Damien was beginning to get used to falling asleep and waking up to Ella. Having her smaller and warm body up against his during the cold winter months, having her unintentionally snuggle to him was a feeling that he was sure he would never get tired of.

This morning was no different. Ella had been the first to sleep last night after running around, preparing some decorations for the New Year. Damien had climbed in, kissing her forehead as she mumbled out a quiet, "have a safe trip."

What Ella didn't know was that Damien had actually decided not to leave. Quite the opposite, in fact. Damien was going to propose to her.

After spending more time with Ella and her family, Damien had decided that this was what he wanted for the rest of his life. He wanted Ella to be the person that was always by his side and vice versa. She was more than he could ever ask for, and while he knew that they had only dated for a short amount of time compared to other couples, he knew her past, her present, and wanted to become a part of her future.

He could remember how vividly the idea had came to him, and how nervous he had been to speak to her parents first. That was his first priority, too: speaking with Timoteo and Elizabeth and asking for Ella's hand in marriage. Call him old schooled, but he want them to know that he serious about her, and he also knew that Ella greatly valued her parents' guidance.

Once they accepted, he took Ella's mother downtown one day when Ella had slept in- the girl didn't even notice that they had left the house. Downtown, Damien, with the help of Elizabeth, picked out a beautiful diamond that would suit Ella for the big day.

"She'll say yes, don't you worry." Elizabeth had assured Damien when she saw how nervous he was right after buying the ring.

"I hope so. She..." Damien nervously smiled; Ella was his everything. If she said no... he didn't even want to think about it.

Elizabeth smiled, wrapping her arm through Damien's as they walked back to their car. Parking had been a pain last time, so Damien had parked further back, thus, them having to walk a tad bit more.

"When Ella was born, I remember how fiercely protective Fransisco became of her. When Stefanie was born, he was still a protective brother, but the difference between his treatment of Ella and Stefanie was seen. We all cared for her tender heart, knowing that she would end up falling for the wrong person. However, our Ella is smart." Elizabeth smiled proudly, her eyes glistening with tears. "I prayed that I would get to see my children grow up. I prayed that I would get to see them graduate. Now I pray that I see them happy," Elizabeth sniffed, fighting back her tears uselessly. "I'm so happy... you treat her like she's the most delicate rose you've been around but also like she's the most powerful being to walk this planet."

Damien looked away, still awkward about how to treat crying women. The only reason he even knew how to deal with a crying Ella was because he just did. He didn't like seeing her cry, his natural instinct was to rush forward, to defend and to care for her. It was an innate thing for him, really.

"I know you will make her so happy, and I know she'll make you really happy too. I can't wait until you ask either!" Elizabeth squealed, laughing at Damien's chuckling.

Now... now Damien was nervous. He had wanted to make sure that everything would be to Ella's liking.

Walking downstairs with his suitcase in hand, he was cautious as to not wake anyone up. As far as everyone but Timotheo and Elizabeth knew, he was on his merry way back to Georgia. He would leave his suitcase in the garage for Timotheo to later pick it up without anyone being suspicious.

"What are you doing?" A low voice hushed out while Damien was passing by the kitchen.

"Stefanie," Damien almost growled out, frightened by the sudden presence of another person.

"What?" Stef hissed back, frowning. "Excuse me, guys." Stef referred herself to her laptop before pressing a button and turning the camera away. "Weren't you supposed to be gone by now?"

"Who's supposed to be go- oh! What are you doing here?" Fransisco suddenly popped out, Melissa in arms.

Damien sighed, his head falling a tiny bit. What was supposed to be something secretive and quiet had now turned into a mess.

"I have to go." Damien explained. Technically, he wasn't lying; he did have to go.

"What?" Stef frowned, watching as Damien left the house, soundlessly. She then looked at Fransisco, questions flying around her head. Fransisco shrugged, returning his attention back to his baby that had woken him up extra early today.

"What are you doing?" Fransisco looked at Stef, wondering why she was up so early in the morning.

Stefanie, suddenly remembering what she had been doing, quickly returned to her meeting, excusing some background noise that would be happening due to her brother and niece.

Damien, after being left at a flower shop that one of Elizabeth's friends owned, quickly entered, picking out Ella's favorite flowers to decorate the balcony that would be right on top of Ella's church.

"You know, this is an unusually big order." The older woman mentioned as she helped load the large baskets of flowers into the back of the truck that one of her son's was driving.

"Thank you for doing this. I know it was a bit sudden and early." Damien thanked her, taking one of the large baskets from her hands. Even though she seemed older, the woman still seemed to be stronger than expected. "I can't thank you enough for getting all of these ready in time."

"It's not that hard, niño." The woman chuckled, "didn't Lizzy tell you? The back of this building is just a plot of land. That land is filled." The woman guided Damien to the back door, opening it just a bit to reveal the beautiful large and healthy bright flowers that extended to, what seemed, the sunrise. (Boy)

"Woah." Damien was left in awe, truly astounded by such a beautiful sight.

"Our Ella used to run through them like crazy." The woman smiled fondly at the memory.

Their Ella was soon going to be just his, and that thought excited him more than anything but also raised more doubts and fear than he had ever felt. What if she said no?

"Yo, gringo, you re-"

The older woman smacked the back of her son's head. "He's Italian, and that's rude." She scolded, then proceeding to give him some directions in Spanish.

"Again, thank you." Damien accepted her hug before getting into the lanky teen's vehicle so that he could be dropped off at the church.

He wanted everything to happen bright and early in the morning. He feared that if he waited too long, he might faint or back out. He felt so nervous.

Once arriving to the church, the Father stepped out with some volunteers that had already prepared a cake and some other breakfast pastries and foods to serve Ella and Damien.

"I have to say, I'm really happy you chose this place for such an important gesture." The Father sighed, watching as everyone decorated the balcony and tables as well as chairs with pale pink and lavender colored flowers. There were a couple of white roses thrown into the mix as well. "It is nice to see that Ellie is receiving the attention and love she deserves."

"Are you close with her?" Damien was amazed at just how much everyone seemed enchanted by the woman of his dreams. It was one thing for him to be in enraptured by her, but it was another for other people to love her dearly when they only say saw a couple of days of the year.

"She comes by and does a lot for us." The Father explained, saying how sweet and doting she is to a lot of people. "I had heard of her from other people that volunteer, and knowing she was a Cortesa, I knew her parents were kind and responsible people. She always ran here whenever she got lost in town. Little thing would cry her heart out until we sat down with her in front of the alter. That always has a calming effect on her."

Damien smiled fondly, warmly. The more each minute passed, the more Damien was sure that Ella was most definitely the girl for him. She was everything he needed: warmth, tender, smiles, comfort, sensible, intelligent.

"We're ready." One of the nuns suddenly announced, making Damien's heartbeat skyrocket in anxiousness.

"Everything is done?" The Father stepped forward, giving Damien's arm a tender pat on his back as he left to attend to other things.

"Elizabeth said that Ella is on her way here." The same nun announced, and Damien almost choked on air, coughing slightly.

"Already?" Damien ran a hand through his styled hair. He guessed that the amount of time it had taken him to pick up the flowers and arrange everything here at the church, it had taken up a lot of time. "Okay, um," Damien began pacing, patting his pockets to make sure that he had the ring inside. "Flowers, food, ring," Damien began to list off. Some of the nuns that were watching him chuckled quietly, finding such a sight amusing.

"We are going to go now. I wish you the best, whatever may happen." The Father waved goodbye to Damien, and Damien almost groaned. The Father's last words were not, at all, encouraging.

Damien rolled his shoulders, taking a deep breath and practicing his lines.

He could do this.

He could do this.

He could do this.

"Damien?"

He couldn't do this.

Turning around, he, again, choked on air.

"Goodness gracious. Are you okay? What are you doing here?" Ella rushed forward, her heels clicking on the floor softly while she came to pat his back gently. "Are you okay? You look a little pale."

"You look... out of this world... just," what could he say? Words would never be enough. "Divine, amore." He grazed her cheekbone with the pad of his thumb, reveling in her soft skin.

"Oh, thank you," Ella blushed, smiling now. "Mamá told me that that Father Louis was doing an award ceremony, but..." Ella trailed off, looking around. "Why are you here?"

Unable to resist, Damien leaned down to kiss her pouted and confused lips. "Want to eat breakfast with me?"

"In that suit? Isn't it uncomfortable? Aren't you cold?" Ella grabbed his hands in hers, feeling how surprisingly warm they were.

"No, I'm okay." Damien promised, taking one of his hands to her jaw to kiss her forehead, leading her to the small table that had been set. "Ah, it's too cold, isn't it?" Damien mentally cursed. He couldn't believe that he missed that detail completely.

"You're kind of making me nervous," Ella drawled out, not letting him know that she was actually freezing. She always got really cold whenever she got scared or anxious.

"I... I had a... I practiced, but nothing is coming to mind." Damien sighed, pulling on his tie as he felt a thin sheen of sweat beginning to over the back of his neck.

"You're sweating." Ella frowned, taking a peak at his neck.

"You're freezing." Damien responded, taking both of her hands in his.

Ella chuckled, realizing how opposite they were. Here they stood, Damien using her to cool down and Ella using him to warm up. Even with how contrasting they were, they still complimented each other almost perfectly.

Damien sighed, looking around before finally getting on one knee, looking up at the woman he would kneel for, the woman who he also saw above him and always wanted to see above him. He reached into his pocket with one hand, his other one still holding Ella's.

"Ella Cortesa... I can't believe I'm blanking out right now." Damien cleared his throat, laughing bashfully. Not even in his most important court cases had he blanked out like now. "Te amo," he stated in her language. "In all of my three decades of living here, I have never met someone like you. You gifted me with your warmth when I was cold. You gifted me your tranquility when I was in torment. You gifted me a life full of smiles and a future that I can be ecstatic to have. For these reasons, I hope that you can answer honestly when I ask if you will allow me to be your husband until death do us part?"

Ella was speechless at the worst time imaginable. She couldn't say a single thing; nothing would come out no matter how she tried, so she nodded. Damien, standing up to his fully height was barely stable to catch Ella who had flung herself into his arms, hugging him as if she were holding onto her dear life.

"You didn't even look at the ring." Damien murmured into her neck after hugging her until she calmed down.

"I'm sure I won't change my mind." Ella pulled away, feeling Damien place a chaste kiss on top of her head before he opened the box back up, revealing her large and dazzling diamond ring. "Wow," Ella sniffed, the diamond reflecting the sun's light beautifully as Damien slid it on. "Thank you so much."

"Do you like it?" Damien watched her carefully for even a trace of dislike. He really had just blindly trusted Elizabeth and the sales lady, only giving his opinion when asked.

"It's beautiful." Ella nodded, wiping her cold tears that were getting in her way.

"Come on. We can breakfast elsewhere." Damien wrapped his arm around her shoulders, bringing her closer to shield her from the cold as he led them inside the church.

Once inside, Ella was beginning to feel her fingers again as well as her cheeks heat up.

"Was it a yes?" Father Louis approached cautiously, trying to look at Ella's hand but it was tucked into Damien's pocket.

"You knew?" Ella frowned, now realizing that it was all a hoax to get her there. "Wait... does my family know?"

Damien breathed, "I'm actually not sure about your siblings. You're parents did, though."

"Was it a yes?" Father Louis insisted, the curiosity gnawing on him. While the young couple looked as enamored as ever, he still didn't want to congratulate them and have him be wrong. That would be like rubbing salt on Damien's wound.

Ella chuckled, turning her attention back to him.

"Yes, Father Louis. I said yes." Ella smiled, pulling her hand from Damien's pocket to show him the ring as he clapped happily.

"She said yes, ladies!" Father Louis announced loudly, and the rest of the nuns began spilling out from the church, rushing forward to congratulate the couple.