I woke up the 24th with a bit of a headache and I slowly remembered the night before. Lisa had let Chris and I leave the house earlier that we thought she would so we decided to invite a few friends over to relax before the craziness of the next day ensued. This got a little more exciting than we had thought. The boys decided to have a beer pong tournament and given my competitive nature I couldn't resist a good ol' drinking contest.

"Someone's finally awake." I looked up and saw Chris standing in the doorway, arms crossed with that adorable grin spread across his face.

"Well given the amount of alcohol I had last night I'm surprised I'm actually awake." I sat up in bed and looked over at the alarm clock. "I mean, it's 10 o'clock. I never wake up this early when I don't have work."

"Neither do I, usually." He sat next to me on the bed. "But, I wanted to make you breakfast this morning."

"You're the sweetest." I gave him a kiss and got out of bed. "I'm gonna take a quick shower."

"Mind if I join you?"

"You've got work to do, mister. I expect breakfast to be ready as soon as I'm finished." He groaned before leaving the bedroom. I chuckled as I walked into the bathroom and ran the shower.

*****

"What do you think?" I asked Chris as I walked out of the bedroom wearing the Gremlins sweater he had gotten me.

He chuckled. "I think it looks great. I guess I should join you and wear the patriots sweater you got me."

"I think that is an excellent plan and that you should go change right now." I gave him a kiss on the cheek as I walked into the kitchen. "I'll take care of the food while you're gone." I chuckled and bumped my hip against his to get him out of the room.

"Yes ma'am." He chuckled and made his way back into the bedroom to change. I doled out the food onto plates and set them down on his dining table. When he came back into the room he did a little spin to show off his sweater and I couldn't help but laugh.

"You look great. Who ever got you that sweater must really love you, and be able to put up with you and your obsession."

"Well, she is absolutely amazing. And putting up with me is one of her specialties." He wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed me.

"We might want to eat before we get distracted."

He groaned a little before releasing me. "Why do you have to be so smart?"

"Because if I wasn't you'd be like a lost puppy. You'd never know what to do." I joked.

"That might be a stretch," he chuckled, "but I am glad I have you."

"I'm glad to have you, too, you big dork."

*****

"Please try and keep alcohol away from me tonight." I told Chris as we pulled into the driveway of his family home. "I don't need a repeat of last night and I'd prefer to not embarrass myself entirely in front of your family."

"Will do. But, regardless, they love you to the ends of the earth already. It would take a lot to change that."

"Why are you always so gosh darn sweet?"

He shrugged. "It just comes naturally." He hopped out of the car and opened my door to let me out. "Now let's go get you not drunk."

"Sounds like a lovely plan." I chuckled as we walked up to the front door. Scott answered the door and pulled the two of us inside.

"The two slowpokes are here, finally. Now the festivities can begin."

"I'm surprised you guys waited for us before going crazy." Chris said as we put our coats in the closet.

"Well, we wanted to celebrate with you two. I mean, this is something worth celebrating."

"I guess the birth of Christ is a pretty important thing." I joked. Chris and Scott exchanged a quick, nervous glance. "Is there something I'm missing?"

"Oh, it's nothing." He added and guided me into the living room where Lisa pulled me into another hug.

"How are you two? Aren't you so excited?"

"Uh, yeah. I guess Christmas is something to be celebrated."

I saw Scott shake his head quickly and mouth something like 'Not yet'. It's safe to say I was very confused and slightly nervous. "It is the most wonderful time of the year." She added trying to bounce back from whatever had just happened. "Let's get you guys somethings to drink and we can sit down for dinner."

"What's going on?" I whispered to Chris.

"Nothing. I promise."

"I do not believe you, but I'll let this one slide."

"Well that's new." He joked.

"Just the one time." I added. "Don't get too excited."

*****

After everyone had finished eating I stayed in the kitchen a bit to help clean up. Scott and Lisa were in there as well, but they were franticly whispering to one another so I decided to stay out of it.

"Hey, Laurel." I looked up from the sink and saw Chris standing by the entry into the kitchen.

"Yeah babe?"

"Grab your coat. I wanna show you something." I raised and eyebrow and he sighed a bit. "You'll love it, trust me."

I followed him out of the kitchen to grab my coat and I noticed he was carrying a thermos with him. "Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise." He said grabbing his own jacket. "You'll find out soon enough."

"If I slip on ice I'm blaming you." I told him as we left the house. "Just so you're aware."

He chuckled. "I will shoulder that fault. And if you get hurt I will heroically carry you back home."

"My hero." I said in a sing-song voice causing him to chuckle.

"Anything for my best girl." He added and pulled close to his side as we walked down the street. "To accompany us on this little outing I have some hot chocolate."

"My weakness." I said and took the thermos from his hands. "You know me so well."

"I guess that happens when you're with someone for three years."

"Jesus. It has been three years, hasn't it." I added and took a sip of the hot chocolate. "We're practically married."

"Speaking of which." He stopped walking and stood in front of me. "I have something to ask you." He knelt down and pulled a small blue velvet box from his pocket.

"Chris." I whispered as tears started to well in my eyes.

"Laurel Marie Barnes, will you marry me?"

"Yeah! Shit, I mean yes. Of course I'll marry you." I was more flustered than I thought I could ever be as he slid the ring onto my finger and stood up.

"I love you."

"I love you, too." I said pulling him into a deep kiss. "This is what your family thought you did already, isn't it? That's why they were acting so strange."

"Yeah." He chuckled. "I was gonna do it last night when we got back. That's why Mom let us leave early. But since you wanted the guys to come over I decided to wait."

"Oh my god! I basically sabotaged you." I groaned leaned into his chest.

"There was no sabotage. You didn't know and I wanted to keep it that way." He pulled me to his side and we walked back towards the house the two of us shivering a bit from the cold. "I think it was better this way anyways. A lot more romantic than it would've been otherwise."

"It was perfect. Now let's get back ASAP so I can warm up and your family can freak out even more."

"Sounds like a plan. And even though you didn't slip I'll still carry you back." He scooped me up in his arms and continued walking.

"Boy am I glad that you're mine." I chuckled and placed a kiss on his cheek. When we arrived back at the house with our news everyone went crazy. Scott popped open a bottle of champagne and we celebrated for a while before Chris and I were able to duck out and head back to his place. Sleeping in the house with his entire family might've been risky given the mood we were in. The entire ride back I was filled with excitement.

I was gonna marry the man of my dreams, and I couldn't have been happier.