Page 27 of Sugarplum

“Is this w-what I think it is?” she asked.

Chace nodded and suddenly got down on his knees. He looked around and to his surprise everyone just now realized what was going on and they all had their attention turned to him and Julie.

“Julie Evans, the love of my life and the woman I’ve crazed on for years,” Chace started. His voice was quaking a little but even then he kept on pushing forward. “I know we’ve had a lot of problems and they’ve taken years to address. I know we’re not perfect but that’s okay: you and I fit together like two pieces of a puzzle, complementing each other and that’s how we’ve gone from two imperfect individuals into one perfect couple. Julie Evans, I love you and here I ask: will you marry me?”

Julie looked around in shock and for a moment she had to just keep silent, cover her mouth and allow herself to just cry from the sheer joy of the moment. After a good moment or two later she started nodding and told Chace, “I do. God damn it, I do!”

Chace felt a great weight lift from his chest and he got back up to embrace Julie. They kissed and kept themselves in a tight hug. Julie didn’t want to let him go. Chace wasn’t going to let her go even if she wanted. It wasn’t until they remembered they had their whole batch watching before they let go of their hug and got back into their seats.

He aided Julie in sliding the ring onto her finger. She wore it proudly on her left hand’s ring finger and Julie took a long moment to just admire how it looked on her. It was the most beautiful ring she ever had and she immediately felt that it must have cost Chace a fortune.

“Thank you,” Chace whispered into her ear when things were settling down and the party moved on to the next main event. Their batch mates were now settling back and watching what was going on in the center stage. “I really had no backup plan in case you said no.”

Julie looked at him with her jaw dropped and her eyes wide open with surprise. “Are you serious? You’re very lucky I said yes. I mean, seriously, how can I say anything but yes after realizing just how freaking expensive this is and because you enjoyed my Christmas gift more than I expected? I can still feel some sores you know?”

Chace giggled and shifted a little in his seat. “How can I not enjoy your gift for me? You’re absolutely delicious.”

Julie blushed and looked at him with squinted eyes. “You know you can have more, right?”

“I’m definitely having more,” Chace answered and she could feel the lust emanating in his voice. “I will give you tonight to rest… maybe. If the movie sucks then guess what – I’m having you as a midnight snack instead. It’ll be like having cookies and milk for Christmas Eve except my meal moans and just keeps on giving.”

They both laughed and Julie felt truly happy for the first time. It had been a rocky journey the past few years and this last week was the culmination of all their struggles.

“I have to keep on giving, we missed out on a few Christmas celebrations now,” she pointed out.

“Time to make up for lost time,” he added in. “How about we start that party now? Let’s get the heck out of here.”

“And leave all this behind? What would they say?”

Chace shrugged it off as it meant nothing to him. “They’ll get it. I just proposed, you said yes, they know our honeymoon comes before the wedding.”

Julie laughed again and she finally relented. She got up, slid her arm through his, and together they walked out of the reception hall, never paying attention to the stares and giggles as they passed by.

Chace took his coat off and wrapped it around her shoulders as they walked into the winter cold. It was freezing out there, with the snowfall getting stronger and the temperature dropping by the second, but they were fortunately not too far from the car. Once they were inside and comfortable, Chace gave her another kiss and then another before he started the engine and drove them back home.

Epilogue

Julie and Chace Matthews spent their Christmas together after years of being apart. Melissa and Ned, to their surprise, got married before they did. The day after Christmas the couple suddenly left and only returned a few days later to reveal they had a private wedding in Las Vegas.

The only downside to that was that Melissa was moving out of the apartment. She was moving into Ned’s humble home which wasn’t far but it did mean Julie would be all alone. To fix this, Julie moved in with Chace right around New Year’s Eve. While everyone was celebrating with fireworks and food, Chace and Julie were in the bedroom having wild sex like rabbits.

It was the day after that they finally got a chance to relax a moment and they found themselves in the living room having donuts and coffee. Julie was wearing a pair of pink shorts and a pink tank top while Chace was in his shorts and black shirt.

“Hey, I’ve been thinking,” Chace started. “After the wedding, would you like to move out? Maybe we should buy a house. You know, like our own house?”

“You know we’re spending thousands of dollars for the wedding,” Julie pointed out. She looked up from her laptop for a moment and followed up with a question. “But a house would be nice.”

Chace agreed. “It could be our first major investment as a married couple. I have some savings we can start it off with.”

“I have more savings than you,” Julie reminded him and she had a big, wicked smile when she did. “When do you want to go look at houses? Oh, oh, we should go right after we get back from our honeymoon.”

“We can get a place close to Melissa’s if you want,” Chace suggested. “I know it’s a little too quiet without her. She’s like a burning comet that just lights the place up whenever she’s around.”

Julie nodded in agreement. “You can say that again. I mean, life isn’t boring when it’s just us and our other friends but Melissa is my best friend for a reason, you know? She’s like this undying ball of fire that always lightens up the place. She’s so energetic. Also, she’s one of the reasons why we’re even back together. She’s the one who brought you in when we were at the bar getting into an argument with that dolt, Griffin.”

“Yeah, he was such an asshole, wasn’t he?” Chace reminisced with a grin. “You showed him though. Every time there’s an asshole around you know how to smack ‘em good with a punch or two.”

Julie put her hands on her hips. “I blame Melissa. She never allowed someone to bully her or be rude to her. I got that habit of fighting back from her.”

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