“Jess,” he hums, thumb grazing my lower lip. “Of course I have. Being here with you… living this life, this dream… It’s everything I never thought I’d have. Being truly in love and happy… I didn’t think it was in the cards for me. I never thought I’d… want to marry someone.” He stops to breathe out slowly. “But you… You’re a dream come true, baby. Marrying you would be as easy as breathing.”

I pout, fighting tooth and nail against the tears of joy that want to keep flowing from my eyes.

“Well, you already know…” I huff, steadying my trembling words. “I’ve dreamed of you falling in love with me since before I even really knew what it meant. I didn’t think having you the way I wanted was in the cards… So now that it is…” My forehead lowers to his. “Marrying you is my dream come true.”

His hands cup my face, and he kisses me, slowly, full of passion; a dedication, an unexpected devotion.

It’s the same way he’s been kissing me for the last year. One whole year, Christmas to Christmas… And here we are.

It started as a mistake we were never supposed to make… and it turned into happily ever after.

With his question, we’ve wiped away the past, the history, and everything holding us back.

We’re no longer a father and his adoptive son. We’re engaged.

We’re going to be husbands.

We have a future, together. The perfect gift for us to unwrap.

Epilogue

Waking up this Christmas feels different in a lot of ways.

For one, it’s sunny outside. And warm. Missing the snow we’re used to back home. But that won’t be a problem for long… Since I have a couple more surprises up my sleeve.

That’s the other reason why this Christmas feels different. Because on this holiday morning, when our eyes peel open, and we look at each other… We’re already smiling.

Because we’re engaged.

“Good morning, fiancé,” Jesse murmurs sleepily, stretching his arms over his head.

“Good morning to you, fiancé.” I kiss his pulse. “Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas, baby.”

We ended up falling asleep on the couch again after the unexpected proposal, which is actually good for my next surprise.

It means I get to see my fiancé’s face light up, which is so thrilling I can’t seem to stop my toes from wiggling.

The thing about proposing to Jesse is that I’d been thinking about it for a while. I’ve known, pretty much since the moment we got together, that I wanted to marry him. But I couldn’t help myself from getting hung up on making the proposal itself as memorable as possible.