Only One Forever (Only One 8)

Two hours later, I’m walking back into the house, my hands shaking. “Hello!” I yell up the stairs, and she comes out of the bedroom, wearing a white robe. I can’t help when my stomach flips over at the sight of her. Her hair is loose and in soft curls, and her makeup is just perfect. I walk up the steps and pull her to me, kissing her lips.

“You get one kiss,” she says, taking a step back. “Or else you’ll mess my whole face.” She comes back in for one more kiss. “Besides, you have like thirty minutes to get ready.”

“All I need to do is shower,” I say, walking back into the room and seeing the lavender dress that she is wearing lying on the bed. “Pretty,” I say, “And it’s loose, so I can slip my hands under it easily.”

She throws her head back and laughs. “Yes, that is exactly why I chose it.” She shakes her head. “Go shower.”

I shower and then slip on my blue dress pants with a white button-down shirt. When I walk out of the shower, I see her slipping into the dress. She smiles and comes to me. “Can you zip me?” She turns around so I can zip her. Once it’s zipped, I lean in and kiss her neck. “How does this look?” she asks me, and I can see her hands are shaking from the nerves. She stands there in a long-sleeved lavender dress. It crisscrosses over the chest, and the shoulders have silver beading. The waist is tight and then lets loose again. She ties the bottom of the sleeves, and then you see the sleeves puff out just a touch.

“You look so beautiful,” I say. She walks over to the bed, and I see the slit in the dress showing off her long, lean leg. She sits on the bed, putting on her silver high heels, when I walk back into the closet and finish getting dressed. I slip on the matching jacket and then slip the black velvet box into my pocket. “I have something for you,” I say, walking out with a square box in my hand. She’s still sitting on the bed.

“I’m nervous,” she admits, getting up and coming to me. “It’s stupid, though. We’ve attended these things before.”

“It’s different,” I tell her. “This time, I can hold your hand and lean over and kiss you.”

She smiles at me. “That you can.” She looks at the box in my hand. “What do you have there?”

“Well, since it’s our first date,” I say, smirking at her. “I was going to get you flowers.”

“That box doesn’t look like flowers.” She laughs as I hand her the box. Her hands come up to grab the box, and she turns it to her and opens it, a gasp leaving her when she sees the diamond earrings I bought for her. “Oh my gosh.” She touches one of the earrings with her finger. “They are so pretty.” She looks at me, blinking away the tears in her eyes. “I’m going to wear them tonight,” she says, turning toward the mirror so she can put them on. My heart hammers in my chest when she turns around and sees me on bended knee. “Dylan,” she says, not sure, and she puts one of her hands to her mouth.

“Your dress is missing one more thing.” I joke with her, and my palms get all sweaty. “God, I thought this would be easier.” I laugh nervously. “Alexandra, every single memory I have in my life is with you beside me.” I reach up and grab her hand in mine. “From as far back as I can remember, the only person who I wanted there for anything was you.” I smile at her as one of the tears escapes her eyes. “There are so many more memories to make. So many more memories that I want to make.” I grab the box from my jacket. “The only thing I know about these memories is that I want to do them with you beside me.” She sobs quietly. “As my wife.”

She laughs and cries at the same time, her smile so big that I can’t help but get up to kiss her and then go back down on my knee. “Do you want to make memories with me?” I ask her. “Do you want to be my wife?”

“There is no one in this world I want to do life with besides you,” she says. “When you came to Dallas and I asked you what your future looked like.” She wipes away the tears. “And you said married and a family, it was the first time in my life that I didn’t see me beside you.” My heart sinks. “I went to bed that night and cried.”