He has it all planned out. He's had the ring for months and hasn't been sure how to do it, he wants something that's worthy of Spencer something amazing but not too over the top. He really wants her to like it and hopefully say yes. Hanna agreed to take Marley for the night. He makes reservations at their favourite restaurant so they can have a meal that doesn't involve baby food and then come home for a game of scrabble to take it all back to the beginning. At least, that is the initial plan.
He comes home from work to a cluttered mess of an apartment and a screaming baby and he just knows that things won't go to plan.
Spencer comes out of the hall juggling Marley in one hand and a bouncer in the other "Hey" She greets him with a kiss. "Can you take her for a second? Hanna's going to be here in 15 minutes and I really need to shower and change if we're going to make our reservations". He lets his bag drop to the floor before taking Marley in his own two hands, kissing her on the cheek and successfully getting a bunch of baby drool on his own face.
"Dada!"
"Hey baby girl, did you have fun with Mommy today?" He asks Marley who is content on pulling on his tie. A giggle.
Fifteen minutes later, Marley is changed, bag packed and he and Spencer have both had showers, he's straightening his tie while Spencer finishes applying her make up. The doorbell rings and Toby goes to answer it "Hey Hanna, thanks for looking after Marley for us" He tells the blonde, stepping aside to let her in. Hanna waves her hand nonchalantly "Oh please, extra time with my favourite niece? I'd never say no to that" She tells him "She's your only niece…" Toby trails off. "Whatever Cavanaugh. Where is the little o-" She stops when a wail slowly gets closer and Spencer comes into the room with a crying baby.
"She's just a bit cranky" Spencer fills in for Hanna, handing her daughter over to her. This only serves to make her angrier though and Marley kicks and flails about for a minute before launching herself backwards into Spencer's arms, successfully kicking her way out of Hanna's grasp. "Sorry" He tells Hanna who shrugs it off. Marley is still screaming though and neither of the young parents know what's wrong. Eventually Marley calms down and rests her head on Spencer's shoulder, as she does this though, Spencer frowns putting the back of her hand to Marley's forehead.
"She's a bit warm" She informs them before walking off and coming back a few minutes later with a thermometer. "She's got a 40.0 temp" She tells Toby before looking between him and Hanna. "Han, I think we might stay home tonight, sorry." She tells her "It's just a temp that high is Emergency room worthy and I would hate to put that on you".
Toby sighs in relief when Hanna says she understands and tells them they can take a raincheck and that she hopes Marley feels better.
After an agonizing half an hour of getting Marley in the bath and changed and into her bassinet both parents are exhausted and it's only when he goes to change into some sweats that he feels the ring in his blazer pocket and remembers why tonight's dinner was so important. He slips the box into his pocket on his pyjama pants and lays down on the bed to set up the scrabble that they were going to play anyways. Spencer comes back into the room looking thoroughly exhausted from putting Marley down but perks up when she sees the scrabble and wine set up on the bed.
Half an hour later, Spencer's currently winning scrabble by using words that Toby can't even pronounce but she's nothing if not smart so it doesn't surprise him all that much.
He's just finished making the word 'engineer' on the board when the baby monitor goes off and Spencer gets up to check on Marley. He uses this time to arrange a passage on the board with the scrabble tiles.
Spencer comes back in with a very smug looking Marley and sits back down on the bed with the baby in her lap, completely oblivious to the words on the board. "Okay, what did you put down?" She asks finally looking at the board and stopping dead in her tracks before her face breaks out into the biggest smile he's ever seen. "Where's the E?" She asks a bit amused and he looks down at the message 'Will you marry m'. The ring had been the E and he swore he put it down on the board but it's no longer there. A sucking noise is heard and he looks down at Marley who is content sucking on something, the ring. He chuckles a bit, taking it from his daughter and rubbing it on his shirt to rid it of the baby saliva.
He hold the ring up a bit to Spencer, taking a shaky breath. "Spencer Jill Hastings. I don't think there is enough words in the English dictionary to appropriately tell you how much I love you. I honestly don't know what I'd do without you and if I can make you half as happy as happy as you make me then I'll have succeeded. Will you marry me?"
"Yes!" She exclaims excitedly before crashing her lips to his. He feels a tear slip down his face and can tell that Spencer's crying a bit too "I love you too, you sap" She teases before kissing him again. She pulls away a bit afterwards and he slips the ring onto her hand.
"You know what we should do?" She smirks, looking down at Marley who had fallen asleep. "Sleep?" He suggests and she nods "I knew there was a reason I'm marrying you" She agrees, still grinning from ear to ear. He places the scrabble on the floor as they crawl into bed, Marley in the middle of them.