January 12th. January 12th. January fucking 12th needed to slow down and take a little longer to arrive, because Alex Riley was not prepared. There was this girl, her name was Caitlin. She was his girlfriend and this was the first birthday of hers that they'd be spending together. He wanted to do something amazing for her birthday, but he had absolutely no clue what to get her or what to do for her. He asked her a few times what she wanted, but she insisted he didn't get her anything. Now, Alex was a considerate guy, and if she said no to something, he usually respected that. But, not this time. He was determined to make her the happiest girl alive on her birthday.
He decided to go to the two people who knew him best and who knew her best. Michelle and Mike. Mike Mizanin had been his best friend since he'd started coaching him back on NXT, and he was pretty much like his brother. Then there was Michelle, who was the sister he'd never wanted, but ultimately glad he had. She was Mike's girlfriend, and had been ever practically since she debuted on the roster as their valet, and she was also Caitlin's best friend. She was how he met Caitlin, so he was so thankful for Michelle dating Mike. The couple was usually together, so he was on a mission to look for them. He started in catering. They were both fat asses and were always eating (Alex was shocked at how on Earth they stayed in shape), so that was a good place to look.
Not surprising, there they were. Mike with a bag of chips in front of him at a table, with Michelle perched on his lap.
"Hey, guys, I need to talk to you," Alex said as he approached, immediately snatching the barbecue chips off the table, much to the dismay of Mike.
"Hey!" he shrieked. "What are you doing?"
"You're getting fat, I need to make sure you stay in shape," Alex said as he dipped his hand into the bag and pulled out a chip, popping it into his mouth. "We all need to look our best, that means no junk food."
Mike glared at his protegee and shook his head. "I hate you."
"I need to talk to you two," Alex repeated.
"Why the hell should we talk to you? You took our chips," Mike snapped.
"Calm down, babe," Michelle sighed. "Alex, tell us your problems."
"Alright, Michelle, your best friend is being a bitch," Alex said, not beating around the bush. "She refuses to help me out. I'm just trying to throw her the best birthday ever. What's wrong with her? Is she the devil or something? If I give her some birthday cake will she drop to the floor and start convulsing or something? Is she deathly afraid of clowns? I thought of that earlier and promised, no clowns at her party, but she still doesn't want anything. "
Michelle had stopped trying to contain her laughter about halfway through, and was now almost falling off of Mike's lap from laughing so hard, and the male had never even tried to hide it.
"Screw you guys!" Alex exclaimed. "I want Caitlin to be happy and shit, but no one's helping me!"
"Alex, wait, alright, we'll help you," Michelle said in between giggles after getting herself back onto Mike's lap after she'd slid off.
Alex sighed. "What should I do for her birthday? Michelle, you've known her for a long time. What does she like?"
"She's not a big birthday person. Or present person. She'd much rather give than receive."
Mike cracked a laugh, taking Michelle's words in a sexual way, earning a small swat to the shoulder.
"Why though? I just wanna do something nice for her."
"Trust me, she'll be happy just being with you."
"Yeah, well, I don't want her to be just happy, I want her to be so fucking ecstatic she's jumping off the damn walls," Alex said. "I'll figure this out on my own."
xxxx
January 12th arrived quickly, but Alex was prepared.
He had been in the kitchen since 5 AM trying to cook Caitlin breakfast. He was a horrible cook, so after trying numerous times to make homemade blueberry pancakes, but after completely ruining them and making a mess of the kitchen in the process, he decided warming up frozen pancakes would have to be good enough. Looking at the clock, he saw it was almost 7. Caitlin was always an early riser, so he knew he had to get back to their room quick.
Grabbing the tray of food he'd made, he walked up the stairs of the house they shared and made his way to their bedroom, where just as he expected, Caitlin was beginning to stir.
Taking the tray over to her and propping it up for her, he gently sat down beside her. "Morning, beautiful," he said, leaning down to kiss her forehead. "Happy Birthday."
Caitlin sat up and smiled at what lay before her. On the tray was blueberry pancakes, a side of bacon, and a tall glass of orange juice. There was also a red rose laying on top of a card and small box. That small box was what caught her attention. "Thank you, baby," she said. "But, what is this...?"
"It's breakfast," he said with a wide grin, proud of his work.
"No, Alex, I mean..." she said, pointing to the box. "This. What is it?"
"Oh, that," Alex said. He'd been hoping she'd be too tired to notice it yet. "That's..."
"I told you not to get me anything," Caitlin cut him off, her mood immediately changing. Her brown eyes went dark as she looked at her boyfriend, who was silently pouting. "Alex, I don't want it."
"Yes you do!" Alex insisted. He had been planning to go with saying it wasn't for her, and that it was for Mike because he was his best friend, but he ended up blurting out the first thing that came to his head. He wasn't good with sticking to plans.
"No, I don't. Now... take it back or something," she ordered.
"Fine, you don't want it? I'll keep it for myself. Maybe I'll give it to Mike," he said. He sighed. Wait, no. He shouldn't be yelling at her. It was her birthday. "Look, I'm sorry. I just wanted to do something nice. At least eat the breakfast I made for you."
Caitlin hesitated, just looking at him for a minute before she cracked a smile. She turned to look at her food and picked up the fork. "You make this all by yourself?"
"You know it, baby."
xxxxx
"Dinner. I'm letting you buy my dinner and that's it. No flowers or expensive candies or wine, dinner. My meal, possibly dessert, but that's it," Caitlin reminded Alex as they made a hostess lead them to their table. Alex wasn't listening. He was going to do whatever he wanted anyways.
"Of course, babe." Wait, what couldn't he do? Ah well.
Once they slid into their chairs across from each other and they were handed their menus before the hostess walked away, Alex looked at Caitlin and smirked. "So, have you enjoyed your birthday?"
"Oh, of course. Who doesn't love being spanked by Mike?"
Yeah... Mike was a traditional birthday kind of guy. He loved giving out birthday spankings and thought he was the guy for the job. So when Michelle and Mike came over to spend the afternoon with Caitlin, Mike figured he might as well go for it. Luckily, Michelle and Alex pulled him away from Caitlin before he got to twenty seven spanks (he only got to two before Caitlin started screaming bloody murder). After everyone got over that, they ate cake, opened a few presents (which were mostly things her family had sent her in the mail), and watched The Notebook, which resulted in both girls sobbing and both men acting like they weren't crying.
"I'll spank him upside the back of his head later, babe, I promise."
Caitlin giggled. "Alright. Make sure I'm there to watch."
"Of course."
The couple placed their orders and ate their meals while engaging in conversation which mostly revolved around Alex thinking Caitlin should be ordering the entire menu because she deserved it. She quickly declined. She did however let Alex buy her a huge piece of chocolate cake. Once they had finished eating, and Alex had paid the check, they left the restaurant and piled into the car. Caitlin thought they'd be going back to their house, but she was wrong, she realized as they drove right past their street.
"Um, Alex, are you lost, baby?"
"Nope. I know where I'm going."
And he most certainly did. A few minutes later, they pulled up to a clearing that overlooked the entire city which was beautifully lit up. Alex parked the car and quickly got out to open the door for his girlfriend. He took her hand and lead her over to where a blanket was laid out, with unlit candles lining it.
"Babe, what is all this?" Caitlin asked, a confused look on her face.
"Noooothing," Alex said in a sing song tone, a sly smile on his lips. He moved over to stand on the blanket, pulling Caitlin to stand in front of him. He just grinned at her for a moment before leaning in to kiss her, a long, deep kiss.
"I love you," he said once he had pulled away.
"I love you, too," she said, wearing a wide smile.
"More than I've ever loved anyone else before," he said before going in for another kiss. "You know that, right?"
She nodded.
"Do you like my last name?" he asked out of nowhere, causing Caitlin to giggle.
"Of course."
"Do you want it?"
"Do I-" Caitlin began to repeat the question, confused at what he meant, but it hit her a second later. Oh God. "Alex..."
The man dropped down to one knee, one hand holding hers, and the other digging into his back pocket to retrieve a small box, that same one that Caitlin had seen earlier at breakfast, and had said she didn't want. Was she crying? She used her free hand to reach up and wipe her face. Yep, those were tears running down her cheek.
"I know you said you didn't want anything for your birthday, and I understand that. And Michelle told me that the only thing you really wanted was me, and I realized that the only thing I want, the only thing I'll ever want is you. So..." he said, flipping the top of the box open to reveal a gorgeous, shining engagement ring. "I hope you'll at least accept this gift. Caitlin, will you marry me?"
Caitlin was pretty much in hysterics, one hand covering her mouth to make sure no crying noises came from her. She nodded her head furiously, making a bright smile cross Alex's face as he took the ring and slid it onto her finger. He tossed the box to the ring and stood back up, his arms wrapping around her waist and picking her up in a tight hug. She wrapped her own arms around his neck, burying her face into his neck.
After a long embrace, Caitlin pulled back to kiss him.
"Happy birthday, baby."
