“I wanted a moment tonight to be just us,” I say, my voice shaking embarrassingly fast. “Before anyone else comes. Before the noise.”
He smiles a little, bewildered. “Anyone else? Charlie, what’s …”
I hold out my hand. “Come here.”
He walks toward me, eyes locked on mine, and the second he reaches me, the rest of the world disappears. I take his hands. They’re warm. Steady. Mine.
“Okay,” I breathe, and this is the part I rehearsed a hundred times but suddenly can’t remember a single word of. “I’m so fricken nervous,” I whisper.
His eyes shine. “Charlie …?”
I swallow hard.
“Derrick, loving you has been the easiest thing I’ve ever done. You make everything brighter. Softer. You made this house feel like a home. You made me feel like home.” His breath hitches. “I’m not perfect,” I say, voice breaking, “but I love you perfectly. And I want to love you for the rest of my life.”
I reach into my pocket.
His eyes widen.
The ring box shakes in my hand, and honestly, so does everything else, but I manage to drop to one knee slowly in the center of the fairy lights.
“Derrick,” I whisper, looking up at him in the golden glow, “will you marry me?”
He covers his mouth, a soft sound escaping him, and for a second, I swear the entire backyard holds its breath.
Then … he drops to his knees in front of me. “Yes,” he chokes out, grabbing my face in his hands. “Yes, Charlie. Yes. Yes.”
He’s crying.
I’m crying.
We’re both laughing and crying and kissing while fairy lights shimmer around us like stars. I slip the ring onto his finger, and he stares at it like he’s never seen anything so beautiful, which is insane, because he is the most beautiful thing in this yard. Everly told me when they were in Switzerland about the ring Derrick tried on and how much he loved it. So, she helped me find something similar to that here.
He leans his forehead against mine. “I love you so fucking much.”
“I love you too,” I whisper.
And right then …
BANG.
The side gate bursts open.
Christian screams, “He said yes.”
All our friends come barreling into the back with kids, all to enjoy this moment. There was no way in hell I was going to propose to Derrick and not have them here. Evan pops a bottle of champagne and starts pouring glasses for everyone. One by one, they come past us and congratulate us.
Derrick stares at me, wide-eyed. “They were here?”
I grin, pulling him closer. “I wanted the proposal to be ours, but the celebration to be theirs.” He laughs, loud, bright, beautiful, and kisses me amid the celebratory chaos.
And under the fairy lights, with Derrick in my arms, it finally feels like everything I’ve ever wanted.
I’ve noticed my fiancé has disappeared for a moment, he hasn’t left my side all night, but he seems to be MIA. Tonight has been amazing, all our friends are celebrating like it’s one of the biggest nights of their lives, not just ours. I’m so caught up in everything that I don’t even notice Derrick has returned until he steps into the middle of the backyard.
“Hey!” he calls out loudly, voice cracking just a little. “Can I get everyone’s attention?”
The backyard quiets far faster than I expect. All eyes on him.
