SPOILER ALERT --- We are Engaged!

Sunday, November 8, 2009.

Dean & I spent the day at the Seahawks v. Lions game (Seahawks win!). I came home to nap and he went to the gym. We ate dinner and watched Sunday night football. He ended the evening watching Sports Center while I went to lay down in bed with my book - Joplin's Ghost by Tananarive Due. Sometime close to midnight, he came to bed. Ordinarily, when he comes to bed, I turn the light off & we chit-chat and flirt with each other until he falls asleep.

This night, however, I was trying to go back to sleep after a 2 hour nap and my head was swimming in thoughts of the baby and when real contractions would begin. This night was also the last night we would be alone together - mom arrives on Monday and baby could show up anytime. Whenever my head is tossing around this many thoughts, reading helps me focus & relax. So, after he came in & turned his bedside lamp off, I kept reading.

"Sweet dreams, honey" Dean says, I roll over & he kisses my cheek before rolling back to his side of the bed & falling asleep. This night, he kissed my cheek and hugged me a little closer.

"How's the book?" Dean said.

"It's pretty good." I replied.

"What's it about?" Dean asked.

Um... I've been reading this book for the last 2 weeks and this is the first time he's asked me about the book. He never asks me about my books - especially at bed time. So, I put the bookmark in to mark the paragraph I just read, lay the book on my night stand & roll over to face him.

"What's on your mind, honey?"

The first time I mentioned getting married to Dean was 8 months into our relationship. Three of my other long-time friends met their husbands about the same time we met & were all engaged. I thought it was time for us to be engaged too. Since then, August 2006, I have brought up marriage probably once every six months on average with no success (with success being defined as him proposing to me). In December 2007, in Mexico, Dean told me he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me and yet, I waited for a ring and a proposal. A year later, in Hawaii, I managed to get him into a jewelry store. Three months later, we found out we were pregnant.

At the beginning of the pregnancy, I didn't think too much about the fact we weren't married - I really wanted to not think about it, but worries and concerns started seeping in, especially when I lost my job. Since July, I may have brought up marriage to him 3 or 4 times.

Given all this, you would think that I may have expected a proposal as the answer to the question "What's on your mind, honey?" but I didn't. I have no idea what I thought the answer would be...

Dean took my hand & shoved it under my pillow. I felt a felt covered box & my mind was flooded with bright light, my heart thumped in my chest and felt bubbles rolling around in my stomach.

"Will you marry me?" Dean asked - his face looking peaceful and handsome. I looked into his eyes & was reassured that this man is the man of my dreams.

"Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me?!" I exclaimed

"Yeah, because I always kid you about this." He replied, smirking.

In fact, he never, ever kidded about proposing or marriage. I had been asking him to just say the words "I want to marry you" for years, to no avail. His response was always "I never said I didn't want to marry you." And I replied, "You've never said you did." Even with my impeccable logic, he never kidded me, never just said the words to make me happy, never threw those words out there in jest. When Dean wanted to say those words, I would know that he was serious.

"Of course I will! YES! YES! YES!" I said before the bubbles in my belly burst through my throat into a fit of giggles.

What I learned later, Dean called my mother that afternoon & asked for her blessing on our engagement. I am truly a lucky, lucky woman.