A cloud of flour filled the kitchen as Jess shook the bag containing it onto the scales below. She stuck out her tongue a little as she concentrated; watching the little black needle slowly move up the numbers until it reached the right one, "Bingo!" she exclaimed. Picking up the silver container, she sifted the flour, sugar and cocoa into a large ceramic bowl, before adding eggs, milk and vanilla essence, then began to stir the mixture. A pair of large, warm hands began to wrap around her waist as she whisked the ingredients together.
"Hey gorgeous, what ya doin'?" the voice of Nick Miller whispered into her ear. She smiled as she leant back into him and inhaled his scent. Letting go of the bowl, she twisted around to face him and encircled his neck with her arms.
"If you must know, I'm making you some birthday cupcakes," she responded, reaching onto her toes to place a small, soft kiss on the tip of his nose. He smiled at her little gesture.
"You don't say?" he continued, placing a longing kiss on her pinkish lips, before dipping his finger into the batter and placing it into his mouth, licking off the sweet mixture, "Mmm, that's good!" Jess removed her arms and swatted him away from the countertop.
"Hey, don't do that! They'll be none left for the party!" she cried.
For the first time in years Nick Miller would be having a birthday party. He'd never liked celebrating getting older, usually it was a reminder of how he was one year older and his life was one year not any better. All that had changed since he and Jess had become a thing, just over a year ago. He actually found himself looking forward to the future and what it may bring. When she had tried to coerce him into having a party at the loft he hadn't put up too much of a fight; secretly, he was kinda looking forward to it-not that he would let Jess know this.
"Aww, man, that's still happening?" he groaned.
"Nicholas, we've had this conversation, you are having a party and it is going to be awesome," she looked over the rim of her glasses at him and pursed her lips in her best stern teacher stare and Nick couldn't help but laugh.
"Fine Jess, but no balloons. And no singing," he insisted.
"You cannot have a birthday party without those – they are like the essential ingredients!" her voice raised a bit higher as her passion for parties came through. He took hold of her arms and kissed her forehead.
"Okay, calm down. Like I can ever say no to you anyway," he admitted.
"You'd better remember that later, mister," she said saucily as she turned back to her cooking, flicking up her foot as she did so.
Nick stepped back and watched Jess work. Suddenly, he was hit by an idea. "Hey, be back in a minute," he said as he dashed off to his bedroom. Once inside he quickly closed the door and headed for his bed, sliding his hand in between the bed-frame and the mattress, moving around his arm until his fingers clutched what he was looking for. Removing the item, he looked at it in his hand. A small, black velvet box. He used his thumb to flick open the lid; inside it was covered in sky blue satin. Enveloped in the satin was a small silver colored ring, with a large stone at its center, surrounded by smaller blue stones. He swallowed. The anxiety he felt about this purchase rose again. He'd bought it three weeks ago at a vintage jewelry store. He knew Jess loved that kind of thing- she was always going to the flea market and bringing back bags of what she called, 'great vintage finds' and it also worked in his favor, he'd actually been able to afford a ring he thought she might like. Standing up, he slipped the band into the top of his jeans pocket and exited the room.
As he returned to the kitchen, Jess was pouring the batter into little blue and green cupcake cases, "Where'd ya go?" she asked.
"Er, Um, I thought I heard my phone ring," he lied.
"Oh, okay," she smiled at him. As she moved to put the bowl into the sink, he took his chance. Taking the ring from his pocket, he pushed it into one of the batter-filled cupcake cases: a green one, in the bottom corner of the baking tray. Quickly he licked his finger to remove the residue as she turned around and began to open the oven.
"Hey, Jess," he began, and she looked up at him, "Can I please have this cupcake?" he pointed towards the green cased cake.
"Um, sure Nick, if you insist," she said, giving him a strange smile as she placed the tray into the oven and a small, smug smile lit up Nick's face. Yes, this would work perfectly.
Nick chewed on a small pretzel as he looked out across the loft; Jess had done an excellent job of making it look like a real party. There were fairy lights strung about the furniture, helium balloons were tied in bunches here and there and a large, 'Happy Birthday Nick,' sign adorned one of the walls. A surprising number of people had arrived at the loft-Nick hadn't realized he was so popular. Jess had invited almost anyone of any significance in his life over the past few years and he felt a little amazed that they had shown up. Maybe I'm not that much of a loser after all, he mused.
On the other side of the apartment, Jessica was coordinating Schmidt and Winston who were on food and drinks duties this evening. Winston already looked a little woozy; he'd insisted on starting the night with a cocktail. Schmidt had his shirt sleeves rolled up and a towel over his shoulder and it looked like he and Jess were having some kind of disagreement; he took these things way too seriously.
Sidling over to them, he laid his hands on the kitchen island and asked, "Everything alright here?"
"Hey Nick, it's your birthday," Winston said, grabbing Nick in a bear hug.
"Yes, yes it is Winnie," he laughed as he gently pried his friend's hands off of his back.
"Nicholas, would you please tell your girlfriend that we cannot just serve tortilla chips and guacamole as our appetizer, it's so heathen!" Schmidt exclaimed dramatically. Nick moved closer and took one of the offending corn chips and scooped up a large dollop of guacamole onto it before pushing it into his mouth.
"Pwersonly, I wlike Gwacamole," he said chewing with his mouth open.
"Nick, that is disgusting, I did not need to see that," Schmidt cried before picking up the two bowls and storming out of the kitchen area, followed by a giggling Winston. Jess turned to look at Nick.
"Hey, you having fun?" she asked as she began to arrange cupcakes onto a blue and white striped plate.
"Yeah, I am Jess, thank you. It's the nicest thing anyone has done for me in a long time," he admitted.
"Well, you deserve it," she said sincerely, placing the last of the cakes on the plate.
"Um, which is my cake?" he asked hesitantly, realizing there were at least a dozen green paper cased cakes on the counter top.
"Um," she began, before selected a cake with cream frosting, "This one." She smiled as placed the cupcake in his waiting hand.
"Thanks," he smiled, "I'm hungry." Her nose wrinkled as she smiled at him.
"That's okay, you know I love your bubble belly," she replied as he laughed. Jess walked around the room, handing out cakes and greeting the guests as Nick grabbed a bottle of beer from the fridge and began to gulp down the bubbly contents, trying to calm his nerves a little.
Finally, she returned to him and picked up her glass of rose wine. She took a knife that was lying on the counter and tapped it against the side of her glass, eliciting a shrill 'ting' sound that caused the crowd to become quiet. Someone turned down the music and Jessica began to speak, "Guys, thank you so much for taking the time to be here today to celebrate Nicholas Miller's birthday with us," a small cheer rose in the crowd as Jess lifted her glass of wine in the air, "So, I would like you all to join with me now to wish my man a very, happy birthday." The crowd lifted their bottles and glasses in the air and a unanimous 'Happy birthday Nick' echoed across the room, followed by the clink of glasses.
As the murmur died down, Nick cleared his throat. "Guys, thank you so much for being here today, it really means a lot," he began, "But, none of this would have happened without one special lady, Jessica Day!" There was a round of applause and a smattering of whoops rang out across the room, as Jess gave a little bow. "So, to say thank you, I would like to give Jess a gift." Jess looked at him quizzically as he picked up the cake she had given him earlier and placed it into her hand.
"Nick?" she started to ask.
"Trust me," he said quietly, "Take a bite." Intrigued, she peeled away the green paper wrapper and first attacked some of the sweet, buttery frosting with her tongue; licking her lips and looking up at him. He nodded his head, "Go on," he insisted. Shrugging her shoulders, as the confused guests began to mutter, she placed the cake into her mouth and bit into it sharply.
"Owwwwwwwww!" she cried, as a searing pain shot through the tooth, "What the?" she spat out the contents of her mouth into her hand, some cake, a large chunk of pearly enamel and a silver and diamond ring.
"Nick?" she mumbled, confused and a little delirious from the ache in her mouth.
"Jess!" came a voice from across the room. It was Cece. She quickly moved to her friend's side and grabbed a cup of water; Jess closed her hand so Cece couldn't see the ring and took gulps of what was offered, "Okay people, back to having fun please, I need to sort out my friend." The music became louder again as the bemused guests returned to their drinking and dancing.
"Oh God Jess, are you okay?" Nick asked, concerned, moving to her side by the sick.
"Yeah Nick," she replied, catching his eye. There was so much he wanted to say, but now wasn't the time.
"C'mere Jess, open wide," Cece demanded before peering into her mouth, "It doesn't look great, I think you need a trip to the hospital to be safe." Nick sighed; he felt so guilty.
"Look Jess, I'll take you, I've only had one beer," Nick insisted.
"But it's your party," she began.
"It's not much of a party without you," he smiled, "C'mon, we might even make it back before the end."
"Okay," she said, wincing a little in pain as her tongue touched the damaged part of her tooth. She placed the contents of her hand in the pocket of her red dress before wrapping her arm around Nick and walking to the door.
The hospital was very quiet for a Saturday night so they only had to wait 45 minutes before they were shown to a small, mint green cubicle. As they waited, they'd kept to small talk – he'd asked about her pain, she'd asked if he was really okay about missing his party. The cause of her injury was avoided.
The curtain swished open as young, tired looking doctor entered with a clipboard in his hand. "Miss Day?" he asked and Jess nodded. "I'm Dr. Roberts. So we have a broken tooth then, let's take a look." He reached into the pocket of his lab coat and pulled out a slim, black torch. She tipped back her head and opened her mouth and he looked inside. "Hmmm," he said clicking off the light and scribbling on his clipboard, "That looks like you are going to need either a crown or a cap, but you'll have to wait until sometime next week for that. I can give you painkillers until then to minimize the discomfort. Can I ask how you did it?" Jess looked uncomfortably from Nick to the doctor before she placed her hand in her pocket and pulled out the small, silver circle, holding it between two fingers in front of his eyes.
"Hmm," he said, scrunching up his face, "Baking accident?"
"Um," Nick interjected, "Actually, it's my fault, I was trying to propose," Jess's face reddened as she had confirmation of what she had suspected since she bit into the cake. Her heart began to beat a little faster and she felt slightly dizzy. He was proposing. Or trying to.
"Well, next time, at least give her a warning," he chuckled, "Okay, I'm going to get you a course of painkillers, just wait here." The doctor quickly left the cubicle, leaving an awkward silence to fall between them.
"Jess, I'm so sorry," Nick said finally.
"No, no Nick, it's fine, really," she looked up at him with big blue eyes, "This ring, it's-it's beautiful," she said rolling it between her finger and thumb, the stones refracting the light and sending little bright reflections over her face.
"It's vintage," he said simply and she smiled. Another pause began as Nick felt an anxious knot take hold of his stomach.
"Nick, did you mean what you said to the doctor?" she asked. He nodded in reply. "So you want to…?" her voice trailed off as she waited for him to speak. Feeling a peak of courage, he sank down to his knee, looking up at Jessica who was perched on the edge of the bed. Taking hold her hand, he rubbed it slowly with his thumb. Eventually, he spoke.
"Jessica, this is not how I had planned to do this. I tried to be romantic and spontaneous and here we are spending my birthday in a hospital," she smiled at his words, "I bought you this ring Jessica, because over the last year I've fallen head over heels for you and I can't imagine my life without you in it. You make me a better man, Jess," her eyes began to tear up, "With you I feel anything is possible and I want to take on the world together, see what adventures we can get up to." He took the ring from between her fingers and held it up, "Jessica Day, it would mean the world to me, if you would agree to be my wife. Will you marry me?"
Jess was speechless, her heart felt like it was trying to escape her chest and her mind began to spin. Never, in a million years had she expected this from Nick; at least not so soon. She was stunned into silence as Nick waited, the ring hovering near her left hand.
"Jess, you're kinda killing me here," Nick pleaded, shaking her out of her stupor. Suddenly she screamed and flung her arms around his neck, kissing his face over and over.
"Yes, yes, yes! A thousand times yes!" Relief flooded through his body as he stood and pulled her closer to him, reciprocating her affections.
"Your tooth," he began.
"Forget it," she said, the pain melting away.
As they embraced the curtain was pulled open again as the Dr. Roberts stuck his head in, "Okay, you guys I'll give you a few minutes," he snickered as he walked away.
Arriving back at the loft, they found they had only been gone a couple of hours and the party was still in full swing. It was 10.30pm and the sky outside was black and star filled. As they walked inside, the ring around Jess's finger felt strange and heavy. Her thumb kept rubbing against its smooth metal band. Her other arm was latched around Nick's waist as he rested his on her shoulders, laying the occasional kiss on top of her head. Cece made a beeline for them as they entered, her face concerned. "Jess, babe, you okay?" she asked.
"Yeah, just a chipped tooth, I got painkillers but I need some work done," she grimaced as she moved her hand up to her slightly swollen cheek.
"Oh, you poor thing-" Cece stopped and her eyes flashed to Jessica's hand. She snatched it close to her and immediately pointed at the ring. Looking up, she caught Jess's gaze and tilted her head in a questioning look. Jess smiled meekly and shrugged her shoulder a little. Turning to Nick, she saw his self-satisfied smile. Suddenly her face broke into a massive grin, "Oh my God you guys! You're engaged?" They both looked at each other and nodded. Cece screamed, "So that's what was in the cake!" she looked at Nick, "You idiot."
"Yep," he agreed.
"I'm soo excited," she quickly jumped onto a nearby chair and shouted, "Guys, guys,quiet!" and a hush descended over the room, "Nick and Jess just got engaged! This is now an engagement party!"
A loud roar came over the room as people began to rush over to congratulate the couple.
The party was over, only a few people remained: some lying on the sofa, one person was curled up on the dining table and there was even someone asleep in the shower. Jess yawned as she placed bottles and paper plates into a large, black rubbish sack. "Hey," said Nick, "Come get some sleep, we can do that tomorrow." Without protest, she dropped the bag and stepped into his embrace. "That was some night hey?" he continued.
"Yeah," she said sleepily, "I can't believe we're engaged."
"I was worried for a minute," he admitted, "Not many proposals involve a trip to the ER."
They walked to his room and tiredly stripped away their clothes before climbing into bed, too exhausted to do anything but sleep. Within minutes Jess had drifted off, curled up in a ball on her side, her chest rising and falling with the soft breaths of slumber. Leaning over, he kissed her back and placed his hand on her hip, spooning her. "I can't wait to call you Mrs. Miller," he whispered, before he joined her in sleep; a smile on both of their faces.
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