Bridgette - Chapter Nineteen: All That Matters - Part Two

Two days later it was Christmas and everyone was going to be at the house. Jeff and Rosamund had spent Christmas Eve at her parents’ house and Carson had spent it with his family.  The three of them were due to arrive any minute and the house was buzzing with excitement. Charles and Scarlett were bouncing off the walls asking every two minutes if they could open their presents, Mom was in the kitchen finishing making dinner, Dad was downstairs doing something that was “secret” which I figured was a Christmas surprise for Mom, and the rest of us were standing around chatting.

I heard Jeff and Rosamund arrive first and everyone rushed over to greet them home.  I watched as everyone bombarded them with questions. To me it felt strange since I had just seen them for the last several months and knew what they had been doing. We were all standing in the living room talking when I heard the front door open again.

“Merry Christmas Hobble Family!” I heard Carson call from the hallway. Everyone once again rushed into the hallway and greeted him. I always loved how everyone in my family loved him. He saw me standing in the doorway to the living room and walked up to me.

“Merry Christmas, beautiful.” He said and before I could answer him back, he kissed me. I was shocked by his change in behavior. It was like the old Carson was back. When he stopped kissing me I responded. “Merry Christmas.”  He smiled at me and held my hand as we walked into the family room. We all stood around talking for several minutes before Mom called us to the dinning room.

We piled in and had an amazing Christmas dinner. I was always happy to come home and eat Mom’s cooking.  She had taught all of us to cook but none of us came close to being as good of a cook as her. Throughout the dinner I noticed Carson looking at me, smiling. I was so confused by the way he was acting. He had changed after we had talked on the phone our first night back and I wondered if being home had helped him relax.

****Carson****

Ever since I had talked to my family the day before I had been feeling less stressed about today. Talking about my fears seemed to help. I was glad that my family had also agreed to what I had planned. It was a last minute addition and I had to secretly contact Amanda and Chuck, but it all seemed to work itself out.

Throughout dinner I kept looking over at Bridge and couldn’t help but smile every time I thought about what was about to happen. She was definitely going to be surprised. Ever since the night that Rosamund and Jeff had lost their baby, I had really started to think about Bridge’s and my future. I had been thinking about it before that, but that event had really made me realize that even though we were together, I wanted to be married to her.  

 At one point I looked down the table to where Chuck and Amanda were sitting. They both smiled at me and it gave me an additional boost of confidence. I looked over again at Bridge and she caught me. She had a quizzical look on her face and I had to try my hardest not to laugh.

****Bridge****

Once dinner was finished we all piled into the living room to open presents. The usual way we opened presents was youngest to oldest; which meant I was actually the last of the kids to open their presents.  I watched Charles and Scarlett open their presents of toys.  They oohed and awed at their toys and immediately ran into the family room to spread them out all over the floor to play.

Once the kids had left the room, Charlie and Jeff distributed the rest of the gifts.  Once everyone had their presents, we all watched as Jeff and Rosamund opened their presents.   Jeff always took his time opening presents. He never liked ripping the paper and watching him open his presents was as exciting as watching paint dry. Once Jeff was done meticulously unwrapping his presents, it was Charlie and Kate’s turn. Charlie was the complete opposite of Jeff. He frantically tore wrapping paper off his gifts. As we continued to watch them open their presents Carson leaned over to me and told me he’d be right back. 

****Carson****

When Kate was almost finished opening her presents I looked at Chuck and Amanda and she winked at me. I quietly excused myself and quickly left the room before Bridge could object.  I went down to their basement and went into the room that Chuck had stashed my things in.  While we were still at ASU I had met up with them and given them one of my suits to keep here for the big moment.  My hands shook as I tried to adjust my tie. I had never felt this nervous. There wasn’t much time and several things had to fall into place at just the right moments.

****Bridge****

Charlie and Kate were opening their last presents and I started wondering where Carson was. Not only was he missing them opening their presents but it was almost time for us to open ours and he was nowhere in sight. No one else seemed to be concerned that Carson had gotten up and disappeared.

“Well, now it’s Bridge’s turn.” Dad said. I was about to protest since Carson wasn’t there but I was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening. I had never heard Carson leave so I figured it was someone coming in. I turned to look at the doorway and was really confused when I saw Carson’s parents, his brothers, and their wives walk into the living room.

I watched as Mom and Dad greeted them. I interrupted them. “I’m confused; why are you all here.” It was then that Carson walked into the room. He had changed into a suit and had a huge smile on his face.

****Carson****

I quietly walked back up the stairs and waited near the front door for my family to arrive. Within a minute they were coming into the house. As Mom walked past she kissed my cheek and almost started crying. Dad patted me on the shoulder and Adam and Brett did the same. The most complicated part was over. Trying to get everyone there at the right time was the trickiest part. I watched as they all walked into the Hobble’s living room and were greeted by Bridge’s parents. I heard Bridge question why my family was there and started walking into the living room.

****Bridge****

I looked around the room and everyone was smiling at me. I looked back at Carson and it all clicked.

He stood in front of me and started talking. “Bridge, the last seven years have been the most fun, happy, wonderful and amazing years. They’ve been that way because of you. I feel blessed every day that I get to wake up and see your beautiful face and I can’t imagine my life without you in it.“ 

He pulled out a box from his pocket and got down on one knee.  “Bridgette Rose Hobble, will you make me the happiest man alive and become my wife?”

I stood there for a moment in complete shock.  I quickly looked around at everyone in the room and then smiled at him. You could have heard a pin drop. “Of course I’ll marry you.” The room erupted with cheering and Carson stood up, put the ring on my finger and then kissed me. We didn’t have time to do much else before everyone started coming up and congratulating us.

Once everyone calmed down I let them all have it. “You all knew this, didn’t you?” They all smiled at me. “You all are horrible!” I joked.

“You had to have known something was up when we showed up.” Carson’s dad said.

“I was really confused by that but it wasn’t until Carson came in that the last week or so started making sense.” I looked down at the ring and I was stunned. “How did you pick this out?” I asked him.

****Carson****

I knew once I told her we would both get a little emotional.

“It was my Grandmother’s ring.” I said. My grandmother had passed away a couple of years before and had left some jewelry to the family. She and I had always been really close. “She actually gave me the ring. . .” I stopped not knowing if I should continue.

“Go ahead, tell her what she said when she gave it to you.” Mom prodded.

I looked at Bridge and she smiled at me. “She gave me the ring and said ‘Be sure to give it to that pretty Bridgette girl. She’s a keeper and I would be honored if she wore the ring your Grandpa gave me.’” I had to fight back the tears as I said what were some of the last words I heard my Grandmother say to me. Bridge immediately hugged and then kissed me. She pulled away all of a sudden and looked at her dad.

“I’m waiting to hear the clearing of the throat or the comment about breaking it up.” She kidded with her dad.

“I think those days are done now.” He said with a hint of sadness.

****Bridge****

I loved that he gave me his grandmother’s ring.  I had met her and talked to her several times at family get togethers even before Carson and I started dating.  I was touched that she had wanted him to give me her ring. 

The rest of the night went by in a blur. Carson and I opened the rest of our presents and then Mom and Dad did. There was more eating and many more congratulations.

At one point I felt a hand on my elbow and before I knew it, Carson was leading me outside. “So now that Christmas is almost over, let me tell you what has really been going on for the last week and a half.” I anxiously waited for him to continue.

****Carson****

 “About a week and a half ago, I called your parents and asked them if they would meet me in a town half way between here and ASU. When we met, I told them that I was planning on proposing on Christmas and asked if the family could help. They agreed. I then contacted Mom and Dad and let them know what I was planning on doing.  Jeff and Rosamund found out accidently when they heard a phone conversation that I had with my mom. So then they had to pretend to act that everything was normal; which they’re horrible actors, by the way.” 

She smiled. “So are you.”

I chuckled. “That car ride back home was horrible. No one wanted to say anything in fear of saying something that would tip you off.  Anyway, I got home and I was really nervous you would say no.”  She looked at me like I had grown two heads. “I know; but it’s a big deal and I think most guys have that fear of being rejected.  Even after my family reassuring me, I thought it would make me feel less nervous if they were here when I did propose. Plus, I thought it would be nice to include them since your whole family was.” She nodded in agreement. “So I then had to call your mom yesterday and ask her if it was okay if they came over, which she of course agreed, and we all figured out how to time everything so that it flowed seamlessly. So that’s what I’ve been preoccupied with the last week.” I said and then smiled at her.

****Bridge****

“You’re so sneaky! I had no idea and when you were talking about trying to figure out your future I was starting to wonder if that included me.” I confessed. I hated now admitting it but I had really started worrying about it the last two days.

“Oh Bridge, I’m sorry you thought that.  But there are some things we need to talk about.”

“Like what?”

“I’m graduating soon and need to figure out if I can or need to go to grad school. If I do, where should that be? Do we move back here, stay where we are, or move elsewhere. There’s still a lot of questions to answer; including wedding ones now.”

I reached up and touched his cheek. “None of that matters.”

He looked at me shocked. “What do you mean?”

“We could live here or a thousand miles from here, we could get married right now or a year from now, you could go to grad school or not; none of that matters. All that matters is that we have each other.”

He looked down at me “I love you, Bridge.”

“I love you too.”

Poses:
Skylar's - We Heart It v2 
Traelia's - Smile Pose Pack 
F& L Club's - My Weakness 
Mypalsims' - Jesse Pack