Chase's POV:

After dinner, Delilah, Mama, Daphne, and I all made out way out onto the back porch to watch the sun set. Before Delilah, I would have made my way to the bar to watch the local talent on my first night back home. Smiling, I remembered that that little ritual had been what lead me to Delilah. Ideally, I would propose to Delilah at the place where we met, but because she was pregnant and I didn't want to put her in situation where she could get caught in a fight if one broke out, I opted for the swing on the back porch.

Mama and Daphne didn't know the significance of the swing and I was okay that. Some details didn't need to be shared even though mama knew just how Delilah and I had come to be a couple. Delilah would know why I'd chosen that spot and that's all that mattered. That swing was the place I think I knew that she was going to change my life forever. At the time, I couldn't have imagined just how much meeting her that night at Rippy's could change the course of my life. But now, I'm hard pressed to think of my life without her in it.

As the four of us sat in silence, I could feel the eyes of Mama and Daphne burning into me, clearly wanting to know when I was planning on popping the question. Over dinner, I'd had to fight the urge to just spit it out over pot roast but I managed to keep it tucked away inside. Now though, the words were right on the tip of my tongue, waiting to be put out into the world.

Was I nervous that she would say no? Yes and No. Yes, because we had only known each other for a short time and I didn't want her to ever think I that I was only asking her the question because she was pregnant. By the same token, I wasn't worried because she I knew just how much I meant to her. Lord knows, she had surely showed it this morning when I helped her get a shower. Even after all the hours that had passed, I could still feel the burn of the scratch marks on my back that her nails had left.

Pushing those thoughts to the back of my mind since they weren't appropriate to be having in front of my mom and hopefully soon to be mother-in-law, I gazed out over the back yard. The sun was just starting to sink down behind the tall pines off in the distance when I stood from the swing and dropped to one knee. Lacing the fingers of my left hand with Delilah's right, I looked up at her beautiful face. Once more, those honey brown eyes were enough to make a man drown in them. And that was something I was looking forward to doing for a long, long time.

The words I'd been so ready to spit out suddenly lodged in my throat, forcing me to clear it. Where the hell was a bottle of water when you needed it?

"Delilah Faith Landry, from the day I met you, everything changed for me. I wasn't looking to settle down with anyone. Had a wall around my heart so strong and so high that I never thought that anyone would ever be able to break through it. But then I met you and all of a sudden all those dreams I had of having a love like the one that my mama and daddy shared started to fill my head, making me want them desperately. I've told you before but I plan to tell you over and over again for as long as be both shall live that I think I fell in love with you that first time I laid eyes on you. Your love for people, your drive to be the best, the compassion you have for those around you, your humor, even that sassy mouth of yours that drives me to the point of madness sometimes, all combines and makes you the most perfect person I have ever met. Perfect for me at least. I want to spend the rest of my life showing you just how much better you made my life with from just one little dance. I plan to spend the rest of my life making you see that you are loved. I plan to spend the rest of my life showing you that everything that happened in the past brought us to where we are today. I love you Dee. In front of your mama and mine, I'm asking you to marry me. You already have my heart so please say that you will do me the honor of taking my last name and making my life complete." I said. Shifting so I could dig the ring from my pocket, I held it out to her, waiting for her answer.

"Yes" she whispered, her voice clogged with tears. "Yes, a thousand times yes."

Closing the distance between us, I placed my lips over hers in a kiss that spoke of the love we shared for one another. Breaking the kiss, I rested my forehead against hers as out breaths mingled. "You don't know how happy you just made me."

"It's the other way around Chase. You don't know how happy you just made me."

As of this moment, all the one-night stands were forgotten because every single one of them had lead me to the woman in my arms. There would be no one one-night standards for me because I had the only woman that I could ever want for the rest of my life and she had just agreed to be my wife. The feeling of completeness that I felt in that moment was unlike anything I'd ever experienced before.

I don't know how long we sat there holding one another. All I knew was that the rest of my life started right now. And I couldn't be any happier.