Promises.

“Do you like it?”, Nathan asked as my eyes were glued to the rock on my finger on the way home after our dinner date after the proposal

“I love it”, I giggled, holding my hand against my face as like doing that I was capturing an image using my eyes and keep it in my mind forever. I wished to relive this moment over and over in my head because it was really special to me, also because I really wasn't expecting it. “It's the most gorgeous ring I've ever seen in my life”

He took my hand and kissed it. “So I guess the journey begins”

“Of me becoming Mrs McCarthy?”, I questioned, and he nodded his head, keeping our hands interlocked. “I can't believe we're engaged”

“You should, or do you want me to pinch you for you to see you're not dreaming and this is actually happening?”, he was already pressing his thumb and index finger together, aiming at me

“No”, I laughed while pulling away from him a little. “ l know I'm not dreaming”

“Good”, he parked just outside our front door

“So the housewarming party Tristan told me about was just a way of him misleading me into believing something that wasn't true. “Did you put both him and Anna up to this?”

“Yeah kinda”, he laughed. “And there is a party, just not the one you already had in mind”

He said as we walked to the door and his hands turned on the door knob, motioning I go in first, but I was still looking at him in bewilderment, not getting what he meant

“What do you mean-”

“Congratulations!!”, the lights suddenly came on and everyone jumped to their feet, waving their hands in the air and I jumped backwards a little from being startled, Nathan already holding onto me, and they started clapping for us

“Everyone's here”, I laughed a little turning to look at him, realizing it wasn't a house warning but a whole engagement party. “So they all knew?”

“Yep. Surprise!!”, he grinned before taking my hand in his, and we mingled with the crowd, everyone already exchanging hugs with us and the girls were swooned over my ring

“Won't you look at the size of this ring?”, Sidney exclaimed. “You're really a lucky girl Liv”

“I really am”

“Congratulations babe”, Anna embraced me in a warm hug, and we spun around in each other's arms. “You deserve all the happiness in the world”

“Thank you babe”

“Come my darling, tell us all the details”, my mother and Violet took me by the hands, leading us to the couch where I can tell them about the proposal, to which I was more than happy to share with them

More people started arriving to join in the party, some of my colleagues and neighbors from my old building came to congratulate us, and I was thankful that they were able to make it. Tristan started clicking his glass with a spoon to get everyone's attention.

“Gather around everyone”, he announced aloud and Kevin lowered down the music that was playing, and it quiet down a little. Nathan made his way towards me and wrapped his arm around my shoulder.

“We're all gathered here today to celebrate the wonderful couple over there”, Tristan pointed in our direction, Nathan and I waved a little to acknowledge him

“Congratulations again to the two of you and I wish you both everlasting happiness and all the best life can offer”, he rose his glass in the air. “To Nathan and Olivia”

Everyone raised their glasses in a toast. “To Nathan and Olivia”

The real celebration started and the rest of the night went by smoothly, filled with drinks and lots and lots of dancing until a few minutes till midnight and the last group to leave were our friends as they stayed behind to help us clean up

“I'm so tired”, I threw myself on the couch, catching a glimpse of my ring to fall in love with it all over again, it felt weird having it on my finger, but I would surely have to get used to it because it was really precious to me. Nathan walked downstairs holding Missy in his hands and placed her on the floor so that she could freely roam around in the house like she usually did, now that there was just so much space now before coming to lay on top of me on the couch.

“Ow, you're crushing me”, I cried out playfully, and he apologized before switching positions that I was now the one on top

“Hi there”, I smiled at him while leaning to peck him three times on the lips, and he breathed out a lazy laugh. His eyes were a little smaller from exhaustion and I could tell he was going to pass out at any given minute in this state.

“Hi”, he brushed a few strands of my now messy hair out of my face and admired me for a second

“You're a man of many surprises Mr McCarthy, I'm really impressed”

“It's one of my hidden talents”, he wiggled his eyebrows at me, adding a laugh at the end

“Today was just perfect babe, thank you”

“Are you happy?”

“Happy?”, I prompted while pausing to think for a second. “I think the words you're looking for is experiencing exhilarating joy”

“Is that so?”, he seemed amused, and I nodded my head. “I'm glad to hear that. If you're happy, I'm happy”

“Don't take me wrong for what I'm about to ask you but I have to”, I cleared my throat, and he fixed his eyes on me. “Are you sure about this?”

“About what?”

“You know, marrying me”

“Let me get this question straight; so you're basically asking me whether I'm sure that I want to make you my significant other for the rest of my life not only because I love you, but also because I see myself growing old with you because I want you forever?”

“You explained it in so many words but yes, that's exactly what I asked”

“Do you have your answer or should I continue?”, he raised a brow at me, having this smug look on his face

“I think I have my answer”

“You think?”

“Yeah, the answer I got from that is that I have to deal and put up with your annoying ass for the rest of my life and that's honestly something to look forward to, I can't think of anything more exciting”, I said jokingly, and he laughed out loud, I couldn't help but laugh at his laugh cause its cute, and it was great seeing him like this

“You're really something else, Liv”, he finished off his laugh, bringing me closer to him

“Yeah, I know”, I started brushing his eyebrows with my thumb. “That's why you like me so much”

“And I being an annoying ass is why you also like me so much”, he chuckled

“You know, I think it just dawned on me that we actually have to start with the wedding preparations and I don't know where to even start”

“I think we should start by getting you pregnant”

“Nathan no”, I covered my mouth with my hand, laughing from the shock that he actually blurted that out without even thinking first

“It's actually a bright idea if you ask me, like if we start now we can have a-, he started counting his fingers, adding them all to eight and out nine up hesitantly. “We could have a March baby; same month as me, so it's a win-win”

“A win-win for whom?”

“Us of course, then we'll save money cause the baby and I will have a joint birthday party or something along those lines”

“I'm actually fascinated of how your mind works to be honest, I'm blown away actually”, I laughed, imitating a mind explosion, and he smirked confidently

“I'm just kidding. Wedding first, then babies, so I think we should start by hiring a wedding planner, that should be easy for both of us”

“That's another bright idea. My goodness, how are you so intelligent?”, I faked grasped, and he twisted his lip to the side, giving me the look.

“Yeah yeah, whatever”

“You know, even though you drive me insanely crazy almost every day, I'm very much still in love with you”

“I know, it's hard not to”, he grinned widely while entwining our hands together. “I'm really looking forward to spending my life with you”

“Just the two of us? Always and forever?”, I put up my hand for our unique signature dab handshake we created for ourselves because we thought it was cool to have our own thing as a couple. He smiled as we handshaked.

“Always and forever”