AN: Sometime ago an Anon prompted for me to do Kurt asking Rachel to marry him on Rachel's birthday. It's been in my drafts for sometime. Finally tweaked it enough to publish as a cute short. Hope you like it.
"Okay," thought Kurt as he paced the apartment. He had decided he was proposing to Rachel. This... he could deal with this. He rubbed his ear and whined as he stopped in front of the New Directions collage they had put up when they first moved into the apartment so they could always see their friends.
And he was lying to himself. He couldn't do this, not without a total meltdown. The whole thing was not in his wheelhouse. He had spent many a time thinking about being proposed to, but not being the one doing the proposing. He worried his top lip between his teeth.
He couldn't do anything too showy. It just wasn't something he was comfortable with. While Rachel would probably be thrilled to death about being proposed to in the middle of Times Square... he couldn't be that bold.
He also didn't even have a ring of any sorts yet... how could he even think about proposing when there was no object with which he could propose with? Did he go traditional with a gold band and a solitaire diamond? Princess cut? Or should he look for something different? Dare he even think about designing his own? What would Rachel think?
He needed to sit down or he was going to get nauseated thinking about everything he needed to do. Kurt knew they were ready to get married. They both had stacks of scrapbooks with wedding preparations. They even had a shared one that they both had been sliding in ideas here and there for the future.
Though was he really ready to put his heart on the line? Although he wasn't worried that Rachel would say no, there was this gnawing thought in the back of his mind...
Kurt sighed. He really needed help sorting out his brain. He laid his head on the back of the couch.
But who could he ask?
That was the other big question.
Burt Hummel stepped outside of his home to get the mail he had left in his truck after stopping by the post office. Instead of making it to his truck, he found his son sitting on the front porch swing, deep in thought.
It had been an interesting chain of events over the last couple of years. When Kurt had broken up with Blaine in New York, he had expected them to get back together at some point. It seemed almost inevitable. But it was never brought up again, and Blaine was attending another school beside NYADA in the city.
While that hadn't surprised him that much, Burt had been in shock when Kurt and Rachel had shown up sometime later and telling him that he and Rachel had been dating without too many people knowing about it. And now he had turned up again, telling them that they were planning to get married. Kurt had already been saving money from his internship turned job at Vogue's website to help pay for things, one of which was an engagement ring.
What had surprised him even more was that Finn hadn't even been that surprised and had even given his blessing.
Burt thought he was going to have to give his wife one of his heart pills when Kurt had told them that he was planning on asking Rachel to marry him. He hadn't seen Carole seemed so surprised before. But then, he had been slightly in shock himself. His son was taking a wife.
Five cats and a husband, sure. But a wife?
Maybe Finn had grown up more than he had given him credit for.
"So... asking Rachel huh?" said Burt. The fact that someone had spoken shook Kurt out of his reverie.
"Yeah," he said finally, after a slow, shaky laugh. "I still can't believe it either."
"I still can't believe you're going to be engaged soon and you didn't come to your dear old dad for advice before now," teased Burt, the corner of his eyes crinkling in humor.
Kurt looked amused. "Technically, I did. You just didn't realize it."
Burt looked at Kurt in surprise. "You did? When?"
His son nodded. "It was just a phone call, but I was, well am, nervous about things."
"Like asking Rachel to marry you."
"That was one of them," said Kurt. "So I called you. You reassured me that my heart was making the right decision, even if you didn't know what that decision was."
"Well, I'm glad I gave you good advice," said Burt, adjusting his hat. "I still can't believe you two were seeing each other for so long without anyone knowing."
"Santana did."
"Well, I'd hope so. She was your roommate."
"Don't remind me," muttered Kurt. Burt laughed.
"Still nervous?"
"A little," admitted Kurt. "Rachel and I are alike in a lot of ways, but there's still so much I don't know."
"Like what?" asked the older man.
"Like anything," said Kurt. "What is it like to be bound to another person? Marriage just seems so... long term. I want to be married, but..."
"It's the same thing as dating exclusively," answered Burt. "You just don't forget them. They will always be there for you. Some days will be easy, some days it's hard. But you don't forget one another."
"It's kind of hard when she texts me 80 times a day."
Burt chuckled, giving his son a clap on the shoulder.
"You can put the phone on silent, you know."
"Dad, I'm just not sure-"
"You love her, don't you?"
Kurt nodded.
"Then there's your answer."
"How- how do I propose? " he asked, sighing. "I don't know if I'm prepared for this."
"I wasn't either," shrugged Burt. "It's hard putting yourself out there."
"And you've done it twice," said Kurt, smiling softly. "You're an old romantic, and don't say you aren't."
Burt chuckled. "Why don't I go get the mail, and then you can show me those rings again over dinner, just the two of us. We'll figure something out."
About two weeks later, Kurt was pacing the floor of his apartment when there was a knock on the door. He told the person to come in, and Quinn Fabray entered, smiling.
"Your delivery girl is here," she said cheekily, taking off her jacket and scarf.
"Good, because if you had bailed on me..."
"You maybe," said the blonde with a smirk. "But I couldn't do that to Rachel. Besides, it's her birthday."
"Thank you," said Kurt. "Just take her out for a while, get some coffee and tea or something. And I apologize in advance. She might start griping about how she wanted to spend the afternoon with me and she's being taken elsewhere."
"I'm sure she's figured it out by now," said Quinn. "Not that anything about this isn't suspicious at all."
"Yes, I realize that," sighed Kurt. "But I have a plan within a plan, so I need this to work."
"Just what are you doing Kurt?" asked Quinn, crossing her arms.
"You'll see," he said, swallowing hard. Only one other of the Gleeks from high school had been told of his plan tonight, and that's only because he needed his help. Artie had already been there, setting up his camera and equipment. Quinn gave him a side-eye.
"You can wait," he chided. "Just take her out somewhere and keep her distracted so we can get the party set up."
Quinn held out her hand and Kurt groaned. He pulled out his wallet, handing her a couple of bills.
"I'll even pretend to be interested in the conversation," said the blonde with a smile as she stuck the money in her pocket.
The party was set up with a cheerful banner and lots of balloons and flowers. An extra table had even been brought in when the caterers started setting out the food and putting up the cake. Kurt was glad that Tina and Mercedes had handled most of the decorating and placing out of everything else. He had been way too nervous. His best friend had noticed and tried to talk to him about it, but he had waved her off and said he had a callback soon. That helped get her off his back for a few minutes. He was grateful that Artie could keep his mouth shut or the surprise would have been busted and he would have been fielding a lot of questions. It wasn't long till Quinn had brought Rachel back to the apartment, and of course, she hadn't been surprised. She had even put on a shocked face that Kurt knew was a lie. But he knew at least he could surprise her with what was to come. He was glad everyone was there and having fun. It kept them all distracted away from his panicked feelings. He drank way too many cups of apple cider after kissing Rachel when she came over to thank him for the birthday party, hoping the cinnamon would provide him some warmth and comfort and hide some of the fear he was sure was spilling off of his lips. Everyone was talking and eating the cake and snacks. The cake had been perfect, and Rachel had raved about when she found out it was vegan.
When Brittany mentioned something about the birthday girl and gifts, Kurt knew it was his cue. He gave Artie the signal, who nodded and started pulling out his hand held camera for closeups.
"Before Rachel unwraps anything..." he said as he gestured to their group of friends. "I have a gift that needs to be given first."
"Dear god, please don't let it be a song," said Santana. Rachel gave her a glare.
"I will be happy to receive any gift from my boyfriend," said the birthday girl, holding her hand over her heart. She looked at his hands, seeing no gift. She frowned.
"Kurt, what-"
He smiled at her as he stepped forward.
"Your gift from me is a little... little different," he said as he took her hand from her heart and held it in his own. A collective gasp from the girls and a squeak from Tina fell quickly from his ears as he got down on one knee with a small whimper. Their floor was hard and he had went down too quickly in his haste to get this over with. Rachel was staring at him as he squeezed her hand.
"As I have spent most of the past few weeks in a sheer panic, wondering what or how I was going to do this," he said, looking up. "I've taken to thinking about the last couple of years of our lives and wondering when the crazy happened. Here I was, planning to ask you to marry me, and I kept thinking and thinking about when was that one moment when everything snapped into place. It was then I realized it never did. There was no complete puzzle, no... clarity, no perfect moment. That was because there is no perfectness. Everything was sloppy, some idiocy, lots of yelling, and more than a few emptied bottles of wine. Which... I don't think I would change a thing. That's what makes us. That's what makes it unique, and something totally ours that makes us happy. We're not crazy, though I'm sure some people in the room would beg to differ."
A light laugh went through their friends, interrupting Kurt from finishing. Rachel's hand was over her mouth and she was trembling. Kurt was certain there were tears forming in her eyes. He breathed deep and continued.
"What I am meaning is that I don't want anything else in my life but you in all your imperfect glory. So yes, Rachel Barbra Berry, this is me, doing some weird thing where I'm down on one knee and asking you to marry me in front of all the crazy people we grew up with. On your birthday." Kurt reached down and fumbled with his pocket, pulling out the thin ring box in his pocket. He opened it, showing the ring to Rachel. She looked between it and Kurt twice, as if she couldn't believe it was there or that this scene was going on in front of her. Kurt gave her a rueful smile.
"So do me a favor and tell me you'll marry me so I can get up off my knee?"
She stepped forward, a smile widening across her face with a shaky laugh. She wiped at the tears that were running down her cheeks.
"Not the most imaginative of proposals, but considering you haven't even given me a single hint that you were planning this, I'll let you slide just this once." She leaned down and kissed him on the lips. She held his head in her hands.
"And of course I'll marry you Kurt. I'll always marry you." She started to squeal and bounce up and down. She held out a hand to Kurt and helped him up off the floor. She held out her hand and he took the hint and slid the ring on her finger. She looked at it in awe for a moment before kissing him again. A cheer and light applause came from their friends.
"I'm sorry guys, but I don't think any present can beat that," said Rachel, still holding Kurt's face in her hands. She kissed him again.
"Not the most imaginative of proposals?" said Kurt dubiously. He was still rubbing his knee with a wince.
Rachel looked down at the ring on her hand. It was beautiful. A princess cut diamond set in a lightly braided white gold band that looked like branches, along with emeralds which were made to look like leaves. She smiled, remembering their first kiss had been under the trees in a park there in the city.
"It's perfect Kurt," she said softly, giving him a smile as she wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head on his chest.
"Everything about you is always perfect."