(A/N: Here's Chapter 3. This ought to be good!)
In the city of Petropolis, Christmas was still several days away, but today was the day of the annual T.U.F.F. Christmas party. Well, now we know where to find Keswick and Claire, so we should head on over to T.U.F.F., but I hope we haven't missed Keswick's proposal!
At T.U.F.F., the Christmas party is in full-swing. There were a lot of different snacks and drinks, and some of the agents were exchanging gifts. Looks like everything is okay.
Well, Keswick was standing by the Christmas tree, looking nervous. He really does want to pop the question to Claire, but he's scared that she might not accept.
"Hey, Keswick." Dudley greeted him.
"Oh, Dudley. What's up?" Keswick said, seeing Dudley.
"Nothing much. What are you up to?" Dudley asked.
"Oh, I'm just trying to w-w-work up the courage to pop the question." Keswick said, looking over at Claire, who was looking around the place with admiration.
"You're going to pop the question today?!" Dudley asked.
"Well, yes. Once I get the c-c-courage to ask her." Keswick replied.
"I think you should just ask her right now." Dudley said.
"Are you crazy?!" Keswick yelled.
"No. She's coming this way." Dudley replied.
"Hey, guys! Merry Christmas!" Claire greeted Dudley and Keswick as she approached.
"Hi, Claire. Merry Christmas to you, too!" Dudley said.
"Hi..." Keswick said. It was all he could say, because he was turning pale under his fur.
"Is something wrong, Keswick?" Claire asked.
"I'm fine. Everything's great." Keswick replied.
"Well, you don't seem very happy." Claire said.
"Come on, Dudley. You'd better leave those kids alone for now." Bruce said as he walked over and led Dudley to where Kitty and Katrina were.
"Okay, I don't know how I'm going to d-d-do this!" Keswick muttered to himself, but Claire heard him.
"What are you trying to do?" Claire asked.
(A/N: Warning! Keswick's stuttering gets really bad here!)
"(sigh) I r-r-really l-l-love you, Claire. M-m-more than l-l-life itself..." Keswick began, obviously nervous.
"Aww, sweetie! I love you, too!" Claire exclaimed, giving Keswick a big hug.
"W-w-well, there's s-s-something I w-w-want t-t-to ask you..." Keswick continued, reaching into his pocket as he got down on one knee.
"Okay. What is it?" Claire asked, looking at Keswick with love-filled eyes as her mood ring turned purple with passion again.
"Alright, I'm g-g-gonna d-d-do this n-n-now and g-g-get it over w-w-with!" Keswick told himself as he pulled the black velvet box out of his pocket and opened it.
When Claire saw the ring, her eyes got wide behind her glasses, and she gave out a gasp of surprise.
"W-w-will you m-m-marry m-m-me, Claire?" Keswick asked, more nervous than before, as he was sweating like crazy, and his heart started beating faster than anything from nervousness.
Claire's shocked expression changed to one of pure happiness.
"I DO!" Claire exclaimed as she hugged Keswick tightly, tears of joy streaming down her cheeks. Keswick breathed a huge sigh of relief as he took the ring out of the box and slipped it on Claire's finger. Then Keswick swept Claire into his arms, and they shared a passionate kiss.
Suddenly, the two were brought back to the real world by the sound of applause. Looking around, they saw that everyone in the room was looking in their direction as they applauded.
"I guess they saw what happened." Claire said.
"Just how m-m-much of it did they see?" Keswick asked.
"Dunno." Claire replied with a shrug.
At that moment, the Chief hopped over to the couple, and he said, "When's the wedding?"
"Chief, we just got engaged! We haven't decided yet!" Claire exclaimed.
"So give us some t-t-time!" Keswick added.
"Okay." said the Chief, and he hopped off.
Feeling that they were alone for now, Keswick and Claire started talking to each other again.
"So, how do you l-l-like your Christmas present?" Keswick asked.
"Sweetie, it's the best Christmas present a girl could ever receive, especially when it's from a guy she loves with all her heart! I love you." Claire replied as she snuggled against him, feeling very happy.
Awww! Keswick and Claire are engaged! How sweet! Stay tuned for the next chapter!
