nash picked me up and spun me around.

"You had us all worried there for a moment," he said.

"Best birthday ever," I chuckled. I admired the ring on my finger for a moment before I felt a soft kiss on my cheek.

"And before you ask, that was not your birthday present. That was just phase one," Heath said near my ear. My eyebrows rose as I looked at him curiously.

"I thought we weren't making a big deal about my birthday?" I asked, recalling me telling him exactly that a month ago. Brooklyn laughed.

"Yeah right, I'm in charge, bitch. Well, Heath set up the whole proposal/prom date thing, but I'm in charge of the rest of your day," she smirked matter-o-factly. I shook my head with a sigh. My birthday was far from over if that was the case.

After school was over, I was tossed into a car and we were off. Okay, so I wasn't actually tossed, but I didn't have a choice on the matter. We were in Piper's minivan. It was Heath, Nash, Brooklyn, Kaden, Reagan, Alaric, and Kalani. With the eight of us, there were just enough seats. The backseat was packed with things that suggested that we were going to a beach.

Of course.

We arrived about an hour later. There was a party set up with pretty much everyone from school. Even if they weren't here for me, it was still nice. Brooklyn tossed me a bag and pulled me into a restroom to change. I changed into a bikini with shorts and a loose shirt. I walked out with Brooklyn to be met by Heath. He laced his fingers with mine and pulled me over to the party. It was fun and everyone was having a good time.

After a lot of music and dancing, a cake was brought out and everyone sang 'Happy Birthday'. Heath only briefly left my side. I was still kind of in shock from him proposing to me. We were still young and had plenty of time. He hadn't even graduated yet and he wouldn't for another few months. What made him propose to me now? I shrugged it off and decided to ask him later when we were alone.

Don't get me wrong; I was excited and happy to have a solid future with the man I loved, but something wasn't right. I was going to figure it out. Heath wrapped an arm around my waist and kissed my head as the sun was starting to set.

"Are you having a good time?" he asked. I chuckled and looked at the scene of dancing people.

"You know, you guys sure threw a hell of a party for an introvert," I joked. He laughed and shook his head.

"Babe, you are the most social introvert I know," he joked. I only shrugged. It was probably true. We made our round once more before Heath packed up the gifts I was given and we headed out.

~