I’m damn nervous reck! I don’t know how Carter was able to keep his cool when he proposed to Emmy. Now it’s my turn. I know Avery will say yes, it’s just there’s this small voice in my head that says she won’t want to. I know it’s silly to think that she wouldn’t. We are soulmates, and we’ve been through so much together, but I can’t help it.
Avery and I are headed to a romantic dinner where I will pop the question. There won’t be anyone there, but when we get back to the manor there will be a little party set up that my mom, sister, and Emmy are putting together. I told them I’d text to let them know when we were on our way and if Avery said no to me, they all just looked at me like I was crazy. Right now, I could use some of Carter’s easy-going confidence that seems to ooze out of him.
I’m confident when it comes to knowing things that others don’t, but with girls I’ve always lacked confidence. I’m a total nerd, the smarty pants of the team, and family, so my luck with girls has always been bad. I always tell Avery that if she wasn’t in spirit form when I met her, I would have never talked to her. I always make a fool of myself in front of girls, I was the awkward nerd that would stutter when he tried to talk to a girl. For some guys like Ryan and Carter, talking to the opposite sex was easy for them, but not for me.
We get to the restaurant, and the hostess takes us to our table in the corner. I asked for a table in a corner, and not surrounded by other people. I’m going to have a hard enough time asking Avery to marry me, I sure as hell don’t need an audience, which is why I didn’t want our friends and family to be around.
Avery suspects nothing, she just thinks I want to take her out on a nice date since it’s been a while since we've done something like this. Being in the middle of a war makes spending time together difficult. We always seem to be on a mission, and if we aren’t on a mission, we are training, and when I’m not training, I’m reading up on things we might need to know. Basically, Avery and I have a hard time spending quality time together, it’s not just us, all the couples are having a hard time with spending good quality time together. We all knew this war would interrupt our lives.
Dinner goes smoothly. I love how natural things feel with Avery. I don’t feel like a loser when she smiles at me. I know she loves me, and I love her. Avery is kind, and tough, when I first met her, she had a hard shell that I had to break down to get to the real Avery. Avery has trust issues, and honestly, I can’t blame her, she didn’t have an easy life. Her family was cruel to her, she was the black sheep, the one everyone picked on, her stepsister cast the Sleeping Death Curse on her because she was jealous of Avery.
Avery and Emmy have bonded over having evil sisters, although Emmy’s half-sisters weren’t actually related to her, but she didn’t find that out till over a year ago. They get along, and love swapping stories. I know Brie tries to bond with Avery, but it’s hard because they are opposites. Brie is fun, free, caring, the good girl, and Avery is reserved, suspicious of everyone, she has serious trust issues, and while Avery can be kind, her toughness will always win in the end. I have noticed since Avery and Brie are the healing team for the Reckoning, they have really started to bond, which makes me happy.
We order dessert, and I made sure that the waiter put the ring in the cake. It will be on top of the cake and not inside. I got paranoid that Avery would accidentally eat the ring. The waiter brings us our chocolate cake pieces. Avery looks down at the cake, and I watch her eyes go wide. I get up and get down on one knee. I take Avery’s hands into mine.
“Avery will do me the honor of being my wife?”
“YES!” Avery shouts, and everyone looks our way, and starts to clap.
I clean off the ring and put the one carat square diamond on her left ring finger. Avery kisses me. She’s beaming, and hell so am I. We eat our cake. Just as we leave, I text Brie to let her know we are on our way. Brie texts back I told you she would say yes!
Smart ass I think to myself as I shut Avery’s door, and head to the driver's side to get in. Avery talks at rapid speed on the way home about when she would like to get married. I honestly stopped listening at one point because I know tomorrow, she will have changed her mind about every damn detail. I’m going to have to enlist my mom and sister to keep Avery on track with wedding planning.
Once we get home, and enter the main living room, everyone congratulates us. There are toasts that I feel like last forever. After the toasts Emmy and Avery gush over their upcoming weddings. Carter walks up to me and slaps a hand on my shoulder.
“Yes, it gets worse,” Carter says.
I turn to face him, and he is looking at Emmy and Avery.
“What gets worse?’
“Avery will never shut up about the wedding. Emmy hasn’t stopped talking about the damn wedding since I put the ring on her finger a few weeks ago. Every day she has a new idea for the wedding. I swear just when I think she can’t come up with anymore shit, she does.”
“Gee thanks for the warning. Maybe Emmy and Avery should plan the weddings together, so it takes some pressure off of us.”
“Shit Bex, you really are a smarty pants. That’s fine fucking idea if I ever heard one.”
Carter and I go to make our suggestion to Emmy and Avery, and before the night is over, we are having a double wedding. Carter and I look at each other, and just shrug, whatever makes them happy, and takes some pressure off of us.
Hell before the night's done Aunt Gemma and my mom have joined in on the double wedding plans. My dad and Uncle Travis walk over to us. They hand Carter and I a beer.
“Do you two know the shit storm you just started?” Uncle Travis asks as he points to the four women gushing, giggling, and squealing just a few feet away.
“Yeah, our plan backfired in our face,” Carter states.
“Yes, it really did.” I scrub a hand down my face, and then chug half my beer.
“Well, you two better learn now, just agree with everything they say, and they are never wrong,” my dad advises.
“Seriously, even if they're wrong, don’t tell them that, or you will be spending a night on the couch. The best thing you can say is yes dear, or yes my love,” Uncle Travis adds to my dad’s advice.
They both nod their heads in agreement. Carter and I just look at each other with wide eyes, wondering what the hell we just got ourselves into.
“Don’t worry you two will be fine. Keep the wife happy and she will keep you happy.” Uncle Travis winks at us.
“Ew, I did not need that image in my head,” I state.
“Oh please, we all know that you kids sneak around and have sex. You think you’re the first, because you’re not. Hell, there’s proof. Emmy’s knocked up, in case you’ve forgotten.” My dad loves to add his two cents.
“Trust me I haven’t forgotten,” Carter says as he finishes off his beer.
“Ah, don’t worry son it gets better once the kid comes,” Uncle Travis says.
“Really?” Carter asks with hope in his voice.
My dad and Uncle Travis start to laugh, and then walk away.
“Well, that wasn’t encouraging,” I say as I watch my dad and uncle walk off to gather their women.
“No, not at all. I think I need another beer.”
“Shit me too.”
Carter and I each get another beer, and then we head over to our women. It’s late by the time we all head to bed, but we all need some fun in our lives. The war is draining everyone, and sometimes it’s nice to kick back, relax, have fun, and forget about the Enchantress and the war. If we don’t, we'll lose our minds.