Ian opens the box, and nestled inside is a beautiful diamond ring. “The problem is that I don’t want to wait until you move to San Diego to get married.” He climbs off the bed and gets down on one knee. “Micaela Lizbeth Michaels, will you marry me?”
“But… what about our plan?” I ask stupidly.
Ian laughs. “We can write up a new one. Everything else can stay the same. The only change will be your marital status and last name.” He winks, and my belly does a flip-flop.
“Yes!” I squeal. “Yes.” I jump from the bed and into his arms, tackling him to the floor. “Yes, I will marry you.”
“You’re not getting married,” my dad says. “You’re too young. You had a five-year plan. What the hell happened to the five-year plan?” He looks at my mom with wide eyes. “She had a goddamn five-year plan.”
“We tweaked it,” I tell him calmly. “The plan is still the same, only we’ll be married a little sooner. You and Mom got married when she was only a few years older than me.” I glance from my dad to my mom, silently begging her to help me out here. She had me when she was only twenty-one, and shortly after, they got married. At least I’m doing things the right way.
“Marco,” Mom says to my dad, and his shoulders slump. “We can’t stop them from getting married if that’s what they want to do.”
“No, but I want you to be on board.” Technically I don’t need either of their permission to get married, but I want their blessing. Their approval means a lot to me. I’m one of the few kids who has a good relationship with my parents. My mom is my best friend, and I’m close with my dad.
“And you can’t make it a long engagement?” Dad asks.
“We could,” Ian says, “but I love your daughter and would like for her to be my wife. And with her being my wife, she’ll be able to visit me on the base.”
“And you’re still going to stay here and go to college?” Dad confirms.
“Yes, Ian still has to go through SQT, and once he’s a SEAL, he’ll most likely be shipped out on his first deployment. I already have a year’s worth of college credits, so I’ll get my associate’s and then transfer to a school near him to finish my bachelor’s.”
“Damn it, Micaela.” My dad’s gaze meets mine, unshed tears in his eyes. “I want to tell you that you’re not thinking rationally, but you’re the most responsible, well-thought person I know.” He sighs, accepting my decision. “This weekend?”
“We don’t know when he’ll be able to come back here and we want both our families there.”
“All right,” Dad says. “If this is really what you want, then we’ll support you.” He puts his arm around my mom and pulls her into his side. “But no babies until you’re thirty.”
I roll my eyes and laugh. “Trust me, getting pregnant is not part of our five-year plan.”
Micaela
Six Months Later
“We have Chinese or Japanese.” Ian holds up two takeout menus and shrugs a shoulder sheepishly.
“So, pretty much only the places that most likely don’t celebrate Thanksgiving,” I say with humor in my voice. “I guess we should’ve thought this through.” When Ian found out last minute he would be off for Thanksgiving and not have to report back to training until noon on Friday, I booked a hotel room near his base and flew in last night. It would be too much for him to fly over for only one day, but there was no way I was going to let him spend the day alone. Not when I could be here with him.
“Yeah, where are our parents when we need them?” he jokes.
“Apparently at home with all the turkey and mashed potatoes.” I laugh, plucking the Japanese menu from his hand. “Sushi or Pad Thai?”
Ian drops the other menu on the counter and pulls me into his arms. “I’m sorry, babe. I should’ve—”
“Seriously, it’s just food.” I let the menu go and circle my arms around his neck. “Japanese, Chinese, turkey, pizza… None of it matters but being here with you.” I kiss him tenderly, happy to finally be in his arms. Training has been hard on him. It’s demanding and taxing on him—physically and mentally—and when he isn’t training, he’s so exhausted, he spends his time off sleeping or working out. He says it’s because the missions he’ll have to go on will be life-threatening, and if the men aren’t the best, they’ll put each other, as well as others, at risk. I Googled Navy SEALs and was shocked to learn just how dangerous it is. Thankfully, Ian is in shape and has been preparing his entire life for this. If anyone can become a SEAL, it’s him.
“It’s our first Thanksgiving as husband and wife,” he says, giving me a kiss. “It should be special. I didn’t get off until late, and I completely forgot…”
“It doesn’t matter what we eat as long as we’re eating together,” I insist. “We only have twenty-four hours together, so let’s make the most of it. We’ll have many more Thanksgivings to eat turkey.”
“Okay,” he agrees. “How about we order something to eat, and while we wait for the food to get here, I eat you?” He waggles his brows then nips on my chin playfully. “I’m starving.”
“That sounds like the perfect way to spend our first Thanksgiving.”
Micaela
One Month Later
“Hey, babe.” Ian’s face comes onto the screen of my laptop. “How’s it going?”
“Good.” I run my finger down the screen, wishing I could actually touch his face, feel his lips. “Wish you were here.”
“I wish I were there too.” He sighs. “Only a few more months.”
“It will fly by,” I assure him.
“Getting some skiing in?”
“Of course.” My family has a cabin in Breckenridge, a ski resort in Colorado. We come here every year for winter break. My parents have been coming here since they were kids. It’s tradition. We spend Christmas and New Year’s with everyone, skiing, snowboarding, and having a good time.
“Hopefully next year I’ll be there to race you down the slopes.”
“I can’t wait. Until then, I’ll just have to keep whooping Lexi’s ass.”
“I heard that!” Lexi yells from the other room. Even though our parents all have their own cabins, we always end up hanging out together at one of them. Apparently, this year, it’s ours.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you,” Ian says. “I spoke to Lieutenant Gaspar, and he said if all goes well, I should have no problem getting stationed in Coronado.”
Coronado is where the Navy SEAL base is, which is only about ten minutes from the University of San Diego, where I’m planning to apply to once I finish my associate’s degree in May. It’s also near Scripps, which is where I would love to snag an internship. Him being stationed in Coronado will mean both of our dreams will be able to come true.
“That’s awesome. Any chance you’re going to surprise me for Christmas like you did for my graduation?” I hate that we’re spending our first Christmas as a married couple apart. I wanted to fly out to spend some time with him, like I did for Thanksgiving, but he insisted I spend the time with my family since he would be in and out on missions and didn’t want me to be alone.