The person to marry is the one who you want to sit on the couch with forever.

It’s the person who can make you laugh and fill your heart with excitement and happiness.

It’s the person you want to go on an adventure with, life being the biggest adventure ever.

I invite her to dinner to our favorite restaurant. It’s modern and elegant but not particularly upscale.

It’s comfortable and it’s the place we have gone to a number of times since I got released. Originally, I planned on waiting until dessert but I’m too nervous to prolong this much longer.

As soon as the server brings us our drinks, I get down on one knee and look into her beautiful wide eyes.

“Olive Kernes, I have loved you since the moment I met you. And that’s a difficult thing for me to admit since I don’t believe in love at first sight.”

She lets out a small laugh but her body continues to tremble.

“Olive Kernes, will you make me the happiest man in the world and marry me?”

I open the ring box and look up at her. She doesn’t even look at the ring, and instead just stares into my eyes. Big fat tears roll down her cheeks. She covers her mouth with her hand and nods.

“Is that a yes?” I ask, also tearing up.

“Yes,” she manages through the sobs. “Yes, a million times yes.”

Our food arrives when we are still wiping away the last of our tears. People around us clap and celebrate with us and the server brings us a complimentary bottle of champagne.

“What kind of wedding do you think you want?” I ask, taking a bite of my salad. She doesn’t answer right away, instead locking her eyes on the diamond ring on her left hand.

“This isn’t real, right?” she asks after a moment.

I shrug.

“C’mon, this must be three carats or something ridiculous.” She laughs.

“Something ridiculous,” I say coyly.

“Did you seriously spend all of your money on this ring? ‘Cause if you did then you’re in serious trouble.”

I laugh again, but she kicks me under the table until I stop.

“Let me level with you,” I say, taking a sip of the champagne. “It is three and a half carats, with the highest quality diamond and a platinum band.”

Olive shakes her head in disbelief.

“But I did not spend all of my money on it. Actually, if you want to be technical, it’s our money, remember? The Monet was actually worth a lot more than we thought and I was able to fetch a cool ten for it.”

“Ten? Ten what?”

I tilt my head without saying a word.

“Ten million?” she asks, whispering the word million while looking around the room hoping that no one is eavesdropping on our conversation. I give her a slight nod.