“Okay! Okay! I’m up…” She said through a yawn, sitting up, she opened her eyes and glanced around the room. She petted Benny on the head before swinging her legs over the edge of the bed and leaning over to kiss Ava on the cheek. “Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas!” Ava cried joyfully, taking her hand and pulling her to her feet. “Come on, I can’t wait to see what he left for me!”
“Where’s Daddy?” Cara asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, letting Ava drag her out of the bedroom.
“He must be downstairs already.” Ava said giddily as they started down the stairs.
“Hopefully he started the coffee.” Cara said more to herself than to Ava, since she had already run down the rest of the stairs. As tired as she was, she had to smile, to be a kid on Christmas morning was magical, Cara was just happy to be a part of the magic. She stepped off the last step, turning around to walk into the living room, and froze in her tracks.
The oversized Christmas tree took up most of the living room, the rest was taken by Santa’s presents, but that wasn’t what caused Cara to freeze. It was the man who was kneeling down on one knee before the Christmas tree, the man with the little girl next to him in the same position. Both, Ava and Luke were smiling sheepishly at Cara, waiting for her to come closer to them.
For a moment she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her. Maybe she was still sleeping. Luke crooked his finger, giving her a smoldering come hither look. Somehow, unknown to her, she found her footing and stepped towards him and Ava. Her mouth was dry and when she spoke her voice cracked.
“What’s going on?” She said in a strangled whisper.
Luke smiled and reached for her hand. “Merry Christmas…” He said softly, bringing her hand to his lips, feathering kisses along her knuckles.
She watched him intently for a moment, he was so calm, so completely sure of himself. She shifted her eyes to Ava who was smiling from ear to ear. “Merry Christmas…” She heard herself say.
“We have something we want to ask you, Spunky.” Luke said squeezing her left hand.
“Okay.” She said, feeling her palms grow clammy. She ran her free hand through her bed hair, wishing she had taken a moment to tie her hair back, maybe even brush her teeth. She was pretty sure this was one of the biggest moments of her life, and here she was dressed in red and green flannel pajamas, with hair that resembled a nest of some sort.
Luke turned to his daughter for a moment, sending her a wink. She began to raise her fingers one at a time until she raised three tiny fingers. They both turned to face Cara.
“Will you marry us?” Father and daughter asked in unison, their eyes shining hopefully at Cara.
Cara gasped at the sight the two of them made. Ava’s little hands fumbled with the black velvet box, prying it open, she turned it around and displayed the diamond solitaire that had a halo of tiny emerald stones circling it.
“Of course I’ll marry you.” She said through her tears to Luke, turning to Ava. “I love you both so much.” She dropped to her knees in front of Luke throwing her arms around his neck. She felt the sigh of relief escape him as she hugged him with all her might.
“I love you, Cara.” He whispered into her ear. She pulled back a moment and grabbed Ava pulling her into their hug.
“She said yes daddy.” Ava said, smiling into his chest as she embraced the two of them.
Luke stared into Cara’s eyes, his love for reflected in her eyes. “Yeah baby, she did.”
Cara’s smile was as wide as her face. She wiped her cheeks with the back of her hands before she leaned in and pressed her lips against his.
“This is the best Christmas ever.” Cara said against his mouth.
“Wait! You have to put the ring on. It’s not official until you put the ring on her daddy!!” Ava said, handing the box to her dad. Luke laughed at his anxious daughter, taking the ring out of the box with one hand, and taking Cara’s left hand with the other. He looked into her eyes as he started to slip the finger onto her finger.
“It’s beautiful.” Cara whispered.
“The diamond symbolizes you and dad’s love and the emeralds are my birthstone.” Ava added helpfully, watching as her dad finished placing the ring on Cara’s finger, kissing her hand one more time to seal the deal.
“It’s perfect.” Cara said, taking Ava’s hand in hers as she wrapped her other arm around Luke’s neck. “Every time I look at my hand, I’ll be reminded how lucky I am. I’ll be reminded that I’ve got the most amazing family.”
*
2 years later